JP2014050936A - Handling system, handling method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a handling system or the like capable of accurately lifting and transferring a placed workpiece.SOLUTION: A control device 50 acquires three-dimensional coordinates of a surface of a workpiece 10, which is placed, on the basis of a sensor output of a first sensor 30, detects an uppermost point in a vertical direction on the surface of the workpiece 10 on the basis of the acquired three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10, detects a handling area which is an area larger than a predetermined size and smoothly continuous from the uppermost point and in which a holding part 21 of a robot hand 20 holds something, and outputs a control signal, with which behavior of the robot hand 20 is controlled so that the holding part 21 is moved to be opposed to the surface of the workpiece 10 in the detected handling area, allowed to hold the workpiece 10, moved to a transfer place, and allowed to release the workpiece 10, to the robot hand 20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a handling system, a handling method, and a program for transferring a workpiece.

  In a system in which a robot hand transfers a loaded workpiece, in order to determine the position and orientation of the robot hand that grips the workpiece, the shape of the workpiece based on the image taken from above the load and the output of the distance sensor, A method for acquiring a position is known (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  A workpiece position recognition device described in Patent Document 1 acquires contour data from an image obtained by photographing a plurality of workpieces arranged on the same plane, detects the position and orientation of each workpiece from the contour data, and detects a workpiece portion in the image. Are registered as a master image, pattern matching between the image of the target workpiece and the mask image is performed, and the position and orientation of the target workpiece are output when the matching is successful.

  Further, the bag-like workpiece recognition method described in Patent Document 2 acquires the three-dimensional shape of the bag-like workpiece with a distance sensor such as a laser radar or a stereo camera, and from the angle of the normal vector of the three-dimensional shape, The discontinuous portion is regarded as the boundary of the bag-like workpiece, and the position and posture of the bag-like workpiece are recognized.

JP 2010-32258 A JP 2010-256209 A

  When the loaded work is a bag and the contents flow in the bag, the surface of the work may not be flat, and a part of the surface may be uneven. In that case, the workpiece position recognition device described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the pattern on the workpiece surface cannot be accurately determined.

  In addition, when the workpieces are stacked in a plurality of stages, the workpieces may be stacked on a stepped portion, and the upper workpiece may not be placed horizontally. In that case, as in Patent Document 2, even if the outer shape and posture of the on-bag workpiece are recognized from the boundary position, even if the posture in the horizontal direction can be recognized correctly, the posture in the vertical direction cannot be accurately recognized. There arises a problem that it is not possible to detect an optimum place for gripping the finger.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a handling system or the like that can reliably lift and transfer a loaded workpiece.

In order to achieve the above object, a handling system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes:
A handling system including a robot hand for transferring a workpiece,
A first three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit that measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of one or more of the workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpieces;
Based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface measured by the first three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit, an uppermost point detection unit that detects an uppermost point in a substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detecting unit for detecting a handling area for holding by the robot hand, which is an area of a predetermined size or more smoothly continuous from the top point detected by the top point detecting unit;
The gripping part that grips the workpiece provided in the robot hand is moved so as to face the surface in the handling area detected by the handling area detection unit, and the workpiece is gripped and transferred by the gripping part. A robot hand control unit for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to be released after being moved to a mounting place;
It is characterized by having.

  When the handling area detection unit cannot detect a handling area larger than the predetermined size, the uppermost point detection unit includes the predetermined size including the uppermost point when the handling area cannot be detected. The uppermost point in a substantially vertical direction is re-detected in a region other than the region less than the region, and the handling region detection unit re-detects a region that smoothly continues from the re-detected uppermost point, and the handling is greater than a predetermined size. Until the region can be detected, the detection of the top point of the top point detection unit and the detection of the handling region of the handling region detection unit may be repeated.

A second three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit that measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece or the contents of the workpiece in a state where the robot hand grips and lifts the workpiece;
A workpiece posture determination unit that determines whether or not the posture of the workpiece is normal based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface measured by the second three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit;
When the workpiece posture determining unit determines that the posture of the workpiece is not normal, the robot hand control unit controls the first workpiece to lower the workpiece into a substantially flat space and release it. A three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit remeasures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface in the upper part of the space, the uppermost point detection unit redetects the uppermost point in the upper part of the space, and the handling region detection unit The handling area is redetected in the upper part of the space, and the robot hand control unit moves the gripping part so as to face the surface in the redetected handling area, and grips the workpiece by the gripping part. In addition, it may be controlled to release after moving to the transfer place.

  The workpiece posture determination unit is located in an upper detection space of two upper and lower detection spaces that are assumed to be below the gripping portion and do not include the loaded workpiece, or the workpiece or the workpiece It may be determined that the posture is normal when the area of the surface of the contents is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  The work posture determination unit is included in a lower detection space among two upper and lower detection spaces, assuming a position below the gripping part and not including the loaded work, or The ratio of the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates indicating the surface of the workpiece or the contents of the workpiece included in the upper detection space to the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates indicating the surface of the contents of the workpiece is predetermined. It may be determined that the posture is normal when the value is greater than or equal to.

  The second three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit may measure the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface from a direction different from that of the first three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit.

  From the result of measurement of the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface by the first three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit or the second three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit, a substantially flat surface having an area where the workpiece can be placed, You may make it further have the space detection part detected as a space.

  The size of the handling area detected by the handling area detection unit may be a size determined based on the size of the gripping part.

  The gripping part may include a plurality of air intake ports, and may be a suction hand that grips the workpiece by sucking air from the air intake port in a state where the plurality of air intake ports are applied to the work.

  The grip portion may include a plurality of finger-like bodies, and the plurality of finger-like bodies may support the workpiece from different directions to hold the workpiece.

After the robot hand lifts the workpiece, an imaging unit that images the workpiece from below;
Based on the image photographed by the photographing unit, further comprising a direction / center of gravity position detection unit for detecting the direction and the center of gravity position of the workpiece on the horizontal plane of the workpiece,
The robot hand control unit is configured such that, based on the detection result of the direction / centroid position detection unit, the center of gravity position of the workpiece is at a predetermined position at the transfer location, and the direction of the workpiece is a predetermined position at the transfer location. You may make it control the said robot hand so that the said workpiece | work may be released in the state which has faced the direction.

The handling method according to the second aspect of the present invention is as follows:
A handling method of transferring the workpiece by a robot hand that is released after the workpiece is lifted and moved to the transfer location,
A first three-dimensional coordinate measurement step of measuring three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the one or more workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpiece;
Based on the measured three-dimensional coordinates of the surface, an uppermost point detecting step of detecting the uppermost point in the substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detecting step of detecting a handling area for the robot hand to hold, which is an area of a predetermined size or more smoothly continuous from the detected uppermost point;
Move the gripping part for gripping the workpiece provided in the robot hand so as to face the surface in the detected handling area, grip the workpiece with the gripping part, and move it to the transfer location. A robot hand control step for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to release from
It is characterized by having.

A program according to the third aspect of the present invention is:
To the computer that controls the robot hand that is released after gripping and lifting the workpiece and moving it to the transfer location,
A first three-dimensional coordinate acquisition procedure for acquiring three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of one or more of the workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpieces;
Based on the acquired three-dimensional coordinates of the surface, an uppermost point detection procedure for detecting the uppermost point in the substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detection procedure for detecting a handling area for gripping by the robot hand, which is an area of a predetermined size or more that continues smoothly from the detected uppermost point;
Move the gripping part for gripping the workpiece provided in the robot hand so as to face the surface in the detected handling area, grip the workpiece with the gripping part, and move it to the transfer location. A robot hand control procedure for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to release from
Is executed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably lift and transfer a loaded workpiece.

It is the figure which looked at the handling system concerning an embodiment from the side. It is the figure which looked at the handling system concerning an embodiment from the upper part. It is the figure which showed the holding part which consists of a suction hand. (A) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the side. (B) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the A direction of (a). (A) It is a figure which shows the state which the robot hand hold | gripped and lifted the workpiece | work. (B) It is a figure which shows the state which the robot hand moved the workpiece | work to the case upper part. (C) It is a figure which shows the state which the robot hand stored the workpiece | work inside the case. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of a robot hand and a control apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the process which detects the highest point and a handling area | region. (A) is the figure which looked at the state before holding a workpiece | work from the side surface. (B) is the figure which looked at the workpiece | work from the upper direction. (C) is the figure which looked at the state when the workpiece | work was hold | gripped from the side surface. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of attitude | position determination. (A) is the figure which showed the state in which the attitude | position of a workpiece | work is normal. (B) is the figure which showed the state in which the attitude | position of a workpiece | work is not normal. It is a flowchart which shows a workpiece transfer process. It is a flowchart which shows a retry process. It is the figure which showed the holding part which consists of fingers. (A) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the side. (B) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the A direction of (a). It is the figure which showed the holding part which consists of many adsorption | suction parts. (A) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the side. (B) is the figure which looked at the holding part from the A direction of (a).

(Embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The handling system 1 according to the present embodiment is a system in which a plurality of workpieces 10 loaded on a loading table 11 having a substantially horizontal loading surface are gripped by a robot hand 20, lifted, and transferred to another place. . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the handling system 1 includes a robot hand 20, a first sensor 30, a second sensor 40, a control device 50, a communication line 60, a transfer destination case 70, A camera 80 is included. The robot hand 20, the first sensor 30, the second sensor 40, and the camera 80 are connected to the control device 50 via the communication line 60 and are driven based on a control signal from the control device 50.

  The workpiece 10 has an arbitrary shape and size. For example, the workpiece 10 has a granular shape, a gel shape, a bag shape filled with a material having flexibility and fluidity, and a shape having flexibility depending on a loaded state. It may change. In this case, the bag may be a transparent body or a reflector, for example. The workpieces 10 are stacked in multiple directions on the loading table 11 in an arbitrary direction.

  The robot hand 20 includes a gripper 21 that grips the workpiece 10 and an arm 22 that performs operations such as expansion and contraction and rotation in order to change the position and orientation of the gripper 21. In the present embodiment, the grip portion 21 is provided near the tip of the arm 22.

  The gripping part 21 has a function of gripping the workpiece 10 by an arbitrary method. The grip portion 21 in the present embodiment is a suction hand that grips the work 10 by having a plurality of air intakes 211 and sucking air from the air intakes with the air intakes 211 being applied to the surface of the work 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the grip portion 21 composed of a suction hand includes a main intake portion 213 positioned at the center of the base 212 and a plurality of auxiliary units positioned around the main intake portion 213. It has an air intake part 214. The main intake section 213 and the plurality of auxiliary intake sections 214 are connected to different intake systems, and intake is performed independently of each other. An intake port 211 is opened at the tips of the main intake unit 213 and the auxiliary intake unit 214, and a spring or the like is provided on the pedestal 212 side of the intake port 211, so that the structure can expand and contract in the intake direction. This is to allow each intake port 211 to be in close contact with the surface of the workpiece 10 when the surface of the workpiece 10 is not flat.

  The robot hand 20 is driven based on a control signal from the control device 50. An outline of the driving contents of the robot hand 20 is shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the workpiece 10 is grasped by the grasping portion 21 and lifted. Thereafter, the workpiece 10 is moved to the upper part of the transfer destination case 70 as shown in FIG. 4B, and the workpiece 10 is lowered after being lowered into the case 70 as shown in FIG. 4C. release. The transfer destination of the workpiece 10 is not limited to the inside of such a case, but may be an arbitrary place. In the present embodiment, a portable resin case as shown in FIG. 4 is used.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the robot hand 20 further includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201 and a communication unit 202. The communication unit 202 receives a control signal from the control device 50. Further, the driving status of the robot hand 20 may be transmitted to the control device 50. In the CPU 201, based on the control signal received by the communication unit 202, the grip control unit 2011 controls the grip and release of the grip unit 21, and the arm control unit 2012 controls the rotation and expansion / contraction of the arm 22.

  The first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 are sensors that output information for measuring the three-dimensional coordinates of the object, and include, for example, a light irradiation unit that irradiates the object with pattern light and a camera. The first sensor 30 or the second sensor 40 and a three-dimensional coordinate calculation unit 5012 in the control device 50 that calculates a three-dimensional coordinate based on the triangulation principle based on the sensor output data are a three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit. Configure.

  The first sensor 30 measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the loaded workpiece 10, and the output of the first sensor 30 determines the position on the surface of the workpiece 10 held by the holding unit 21 of the robot hand 20. Used for. On the other hand, the second sensor 40 measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10 when the robot hand 20 grips and lifts the workpiece 10, and the output of the second sensor 40 is lifted by the robot hand 20. This is used to determine whether or not the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal.

  The installation positions and measurement directions of the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 may be arbitrary positions and directions, but are preferably installed in different directions. In the present embodiment, the first sensor 30 is located above the loading surface of the loading table 11 and is installed downward in a substantially vertical direction, that is, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the loading surface. Further, the second sensor 40 is located behind the loading position of the workpiece 10 as viewed from the front of the sheet of FIG. 1 and is installed in a direction to look up the grip 21 of the robot hand 20 from obliquely below.

  Here, the sensor output data output from the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 corresponds to the surface of the workpiece 10, but when the workpiece 10 is in a bag shape and the bag is transparent, Data corresponding to the surface of the contents of the bag may be output.

  The camera 80 is a photographing device that photographs a two-dimensional image of an object. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the camera 80 takes an image of the workpiece 10 held by the robot hand 20 from the lower side to the upper side in the vertical direction. The camera 80 transmits image data indicating the posture of the workpiece 10 in the horizontal plane to the control device 50, and the control device 50 adjusts the rotation and movement of the workpiece 10 based on the image data, and transfers the transfer destination case 70. A control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 is transmitted to the robot hand 20 so that the direction and position of the workpiece 10 in the inside become a constant direction and position.

  The control device 50 generates control signals based on sensor output data received from the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 and image data received from the camera 80 and transmits the generated control signals to the robot hand 20. It is a processing device and is composed of a personal computer or the like.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the control device 50 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501, a communication unit 502, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503, and a storage unit 504.

  The CPU 501 controls each component of the control device 50 and executes each process such as a workpiece transfer process by executing a program stored in the storage unit 504.

  The communication unit 502 has a function of transmitting and receiving signals via the communication line 60 with the robot hand 20, the first sensor 30, the second sensor 40, and the camera 80. The communication unit 502 receives the sensor output data output from the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 and the image data output from the camera 80 and outputs the data to the CPU 501, and outputs the data to the robot hand 20 output from the CPU 501. Send a control signal.

  A RAM 503 is a memory capable of reading and writing data at high speed, and temporarily stores sensor output data and image data received by the communication unit 502, image data read from the storage unit 504, and the like for data processing.

  The storage unit 504 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk, a memory card, or a flash memory, and is obtained by performing calculation processing on the sensor output data and image data received by the communication unit 502 and the received data signal. Various data such as position information data such as a transfer location, a program for executing a workpiece transfer process, and the like are stored.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 501 of the control device 50 performs a workpiece transfer process, as shown in FIG. 5, a data acquisition unit 5011, a three-dimensional coordinate calculation unit 5012, an uppermost point detection unit 5013, a handling area detection unit, and an attitude determination unit. 5015, a direction / gravity position detection unit 5016, and a robot hand control signal generation unit 5017.

  The data acquisition unit 5011 includes sensor output data, image data, and the like received by the communication unit 502 from the first sensor 30, the second sensor 40, and the camera 80, or read from the storage unit 504 and temporarily stored in the RAM 503. Among them, data necessary for processing is identified and acquired.

  The three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012 acquires the sensor output data output from the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 from the data acquisition unit 5011, and calculates and outputs the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10 based on the sensor output data. .

  For example, when the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40 are composed of a light irradiation unit and a camera that irradiates the object with pattern light, the feature points of the pattern output by the light irradiation unit of each sensor, The feature points indicated by the image data output from the camera of the sensor are associated with each other, and the three-dimensional coordinates of each feature point can be calculated by the principle of triangulation. At this time, information on the pattern of light emitted by the light irradiation unit may be stored in advance in the storage unit 504 and acquired from the storage unit 504 when necessary.

  When the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012 acquires the sensor output data from the first sensor 30, the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012 outputs the three-dimensional coordinate data to the highest point detection unit 5013. In addition, when the sensor output data from the second sensor 40 is acquired, the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012 outputs the three-dimensional coordinate data to the posture determination unit 5015.

  The highest point detection unit 5013 detects the highest point of the loaded workpiece 10 based on the three-dimensional coordinate data input from the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the workpiece 10 has a bag shape and the contents flow in the bag. Since the uppermost workpiece 10 is stacked on a stepped portion, the workpiece surface is In this case, the point P that is the highest point in the vertical direction G is detected. The uppermost point detection unit 5013 outputs the position data of the uppermost point P to the handling region detection unit 5014. In addition, the three-dimensional coordinate data on the surface of the workpiece 10 is also output to the handling area detection unit 5014.

  The handling region detection unit 5014 is a region that smoothly continues from the top point P based on the position data of the top point P output from the top point detection unit 5013 and the data of the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10, and An area of a predetermined size sufficient for the robot hand gripping part 21 to grip is detected and output as a handling area. Here, “smoothly continuous” means continuous, for example, at a change rate of a predetermined value or less.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 6, the area Q is detected as a handling area. Here, the size sufficient for the grip portion 21 of the robot hand to grip is a size determined based on the size of the grip portion 21. For example, when the gripping portion 21 is the suction hand shown in FIG. 3, the size that can block all the intake ports of the main intake portion 213 and the auxiliary intake portion 214, or the size is increased at a certain rate. It is a size.

  The posture determination unit 5015 determines whether or not the posture of the workpiece 10 lifted by the robot hand 20 is normal based on the three-dimensional coordinate data output from the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012, that is, whether or not it is suitable for handling. Determine.

  Posture determination will be described with reference to FIG. A space that can be measured by the second sensor 40 is represented by XYZ coordinates shown in FIG. The Z axis is the vertical direction, and the XY plane is a horizontal plane. In the figure, two upper and lower detection spaces, A space and B space, are set at a height lower than the gripping portion 21 of the robot hand 20 and not including the loaded work 10. .

  The A space is a space that is large enough to allow the entire work 10 in a possible posture to enter when the work 10 is normally handled by the robot hand 20. In the B space, the range of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate is the same as that of the A space, and the range of the Z coordinate is a range of the height below the A space and not including the loaded work 10.

  Of the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10 output from the three-dimensional coordinate acquisition unit 5012, the occupied area is obtained from the maximum and minimum values of the X and Y coordinates included in the A space, and the occupied area is set in advance. If it is smaller than one threshold, it is determined that the posture is not normal. In addition, even if the occupied area is equal to or larger than the first threshold, the ratio of the number of three-dimensional coordinates included in the A space to the number of three-dimensional coordinates included in the B space is set to the second threshold set in advance. When it is smaller, it is determined that the posture is not normal.

  Other than that, when the occupied area in the A space is equal to or larger than the first threshold and the measurement number of the three-dimensional coordinates in the B space is zero, the ratio of the measurement numbers of the three-dimensional coordinates in the A space and the B space is the second If it is equal to or greater than the threshold, it is determined to be normal.

  In the example of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 7A, when all three-dimensional coordinates of the workpiece 10 are included in the A space, it is determined that the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal. On the other hand, as shown in (b), most of the three-dimensional coordinates are included in the B space, and the occupied area obtained from the maximum and minimum values of the X and Y coordinates included in the A space is a preset first threshold value. The ratio of the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates included in the A space to the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates included in the B space is smaller than the second threshold, although the occupied area is less than or equal to the first threshold value. In this case, it is determined that the posture of the workpiece 10 is not normal.

  The posture determination unit 5015 determines whether or not it is normal based on the determination criteria as described above, and outputs the determination result to the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017.

  The direction / centroid position detection unit 5016 receives image data obtained by capturing the workpiece 10 lifted by the robot hand 20 and moved to a predetermined location above the camera 80 with the camera 80 from the data acquisition unit 5011. Based on the image data, the direction of the workpiece 10 and the position of the center of gravity are detected. Then, a signal including an adjustment value for finely adjusting the rotation amount and the movement amount is output to the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 so that the direction and the position of the center of gravity of the workpiece 10 become a predetermined direction and position in the case 70.

  When the handling area position information is input from the handling area detection unit 5014, the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 faces the surface of the workpiece 10 in the handling area indicated by the input position information. , And a control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 is generated and output so that the gripper 21 grips and lifts the workpiece 10. Here, the control signal transmitted to the robot hand 20 includes a value in the robot coordinate system that is a reference for driving the robot hand 20.

  Also, when a signal indicating that the posture when the workpiece 10 is lifted is input from the posture determination unit 5015 to the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017, the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 puts the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 at a predetermined location above the camera 80. A control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 so as to move the workpiece 10 is generated and output. Here, the predetermined location is a location for detecting the direction of the workpiece 10 and the position of the center of gravity.

  On the other hand, when a signal indicating that the posture when the workpiece 10 is lifted is not normal is input from the posture determination unit 5015, the workpiece 10 is moved to the retry plane 12 for retrying and the workpiece 10 is released. A control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 is generated and output. Here, the retry plane 12 is a plane that is detected based on the output of the first sensor 30 or the second sensor 40 as shown by the broken line in FIG. It is.

  Further, the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 places the workpiece 10 in the case 70 based on a signal output from the direction / gravity position detection unit 5016 and including an adjustment value for finely adjusting the rotation amount and the movement amount of the workpiece 10. A control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 so as to move and rotate in a predetermined position and direction is generated and output.

  The control signal output from the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 is transmitted to the robot hand 20 via the communication unit 502.

  The operation of transferring the workpiece 10 in the handling system 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 show the workpiece transfer process executed by the CPU 501 of the control device 50.

  First, the CPU 501 performs three-dimensional measurement of the surface of the loaded workpiece 10 using the first sensor 30 (step S101). Specifically, the data acquisition unit 5011 acquires sensor output data of the first sensor 30, and the three-dimensional coordinate calculation unit 5012 calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10.

  Next, the highest point detection unit 5013 detects the highest point at the highest position in the vertical direction among the three-dimensional coordinates (step S102). The handling area detection unit 5014 detects an area that continues smoothly from the highest point detected by the highest point detection part 5013 (step S103).

  It is determined whether or not a handling area that is smoothly continuous from the highest point and has a certain size or more has been detected (step S104). If the handling area can be detected (step S104: Yes), the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if the handling area cannot be detected (step S104: No), the handling area detection unit 5014 once excludes the area that is smoothly continuous from the top point and less than a certain size from the search area. (Step S105), the uppermost point and the area that continues smoothly from the uppermost point are detected again, and the processing from Step S102 to Step S105 is repeated until the handling area can be detected.

  In step S106, the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 moves the gripping part 21 so as to face the surface of the work 10 in the area indicated by the detected position information of the handling area, and moves the work 10 to the gripping part 21. A control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 to be gripped and lifted is generated and output (step S106).

  Thereafter, using the second sensor, three-dimensional measurement of the surface of the loaded workpiece 10 is performed (step S107). Specifically, the data acquisition unit 5011 acquires sensor output data of the second sensor, and the three-dimensional coordinate calculation unit 5012 calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10.

  Next, the posture determination unit 5015 determines whether or not the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10 obtained using the second sensor (step S108). As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the workpiece posture is normal (step S109: Yes), the process proceeds to step S111. If it is determined that the workpiece posture is not normal (step S109: No), the retry process shown in FIG. 9 is executed (step S110).

  In the retry process, first, three-dimensional measurement using the first sensor 30 or the second sensor 40 is performed (step S201), and the retry plane 12 which is a flat surface having a certain size or more is detected (step S202).

  Then, the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 generates and outputs a control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 so as to move the holding unit 21 holding the workpiece 10 to the upper part of the retry plane 12 (step S203). Thereafter, a control signal for controlling the gripper 21 to release the workpiece 10 is generated and output (step S204).

  Next, three-dimensional measurement of the surface of the workpiece 10 on the retry plane is performed using the first sensor 30 (step S205), and the highest point detection unit 5013 has the highest position in the vertical direction among the measured three-dimensional coordinates. Is detected (step S206). The handling area detection unit 5014 detects a handling area that continues smoothly from the highest point detected by the highest point detection part 5013 (step S207).

  The grip portion 21 is moved to the handling area detected in step S207, the grip portion 21 is caused to grip the workpiece 10 to be retried on the retry plane 12, and a control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 is output so as to lift ( Step S208), the retry process is terminated.

  After the retry, the process returns to step S107, and it is determined again whether or not the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal.

  If it is determined that the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal (step S109), the robot hand control signal generator 5017 moves the robot hand so that the workpiece 10 is moved to the upper direction / gravity position detection location of the camera 80. A control signal for controlling 20 is generated and output (step S111).

  The camera 80 captures the workpiece 10 from below, and the data acquisition unit 5011 acquires image data captured by the camera 80 (step S112).

  Based on the image data captured by the camera 80, the direction / centroid position detection unit 5016 detects the direction and the center of gravity position of the workpiece 10. Then, a signal including an adjustment value for finely adjusting the amount of rotation and the amount of movement is output to the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 so that the direction and the position of the center of gravity of the workpiece 10 are in the predetermined direction and position in the case 70 (step). S113).

  The robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 outputs a signal including an adjustment value output from the direction / gravity center position detection unit 5016 and finely adjusts the rotation amount and movement amount of the workpiece 10 and the case 70 stored in the storage unit 504. Based on the information indicating the location, a control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 so as to move and rotate the workpiece 10 in a predetermined position and direction in the case 70 is generated and output. (Step S114).

  Thereafter, a control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 is generated and output so that the gripping part 21 releases the workpiece 10 in the case 70 (step S115), and the process is terminated.

  In this manner, the workpiece 10 can be transferred from the loading table 11 to the inside of the transfer destination case 70.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the handling area suitable for the gripping portion 21 of the robot hand 20 to grip based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10 measured using the first sensor 30. Is detected, the gripping part 21 grips and lifts the area to move the workpiece 10. Accordingly, the workpiece 10 can be reliably gripped regardless of the contents and shape of the workpiece 10 and regardless of the loading state of the workpiece 10.

  Further, the state in which the robot hand 20 grips and lifts the workpiece 10 is three-dimensionally measured using the second sensor 40, and the posture of the workpiece 10 is normal based on the obtained three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece 10. If it is not normal, the workpiece 10 is once released on the retry plane 12, and then the workpiece 10 is gripped and lifted again. Thereby, even when there is a risk that the workpiece 10 cannot be lifted normally and falls during movement, the workpiece 10 can be reliably gripped again.

  Further, the state in which the robot hand 20 grips and lifts the work 10 is photographed from below by the camera 80, and based on the obtained image, the position and direction of the center of gravity of the work 10 become a predetermined position and direction. It was decided to move and rotate. Accordingly, the position and direction can be aligned in the transfer destination case 70 regardless of the position and direction of the workpiece 10 at the time of gripping.

  As described above, the present invention detects the position of the highest point in the vertical direction on the surface of the workpiece based on the result of measuring the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of one or more workpieces in the loaded state, and smoothly from the highest point. Detect a handling area for the robot hand to grip, and move the grip part of the robot hand so that it faces the workpiece surface in the handling area. Since the workpiece is gripped and transferred, the loaded workpiece can be reliably lifted and transferred.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, the various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention is possible.

  For example, as an example of the first sensor 30 and the second sensor 40, the configuration including the pattern light irradiation unit and the camera has been described. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and any three-dimensional measurement sensor such as a stereo camera or a laser radar may be used. Good.

  Further, although the suction-type configuration has been described as an example of the grip portion 21 of the robot hand 20, the configuration is not limited thereto, and any configuration having a grip function may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the grip portion 21 may be a finger-shaped hand that includes a suction portion 215 and a plurality of finger bodies 216, and a plurality of finger bodies 216 support the workpiece 10 from different directions. . In this case, instead of the finger-like body 216, a configuration may be adopted in which a workpiece is stabbed and held with a needle-like body.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the gripping portion 21 is provided with a swing mechanism 218 in which a large number of suction portions 217 are arranged so that the tip portion of the suction portion 217 can be in close contact with the work, and the suction portion 217 is attached to the base 219. On the other hand, a position holding type suction hand having a mechanism capable of changing the position and holding the position at an appropriate position may be used.

  Further, although the highest point detected by the highest point detection unit 5013 is the highest point in the vertical direction, the highest point may be detected in a direction that is deviated from the vertical direction by a certain angle.

  Further, the direction / centroid position detection unit 5016 calculates an adjustment value for fine adjustment of the rotation amount and the movement amount of the workpiece 10, and the robot hand control signal generation unit 5017 moves the workpiece 10 based on the adjustment value. The control signal for controlling the robot hand 20 so as to rotate is generated and output. However, the work 10 is rotated and moved on the upper part of the camera 80, and then the camera 80 takes an image again. The direction and the center of gravity position may be detected again, and the rotation amount and the movement amount may be readjusted. Moreover, you may repeat the process from imaging | photography of the said workpiece | work 10 to rotation and a movement of the workpiece | work 10 until it becomes a predetermined direction and a gravity center position.

  Alternatively, the size of the workpiece 10 may be detected based on the image data captured by the camera 80, classified by size, and transferred to a plurality of cases.

  In addition, by executing a program such as a workpiece transfer process executed by the CPU of the control device 50 on an information terminal such as an existing computer, the information terminal can also function as the control device 50 according to the present invention. is there.

  Such a program distribution method is arbitrary, for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or a memory card. It may be stored and distributed in the network, or distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Handling system 10 ... Workpiece | work 11 ... Loading platform 20 ... Robot hand 201 ... CPU
2011 ... Grip control unit 2012 ... Arm control unit 202 ... Communication unit 21 ... Gripping unit 211 ... Intake port 212 ... Base 213 ... Main intake unit 214 ... Auxiliary intake unit 215 ... Adsorption unit 216 ... Finger-shaped body 217 ... Adsorption unit 218 ... Swing mechanism 219 ... pedestal 22 ... arm 30 ... first sensor 40 ... second sensor 50 ... control device 501 ... CPU
5011 ... Data acquisition unit 5012 ... 3D coordinate calculation unit 5013 ... Top point detection unit 5014 ... Handling area detection unit 5015 ... Posture determination unit 5016 ... Direction / gravity center position detection unit 5017 ... Robot hand control signal generation unit 502 ... Communication unit 503 ... RAM
504 ... Storage unit 60 ... Communication line 70 ... Case 80 ... Camera

Claims (13)

A handling system including a robot hand for transferring a workpiece,
A first three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit that measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of one or more of the workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpieces;
Based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface measured by the first three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit, an uppermost point detection unit that detects an uppermost point in a substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detecting unit for detecting a handling area for holding by the robot hand, which is an area of a predetermined size or more smoothly continuous from the top point detected by the top point detecting unit;
The gripping part that grips the workpiece provided in the robot hand is moved so as to face the surface in the handling area detected by the handling area detection unit, and the workpiece is gripped and transferred by the gripping part. A robot hand control unit for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to be released after being moved to a mounting place;
A handling system comprising: When the handling area detection unit cannot detect a handling area larger than the predetermined size, the uppermost point detection unit includes the predetermined size including the uppermost point when the handling area cannot be detected. The uppermost point in a substantially vertical direction is re-detected in a region other than the region less than the region, and the handling region detection unit re-detects a region that smoothly continues from the re-detected uppermost point, and the handling is greater than a predetermined size. Until the region can be detected, the detection of the top point of the top point detection unit and the detection of the handling region of the handling region detection unit are repeated.
The handling system according to claim 1. A second three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit that measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the workpiece or the contents of the workpiece in a state where the robot hand grips and lifts the workpiece;
A workpiece posture determination unit that determines whether or not the posture of the workpiece is normal based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface measured by the second three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit;
When the workpiece posture determining unit determines that the posture of the workpiece is not normal, the robot hand control unit controls the first workpiece to lower the workpiece into a substantially flat space and release it. A three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit remeasures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface in the upper part of the space, the uppermost point detection unit redetects the uppermost point in the upper part of the space, and the handling region detection unit The handling area is redetected in the upper part of the space, and the robot hand control unit moves the gripping part so as to face the surface in the redetected handling area, and grips the workpiece by the gripping part. , Control to release after moving to the transfer location,
The handling system according to claim 1 or 2. The workpiece posture determination unit is located in an upper detection space of two upper and lower detection spaces that are assumed to be below the gripping portion and do not include the loaded workpiece, or the workpiece or the workpiece When the area of the surface of the contents of is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the posture is determined to be normal.
The handling system according to claim 3. The work posture determination unit is included in a lower detection space among two upper and lower detection spaces, assuming a position below the gripping part and not including the loaded work, or The ratio of the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates indicating the surface of the workpiece or the contents of the workpiece included in the upper detection space to the measured number of the three-dimensional coordinates indicating the surface of the contents of the workpiece is predetermined. When the value is greater than or equal to the value, it is determined that the posture is normal.
The handling system according to claim 3. The second three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit measures the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface from a different direction from the first three-dimensional coordinate measuring unit;
The handling system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: From the result of measurement of the three-dimensional coordinates of the surface by the first three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit or the second three-dimensional coordinate measurement unit, a substantially flat surface having an area where the workpiece can be placed, It further has a space detection unit for detecting as a space,
The handling system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that: The size of the handling area detected by the handling area detection unit is a size determined based on the size of the gripping part.
The handling system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The gripping portion includes a plurality of air intake ports, and is a suction hand that grips the work by sucking air from the air intake ports in a state where the plurality of air intake ports are applied to the work.
The handling system according to claim 8. The gripping portion includes a plurality of finger-like bodies, and the plurality of finger-like bodies are finger-like hands that grip the workpiece by supporting the workpiece from different directions.
The handling system according to claim 8. After the robot hand lifts the workpiece, an imaging unit that images the workpiece from below;
Based on the image photographed by the photographing unit, further comprising a direction / center of gravity position detection unit for detecting the direction and the center of gravity position of the workpiece on the horizontal plane of the workpiece,
The robot hand control unit is configured such that, based on the detection result of the direction / centroid position detection unit, the center of gravity position of the workpiece is at a predetermined position at the transfer location, and the direction of the workpiece is a predetermined position at the transfer location. Controlling the robot hand to release the workpiece while facing the direction;
The handling system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein A handling method of transferring the workpiece by a robot hand that is released after the workpiece is lifted and moved to the transfer location,
A first three-dimensional coordinate measurement step of measuring three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of the one or more workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpiece;
Based on the measured three-dimensional coordinates of the surface, an uppermost point detecting step of detecting the uppermost point in the substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detecting step of detecting a handling area for the robot hand to hold, which is an area of a predetermined size or more smoothly continuous from the detected uppermost point;
Move the gripping part for gripping the workpiece provided in the robot hand so as to face the surface in the detected handling area, grip the workpiece with the gripping part, and move it to the transfer location. A robot hand control step for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to release from
A handling method characterized by comprising: To the computer that controls the robot hand that is released after gripping and lifting the workpiece and moving it to the transfer location,
A first three-dimensional coordinate acquisition procedure for acquiring three-dimensional coordinates of the surface of one or more of the workpieces loaded or the contents of the workpieces;
Based on the acquired three-dimensional coordinates of the surface, an uppermost point detection procedure for detecting the uppermost point in the substantially vertical direction of the surface;
A handling area detection procedure for detecting a handling area for gripping by the robot hand, which is an area of a predetermined size or more that continues smoothly from the detected uppermost point;
Move the gripping part for gripping the workpiece provided in the robot hand so as to face the surface in the detected handling area, grip the workpiece with the gripping part, and move it to the transfer location. A robot hand control procedure for controlling the operation of the robot hand so as to release from
A program for running

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