JP2024050513A - GRASPING SYSTEM AND MOTION CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To more appropriately perform the task of gripping an object using a robot. [Solution] A gripping system includes an attachment/detachment mechanism and a control means. The attachment/detachment mechanism includes a first coupling member having a rod and a second coupling member having an insertion hole, and the first coupling member and the second coupling member can be detached by inserting the rod into the insertion hole. The control means controls the operation of the robot arm such that, in a state in which the robot arm and the gripping member are connected using the attachment/detachment mechanism, the gripping member moves in a direction different from the direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole. [Selected Figure] Figure 8

Description

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (1) Released at Bellesalle Iidabashi First on March 28, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (2) Released at MaxValu Tokai Nagaizumi Distribution Center on February 24, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (3) Published on January 19, 2022 at https://connected-robotics.com/2022/01/19/hcj2022/

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act has been filed. (4) Published on January 19, 2022 at https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000039.000031342.html

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (5) Unveiled at the International Hotel & Restaurant Show 2022 on February 15, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (6) Published on February 15, 2022 on TV Tokyo's World Business Satellite

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (7) Published on February 28, 2022 at https://robotstart.info/2022/02/28/moriyama_mikata-no146.html

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (8) Published in the April 2022 issue (No. 140) of POTATO CULTURE on March 15, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (9) Published on March 22, 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2qFYK0DN4M

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (10) Unveiled at FOOMA JAPAN 2022 (International Food Industry Exhibition) on June 7, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (11) Published on April 25, 2022 at https://www. nb-shinbun. co. jp/challenge/64/

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (12) Published on May 11, 2022 by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) on Oha Biz

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (13) Published in the Japan Logistics Newspaper on May 25, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (14) Published in the June 8, 2022 issue of the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (15) Published on June 9, 2022 at https://www.businessinsider.jp/post-255224

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (16) Published on June 11, 2022 on TBS Television's Information 7DAYS

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (17) Published on July 4, 2022 at https://xtech.nikkei.com/atcl/nxt/column/18/00138/070101076/

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (18) Published on July 8, 2022 at https://xtech.nikkei.com/atcl/nxt/mag/rob/18/00004/00073/

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (19) Published on July 10, 2022, in Nikkei Robotics August 2022 issue (No. 85), pages 14-20, by Nikkei BP Co., Ltd.

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (20) Revealed at the Deli Japan (SDJ) - Deli Manufacturing Automation and Equipment Exhibition on September 28, 2022

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (21) Published on August 29, 2022 at https://connected-robotics.com/2022/08/29/sdi/

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (22) Published on August 29, 2022 at https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000050.000031342.html

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (23) Published in the September 27, 2022 issue of the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (24) Published on September 7, 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OHHEAIvr7I

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (25) Published on June 1, 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-EPw_mWAbc

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (26) Published on June 10, 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAC_wIf0VVM

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act filed (27) Published on June 15, 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvgexqZqO8w

The present invention relates to a gripping system and a motion control method.

In recent years, robots equipped with a gripping function have been used to perform various tasks. For example, when a robot is used to arrange food in a lunch box, the robot grasps a predetermined amount of ingredients stored in a container such as a tray, transports the ingredients to a specified area on the lunch box, and releases them to arrange the food in the lunch box.
Such a technology relating to a plating robot is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-233696.

JP 2021-30407 A

When such a robot is used for grasping, for example, a grasping member may be detachable from a robot arm of the robot by a mechanism for attachment and detachment. In this case, there is a problem that is obvious to those skilled in the art that the grasping member may be unintentionally detached if an unexpected force acts on the grasping member.
As described above, in the conventional technology, there is still room for improvement in order to properly perform the task of gripping an object by a robot.

The objective of the present invention is to enable a robot to more appropriately grasp an object.

In order to solve the above problem, a gripping system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises:
a detachment mechanism including a first coupling member having a rod and a second coupling member having an insertion hole, the first coupling member and the second coupling member being detachable by inserting the rod into the insertion hole;
a control means for controlling an operation of the robot arm such that, in a state in which the robot arm and the gripping member are connected by the detachment mechanism, the gripping member moves in a direction different from a direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole;
The present invention is characterized by comprising:

The present invention allows a robot to more appropriately grasp an object.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a plurality of gripping systems 1 according to the present invention are arranged. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the gripping system 1 according to the present invention. 3A to 3C are schematic diagrams showing examples of the shape of a gripping member 31a installed at the tip of a hand 31. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the opening and closing of a pair of gripping members 31a. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware configuration of a control device 40. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a control device 40. 1 is a view of the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage section 10 viewed vertically from above. 10A to 10C are diagrams showing the positional relationships between the storage space 10A, the hand 31, the gripping member 31a, the robot arm 32, and the ingredients when performing each operation. 1A to 1C are schematic diagrams illustrating a concept of a series of operations in a gripping operation. 1A to 1C are schematic diagrams illustrating a concept of a series of operations in a removal operation. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the state of ingredients in storage space 10A. FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating the concept of a leveling operation. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the concept of a scraping operation. 10A to 10C are schematic diagrams showing an example of a gripping operation by a hand 31. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of an ingredient portioning process executed by the gripping system 1. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of an ingredient portioning process executed by the gripping system 1. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a removal operation when an object other than a storage material is set as a target. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a removal operation when an object other than a storage material is set as a target. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a removal operation when an object other than a storage material is set as a target. FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a leveling operation.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Embodiment]
[composition]
1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing the overall configuration of a gripping system 1 according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is an oblique view showing a state in which multiple gripping systems 1 are arranged, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged oblique view of the main parts of the gripping system 1.
The gripping system 1 in this embodiment is intended to be applied to a gripping system that separates ingredients. In the following description, an example is given in which the gripping system 1 grips ingredients such as prepared foods to be served in a lunch box as ingredients and separates the ingredients into lunch box containers. In the following description, weight is used as an example of the amount of ingredients to be served, but the present invention can be applied to physical quantities other than weight, such as volume, bulk, mass, and other various physical quantities.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the gripping system 1 includes an ingredient storage unit 10, a container supply unit 20, an articulated robot 30, a control device 40, and a shielding unit 50. In addition, a belt conveyor 2 that automatically transports lunch box containers is installed adjacent to the gripping system 1.

The ingredient storage unit 10 has a storage space 10A that stores ingredients such as side dishes to be dispensed by the gripping system 1. For example, the storage space 10A may be formed by the ingredient storage unit 10 itself, or may be formed by a general-purpose container such as a large tray or tray that can be installed in the ingredient storage unit 10. The storage space 10A stores side dishes containing viscous or sticky ingredients such as potato salad and other paste salads. In this embodiment, the ingredient storage unit 10 stores multiple servings (e.g., tens to hundreds of servings) of one type of ingredient. The multiple gripping systems 1 each serve different ingredients in one lunch box container, thereby completing the task of serving the lunch box. The storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10 can be replaced manually by an operator or automatically by the articulated robot 30.

The container supply unit 20 supplies lunch box containers to a predetermined position in the gripping system 1 where ingredients are to be plated (plating position P1 in FIG. 2). The container supply unit 20 stores multiple lunch box containers, and when the gripping system 1 starts operating, it supplies the containers one by one to the plating position P1. A weight sensor 21 that measures the weight of the lunch box container is also installed at the plating position P1, and when ingredients are plated at the plating position P1, the weight of the plated ingredients (i.e., the weight increased by plating) is measured. The weight data measured at this time is output to the control device 40. Then, when the weight measurement is completed, the lunch box container is carried out to the belt conveyor 2 by a push-out mechanism provided in the container supply unit 20.

The articulated robot 30 is, for example, a horizontal articulated robot or a vertical articulated robot, and is equipped with a hand 31 capable of grasping the ingredients to be plated, and a robot arm 32 that moves the hand 31 to any position within its movable range.
A weight sensor 30A for measuring the weight of the ingredient held by the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 is provided at the joint that holds the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 as an example of a means for acquiring the physical quantity of the ingredient held by the hand 31 with the gripping member 31a. A force sensor 30B for measuring the reaction force (including the force sense obtained by touching the surface) from the ingredient that has been touched is provided at the joint that holds the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 as an example of a means for detecting that the hand 31 has come into contact with the ingredient. Data on the weight of the ingredient (i.e., the weight of the gripped ingredient) measured by the weight sensor 30A and data on the reaction force from the ingredient (i.e., the detection result of contact with the ingredient) measured by the force sensor 30B are output to the control device 40.

Furthermore, the joint that holds the hand 31 has an axis that rotates the hand 31 in a twisting direction relative to the robot arm 32. Therefore, when the hand 31 grasps an ingredient, the direction in which the hand 31 opens and closes can be adjusted by changing the orientation of the hand 31. This makes it possible to change the orientation of the hand 31 so that when the hand 31 reaches the vicinity of the inner wall surface of the container, the hand 31 opens and closes in a direction parallel to the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A, making it easier to grasp ingredients near the inner wall surface of the container.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the shape of the gripping member 31 a installed at the tip of the hand 31 .
In FIG. 3, only one of the pair of gripping members 31a is shown.
As shown in Fig. 3, the gripping member 31a in this embodiment is composed of a top plate portion, a main plate portion, a first side plate portion, and a second side plate portion. The top plate portion has a rectangular flat surface. When the flat surface of the top plate portion is horizontal, the main plate portion extends at an angle from one end of the flat surface in the longitudinal direction to a position spaced vertically below the other end of the flat surface. When the flat surface of the top plate portion is horizontal, the first side plate portion and the second side plate portion extend vertically downward from both ends of the short side of the flat surface.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the opening and closing of a pair of gripping members 31a. The gripping members 31a shown in Figure 3 are connected to the hand 31 by a connecting member (not shown) so that the inner surfaces of the respective main plates face each other. When performing a gripping operation, the gripping members 31a are opened and closed along the opening and closing direction (here, the direction in which the inner surfaces of the respective main plates of the pair of gripping members 31a face each other) as shown in Figures 4(a) and 4(b). Due to the shape of the gripping members 31a as shown in Figure 3, when the hand 31 closes the pair of gripping members 31a, the gripping members 31a come into contact with each other, and the inner surfaces with at least the tips and side plates closed form a container shape for gripping ingredients.

In the case of such a shape of the gripping members 31a, the tips of the gripping members 31a are inserted vertically from the surface of ingredients such as a paste salad, and the pair of gripping members 31a are closed at a predetermined depth to lift up the ingredients, making it possible to grip and remove an approximately fixed amount of ingredients from the storage space 10A. In addition, the ingredients removed by this gripping are released into the lunch box container at the serving position P1, making it possible to serve an approximately fixed amount of ingredients.

However, if the conventional technology is used as is, when the ingredients are viscous or sticky, such as potato salad, the viscosity or stickiness of the ingredients will cause them to adhere to the gripping member 31a of the articulated robot 30 when the articulated robot 30 grasps or releases them. When such unexpected adhesion occurs, it becomes difficult to properly perform the task of grasping and releasing the appropriate amount.
For example, when the weight sensor 30A measures the amount (here, weight) of ingredients held by the articulated robot 30, the amount of ingredients attached to the robot 30 is also measured in addition to the amount of ingredients actually held by the articulated robot 30, making it difficult to measure with high accuracy. Alternatively, as another example, when the amount to be held is estimated based on the size, shape, etc. of the holding member 31a and then held, the attached ingredients are released in addition to the ingredients held based on the estimation.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the occurrence of such a situation is prevented by performing a "removal operation" described later.

The tip of each of the pair of gripping members 31a is flat (having a straight edge) and is set so as to be parallel to the bottom surface of the storage space 10A. This allows the gripping members 31a to have a shape suitable for a leveling operation (an operation for leveling the surface of the ingredients) to be described later, and to be set in a form that makes it easy to perform the leveling operation.
In the following description, when the pair of gripping members 31a is not to be distinguished from one another, they will simply be referred to as "grip members 31a."

Returning to Figures 1 and 2, the control device 40 is configured with an information processing device such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a programmable controller, and controls the entire gripping system 1 by executing various programs. For example, the control device 40 controls the operation of the container supply unit 20 to supply containers, and the operation of the articulated robot 30 to grasp and arrange ingredients from the ingredient storage unit 10, etc.

The shielding unit 50 is composed of a plate-like member that surrounds and encloses the area in which the ingredient storage unit 10, the container supply unit 20, and the articulated robot 30 are installed in the gripping system 1. The plate-like member that constitutes the shielding unit 50 is made of a transparent material such as glass or resin, making it possible to visually check the operating status of the gripping system 1 from the outside. In addition, an openable and closable door is installed on a part of the side wall that constitutes the shielding unit 50. When replacing the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10, adding a container to the container supply unit 20, or performing maintenance on the gripping system 1, an operator can open the door of the shielding unit 50 to perform various tasks.

[Hardware configuration of the control device 40]
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware configuration of the control device 40. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 , the control device 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 711, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 712, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 713, a bus 714, an input unit 715, an output unit 716, a storage unit 717, a communication unit 718, and a drive 719.

The CPU 711 executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 712 or a program loaded from the storage unit 717 to the RAM 713 .
The RAM 713 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 711 to execute various processes.

The CPU 711, ROM 712, and RAM 713 are interconnected via a bus 714. An input unit 715, an output unit 716, a memory unit 717, a communication unit 718, and a drive 719 are connected to the bus 714.

The input unit 715 includes input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard, and receives input of various information to the control device 40. The input unit 715 may include a microphone, and may receive input of various information by voice input from the worker.
The output unit 716 is composed of a display, a speaker, etc., and outputs images and sounds.
The storage unit 717 is configured with a hard disk or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or the like, and stores various data managed by each server.
The communication unit 718 controls communication with other devices via the network.

Removable media 731, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, is appropriately loaded into the drive 719. A program read from the removable media 731 by the drive 719 is installed in the storage unit 717 as necessary.
It should be noted that the above hardware configuration is the basic configuration of the control device 40, and it is possible to have a configuration that does not include some of the hardware, to include additional hardware, or to change the implementation form of the hardware.

[Functional configuration]
Next, the functional configuration of the control device 40 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control device 40.
6, by executing a program for controlling the operation of the gripping system 1, a sensor information acquisition unit 151, an ingredient state determination unit 152, an ingredient amount determination unit 153, an articulated robot control unit 154, a container supply control unit 155, and a record control unit 156 function in the CPU 711 of the control device 40. In addition, a parameter storage unit 171 and a history database (history DB) 172 are formed in the storage unit 717.

The parameter storage unit 171 stores various parameters used when the gripping system 1 operates. For example, the parameter storage unit 171 stores the position of the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10, the position of the lunch box container supplied from the container supply unit 20, the position of the area in the lunch box container where the ingredients are served, the relationship between the amount of insertion of the hand 31 into the ingredient when gripping the ingredient and the weight of the gripped ingredient (function or table-format data, etc.), and parameters that define the operation pattern of the articulated robot 30. In this embodiment, the amount of insertion of the hand 31 into the ingredient is an index for estimating the weight (physical amount) of the ingredient. In other words, from the relationship between the amount of insertion of the hand 31 into the ingredient and the weight of the gripped ingredient, the actual weight of the gripped ingredient (target gripping weight) is estimated based on the amount of insertion of the hand 31 into the ingredient.

History DB 172 stores control parameters acquired when gripping system 1 operates, or measurement data of the weight of ingredients dispensed by gripping system 1. History DB 172 also stores an ingredient condition map showing the condition of ingredients in storage space 10A of ingredient storage section 10.

Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining the ingredient status map stored in the history DB 172, and is a vertically overhead view of the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10. As shown in Figure 7, in this embodiment, the storage space 10A is managed as a plurality of regions (here, regions A1 to C5) divided into a plurality of columns (here, columns A to C) and a plurality of rows (here, rows 1 to 5). The recording control unit 156 described later detects the state of the ingredients in each region based on the measurement data of the weight of the ingredients and the reaction force of the ingredients acquired when the gripping system 1 performs the gripping operation, the determination results by the ingredient status determination unit 152 described later, and the measurement data of the weight of the ingredients separated by the gripping system 1, and stores the detected state of the ingredients in each region in association with the number (here, regions A1 to C5) that manages each region, thereby generating an ingredient status map. In this case, the condition of the ingredients refers to the amount of ingredients remaining in each area, and the depth and flatness of the ingredients as determined by the ingredient condition determination unit 152, which will be described later.

In addition, if the storage space 10A is replaced after the ingredients in the storage space 10A have been removed, the ingredient status map is updated assuming that a predetermined amount of ingredients (e.g., a sufficient amount of ingredients for the storage space 10A) is stored in a predetermined state (e.g., a flat state).

When the articulated robot 30 performs a gripping operation, for example, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 7, the gripping operation is performed in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the inner wall surface that forms the storage space 10A. For example, the gripping operation is performed in the order of area A1, area B1, area C1, area C2, etc. Alternatively, depending on the condition of the ingredients in the storage space 10A, the gripping operation is also performed appropriately in areas that are not along the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A (here, areas B2, B3, and B4).

Returning to FIG. 6, the sensor information acquisition unit 151 acquires sensor information, which is information detected by various sensors installed in the gripping system 1. For example, the sensor information acquisition unit 151 acquires data on the weight of ingredients measured by a weight sensor 30A installed in a joint of the articulated robot 30, data on the reaction force from the ingredients measured by a force sensor 30B, and data on the weight of ingredients measured by a weight sensor 21 of the container supply unit 20.

The ingredient state determination unit 152 recognizes the state of the ingredients based on the data of the reaction force from the ingredients measured by the force sensor 30B. For example, the ingredient state determination unit 152 recognizes the depth of the ingredients in the storage space 10A (the depth from the surface of the ingredients in the storage space 10A to the bottom surface of the storage space 10A) and the flatness of the surface (how rough the surface is) from the data of the reaction force from the ingredients measured by the force sensor 30B. In this embodiment, a method is used in which the state of the ingredients is measured based on the reaction force using the force sensor 30B, rather than a method of determining the state of the ingredients by image analysis using a camera. Therefore, for example, the introduction cost and management cost of the camera can be reduced, and since there is no need to consider the blind spot of the camera, the arrangement of the multi-joint robot 30 and the storage space 10A, etc. can be selected more flexibly. In addition, there is no need to consider the steam generated from the ingredients or the influence of lighting.

The ingredient condition determination unit 152 then determines whether the depth and flatness of the ingredient's surface meet the conditions for grasping the ingredient (for example, whether the depth and flatness of the ingredient are equal to or greater than a set threshold). The flatness of the ingredient's surface can be defined, for example, based on the absolute value of the magnitude of the unevenness of the surface, and can be defined so that the flatter the ingredient's surface is, the higher the value. The flatness of each part of the ingredient's surface may also be determined. The ingredient condition determination unit 152 also determines whether the condition of the ingredient in the storage space 10A is such that a specified amount of ingredient can be grasped in one grasping operation.

The ingredient amount determination unit 153 determines whether a specified amount of ingredients has been grasped and whether a specified amount of ingredients has been dispensed into a lunch box container based on the weight data of the ingredients measured by the weight sensor 30A of the articulated robot 30 and the weight data of the ingredients measured by the weight sensor 21 of the container supply unit 20.

The articulated robot control unit 154 controls the operation of the articulated robot 30 and causes the articulated robot 30 to execute a series of operations for separating ingredients according to the operation pattern defined in the grasping system 1. For example, the articulated robot control unit 154 causes the articulated robot 30 to execute an operation of grasping ingredients with the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 (grasping operation), an operation of transferring the grasped ingredients to a lunch box container (transfer operation), an operation of releasing the grasped ingredients (releasing operation), an operation of flattening the surfaces of the ingredients in the storage space 10A (leveling operation), an operation of gathering the ingredients in the storage space 10A (scraping operation), etc.

In addition, the articulated robot control unit 154 also causes the articulated robot 30 to perform an operation (removal operation) of attaching the ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a to the other ingredient and removing it by moving the gripping member 31a while bringing the ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a into contact with another ingredient that serves as a target.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the storage space 10A, the hand 31, the gripping member 31a, the robot arm 32, and the ingredient when performing each of these operations. In Figure 10, the vertical direction is referred to as the Z direction, the first horizontal direction perpendicular to the Z direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) is referred to as the Y direction, and the second horizontal direction perpendicular to each of the Z direction and the Y direction is referred to as the X direction. In other words, the Z direction, Y direction, and X direction are each perpendicular to one another.

The hand 31 is disposed at the tip of the robot arm 32. The gripping member 31a is connected to the hand 31 by a connecting member and is thereby supported by the hand 31. The hand 31 and the gripping member 31a connected thereto can move within a movable range in each of the X, Y, and Z directions in accordance with the operation of the robot arm 32 controlled by the articulated robot control unit 154. The hand 31 achieves a gripping operation by opening and closing the pair of gripping members 31a in the Y direction by an actuator (not shown).
In addition, the hand 31 and the gripping member 31a connected thereto are capable of rotating about the Z direction as a rotation axis.
With this configuration, the articulated robot control unit 154 can arbitrarily change the position and orientation of the hand 31 and the gripping member 31a when performing each operation, thereby making it possible to properly perform each operation.

In this embodiment, a detachment mechanism is realized by two connecting members, and the gripping member 31 a is connected to the hand 31 at the tip of the robot arm 32 using this detachment mechanism.
To realize this detachment mechanism, the first coupling member includes a plurality of rods and a base member. The rods are arranged at a predetermined interval and have a shape in which the tips of the rods protrude in a direction facing the second coupling member when coupled (the -x direction in FIG. 10). The base member holds the rods and is disposed at the tip of the hand 31.
On the other hand, the second connecting member includes a base member and a magnet. The base member has a plurality of insertion holes arranged to match the rod spacing of the first connecting member, and is disposed on the top plate of the gripping member 31a. The magnet is fixed to the inner end of each of the insertion holes (the end opposite to the side where the rod is inserted).
Then, when an operator inserts each rod of the first connecting member into each insertion hole of the second connecting member in the -X direction in the figure (the "insertion direction" in the figure), the tip of each rod is attracted by the magnetic force of the magnet in each insertion hole. With this structure, the attachment/detachment mechanism is realized.

In addition, in this attachment/detachment mechanism, when a force acts on the gripping member 31a in the Y direction (gripping direction and release direction) and Z direction (height direction) in FIG. 10, a holding force is exerted by the fitting structure between each rod and each insertion hole. When a force acts on the gripping member 31a in the X direction in FIG. 10, a holding force is exerted in the -X direction in the figure (the "insertion direction" in the figure) by the abutment force between the rod and the magnet, and in the +X direction (the "removal direction" in the figure) by the magnetic attraction force between the rod and the magnet.

When serving food, etc., the gripping member 31a needs to be detached and attached frequently in order to clean it periodically. However, with this type of detachment mechanism, the insertion of the rod into the insertion hole and the attraction action of the magnet (permanent magnet) can provide sufficient holding force required for the work. This type of detachment mechanism also makes it easy to attach and detach the gripping member 31a.

9(a) and 9(b) are schematic diagrams showing the concept of a series of operations in a gripping operation. As shown in the figures, the ingredients to be gripped are contained in the storage space 10A. In the figures and in the following description, the contained ingredients are appropriately referred to as "contained ingredients."
In this state, the articulated robot 30 performs a gripping operation and grips the ingredient with the gripping member 31a.

First, as shown in FIG. 9(a), the articulated robot 30 lowers the gripping member 31a to insert the gripping member 31a into the storage material. Then, when the articulated robot 30 inserts the gripping member 31a to a predetermined depth based on the control of the articulated robot control unit 154, the articulated robot 30 stops the descent of the gripping member 31a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the articulated robot 30 closes until the gripping members 31a inserted into the contained ingredients come into contact with each other. This allows the articulated robot control unit 154 to grip ingredients of a weight estimated by the articulated robot control unit 154. Note that in the figures and in the following explanation, the contained ingredients are appropriately referred to as "gripped ingredients."

10(a) to 10(c) are schematic diagrams showing the concept of a series of operations in a removal operation performed after a gripping operation. As shown in the figures, a storage material is stored in the storage space 10A. The gripping member 31a is in a closed state and continues to grip the gripped material. Furthermore, a viscous or sticky ingredient is attached to the outer surface of the gripping member 31a as a result of being inserted into the storage material during the gripping operation. In the figures and in the following description, this attached ingredient is appropriately referred to as "attached ingredient."
In this state, the articulated robot 30 performs a removal operation to remove the ingredient adhering to the gripping member 31a from the gripping member 31a.

First, as shown in FIG. 10(a), the articulated robot 30 raises the gripping member 31a until the tip of the gripping member 31a, which has completed the gripping operation and is gripping the gripping material, is at the same height as the surface of the container material in the nearby area adjacent to the area where the gripping operation was performed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10(b), the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a while keeping the attachment material attached to the gripping member 31a in contact with the target storage material, thereby removing the attachment material attached to the gripping member 31a by newly attaching it to the storage material.
In this case, the moving direction of the gripping member 31a can be set as appropriate, but for example, the gripping member 31a is moved in a direction parallel to the surface formed by the storage material. In this embodiment, since the surface of the storage material is a substantially horizontal plane, the gripping member 31a is moved in the horizontal direction while maintaining the state in which the top plate of the gripping member 31a is horizontal and the height of the gripping member 31a raised in FIG. 10(a).
In this manner, the articulated robot 30 utilizes the viscosity or stickiness of the ingredients, and removes the adhesive ingredients from the gripping member 31a by rubbing the adhesive ingredients against the contained ingredients as if they were being attached.

Next, as shown in Fig. 10(c), when the movement of the gripping member 31a for this rubbing is completed, the articulated robot 30 raises the gripping member 31a. As shown in the figure, the attachment material is removed from the gripping member 31a by the rubbing, and the attachment material becomes part of a new storage material and is reused. In addition, the surface of the storage material at the location where the gripping operation was performed and in the area adjacent to this location is flattened by the rubbing.
This completes the removal operation, and a determination is then made as to whether or not a specified amount of ingredient has been grasped.

In this manner, in this embodiment, by performing the removing operation, it is possible to remove the attached ingredients that are attached to the gripping member 31a and that hinder proper control. Therefore, for example, the amount of gripped ingredients that the articulated robot 30 actually grips can be detected with high accuracy. In addition, for example, the amount of ingredients that are actually gripped or the amount of ingredients that are actually released can be the amount that was estimated in the control of the robot.
In other words, the gripping system 1 enables the robot to more appropriately grip the ingredients.

8, in this embodiment, the gripping member 31a is coupled to the hand 31 at the tip of the robot arm 32 by a detachment mechanism realized by the first and second coupling members. However, if the resistance of the storage material is large when rubbing in the removal operation, an unexpected force may act on the gripping member 31a in the detachment mechanism, causing the gripping member 31a to be unintentionally detached.
8 again, if the resistance force during rubbing is large, and a force acts on the gripping member 31a in the -X direction in the figure (the "insertion direction" in the figure) in the detachment mechanism, the contact force between the rod and the magnet will be further increased, and the gripping member 31a will not come off. On the other hand, if the resistance force during rubbing is large and a force acts on the gripping member 31a in the +X direction in the figure (the "pulling direction" in the figure), the force acting exceeds the holding force due to the magnetic attraction between the rod and the magnet, and the gripping member 31a may come off. In other words, if the gripping member 31a is rubbed by moving in the +X direction in the figure (the "pulling direction" in the figure) or rubbed by reciprocating motion in the X direction, the gripping member 31a may come off.
Therefore, in the removal operation, the articulated robot control unit 154 controls the operation of the articulated robot 30 so that the gripping member 31a does not come off even if the resistance force during the rubbing is large, by rubbing in the +Y direction or -Y direction in the figure, or by rubbing with a reciprocating motion in the Y direction. As a result, in the attachment/detachment mechanism, a force acts in the Y direction perpendicular to the +X direction in the figure (the "pulling direction" in the figure), so that it is possible to prevent a situation in which the gripping member 31a comes off due to a force acting in the +X direction in the figure (the "pulling direction" in the figure).

In addition, this removing operation is realized by moving the gripping member 31a, so there is no need to replace the gripping member 31a with another member in order to remove the adhesive material.
Furthermore, in this removing operation, the removed adhesive material is returned to the storage space 10A as a storage material, so that it can be used as a target for the next or subsequent gripping operations. In other words, the removed removal material can be utilized without being wasted.
Furthermore, by performing this removing operation, the weight of the gripping material alone can be measured with high accuracy in a state in which the attached material has been removed, so that it is possible to accurately determine whether the weight of the gripping material gripped by the gripping member 31a is appropriate or not.

In addition, in the removal operation, the height to which the gripping member 31a should be raised in order to rub (the relative height between the surface of the contained ingredient and the tip of the gripping member 31a), the direction in which the gripping member 31a is moved when rubbing, the range of movement (stroke), the number of movements, and the movement speed can be set in advance taking into consideration the properties of the ingredient (e.g., the degree of viscosity or stickiness), the size and shape of the ingredient, the speed required for the plating operation, etc.

In addition, when various settings are made for the removal operation in this way, the above-mentioned rubbing method of "moving the gripping member 31a horizontally while maintaining the top plate portion of the gripping member 31a horizontal and the height of the gripping member 31a raised in FIG. 10(a)" is merely one example. It is not necessarily required to move horizontally, and it may be moved in other directions. For example, it may be moved vertically taking into account the viscosity or stickiness of the ingredients as well as gravity, or horizontal and vertical movements may be combined. Alternatively, it may be moved in a direction other than horizontal or vertical.

In addition, instead of moving in a certain direction, for example, the gripping member 31a may be moved so as to rotate on a horizontal plane with the vertical direction as the axis of rotation while maintaining the height of the gripping member 31a. In this case, for example, rod-shaped (e.g., burdock salad) or linear (e.g., noodles) ingredients that have protruded from the tip of the gripping member 31a and become stuck ingredients can be cut in the middle and removed.

In another example, the direction in which the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a during the removal operation may be determined based on the position of the gripping member 31a in the storage space 10A that stores the storage material when the removal operation is performed. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 7 again. Here, we take as an example a case in which the gripping member 31a is moved horizontally.

Suppose that the position of the gripping member 31a when performing the gripping operation is in the area A2. In this case, it is assumed that the effect of rubbing is greater when the gripping member 31a moves in multiple directions, and the gripping member 31a is moved back and forth between the area A1 and the area A3 via the area A2.
Alternatively, suppose that the position of the gripping member 31a when performing the gripping operation is in the region B2. In this case, the gripping member 31a is moved back and forth between the region B2 and a region where the height of the surface of the storage material is significantly different from the region B2 so that the height of the surface of the storage material is uniform in each of the adjacent regions.

Alternatively, suppose that the position of the gripping member 31a when performing the gripping operation is a corner position of the storage space 10A such as region A1. In this case, if the gripping member 31a is moved toward the inner wall surface side to perform rubbing, the gripping member 31a (or the hand 31) may collide with the inner wall surface. Therefore, in such a case, the gripping member 31a is moved back and forth between region A1 and region A2. Alternatively, the gripping member 31a is moved back and forth between region A1 and region B1. In this way, by moving the gripping member 31a in the direction opposite to the inner wall surface side, it is possible to prevent the gripping member 31a from colliding with the inner wall surface that forms the storage space 10A. In addition, in this case, the gripping member 31a is once raised to a height where it does not come into contact with the surface of the storage material, and then the gripping member 31a is moved to a position that is not a corner of the storage space 10A such as region B2. Then, rubbing may be performed again with the region to which it has been moved as the center. In this way, by rubbing the gripping member 31a against the inner wall surface that defines the storage space 10A, it is possible to prevent the gripping member 31a from colliding with the inner wall surface that defines the storage space 10A.

As described above, the hand 31 and the gripping member 31a connected thereto can rotate around the vertical axis. Therefore, even if the gripping member 31a has a structure that restricts it to only being moved in a specific direction (for example, the opening and closing direction when gripping) and not in other directions, rubbing can be performed in any direction by rotating the gripping member 31a.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the state of ingredients in the storage space 10A.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a leveling operation, and FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a scraping operation.
As shown in Fig. 11, when the flatness of the surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A is low (rough), as shown in Fig. 12, the articulated robot 30 performs a leveling operation to flatten the surface with the gripping member 31a. When performing the leveling operation, the tip of the gripping member 31a is flat (has a straight edge), and the tip of the gripping member 31a can be moved at the same height from the bottom surface of the storage space 10A while maintaining a parallel state between the bottom surface of the storage space 10A and the tip of the gripping member 31a. In the leveling operation, the outer surface of the gripping member 31a is flat, and it is also possible to flatten the ingredient by pressing the outer surface of the gripping member 31a against the ingredient, or to flatten the ingredient by stroking the surface of the ingredient with the outer surface of the gripping member 31a.

Also, as shown in FIG. 11, if the depth of the ingredients in the storage space 10A is not sufficient for the grasping operation, as shown in FIG. 13, the articulated robot 30 performs a scraping operation and gathers the ingredients with the grasping member 31a to a depth sufficient for the grasping operation. As shown in FIG. 13, in addition to gathering the ingredients by pressing the outer surface of the grasping member 31a against the ingredients and moving it, the ingredients may also be gathered by grasping the ingredients with the grasping member 31a and stacking them on top of other ingredients.

Returning to FIG. 6, the container supply control unit 155 controls the container supply unit 20 to supply lunch box containers for serving ingredients dispensed by the gripping system 1 to the serving position P1 at a predetermined timing. The container supply control unit 155 also controls the container supply unit 20 to transport the lunch box containers with the ingredients served on the belt conveyor 2.

The recording control unit 156 stores in the history DB 172 control parameters acquired when the gripping system 1 performs a gripping operation and measurement data of the weight of the ingredients dispensed by the gripping system 1. The recording control unit 156 also creates and updates an ingredient status map showing the status of the ingredients in the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10, as described above with reference to FIG. 7, and also stores this ingredient status map in the history DB 172.

[Specific method of holding ingredients]
In the gripping system 1 according to the present embodiment, the relationship between the depth (insertion amount) of the gripping member 31a inserted into the ingredient and the weight of the ingredient gripped at that time is known in advance according to the type of ingredient and the gripping member 31a used. For example, the density of the ingredient to be gripped (a parameter representing the weight per unit depth) is measured in advance, and the gripped weight can be calculated (estimated) by a function whose element is the product of the density of the ingredient and the depth to which the gripping member 31a is inserted. This allows the weight of the ingredient to be estimated by a simple calculation.

The weight calculated in this manner can also be stored as data in table format. Furthermore, since it is possible to grasp the range of the surface of the ingredient where the flatness decreases with one gripping operation, a pitch is set for shifting the gripping position for each gripping operation on the surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A. Furthermore, a basic operation pattern is set for how and from which position on the surface of the ingredient the ingredient is gripped, based on the preset depth and pitch for inserting the gripping member 31a.

As described above, if the flatness of the surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, a leveling operation is performed to flatten the surface of the ingredient. Also, if the depth of the ingredient in the storage space 10A does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, a scraping operation is performed to gather the ingredients.
Then, if the flatness and depth of the surface of the ingredient meet the conditions for grasping the ingredient, the grasping operation is performed according to the basic operation pattern as follows.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a gripping operation by the hand 31. As shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 14, when the hand 31 grasps an ingredient, the ingredients are grasped in the following procedure: (1) approach the ingredient, (2) detect the surface of the ingredient, (3) insert the grasping member 31a into the ingredient, (4) close the grasping member 31a, and (5) measure the weight (physical quantity) of the grasped ingredient. If the grasped weight matches the specified amount, the ingredient is transferred to a lunch box container and released. Note that the grasped weight matches the specified amount means, for example, that the weight of the grasped ingredient is within a specified error (within ±15%, etc.) with respect to the target weight. However, in consideration of the case where the ingredient sticks to the grasping member 31a and cannot be released, the error when the grasped weight is more than the specified amount may be set to be larger than the error when the grasped weight is less than the specified amount. On the other hand, if the grasped weight does not conform to the specified amount, the ingredients are gripped again in the following order: (6) the ingredient is released (the ingredient is returned) to the grasped position in the storage space 10A; (7) if the weight of the grasped ingredient is excessive (for example, if the weight of the grasped ingredient exceeds the upper limit of the range of the specified amount), the ingredient is gripped by inserting the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to a shallower depth than the previous time; and (8) if the weight of the grasped ingredient is insufficient (for example, if the weight of the grasped ingredient is below the lower limit of the range of the specified amount), the ingredient is gripped again in the following order.

The surface of the ingredient can be detected in step (2) by using the force sensor 30B to measure the reaction force received when the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 comes into contact with the ingredient.
Furthermore, when inserting the gripping member 31a into the ingredient in step (3), it is possible to calculate the amount of insertion from the control parameters of the articulated robot 30 (such as the rotation angle of the joints), or to calculate the amount of insertion from the elapsed time since the surface of the ingredient was detected in step (2) and insertion began.

In step (8), even if the gripping member 31a is inserted deeper into the ingredient than the previous time, if the specified amount of ingredient cannot be gripped (if the ingredient is inserted at a shallower depth at the intended gripping position than the required insertion depth to obtain the specified amount), it is possible to control the total amount of ingredient gripped in multiple attempts to be the specified amount by gripping the ingredient from multiple points on the ingredient's surface. In this case, for example, the total depth to which the gripping member 31a is inserted at multiple points on the ingredient's surface (total insertion amount) can be controlled to be the same as the depth to which the gripping member 31a is inserted into the ingredient when gripping a specified amount of ingredient at one time. In addition, for example, when gripping the second or subsequent points, it is also possible to release the already gripped ingredient at the next intended gripping position, and then insert the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to the depth to which it would be inserted when gripping a specified amount of ingredient at one time against the surface of the ingredient where the released ingredient is located, and grip the specified amount of ingredient again at one time.

The relationship between the depth (insertion amount) at which the gripping member 31a is inserted into the ingredient and the weight of the ingredient gripped at that time can be calculated (estimated) from the density of the ingredient, or the weight can be estimated by machine learning the data on the depth at which the gripping member 31a is inserted and the data measuring the weight of the ingredient gripped at that time, and using a machine learning model generated by machine learning. The density of the ingredient can also be calculated during this machine learning process, and the weight of the gripped ingredient can be calculated from the depth (insertion amount) at which the gripping member 31a is inserted into the ingredient using the calculated density.

[motion]
Next, the operation of the gripping system 1 will be described.
15 and 16 are flowcharts showing the flow of the ingredient portioning process executed by the gripping system 1.

When the ingredient portioning process is started, in step S1 of FIG. 15, the articulated robot control unit 154 reads data for grasping the ingredients (data on the movement pattern and data on the insertion amount of the hand 31, etc.) from the parameter storage unit 171 to prepare for grasping the ingredients.

In step S2, the articulated robot control unit 154 transfers the hand 31 to the storage space 10A according to the operation pattern data.

In step S3, the ingredient status determination unit 152 recognizes the status of the ingredients in the storage space 10A by reading from the history DB 172 an ingredient status map showing the status of the ingredients in the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10. The ingredient status determination unit 152 continues to recognize the status of the ingredients based on the data of the reaction force from the ingredients measured by the force sensor 30B acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 151.

In step S4, the ingredient state determination unit 152 determines whether or not the flatness of the surface of the ingredient meets the conditions for gripping the ingredient.
If the flatness of the surface of the ingredient does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, the result of step S4 is NO, and the process proceeds to step S5.
If the flatness of the surface of the ingredient meets the conditions for gripping the ingredient, the answer is YES in step S4, and the process proceeds to step S6.
In step S5, the articulated robot control unit 154 executes a leveling operation to flatten the surface of the ingredient.

In step S6, the ingredient state determination unit 152 determines whether or not the depth of the ingredient in the storage space 10A meets the conditions for gripping the ingredient.
If the depth of the ingredient in the storage space 10A does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, the result is determined as NO in step S6, and the process proceeds to step S7.
If the depth of the ingredient within the storage space 10A meets the conditions for gripping the ingredient, the answer is YES in step S6, and the process proceeds to step S8.
In step S7, the articulated robot control unit 154 executes a scraping operation to gather up the ingredients.

Transitioning to FIG. 16, in step S8, the ingredient state determination unit 152 determines whether or not a specified amount of ingredients can be grasped in one grasping motion.
If it is not possible to grasp the specified amount of ingredients in one grasping motion, the result is determined as NO in step S8, and the process proceeds to step S9.
If the specified amount of ingredients can be grasped in one grasping motion, the answer is YES in step S8, and the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S9, the articulated robot control unit 154 inserts the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to a set depth.
In step S10, the articulated robot control unit 154 closes the gripping members 31a to grip the ingredient.
In step S11, the articulated robot control unit 154 transfers the hand 31 to another position (a position where the ingredient is flat).

In step S12, the articulated robot control unit 154 inserts the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to a depth corresponding to the additional amount to be gripped.
In step S13, the articulated robot control unit 154 closes the gripping members 31a to grip the ingredient.
After step S13, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S14, the articulated robot control unit 154 inserts the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to a set depth.
In step S15, the articulated robot control unit 154 closes the gripping members 31a to grip the ingredient.

In step S16, the articulated robot control unit 154 executes the removal operation. Details of the removal operation are as described above with reference to FIG. 10.

In step S17, the ingredient amount determining unit 153 measures the weight (physical amount) of the grasped ingredient. This measurement is continued at least until step S23.
In step S18, ingredient amount determining unit 153 determines whether or not a specified amount of ingredient is grasped.
If the specified amount of ingredients is not grasped, the result of step S18 is NO, and the process proceeds to step S19.

If the specified amount of ingredients is grasped, the answer is YES in step S18, and the process proceeds to step S22.
In step S19, the articulated robot control unit 154 returns the ingredient to the position where it was previously grasped.

In step S20, the articulated robot control unit 154 inserts the gripping member 31a into the ingredient to the corrected depth.
In step S21, the articulated robot control unit 154 closes the gripping members 31a to grip the ingredient.

In step S22, the articulated robot control unit 154 executes the removal operation. Details of the removal operation are as described above with reference to FIG.
After step S22, the process proceeds to step S18.

In step S23, the articulated robot control unit 154 transfers the grasped ingredients to the position of the lunch container and releases them in a specified area within the container. When the ingredients are released in the specified area within the container, the ingredient amount determination unit 153 determines whether the amount of the ingredients dispensed conforms to a specified amount. The result of this determination is associated with the lunch container and is handed over to subsequent processing.

In step S24, the recording control unit 156 stores the control parameters acquired in the ingredient portioning process and the measurement data (history data) of the weight of the separated ingredients in the history DB 172. The recording control unit 156 also updates the ingredient status map showing the status of the ingredients in the storage space 10A of the ingredient storage unit 10, and also stores this updated ingredient status map in the history DB 172.

In step S25, the articulated robot control unit 154 determines whether a condition for ending the ingredient portioning process is met. The condition for ending the ingredient portioning process can be defined as when ingredients have been served in a planned number of bento containers, when an operation for ending the ingredient portioning process has been performed, or the like.
If the condition for terminating the ingredient portioning process is not met, a NO result is determined in step S25, the process transitions to FIG. 15, and the process proceeds to step S2.
If the condition for terminating the ingredient portioning process is met, a YES determination is made in step S25, and the ingredient portioning process ends.

As described above, the gripping system 1 according to the present embodiment can remove the attached ingredients that are attached to the gripping member 31a and that hinder proper control by performing the removal operation. Therefore, for example, the amount of gripped ingredients that the articulated robot 30 actually grips can be detected with high accuracy. In addition, for example, the amount of ingredients that are actually gripped or the amount of ingredients that are actually released can be the amount estimated in the control of the robot.
In other words, the gripping system 1 enables the robot to more appropriately grip the ingredients.

Furthermore, according to the gripping system 1, the weight (physical quantity) of the gripped ingredient can be calculated (estimated) based on the depth to which the gripping member 31a is inserted into the ingredient.
Therefore, by performing a similar gripping operation using the articulated robot 30, it is possible to dispense precise amounts of ingredients with reduced variation.
In other words, the gripping system 1 enables the robot to more appropriately separate ingredients.

In addition, according to the gripping system 1, the flatness of the surface of the ingredient to be gripped is recognized, and if the flatness of the surface of the ingredient does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, a leveling operation is performed to flatten the surface of the ingredient.
Therefore, the gripping member 31a can be inserted into the ingredients with a more accurate insertion amount, allowing the ingredients to be portioned out more appropriately.

In addition, according to the gripping system 1, when the amount of ingredients in the storage space 10A decreases, for example, and the depth of the ingredients does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredients, a scraping operation is performed to gather up the ingredients in the storage space 10A.
Therefore, even when there is only a small amount of ingredients, the depth can be adjusted to the depth required to grasp the ingredients, allowing the ingredients to be used effectively while reducing the frequency with which the ingredients need to be supplied.
This allows the robot to more efficiently separate the ingredients.

Furthermore, according to the gripping system 1 of this embodiment, if the specified amount of ingredients cannot be gripped in one go, the specified amount of ingredients is gripped by multiple gripping operations.
Therefore, in cases where the amount of ingredients in the storage space 10A has decreased or where ingredients that are difficult to grasp in one go need to be separated out, it is possible to grasp the required weight of ingredients with more flexible movements.

[Modification 1]
In the above embodiment, as explained with reference to Fig. 10, the removal operation is performed by rubbing the adhesive material against the surface of the storage material, but this is not limited to this. The target does not necessarily have to be the storage material, and the removal operation may be performed with another object as the target.
Each of Figures 17 to 19 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of the removal operation when an object other than the storage material is the target. Each of these figures shows the concept of the removal operation when rubbing, and corresponds to Figure 10(b).

17 shows a case where the target is the bottom surface of the storage space 10A. For example, when the ingredients are repeatedly separated and the bottom surface of the storage space 10A is exposed, the target is set to the bottom surface of the storage space 10A in this manner. In this case, the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a with the attached ingredients attached to the gripping member 31a in contact with the bottom surface of the storage space 10A, which is the target, thereby removing the attached ingredients attached to the gripping member 31a by attaching them to the storage space 10A.
At this time, the moving direction of the gripping member 31a can be set appropriately, but for example, if the bottom surface of the storage space 10A is a substantially horizontal plane, for example, the top plate portion of the gripping member 31a is in a horizontal state, and the gripping member 31a is raised to a height where the attached ingredients contact the bottom surface of the storage space 10A but the gripping member 31a does not contact it, and the gripping member 31a is moved horizontally while maintaining the height. In this way, the removal operation can also be performed. This example is suitable, for example, when the ingredients are repeatedly separated and there are few ingredients suitable for the target.

18 shows a case where the target is the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A. For example, when an ingredient is attached to the side surface near the tip of the gripping member 31a, the target is the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A. In this case, the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a while the ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a is in contact with the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A, which is the target, thereby removing the ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a by attaching it to the storage space 10A.
At this time, the moving direction of the gripping member 31a can be set appropriately, but for example, if the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A is a substantially vertical surface, the gripping member 31a is moved vertically while maintaining the height of the gripping member 31a raised to a height where the adhesive material contacts the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A but the gripping member 31a does not contact it and the gripping member 31a and the storage material do not contact each other. The removal operation can also be performed in this way. In this case, it is preferable to rotate the gripping member 31a to perform the removal operation on each side of the gripping member 31a. This example is suitable, for example, when the position of the gripping member 31a when performing the gripping operation is a corner position of the storage space 10A like the area A1, and there are few storage materials suitable for the target in the adjacent area.

19 shows a case where the target is a removal member installed on the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A. For example, when a removal member such as a scraper made of a material (e.g., elastic silicone or rubber) and a shape (e.g., a flat plate shape) suitable for rubbing the adhesive ingredient is installed in advance, the target is the removal member. The target is the inner wall surface of the storage space 10A. In this case, the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a while the adhesive ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a is in contact with the removal member serving as the target, thereby attaching the adhesive ingredient attached to the gripping member 31a to the removal member and removing it.
At this time, the moving direction of the gripping member 31a can be set appropriately, but for example, if the bottom surface of the storage space 10A is a substantially horizontal plane, for example, the top plate portion of the gripping member 31a is in a horizontal state, and the gripping member 31a is moved horizontally while maintaining the height of the gripping member 31a raised to a height where the attachment material comes into contact with the removal member but the gripping member 31a does not come into contact with the removal member. In this way, the removal operation can be performed. This example is suitable, for example, when there is enough space inside the storage space 10A to attach the removal member.

In this manner, in this modified example, the articulated robot 30 utilizes the viscous or sticky properties of the attachment material, and removes the attachment material from the gripping member 31a by rubbing the attachment material against a target object other than the contained material.

[Modification 2]
In the above-described embodiment, the ingredient condition determination unit 152 recognizes the surface condition of the ingredient, and a leveling operation is performed when the flatness of the ingredient surface does not meet the conditions for gripping the ingredient, but this is not limited to this.
For example, since a pitch is set for shifting the gripping position on the surface of the ingredient for each gripping operation, a leveling operation may be performed after the ingredient is gripped from the entire surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A (i.e., after each predetermined number of gripping operations).

In this case, the surface of the ingredient can be adjusted to have a certain degree of flatness without detecting the condition of the surface of the ingredient based on data such as the reaction force from the ingredient measured by force sensor 30B (i.e., the detection result of contact with the ingredient).
In addition to the leveling operation in the above embodiment, a leveling operation may be executed every time a predetermined number of gripping operations are performed.

[Modification 3]
In the above-described embodiment, the ingredient status determination unit 152 recognizes the depth of the ingredient, and if the depth of the ingredient does not meet the conditions for grasping the ingredient, a scraping operation is performed, but this is not limited to the above.
For example, since the amount of ingredient to be removed from the surface of the ingredient for each gripping operation (the depth to which the gripping member 31a is inserted) is set, the scraping operation may be performed after the ingredient has been gripped from the entire surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A (i.e., after each predetermined number of gripping operations).

In this case, the ingredients can be adjusted to have a constant depth without detecting the depth of the ingredients based on data such as the reaction force from the ingredients measured by force sensor 30B (i.e., the detection result of contact with the ingredients).
In addition, in addition to the scraping operation in the above embodiment, a scraping operation may be executed every time a predetermined number of gripping operations are performed.

[Modification 4]
In the above-described embodiment, the ingredient state determination unit 152 determines the state of the ingredient based on data on the reaction force from the ingredient measured by the force sensor 30B (i.e., the detection result of contact with the ingredient), but this is not limited to this.

If the installation cost of the camera is not an issue, the state of the ingredients may be determined by taking pictures using a camera (i.e., an imaging device). In this case, an imaging device that takes pictures of the vicinity of the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 is provided in the gripping system 1. This imaging device takes pictures of the target area, including the image near the hand 31, in the process of taking the ingredients from the ingredient storage section 10 and the process of putting the taken ingredients in a lunch box container. The data of the images taken at this time is output to the control device 40. Note that instead of or in addition to the imaging device, an imaging device capable of taking pictures of the operating range of the articulated robot 30 may be provided at a predetermined location of the gripping system 1, and the imaging device may take pictures of the target area, including the vicinity of the hand 31. In addition, the imaging device installed in the gripping system 1, such as an imaging device, may be a device capable of acquiring a three-dimensional shape, such as a stereo camera. However, it is also possible to calculate the three-dimensional shape of the subject based on two two-dimensional images acquired by changing the imaging position of the imaging device that captures the two-dimensional images.

The control device 40 then controls the imaging device to take images of the vicinity of the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30, images of the ingredients in the ingredient storage section 10, images of the lunch box container, etc. at predetermined time intervals.
The ingredient state determination unit 152 also determines the state of the ingredient based on the image of the ingredient captured by the imaging device. For example, the ingredient state determination unit 152 recognizes the depth of the ingredient in the storage space 10A (the depth from the surface of the ingredient in the storage space 10A to the bottom surface of the storage space 10A) and the flatness of the surface (how rough the surface is) from the image of the ingredient captured by the imaging device. In this case, the ingredient state determination unit 152 may determine the state of the ingredient based on the data of the reaction force from the ingredient (i.e., the detection result of contact with the ingredient) measured by the force sensor 30B in addition to the image of the ingredient captured by the imaging device.

Also, for example, a depth camera having a function for measuring the distance (depth) to a subject can be used as the imaging device.
In this case, by photographing the subject, accurate depth information for each part can be easily obtained along with a color image.
Therefore, the depth information of each part makes it possible to grasp the three-dimensional shape of the surface of the ingredient, the storage space 10A, etc.
Therefore, it is possible to determine the flatness of the surface of the ingredient and decide whether or not a leveling operation is required, and to determine the depth of the ingredient and decide whether or not a scraping operation is required.

[Modification 5]
In the above embodiment, the weight of the ingredients grasped by the articulated robot 30 or the weight of the ingredients placed in the lunch box container is measured by the weight sensors 30A and 21, but this is not limited to the above.
For example, it is possible to estimate the volume of an ingredient from an image of the ingredient captured by an imaging device, and calculate the weight of the ingredient by multiplying the density by the estimated volume, etc.
In this case, a means for calculating the weight of the ingredient can be implemented without using the weight sensors 30A and 21.

[Modification 6]
In the above-described embodiment, when performing the leveling operation, as shown in FIG. 12, the bottom surface of the storage space 10A and the tip of the gripping member 31a are maintained parallel to each other, and the gripping member 31a is moved at the same height from the bottom surface of the storage space 10A. However, this is not limited to this.
That is, when performing the leveling operation, various types of operations capable of flattening the surface of the ingredient can be performed.
FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the leveling operation.
As shown in Figure 20, when performing a leveling operation, the tip of the gripping member 31a is in contact with the surface of the ingredient (see Figure 20(a)), and the gripping member 31a is opened and closed (see Figure 20(b)), making it possible to flatten the surface of the ingredient in the area where the gripping member 31a opens and closes (see Figure 20(c)).
In this case, the surface of the ingredient located at the center of the pair of gripping members 31a is flattened, so that the position where the ingredient is to be gripped next can be reliably flattened. In addition, since there is no need to transport the hand 31 itself, the time required for the leveling operation can be shortened.

[Modification 7]
In the above-described embodiment, when performing a scraping operation, as shown in FIG. 13, an example has been described in which the ingredients are gathered together by pressing the outer surface of the gripping member 31a against the ingredients and moving it, and an example in which the ingredients are grasped by the gripping member 31a and piled on top of other ingredients to gather them together, but this is not limited to the above.
That is, when performing a scraping operation, various types of operations capable of gathering ingredients can be performed.
For example, at least one of the pair of gripping members 31a may be shaped to be suitable for gathering ingredients (for example, a flat plate shape, etc.). In this case, when performing the scraping operation, the gripping member 31a can function as a scraping blade to efficiently gather the ingredients.

[Modification 8]
In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the hand 31 of the articulated robot 30 grasps a desired amount of ingredient by inserting the grasping member 31a into the ingredient in the ingredient storage section 10 to a depth at which the physical quantity of the ingredient is estimated to be a predetermined amount, but this is not limited to this.
That is, it is also possible to adjust the amount of ingredients gripped by the gripping member 31a by adjusting the degree of opening of the gripping member 31a and inserting it into the ingredient. For example, if the weight of the gripped ingredient is excessive (e.g., if the weight of the gripped ingredient exceeds the upper limit of the range of the specified amount), the degree of opening of the gripping member 31a when inserting the gripping member 31a into the ingredient is corrected to be narrower than the previous time to grip the ingredient, and if the weight of the gripped ingredient is insufficient (e.g., if the weight of the gripped ingredient is below the lower limit of the range of the specified amount), the degree of opening of the gripping member 31a when inserting the gripping member 31a into the ingredient is corrected to be wider than the previous time to grip the ingredient.
This makes it possible to adjust the amount of ingredient to be gripped even when the depth (insertion amount) of the gripping member 31a inserted into the ingredient cannot be adjusted.

[Modification 9]
In the above-described embodiment, the action of gripping the ingredient with the gripping member 31a may be adjusted to reflect the ease of gripping the ingredient.
For example, when an ingredient is gripped by the gripping member 31a, a phenomenon may occur in which part of the ingredient leaks (escapes) from the gripping member 31a and moves to the periphery of the gripping position.
The inventors' experiments revealed that the ease with which the ingredients escape varies depending on the position at which the gripping member 31a grips the ingredients (i.e., the distance from the inner wall surface or bottom surface of the storage space 10A, etc.).
It was found that the orientation of the gripping member 31a affects the ease of escape of the ingredients, particularly near a wall. Specifically, when a wall is present in a direction that makes it easy for ingredients to leak from the gripping member 31a, the ingredients have no place to escape, so the ease of escape is reduced (i.e., the ease of gripping is improved).
In consideration of this, the relationship between the two elements of the gripping position (i.e., the distance from the inner wall surface or bottom surface of the storage space 10A) and the orientation of the gripping member 31a, and the parameter of the ease of escape (or ease of ingestion) of the ingredients can be obtained by machine learning, and the depth (insertion amount) of the gripping member 31a at the gripping position where the gripping member 31a grips the ingredients can be adjusted according to the result. For example, at a gripping position where the ingredients are likely to escape, the depth (insertion amount) of the gripping member 31a inserted into the ingredients can be adjusted to be greater.
This enables the articulated robot 30 to perform a more appropriate gripping operation depending on the situation when gripping an ingredient.

As described above, the gripping system 1 in this embodiment includes the articulated robot 30 that grips an object to be gripped using the gripping member 31 a, and the control device 40 that controls the operation of the articulated robot 30.
The control device 40 is
By moving the gripping member 31a while the object attached to the gripping member 31a is in contact with the target object, the articulated robot 30 is caused to perform a removal operation in which the object attached to the gripping member 31a is newly attached to the target object and removed.
This makes it possible to remove objects that are attached to the gripping member 31a and that are preventing proper control. Therefore, for example, the amount of objects that the robot is actually gripping can be detected with high accuracy. In addition, for example, the amount of objects that are actually gripped or released can be the amount estimated in the control of the robot.
In other words, the gripping system 1 enables a robot to more appropriately perform the task of gripping an object.
In addition, this removal operation is realized by moving the gripping member 31a, which has the effect of eliminating the need to replace the gripping member 31a with another member in order to remove the attached object.

The control device 40 is
In the removal operation, the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a in a direction parallel to the surface formed by the target object.
This makes it possible to utilize the viscosity or stickiness of the object and remove it by rubbing it against the target object.

The target object is not an object attached to the gripping member 31a, but another object accommodated in the accommodation space 10A that accommodates the object.
This allows the removed object to be returned to the accommodation space 10A and used as the object for the next or subsequent gripping operation. In other words, the removed object can be utilized without being wasted.

The target is a container having a storage space 10A for storing an object.
This allows the removed object to be returned to the accommodation space 10A and used as a target for gripping the next time onward. In other words, the removed object can be utilized without being wasted.

The control device 40 is
The direction in which the articulated robot 30 moves the gripping member 31a in the removal operation is determined based on the position of the gripping member 31a in the storage space 10A that stores the object.
This makes it possible to prevent the gripping member 31a from colliding with the inner wall surface that defines the accommodation space 10A during the removal operation.

The control device 40 is
The articulated robot 30 is caused to execute a removal operation while the articulated robot 30 is holding the object with the holding member 31a.
This makes it possible to remove the object that does not fit into the gripping member 31a during gripping and protrudes from the tip, etc., of the gripping member 31a.

The articulated robot 30 further includes a sensor that measures a physical quantity of an object being grasped by the grasping member 31 a.
The control device 40 is
After the articulated robot 30 executes the removal operation, it is determined whether or not the physical quantities of the object grasped by the articulated robot 30 using the grasping member 31a are appropriate, based on the physical quantities measured by the sensor.
This allows the physical quantity (e.g., weight) of the object being grasped to be measured with high accuracy after any attached object has been removed, making it possible to accurately determine whether the physical quantity of the object being grasped by the grasping member 31a is appropriate.

The above-described embodiment and modifications are merely examples of the present invention, and various embodiments that realize the functions of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment and modified example, the present invention has been described as being applied to a gripping system for dispensing prepared foods, but the present invention can be applied to systems for gripping various objects. For example, the present invention can be applied to a system for gripping highly viscous or adhesive materials such as kneaded mortar, concrete, plaster, clay, etc. The present invention is suitable for gripping objects having a viscosity of medium viscosity or higher (5000 mPa·s) at working temperature or room temperature.
Furthermore, the examples described in the above-described embodiments can be appropriately combined to implement the present invention.
The above-described series of processes can be executed by hardware or software.
In other words, the functional configuration in Fig. 6 is merely an example and is not particularly limited. In other words, it is sufficient that the grasping system 1 has a function capable of executing the above-mentioned series of processes as a whole, and the type of functional block used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example in Fig. 6.
Furthermore, one functional block may be configured as a single piece of hardware, a single piece of software, or a combination of both.

When the series of processes is executed by software, the program constituting the software is installed into a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium.
The computer may be a computer built into dedicated hardware, or may be a computer capable of executing various functions by installing various programs, such as a general-purpose personal computer.

The storage medium that stores the program is composed of removable media distributed separately from the device body, or storage media that is pre-installed in the device body. Removable media is composed of, for example, a magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or flash memory. Optical disks are composed of, for example, CD-ROMs (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), DVDs (Digital Versatile Disks), Blu-ray Discs (registered trademark), etc. Magneto-optical disks are composed of, for example, MDs (Mini-Disks), etc. Flash memory is composed of, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or SD cards. Storage media pre-installed in the device body is composed of, for example, a ROM or hard disk in which the program is stored.

In this specification, the steps of describing a program to be recorded on a recording medium include not only processes that are performed chronologically according to the order, but also processes that are not necessarily performed chronologically but are executed in parallel or individually.
In addition, in this specification, the term "system" refers to an overall device that is composed of a plurality of devices, a plurality of means, etc.

The above embodiment shows an example of the application of the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In other words, the present invention can be modified in various ways, such as by omission or substitution, without departing from the gist of the present invention, and various embodiments other than the above embodiment can be adopted. The various embodiments and modifications that the present invention can adopt are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

1 gripping system, 2 belt conveyor, 10 ingredient storage section, 10A storage space, 20 container supply section, 21, 30A weight sensor, 30 articulated robot, 31 hand, 31a gripping member, 32 robot arm, 40 control device, 50 shielding section, 151 sensor information acquisition section, 152 ingredient state determination section, 153 ingredient amount determination section, 154 articulated robot control section, 155 container supply control section, 156 recording control section, 171 parameter storage section, 172 history database (history DB), 711 CPU, 712 ROM, 713 RAM, 714 bus, 715 input section, 716 output section, 717 storage section, 718 communication section, 719 drive, 731 removable media

Claims (6)

a detachment mechanism including a first coupling member having a rod and a second coupling member having an insertion hole, the first coupling member and the second coupling member being detachable by inserting the rod into the insertion hole;
a control means for controlling an operation of the robot arm such that, in a state in which the robot arm and the gripping member are connected by the detachment mechanism, the gripping member moves in a direction different from a direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole;
A gripping system comprising: The gripping member grips a viscous or sticky object.
The gripping system of claim 1 . The gripping members are a pair of gripping members that grip by opening and closing,
The direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole and the opening and closing direction of the pair of gripping members are different directions.
3. A gripping system according to claim 1 or 2. One of the first connecting member and the second connecting member is attached to a top plate portion of the gripping member,
The other of the first connecting member or the second connecting member is attached to a tip of the robot arm.
The gripping system of claim 3 . a plurality of pairs each including the first coupling member and the second member into which the rod of the first coupling member is inserted into the insertion hole;
In the plurality of sets, the direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole is the same.
3. A gripping system according to claim 1 or 2. A method for controlling a motion of a gripping system, comprising:
a first connecting member having a rod and a second connecting member having an insertion hole, the first connecting member and the second connecting member being detachable by inserting the rod into the insertion hole;
a control step of controlling the operation of the robot arm so that the gripping member moves in a direction different from a direction in which the rod is inserted into the insertion hole;
13. An operation control method comprising:

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