JP2019058967A - Food transfer system and food holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technology that holds foods having irregular shapes and sizes more properly.SOLUTION: A food transfer system includes: transfer means which transfers foods; data acquisition means which acquires data about each food transferred by the transfer means; individual information acquisition means which acquires individual information including at least one of a position or quality of each food on the basis of an acquisition result of the data acquisition means; holding means which holds the food which is a holding object on the basis of the individual information; position detection means which detects a position of a movable member which holds the food in the holding means; a movement mechanism which moves the holding means to a predetermined position; and control means which controls operation of the movable member in the holding means on the basis of position information of the position detection means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a food transfer system and a food gripping apparatus for transferring food products such as fruits and vegetables having an uneven shape individually to each other, food items such as fried chicken and fish fillets, and vegetables each having an uneven shape individually.

Conventionally, techniques for automatically transferring fruits and vegetables such as fruits and vegetables are known.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique relating to an adsorption and transfer device that transports fruits and vegetables by adjusting the suction force when the fruits and vegetables are adsorbed according to the size and hardness of the fruits and vegetables.

JP 2017-024811 gazette

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since fruits and vegetables are adsorbed and held, it is difficult to reliably hold fruits and vegetables having an irregular shape and size. In addition, when a weak fruit or a fruit having a rotted portion is adsorbed, the suction force may damage the fruit or the block of the rotted portion may cause suction clogging.
In addition, not only fruits and vegetables but also foods such as general dishes with irregular shapes and sizes are not uniform in their individual shapes, which makes their handling difficult. Therefore, it is difficult to automate the handling of such food, and it is the present condition that the assortment work of the lunch box etc. is performed manually.
As described above, in the prior art, it has been difficult to properly hold food of irregular shape and size such as fruits and vegetables.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for more appropriately holding food of irregular shape and size.

In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, the food transfer system concerning one mode of the present invention is:
Transport means for transporting food;
Data acquisition means for acquiring data relating to the food conveyed by the conveyance means;
An individual information acquisition unit that acquires individual information including at least one of the position and the quality of the food based on the acquisition result of the data acquisition unit;
Grasping means for grasping the food to be grasped based on the individual information;
Position detection means for detecting the position of the movable member holding the food in the holding means;
A moving mechanism for moving the gripping means to a predetermined position;
Control means for controlling the movement of the movable member in the holding means based on the position information of the position detection means;
Equipped with
Further, according to a second aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the control means sets control energy to energy of speed or position and energy of force, which is set corresponding to the gripping operation of the food. It is characterized in that the operation in the holding means is controlled by performing the conversion to be assigned.
Furthermore, according to the third invention, in the invention described in the first or second aspect, the control means includes storage means for storing a plurality of setting values of the quality of the food, and the control means is The setting value corresponding to the quality of the food to be gripped is read out from the setting values stored in the storage unit based on the acquisition result of the individual information acquiring unit, and the setting value is read based on the setting value. The operation of the gripping means is controlled.
Furthermore, according to the fourth invention, in the invention described in the first to third inventions, the holding means further includes a weight measuring unit, and the control means holds the food when the holding means holds the food. The weight of the food is determined based on the calculated control parameter.
Furthermore, according to the fifth invention, in the invention described in the first to fourth inventions, the control means is configured to grip the food based on the acquisition result of the individual information acquisition means. It is characterized in that the contact position is controlled.
Furthermore, the sixth invention is a food gripping apparatus, wherein individual information acquiring means for acquiring individual information including the quality of the food with respect to the food to be gripped;
Grasping means for grasping the food to be grasped based on the individual information;
Position detection means for detecting the position of the movable member holding the food in the holding means;
And control means for controlling the movement of the movable member in the gripping means on the basis of the position information of the position detecting means.
Still further, according to a seventh invention, in the invention according to the sixth invention, the control means sets control energy to energy of speed or position and energy of force, which is set corresponding to the gripping operation of the food. It is characterized in that the operation in the holding means is controlled by performing the conversion to be assigned.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for more appropriately holding food of irregular shape and size.
Further, according to the invention of claim 2, an efficient gripping operation set corresponding to the gripping operation according to the invention of claim 1 can be performed.
Furthermore, in the invention of claim 3, by controlling the operation of the hand based on the data of the reference value set in advance, it becomes possible to perform the gripping operation adapted to the conditions of the food to be gripped.
Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 4, the weight of the food can be determined by the gripping operation of the hand, and the food can be transferred to the determined sorting destination of the food.
Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 5, the place to be gripped can be changed according to the quality of the food, and the food can be held more appropriately.
Furthermore, the invention of claim 6 can provide a technique for holding food more appropriately.
Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 7, an efficient gripping operation set corresponding to the gripping operation according to the invention of claim 7 becomes possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a hand unit 53. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the hand unit 53 rotated from the state of FIG. 2A. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control device 10. It is a schematic diagram which shows the concept of the control law in the holding | grip parameter determination part 16b. FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the flow of a fruit and vegetable sorting process performed in the fruit and vegetable transfer system 1; FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a fruit vegetable transfer system will be described with reference to the drawings.
According to the present invention, the system for transferring fruits and vegetables and the holding apparatus for fruits and vegetables according to the present invention shoots fruits to be sorted by a photographing device, and based on the photographed image, the size, shape and characteristics of individual fruits and vegetables And get quality information such as the presence or absence of raw injury) and weight. Then, when gripping vegetables by the gripping robot, the gripping operation of the vegetable gripping device is started with the reference value of the gripping operation set in advance as an initial value based on the acquired quality information of the fruit vegetables, and the vegetable gripping device When gripping a fruit vegetable, the Real Haptics was applied based on the information of the predetermined position in the fruit vegetable gripping device (for example, the positional information of the moving element of the actuator etc.) or the information of the force received by the fruit vegetable gripping device from the fruit vegetable Control position (or speed) and force.
As a result, it is possible to perform a gripping operation adapted to individual conditions such as the size, shape or surface condition of the fruit to be gripped, and it becomes possible to hold the fruit properly.
In the present embodiment, among the fruits and vegetables transported by the conveyor by the gripping robot, extraneous individuals are picked up for processing food, and those with rot are picked up and discarded for disposal, and also gripped. The case where the weight is determined and even an exceptional individual can not be used for processed food due to insufficient weight will be described as an example for the case of being excluded for disposal.

FIG. 1: is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 includes a control device 10, a carrier device 20, an illumination device 30, an imaging device 40, and a gripping robot (fruit vegetable gripping device) 50.
The control device 10 controls the entire fruit and vegetable transfer system 1. For example, the control device 10 is configured by an information processing device including an arithmetic processing device, a memory, a storage device, a communication interface, and the like, and realizes various functions in the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 by executing a program by the arithmetic processing device. . As an example, the control device 10 can be configured by an information processing device such as a programmable logic controller (PLC) or a personal computer (PC).
Specifically, the control device 10 controls the operation (drive, stop, conveyance speed, etc.) of the conveyance device 20, the on / off of the illumination device 30, and the photographing operation of the photographing device 40.

  Further, the control device 10 controls the sorting operation (transfer) of the fruits including the gripping operation of the gripping robot 50 by executing the fruit and vegetable sorting processing described later. At this time, the control device 10 performs the gripping operation of the fruit by controlling the position (or velocity) and the force to which the real haptics are applied based on the information of the predetermined position (or velocity) in the gripping robot 50. Control. The functional configuration realized in the control device 10 by executing the fruit and vegetable sorting process will be described later.

The transfer device 20 constitutes a conveyor for transferring the fruits and vegetables in multiple rows, and includes a transfer body 21, a passive pulley 22, a drive pulley 23, a transfer motor 24, and a brake plate 25.
The transport body 21 receives the supply of the fruits and vegetables to be sorted, passes the photographing area by the photographing device 40, and then conveys the fruits and vegetables to the pickup area by the holding robot 50.

  The conveyance body 21 in the present embodiment includes a plurality of rotation rollers 21 a arranged so that the rotation axes are parallel, and has a ring structure in which the plurality of rotation rollers 21 a are installed over the entire circumference. There is. In the transport body 21, the plurality of rotary rollers 21a are rotatably held at both ends by an annular chain or belt. The plurality of rotating rollers 21a are disposed at an arrangement interval in which the fruits to be sorted do not fall from the gap, and in the present embodiment, the interval of the plurality of rotating rollers 21a is about several centimeters.

Further, the transport body 21 is wound around the passive pulley 22 and the drive pulley 23, and the rotation shaft of the drive pulley 23 is connected to the rotation shaft of the transport motor 24 by a belt member.
Therefore, when the transport motor 24 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the drive pulley 23, and the transport body 21 wound around the drive pulley 23 circulates with the passive pulley 22 to continuously transport. Do the action.

  The brake plate 25 is installed at a specific position (position to rotate the transported vegetables) in the passage area of the transport body 21 and on the lower surface side (the back surface side with respect to the mounting surface of the vegetables) of the plurality of rotating rollers 21a. The friction is generated with the surface (cylindrical surface) of each rotating roller 21a. That is, when the transport body 21 carries out the transport operation, the rotating roller 21a in contact with the brake plate 25 is driven to rotate by the friction with the brake plate 25, and by this rotation, the area where the brake plate 25 is installed An action occurs to rotate the fruit that passes through the Hereinafter, the area in which the brake plate 25 is installed will be referred to as "rotational area" as appropriate. In addition, except the area | region in which the brake board 25 was installed, the rotation roller 21a moves in the state which mounted the vegetables, without rotating substantially. Hereinafter, areas other than the area where the brake plate 25 is installed will be referred to as “non-rotational area” as appropriate.

  The lighting device 30 includes a visible light lamp that emits visible light and an ultraviolet light lamp that emits ultraviolet light, and according to the control of the control device 10, the fruit that is conveyed is irradiated with visible light and ultraviolet light. In the present embodiment, the lighting devices 30 are respectively provided upstream and downstream of the photographing device 40 in the direction of transporting fruits and vegetables.

The photographing device 40 is configured of a digital camera capable of photographing a visible light image and an ultraviolet light image, and photographs the visible light image and the ultraviolet light image respectively according to the control of the control device 10. The visible light image is mainly used to recognize the position, size and shape of the fruit vegetables, and the ultraviolet light image is mainly for detecting the characteristics of the fruit vegetables (such as detection of spoilage on the surface or inside, and detection of a bruise) Used for
In addition, since the shape, size, and surface / internal state of the fruit to be conveyed are recognized based on the image photographed by the photographing device 40, the control device 10 can track the fruit to be conveyed at a time interval Control the photographing device 40 so as to take a picture. As an example, it is possible to alternately capture a visible light image and an ultraviolet light image at intervals of 1/30 seconds by the imaging device 40.

  The gripping robot 50 is provided with a 3-axis parallel link robot (delta-type articulated robot). In the present embodiment, two gripping robots 50 are installed, and these two gripping robots 50 share the task of sorting fruits and vegetables. In addition, as long as the gripping robot 50 can pick up fruits and vegetables, robots of other types such as a 6-axis parallel link robot and a vertical articulated robot can be adopted.

Specifically, the gripping robot 50 is installed at three arms 51a to 51c extending from the housing 50a, telescopic motors 52a to 52c for controlling expansion and contraction of the arms 51a to 51c, and tips of the arms 51a to 51c. The hand unit 53 and the rotation motor 54 for rotating the hand unit 53 in the horizontal direction are provided.
FIG. 2A is a schematic view showing the configuration of the hand unit 53. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the hand unit 53 is configured as a tool for gripping fruits and vegetables, and movable members 53a to 53c that contact the fruits to produce a holding action, and opening and closing for controlling the opening and closing of the movable members 53a to 53c. A motor 53 d and a vertical motor 53 e for moving the hand unit 53 in the vertical direction are provided.

In the present embodiment, the extension / contraction motors 52 a to 52 c of the gripping robot 50, the opening / closing motor 53 d of the hand unit 53, the vertical motor 53 e and the rotation motor 54 operate according to the control of the control device 10.
For example, the telescopic motors 52a to 52c control the telescopic movement of the arms 51a to 51c so that the hand unit 53 moves to the position of the object to be gripped according to the control of the control device 10.

Further, the open / close motor 53d opens / closes the movable members 53a to 53c so that the movable members 53a to 53c become the open / close position and the contact force based on the real haptics according to the object to be gripped under the control of the control device 10. Control the operation. In the present embodiment, the opening and closing motor 53d includes a position detection sensor 53d-1 that detects the rotational position of the motor rotation shaft. The detection result of the position detection sensor 53d-1 is information indicating the open / close position of the movable members 53a to 53d, and is used as an input (input of a grip parameter determination unit 16b described later) in a fruit vegetable sorting process described later. In addition, initial values (position and force) of the gripping operation of the movable members 53a to 53c are values according to the quality such as the size and characteristics of fruits and vegetables according to the analysis result of the visible light image and the ultraviolet light image Is set to the reference value data). Then, after the hand unit 53 grips the fruit to be gripped (after the start of the gripping operation), the control device 10 sequentially calculates the rotational position and the rotational torque of the motor rotation shaft in the opening / closing motor 53 d The open / close positions and contact forces of 53a to 53c are controlled.
As a result, the hand unit 53 in the present embodiment can perform the gripping operation adapted to individual conditions such as the size, shape, and softness of the fruit to be gripped.

  Further, the vertical motor 53e is provided with a position detection sensor 53e-1, and is controlled to keep the distance between the rotation motor 54 and the movable members 53a to 53c constant under the control of the control device 10. Furthermore, the vertical motor 53e performs weight control by performing control based on real haptics (control of at least one of position (or velocity) and / or force in the lifting operation of the hand unit 53) according to the weight of the fruit to be gripped. Can be measured. That is, the weight of the holding fruit can be detected based on the drive current or the like flowing when the vertical motor 53e holds the fruit. Moreover, it can be determined from the load of the vertical motor 53e, the detection result of the position detection sensor 53e-1, etc. that the hand unit 53 is in contact with an object (fruit and the like) in the vertical direction.

The rotation motor 54 changes the positions of the movable members 53a to 53c with respect to the object to be gripped by rotating the hand unit 53 in the horizontal direction.
FIG. 2B is a schematic view showing a state in which the hand unit 53 is rotated from the state of FIG. 2A.
As shown in FIG. 2B, when the hand unit 53 rotates with respect to the fruit vegetables from the state of FIG. 2A, the possibility of the movable members 53a to 53c coming into contact with the rotten parts of the fruit vegetables can be reduced, and the movable members 53a to 53c. Can inhibit the attachment of fragments of rotten parts.
In addition, when gripping the fruits to be gripped from the densely flowing fruits, by positioning the movable members 53a to 53c in the gaps between the fruits, the movable members 53a to 53c are prevented from coming into contact with the surrounding fruits. be able to.

[Functional configuration]
Next, the functional configuration of the control device 10 in the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the control device 10. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 10 executes the fruit and vegetable sorting process to obtain an image acquisition unit 11, an image analysis unit 12, an item determination unit 13, a fruit and vegetable identification unit 14, and a robot as functional components. A control unit 15, a hand unit control unit 16, a weight determination unit 17, a transport control unit 18, and a control data storage unit 19 are formed.

The image acquisition unit 11 outputs, to the imaging device 40, an imaging instruction for imaging the visible light image and the ultraviolet light image alternately, and acquires the captured visible light image and the ultraviolet light image.
The image analysis unit 12 analyzes the visible light image (object recognition, color detection, etc.) to recognize the position where the fruits are distributed on the carrier 21, the size, color, injury, and shape of the fruits. . In addition, the image analysis unit 12 analyzes the ultraviolet light image (brightness detection and the like) to recognize the presence or absence of rotten portions such as water rot and the like of the fruit vegetables. In the present embodiment, when recognizing the size, color, injury, and shape of the fruit vegetables, the image analysis unit 12 refers to the visible light image of the rotation area in the transport device 20, and rots such as water rot of the fruit vegetables In the case of recognizing the detection of a raw injury or the like, the ultraviolet light image of the rotation area in the transfer device 20 is referred to. Further, the image analysis unit 12 individually tracks each of the fruits by correlating each of the fruits and vegetables captured in the visible light image of the rotation area of the transport device 20 with each of the fruits and vegetables photographed in the ultraviolet light image. Then, the image analysis unit 12 refers to the visible light image of the non-rotation area in the conveyance device 20 (an image in a state in which the rotation of the fruit has been stopped), and recognizes the position of each fruit being conveyed to the pickup area. As a result, the size, shape, and characteristics (such as color and degree of injury, presence or absence of spoilage and live injury, etc.) of individual fruits and vegetables are recognized. Furthermore, the image analysis unit 12 stores these recognition results (position and quality) as individual information.

  The item determination unit 13 determines, based on the analysis result of the image analysis unit 12, an evaluation item of a fruit based on a standard. The items determined by the item determination unit 13 include the size and shape of the fruit vegetables (classification of the size and shape in the standard), the characteristics of the fruit vegetables (color, degree of injury, presence or absence of rotten parts and raw injuries), Items related to quality such as weight are included. In the present embodiment, the weight of fruits and vegetables is determined by a weight determination unit 17 described later.

  The fruit and vegetable identification unit 14 assigns fruits and vegetables to be picked up to the respective holding robots 50, and specifies fruits and vegetables to be picked up by the respective holding robots 50. Specifically, the fruit and vegetable identification unit 14 sequentially specifies the position of the fruit and vegetables to be picked up and sorted by each of the two gripping robots 50 in each of the fruit and vegetables that are transported to the pickup region by the carrier 21. The position of fruits and vegetables in the pick-up area can be specified by taking into consideration the transport speed of the transfer device 20 based on the position of fruits and vegetables in the non-rotational area recognized by the image analysis unit 12. In this embodiment, among the fruits and vegetables which are transported to the pickup area by the transport body 21, only extraneous individuals and rotten individuals are picked up by the gripping robot and excluded, and the work place installed on the downstream side Transport the fruits and vegetables to the workplace etc.)

  The robot control unit 15 outputs drive signals of the extension motors 52a to 52c for controlling the extension and contraction of the arms 51a to 51c, whereby the hand unit of the gripping robot 50 is located at the position of each fruit specified by the fruit specifying unit 14 Move 53. Further, the robot control unit 15 vertically outputs the hand unit 53 by outputting a drive signal of the vertical motor 53e according to control of at least one of position (or velocity) in the vertical direction based on real haptics and / or force. Move it. In this case, the robot control unit 15 receives the current position of the rotation axis of the vertical motor 53e (or the current position corresponding to the rotation axis, such as the current position in the vertical direction of the hand unit 53) as an input. A parameter representing the operation of the vertical motor 53e is determined by performing an operation (for example, an operation according to the equations (1) and (2) described later) in at least one of the regions. In addition, the robot control unit 15 selects the destination of the fruits based on the result of the judgment of the evaluation item of the fruits and vegetables by the item judgment unit 13 and the result of the judgment of the weight of the fruits and vegetables by the weight judgment unit 17 ), And transfer the fruits to the selected fruits. In addition, in this embodiment, the storage box corresponding to the sorting destination of fruits and vegetables is installed in the side of the pickup area | region in the conveying apparatus 20. As shown in FIG.

The hand unit control unit 16 performs a gripping operation adapted to individual conditions such as the size, shape, or softness of the fruit to be gripped.
Specifically, the hand unit control unit 16 includes a rotation motor drive unit 16a, a grip parameter determination unit 16b, an open / close motor drive unit 16c, a movable member position acquisition unit 16d, and a grip success / failure determination unit 16e. And have.

  The rotation motor drive unit 16a controls the drive of the rotation motor 54 in the gripping operation of the fruits and vegetables. Specifically, based on the analysis result of the quality of the fruits and vegetables (the rotted portion such as water rot and the presence or absence of a live injury) by the image analysis unit 12, the rotation motor drive unit 16a has movable members 53a to 53c in the hand unit 53. The hand unit 53 is rotated in the horizontal direction so as not to contact the rotten portion or the position of the raw injury of the fruit to be gripped. The rotation motor drive unit 16a rotates the hand unit 53 in the horizontal direction so that the movable members 53a to 53c from the position of the fruit vegetable by the image analysis unit 12 do not contact the surrounding fruit vegetable.

  The grip parameter determination unit 16b receives at least the position (or speed) or the force using as input the current position of the rotation axis of the open / close motor 53d (or the current position corresponding to the rotation axis such as the current position of the movable members 53a to 53c). By performing the calculation in one of the regions, a parameter representing the operation of the open / close motor 53d is determined. At the start of the gripping operation, the gripping parameter determining unit 16b reads out and reads the reference value of the gripping operation stored in the control data storage unit 19 based on the quality of fruits and vegetables recognized by the image analyzing unit 12. The position and force (rotational torque) of the rotation shaft of the opening and closing motor 53d are controlled with the reference value as an initial value.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the concept of the control rule in the gripping parameter determination unit 16b by the real haptics technique.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control rule in the grip parameter determination unit 16b is the opening / closing motor 53d (control target system), the force / speed assignment conversion block 110, the ideal force source block 120 or the ideal speed (position) source block It is expressed as a control law including at least one of 130 and an inverse transformation block 140.

  The force / speed assignment conversion block 110 defines coordinate conversion using as input a value (reference value) serving as a reference of the operation of the opening / closing motor 53 d and the current position of the rotation axis of the opening / closing motor 53 d. This coordinate transformation converts an input vector having a reference value and the current velocity (or position) into an output vector consisting of a velocity (or position) for calculating a control target value of velocity (or position), and a reference An input vector having a value and a current force as an element is converted into an output vector consisting of forces for calculating a control target value of the force. Specifically, coordinate conversion in the force / velocity allocation conversion block 110 is expressed as the following equations (1) and (2).

dX2 = [H] · dX1 (1)
F2 = [H] · F1 (2)

However, in the equation (1), d is an operator representing a first-order derivative, dX2 is a velocity vector for deriving a state value of velocity, dX1 is a velocity based on the reference value and the action of the switching motor 53d (for switching A vector whose element is the speed of the rotation axis of the motor 53d or the speed of a portion corresponding to the rotation axis of the open / close motor 53d, such as the movable members 53a to 53c, and H is a transformation matrix representing a gripping function. Further, in equation (2), d ² F 2 (where d ² is an operator representing the second derivative) is a force vector for deriving a state value of force, d ² F 1 is a reference value and the action of the motor 53 d for opening and closing Is a vector whose element is a force based on (a rotational torque of a rotation shaft of the opening / closing motor 53d or a force of a portion corresponding to the rotation shaft of the opening / closing motor 53d such as the movable members 53a to 53c).

  The ideal force source block 120 is a block that performs operations in the area of force in accordance with the coordinate transformation defined by the force / velocity assignment transformation block 110. In the ideal force source block 120, a target value regarding a force when performing an operation based on the coordinate transformation defined by the function-based force / velocity assignment transformation block 110 is set. This target value is set as a fixed value or a variable value corresponding to the gripping function to be gripped in accordance with the individual conditions of the fruit to be gripped.

  The ideal velocity (position) source block 130 is a block that performs operations in the region of velocity (position) in accordance with the coordinate transformation defined by the force / velocity assignment transformation block 110. In the ideal velocity (position) source block 130, a target value regarding the velocity (position) when performing an operation based on the coordinate transformation defined by the force / velocity assignment transformation block 110 is set. This target value is set as a fixed value or a variable value corresponding to the gripping function to be gripped in accordance with the individual conditions of the fruit to be gripped.

The inverse conversion block 140 is a block for converting the values of the velocity (position) and force regions into values (for example, voltage values or current values) of the input region to the switching motor 53d.
Thereby, when the information on the position in the opening / closing motor 53d is input to the force / velocity assignment conversion block 110, the force / velocity assignment conversion is performed using the information on the velocity (position) and force obtained based on the position information. At block 110, the control laws of the position and the force area respectively corresponding to the gripping function to be adapted to the specific condition of the fruit to be gripped and gripping are applied. Then, calculation of force according to the function is performed in the ideal force source block 120, calculation of speed (position) according to the function is performed in the ideal velocity (position) source block 130, and force and speed (position) are calculated. Control energy is distributed to each.

The calculation results in the ideal force source block 120 and the ideal speed (position) source block 130 become information indicating the control target of the opening / closing motor 53d, and these calculation results are taken as input values of the opening / closing motor 53d in the inverse conversion block 140. Ru.
As a result, the open / close motor 53d executes an operation according to the function defined by the force / velocity assignment conversion block 110 (gripping function adapted to the specific conditions of the fruit to be gripped and gripped), and the target hand unit 53 gripping operations are realized. That is, the gripping robot 50 performs the gripping operation based on the real haptics according to the equations (1) and (2), and conforms to individual conditions such as size, shape or surface / internal state of the fruit to be gripped The gripping operation is realized.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the opening / closing motor drive unit 16 c controls the driving of the opening / closing motor 53 d in the gripping operation of the fruits and vegetables. For example, the open / close motor drive unit 16c performs control using a parameter representing a preset gripping operation as an initial value of control in the gripping operation, and after the start of the gripping operation, it is determined by the gripping parameter determination unit 16b. The control is performed using the parameters (parameters sequentially calculated based on the above control rule).

  The movable member position acquisition unit 16d acquires the current position of the rotary shaft of the opening / closing motor 53d (or the current position corresponding to the rotary shaft such as the current position of the movable members 53a to 53c) from the position detection sensor 53d-1. The current position of the rotary shaft of the opening and closing motor 53d can be obtained, for example, by a rotary encoder or the like. Moreover, when acquiring the present position of movable member 53a-53c, it can acquire with the encoder etc. which detect the position of the edge part of movable member 53a-53c. It is also possible to estimate the position from the electrical characteristics of the motor without using a sensor such as an encoder.

  The gripping success / failure determination unit 16e determines whether or not actual gripping of the fruit that the hand unit 53 has made a gripping target has succeeded. The determination result is stored as a part of data of the result of the sorting operation in the fruit vegetable transfer system 1, or the correction of the algorithm (for example, the equation for determining the parameter representing the operation of the open / close motor 53d) It can be used for the correction of the elements of the transformation matrix H in (1) and (2). If the gripping is successful, the gripping robot 50 transfers the fruits and vegetables to a predetermined storage box.

  The weight determination unit 17 determines the weight of the fruit that the hand unit 53 holds. In the present embodiment, the weight determination unit 17 is similar to the schematic diagram showing the concept of the control law shown in FIG. Position) At least one of the source block 130 and the inverse transformation block 140, from the parameters of the position and force obtained from the vertical motor 53e (position detection sensor 53e-1) by the above-described real haptics technique, Determine the weight of the fruit you are holding. As a result of the weight determination unit 17 determining the weight of the fruit vegetables, all the judgments of the judgment items of the standard such as the size, shape, characteristics and weight of the fruit vegetables are completed, and the sorting destination of the held fruit vegetables is decided. The weight determination unit 17 stores the determined weight in the individual information.

  The conveyance control unit 18 controls the conveyance of the fruits and vegetables in the conveyance device 20 by controlling the rotation speed and the rotation torque of the conveyance motor 24. Further, the transport control unit 18 is configured such that the pace of sorting of vegetables by the gripping robot 50 is a transport device based on the number of fruits and vegetables transported to the pick-up area of the gripping robot 50 and the number of fruits and vegetables sorted by the gripping robot 50 It is judged whether it is under the pace of conveyance of fruit vegetables by 20 or not. Then, when the transfer control unit 18 determines that the pace of sorting of fruits and vegetables by the gripping robot 50 is lower than the pace of transfer of fruits and vegetables by the transfer device 20, the transfer device 20 is temporarily stopped (or the speed is reduced). Let

  The control data storage unit 19 includes data preset for performing the fruit vegetable sorting process (a parameter representing a reference value of the gripping operation set in advance), and various data (gripping done by the fruit vegetable sorting process) The parameters etc. determined by the parameter determination unit 16 b are stored. In the present embodiment, as parameters representing the reference value of the gripping operation, values in which the size of the fruit vegetables and the characteristics of the fruit vegetables are classified into a plurality of stages are prepared. For example, with respect to the size of fruits and vegetables, reference values of positions corresponding to S size, M size, and L size are set in advance. Similarly, with respect to the characteristics of fruits and vegetables, reference values of the strength corresponding to each of the non-defective product (without rotten portion) and the non-defective product (with rotable portion) are set in advance. The gripping parameter determination unit 16b reads the parameter of the reference value stored in the control data storage unit 19 as an initial value according to the size and characteristics of the fruit and vegetables determined by the item determination unit 13 and starts the gripping operation .

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the fruit-plant transfer system 1 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the fruit and vegetable sorting process performed in the fruit and vegetable transfer system 1.
The fruit and vegetable sorting process is started in response to the operation of instructing the execution of the fruit and vegetable sorting process in the control device 10.

In step S1, the image acquisition unit 11 outputs an imaging instruction for imaging the visible light image and the ultraviolet light image alternately to the imaging device 40, and acquires the captured visible light image and the ultraviolet light image.
In step S2, the image analysis unit 12 analyzes the visible light image (object recognition, color detection, etc.) to detect the position at which the fruit is distributed on the transport body 21, the size of the fruit, color, injury, and the like. Recognize the shape.

In step S3, the image analysis unit 12 analyzes the ultraviolet light image (brightness detection and the like) to recognize the presence or absence of a rotten part such as water rot and the like of a fruit vegetable.
In step S4, the item determination unit 13 determines the evaluation item of the fruit based on the standard based on the analysis result of the image analysis unit 12. The items to be determined at this time include the size and shape of the fruit vegetables (classification of the size and shape in the standard), and the characteristics of the fruit vegetables (color, degree of injury, presence or absence of rotten parts and raw injuries).

  In step S5, the fruit and vegetable identification unit 14 assigns the fruit and vegetables to be picked up to each holding robot 50, and specifies the fruits and vegetables to be picked up by each holding robot 50. At this time, the fruit and vegetable identification unit 14 specifies the position of the fruit and vegetable to be picked up and sorted by each of the two gripping robots 50 in each fruit and vegetable conveyed to the pickup area by the carrier 21.

In step S6, the robot control unit 15 holds the robot at the position of each fruit identified by the fruit identification unit 14 by outputting drive signals of the extension motors 52a to 52c that control extension and contraction of the arms 51a to 51c. 50 hand units 53 are moved. Further, the robot control unit 15 vertically outputs the hand unit 53 by outputting a drive signal of the vertical motor 53e according to control of at least one of position (or velocity) in the vertical direction based on real haptics and / or force. Move it.
In step S7, the hand unit control unit 16 performs a gripping operation adapted to individual conditions such as the size, shape or softness of the fruit to be gripped. At this time, the hand unit control unit 16 implements a gripping function of gripping and meeting the individual conditions of the fruit to be gripped in accordance with the control rule shown in FIG. 4.

In step S8, the hand unit control unit 16 (gripping success / failure determination unit 16e) determines whether the actual gripping of the fruit that the hand unit 53 has made a gripping target has succeeded.
If the hand unit 53 succeeds in actually gripping the fruit to be gripped, YES is determined in step S8, and the process proceeds to step S9.
On the other hand, when the hand unit 53 has not succeeded in actually gripping the fruit to be gripped, NO is determined in step S8, and the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S9, the weight determination unit 17 determines the weight of the fruit that the hand unit 53 grips.
In step S10, the robot control unit 15 selects the fruits selected based on the judgment result of the evaluation item of the fruit by the item judgment unit 13 and the judgment result of the weight of the fruit by the weight judgment unit 17 Etc.), and transfer the fruits to the selected fruits.

In step S11, the transport control unit 18 determines the pace of sorting of the fruits and vegetables by the gripping robot 50 based on the number of fruits and vegetables transported to the pick-up area of the gripping robot 50 and the number of fruits and vegetables sorted by the gripping robot 50. It is determined whether it is below the pace of conveyance of fruits and vegetables by the conveyance apparatus 20.
If the pace of sorting of the fruits and vegetables by the gripping robot 50 is lower than the pace of conveyance of the fruits and vegetables by the conveyance device 20, YES is determined in step S11, and the process proceeds to step S12.
On the other hand, when the pace of sorting of the fruits and vegetables by the gripping robot 50 is not less than the pace of conveyance of the fruits and vegetables by the conveyance device 20, NO is determined in step S11, and the process proceeds to step S1.

In step S12, the transport control unit 18 temporarily stops the transport device 20 (or reduces the speed).
After step S12, the fruit and vegetable sorting process is repeated until an operation for instructing the end of the fruit and vegetable sorting process is performed in the control device 10.

As described above, in the fruit vegetable transfer system 1 according to the present embodiment, information (quality information) regarding the quality such as the size, shape, or characteristics of the fruit vegetables transported by the transport device 20 is photographed by the imaging device 40 Analyze based on images etc. Then, the gripping robot 50 performs gripping operation adapted to individual conditions such as the size, shape or surface state of the fruit to be gripped by control based on real haptics.
Therefore, in the fruit vegetable transfer system 1, it is possible to more reliably hold fruits and vegetables of irregular shape and size. Moreover, even if it is a weak fruit vegetable, it can be hold | maintained by the holding force according to the softness of fruit vegetables, without damaging the surface.
Therefore, according to the fruit vegetable transfer system 1, it becomes possible to hold fruit vegetables appropriately.

Further, since the gripping robot 50 outputs the gripping force according to the individual fruit vegetables without using a force sensor, the gripping force is determined promptly without being influenced by the convergence of the vibration when gripping the fruit vegetables, etc. It is then possible to transport fruits and vegetables. In addition, in order to assist control based on real haptics in the present embodiment, a force sensor may be provided.
Further, at the start of the gripping operation, the gripping parameter determining unit 16 b is a reference value of the gripping operation stored in the control data storage unit 19 based on the size of the fruit and the characteristics of the fruit recognized by the image analyzing unit 12 Is read out, and the position and force (rotational torque) of the rotation shaft of the motor 53 d for opening and closing are controlled with the read out reference value as an initial value.
Therefore, the fruit can be transferred with a more appropriate gripping force regardless of the fruit to be gripped. For example, even with extremely soft fruits and vegetables due to rot and overripening, etc., it is possible to realize an appropriate gripping operation without crushing or disintegrating the fruits.
Furthermore, even if the posture of the fruit is changed while the fruit is being transferred, the hand unit 53 can be operated to maintain the gripping force and the gripping can be continued without dropping the fruit.

The present invention can be appropriately modified or improved as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the fruit-plant transfer system 1 picks up extra individuals and rotten individuals from among the fruits carried by the conveyor and removes them by the gripping robot, and packs them according to the specification of fruits. Although the case of transporting fruits and vegetables to the work place (work place etc. which selects the individual used as goods) installed in the lower stream side was mentioned as an example and explained, it is not restricted to this.
That is, among the fruits and vegetables transferred by the conveyor, the fruit and vegetables transfer system 1 picks up and removes extraneous individuals and rotten individuals by the gripping robot 50, and grips the individual to be a commodity to measure the weight. Alternatively, they may be boxed directly for each equal rank. In this case, the processing line in the fruit-plant transfer system 1 can be simplified.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although fruit vegetables are directly put on the conveyance apparatus and conveyed, the fruit vegetables accommodated in the container are conveyed, the object object is directly grasped, it sorts according to a standard, and is packed You may do it.
In addition, the gripping robot 50 may perform an operation of gripping and boxing fruits and vegetables sorted according to the specifications in advance by the fruit collecting machine.

  In the above-mentioned embodiment, although it explained as installing two grasping robots 50, it is not restricted to this. That is, it is possible to install more gripping robots 50 or sort fruits by one gripping robot 50 in consideration of the number of fruits to be sorted, the necessary sorting pace and the like.

  Further, in the embodiment described above, the specific form of the hand unit 53 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and various configurations can be made. For example, the movable members 53a to 53c in the hand unit 53 can have various shapes. As an example, the tips of the movable members 53a to 53c may be bent inward to make it easier to hold fruits and vegetables.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the conversion matrix in the equations (1) and (2) can be changed according to the purpose, and by changing this conversion matrix, the motor for opening and closing determined by the gripping parameter determination unit 16b Parameters representing the operation of 53 d can be easily changed. That is, by changing the transformation matrix, outputting parameters representing an operation according to the purpose, such as a state in which the movable members 53a to 53c generate a gripping force by elastic force or a state in which a constant gripping force is maintained. Is possible.

Moreover, although the case where the imaging device 40 image | photographs a visible light image and an ultraviolet light image was mentioned as the example and demonstrated in the above-mentioned embodiment, it is not restricted to this. That is, if it is a method that can recognize the quality such as appearance and characteristics of fruits and vegetables, for example, by irradiating laser light, an image (shape data) representing the shape of fruits and three-dimensional data representing overlap between fruits and vegetables are acquired Alternatively, it is possible to use a method of acquiring various data related to fruits such as obtaining sugar content of fruits and vegetables by infrared rays.
Furthermore, although the operation and transfer destination of the open / close motor 53d are determined using a plurality of quality information in the above embodiment, at least one of the quality information may be used according to the purpose.

In addition, the present invention can be implemented by appropriately combining the examples described in the above embodiments.
The processing for control in the above-described embodiment can be performed by either hardware or software.
That is, the fruit transfer system 1 only needs to have a function capable of executing the above-mentioned processing, and what kind of functional configuration and hardware configuration to realize this function is not limited to the above example.

  Furthermore, although this embodiment was demonstrated in the fruit-fruit holding | gripping apparatus, it can apply also to the foodstuff holding | gripping apparatus which handles an irregular-shaped foodstuff.

  The above embodiment shows an example to which the present invention is applied, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. That is, various changes such as omissions and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, and various embodiments other than the above-described embodiments can be taken. Various embodiments which can be taken by the present invention and the modifications thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 fruit and vegetables transfer system, 10 control apparatus, 11 image acquisition part, 12 image analysis part, 13 item determination part, 14 fruit and vegetable identification part, 15 robot control part, 16 hand unit control part, 16a motor drive part for rotation, 16b grip Parameter determination unit, 16c motor drive unit for opening and closing, 16d movable member position acquisition unit, 16e gripping success / failure determination unit, 17 weight determination unit, 18 transport control unit, 19 control data storage unit, 20 transport device, 21 transport body, 21a rotation roller, 22 passive pulley, 23 drive pulley, 24 transport motor, 25 brake plate, 30 illumination device, 40 photographing device, 50 gripping robot (moving mechanism), 50a case, 51a to 51c arm, 52a to 52c expansion and contraction Motor, 53 hand unit, 53a to 53c movable member, 53a to 53c Movable member, 53d opening / closing motor, 53d-1, 53e-1 position detection sensor, 53e vertical motor, 54 rotation motor, 110 force / speed allocation conversion block, 120 ideal force source block, 130 ideal speed (position) source block , 140 inverse transformation block

Claims (7)

Transport means for transporting food;
Data acquisition means for acquiring data relating to the food conveyed by the conveyance means;
An individual information acquisition unit that acquires individual information including at least one of the position and the quality of the food based on the acquisition result of the data acquisition unit;
Grasping means for grasping the food to be grasped based on the individual information;
Position detection means for detecting the position of the movable member holding the food in the holding means;
A moving mechanism for moving the gripping means to a predetermined position;
Control means for controlling the movement of the movable member in the holding means based on the position information of the position detection means;
A food transfer system comprising:   The control means controls the operation of the gripping means by performing conversion which assigns control energy to energy of speed or position and energy of force, which is set corresponding to the gripping action of the food. The food transfer system according to claim 1. Storage means for storing a plurality of setting values for the quality of the food;
The control means reads the setting value corresponding to the quality of the food to be gripped from the setting values stored in the storage means based on the acquisition result of the individual information acquisition means, and the setting value The food transfer system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an operation in the gripping means is controlled on the basis of. The gripping means further comprises a weight measuring unit,
The food according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control means determines the weight of the food based on a parameter calculated when the weight measuring unit grips the food. Transfer system.   The said control means controls the contact position at the time of the said holding | grip means hold | gripping the said foodstuff based on the acquisition result of the said individual information acquisition means, The any one of Claim 1 to 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Food transfer system. An individual information acquisition unit for acquiring individual information including the quality of the food to be gripped;
Grasping means for grasping the food to be grasped based on the individual information;
Position detection means for detecting the position of the movable member holding the food in the holding means;
Control means for controlling the movement of the movable member in the holding means based on the position information of the position detection means;
A food gripping device comprising:   The control means controls the operation of the gripping means by performing conversion which assigns control energy to energy of speed or position and energy of force, which is set corresponding to the gripping action of the food. The food gripping device according to claim 6, wherein

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