JP4963094B2 - Work support device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a technology in the information field that integrates measurement technology, information processing technology, display technology, etc., and is a technology that superimposes real and virtual objects, especially called mixed triarity technology, augmented reality technology, etc. The present invention relates to a work support apparatus which is one application form.

  In recent years, skilled craftsmen who have supported Japanese manufacturing technology are aging, but the skill transfer is not progressing as expected, and the manufacturing industry is in danger of declining. Skilled skills have traditionally been inherited by apprenticeship, but it is thought that they will be inherited more efficiently by scientifically elucidating skills and giving them in a form that is easy for beginners to understand. Specifically, the information obtained by skilled craftsmen using the five senses is replaced with measurement of work objects, the judgments made by craftsmen based on intuition and experience are performed by computer information processing, and the obtained results are further processed. If the operator is instructed through visual information as a procedure, it is expected that even a worker with little experience will bring about a work result equivalent to that of a skilled craftsman.

  In a recent measuring apparatus, data obtained from a measuring head can be taken into a personal computer and the measurement result can be displayed on a normal display. Furthermore, information processing is performed on the obtained data, and for example, the data obtained by measuring the three-dimensional shape can be transmitted in a form that is easy for humans to understand, such as displaying it in a bird's eye view. In addition, according to the mixed triality technology using a head mounted display or the like, it is possible to instruct the worker in the form of superimposing the work procedure to be performed next on an object in the real world according to the work manual.

  However, in skilled work, the objective cannot be achieved simply by giving the measurement result to the worker. For example, in work called linear heating, spot heating, welding distortion removal, etc., the outer panel of the hull is bent into a desired shape, or the train chassis part deformed by welding distortion is straightened, but the work target Simply giving the shape and target shape will not guide the work procedure. Skilled craftsmen work by judging the position and amount of heat they should heat.

On the other hand, in recent years, mixed triality technology centered on a head-mounted display (sometimes abbreviated as “HMD” in the present specification and drawings) has advanced, and presents images on real objects to give work instructions. Therefore, research is progressing to be used at the manufacturing site (Patent Document 1, Non-Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3). However, these technologies only support the work by instructing the work procedure according to the manual or displaying the measurement result directly, and incorporate the advanced judgment function required for skilled skills. Therefore, it is insufficient as a support device used for skill transfer.
JP 2003-338700 A Yoshihiro Ban et al. "Work Support Environment for Electronic Component Inspection with Enhanced Reality" Transactions of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan, 3-3 (1998) 185-191. A. Tang et al., "Experimental evaluation of augmented reality in object assembly task," Proc. ISMAR'02 (2002) 265-266. D. Aiteanu et al., "A step forward in manual welding: demonstration of augmentedreality helmet," Proc. ISMAR'03 (2003) 309-310.

  An object of the present invention is to support a worker who has little knowledge about the work to be performed (novice, unskilled person) in order to perform a work equivalent to a person familiar with the work (experienced, skilled person). An object of the present invention is to provide a work support apparatus.

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the work support apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for performing a heat processing operation for deforming a work object by heating including linear heating, spot heating, and welding distortion removing work. Measuring means to measure the 3D shape of the object to be compared, compare the 3D shape in the design drawing prepared in advance with the obtained measurement result, and make each work target object shape as the design drawing Therefore, information processing means for calculating the amount of deformation of the work target object to be deformed by thermal processing, calculating the heating position and the heating amount necessary to obtain the deformation, and the heating position and heating amount as the work target By providing display means for superimposing the object on the object and presenting it to the worker, the worker is given a work instruction that changes in time at the work site.
(2) In the work support apparatus of the present invention, in the ( 1 ) display means, markers are arranged on the work target object in a grid pattern, and virtual markers having apexes at the center points of these markers are formed. The computer graphics is displayed on the virtual marker.

  The worker can receive not only the raw data of the measurement result but also information in the form of a specific work procedure. The procedure is indicated by a visual method such as an arrow or animation, so that it is understandable even if it is difficult to explain in words, and mistakes due to misunderstanding can be minimized. Furthermore, since the information is given in a form superimposed on a real object at the work site, the worker can concentrate on the work without diverting his line of sight. Therefore, shortening of working time is expected.

  As described above, by performing work using the apparatus according to the present invention, an unskilled worker can perform work with quality and speed equivalent to those of the skilled worker. Moreover, since it is expected that it will be skilled by a short-term experience, it can also be useful for the succession of the skill.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a flow of work support using the present invention.
First, the worker 1 instructs the information processing unit 2 of the apparatus of the present invention to measure the shape of the work target object 3 a. Specifically, in order to operate the three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus, the measuring head of the measuring apparatus is arranged at an appropriate position with respect to the work target object 3, and the measurement software is activated. The measuring device may be a commercially available device, and may be an optical device called a 3D digitizer or a mechanical device called a 3D coordinate measuring device. However, the optical type is more advantageous from the viewpoint of obtaining the surface shape at high speed.
The measurement unit 4 controlled by the information processing unit 2 measures the shape of the work target object 3 and outputs the position coordinates of the surface shape to the information processing unit 2 as point cloud data or polygon data as the measurement result d.

The information processing unit 2 that has received the measurement result d from the measurement unit 4 compares the surface shape e in the design drawing prepared in advance with the surface shape of the measurement result d and follows the design drawing at each point of the work target object 3. Therefore, the deformation amount of the work target object 3 to be deformed by thermal processing is calculated.
Next, a heating position and a heating amount necessary for obtaining the deformation are determined. The calculation of the heating position and the heating amount may be, for example, a simulation using a commercially available thermal elastic-plastic analysis program, or may be a calculation using a database in which the heating amount and the deformation amount are combined.

  The calculated heating position and heating amount are converted into an image for the work instruction h and sent to the display unit 6, and the worker 1 works while looking at the work instruction h. On the display unit 6, as shown in FIG. 2, the heating position 8 is instructed so as to overlap the work target object 3. In FIG. 2, a heating line connecting points to be heated by the heating burner 9 is superimposed on the iron plate that is the work target object 3.

  In a normal linear heating operation, a skilled worker manually measures the shape of the work target object with a ruler or a wooden pattern, and determines the heating position based on the measurement result. At this time, the heating point or heating line is directly written on the work target object with a magic pen, chalk, or the like. The operator knows the heating position from the drawn heating point or heating line, and works by applying the flame of the heating burner on it.

  Since it is not difficult work to apply the flame of the heating burner to the target position itself, it seems that even beginners can perform linear heating work if a skilled worker draws a heating point or heating line. ,It is not. The skilled worker draws the heating point or heating line and at the same time decides the heating amount. In order to make the heating amount as desired, adjust the size of the flame of the burner and change the heating time. It is. When the work target object is an iron plate, the approximate temperature of the heating point can be known from the change in the color of the heating point, so the skilled worker moves the burner while watching the change in the color of the heating point.

As described above, in the method of directly writing the heating point or heating line on the work target object, it is possible to indicate the heating position, but it is not sufficient as work support for beginners because the heating amount cannot be specified. Absent. On the other hand, according to the present invention, since a dynamic instruction is possible by using a video display device such as a head-mounted display for the display unit, it is possible to provide work support including an instruction regarding the heating amount.
Hereinafter, a method for converting the heating position and the heating amount into a work instruction based on such an image will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the worker 1 wears a head mounted display (HMD) 10 including a display unit 6 and a camera 7 on the head. The video g obtained by the camera 7 of the HMD 10 is once sent to the information processing unit 2. The work target object 3 is previously provided with a marker for calculating relative position coordinates with the camera 7. The information processing unit 2 recognizes the marker from the image g sent from the camera 7 and grasps the relative positional relationship between the camera 7 and the work target object 3 based on its size, orientation, shape, and the like. As a result, the heating position 8 can be displayed superimposed on the image g of the work target object 3.

  In order to define the heating amount, the heating amount with respect to the flow rate of the gas sent to the heating burner 9 is measured in advance, the speed at which the heating burner 9 is sequentially moved while measuring the gas flow rate is calculated, and an image is obtained. Can be directed.

  As another method for defining the heating amount, an instruction based on the temperature of the heating point can be used. When instructing the temperature of the heating point, the temperature of the heating point is monitored by a thermometer, and when the temperature reaches an appropriate temperature, the display of the heating position 8 is moved to the next heating point. A work instruction is sent to the person 1.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which an iron plate is bent in one direction by linear heating. In FIG. 3, the initial shape in this operation | work, the state of a linear heating operation | work, and the target shape are typically shown with sectional drawing.
A rectangular iron plate 11 is bent in a left-right symmetrical shape in the center line. The iron plate 11 is made flat by linear heating by the heating burner 9.

FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of the work target object 3 and the three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus 12 in this work.
An iron plate 11 that is a work target object 3 is placed on a work table 13, and an optical three-dimensional shape measuring device 12 is disposed thereabove. When the operator 1 gives a measurement instruction “a” to the information processing unit 2, the information processing unit 2 controls the three-dimensional shape measuring device 12, emits a laser beam from the device 12, and reflects the reflected light with the camera of the device 12. The surface shape of the work target object is read from the position of the light spot.

  The measured surface shape is sent to the information processing unit 2 as point cloud data, and the heating position and the heating amount are calculated. In this case, since the target shape is a flat surface, the position to be heated is a portion where the curvature is maximized, and coincides with the bent center line.

  As a marker for displaying the heating position 8 superimposed on the work target object 3, an ARTTool Kit (Augmented Reality Tool Kit) in which a black and white pattern is drawn in a square is a library of a C language that supports the work of an augmented reality application. Meaning). In ARTToolKit, a function of drawing computer graphics (hereinafter abbreviated as “CG”) on a marker is prepared in advance. However, as the position where the CG is drawn is farther from the marker or the marker size is smaller, the error in the CG presentation position increases and the CG itself tends to vibrate.

  On the other hand, when applied to the operation of linear heating with the heating burner 9, it is desirable that the marker size is small and arranged as far as possible from the heating position so that the marker does not interfere with processing. Therefore, as a method for solving this problem, the markers 14 are arranged in a lattice pattern as shown in FIG. In ARTToolKit, the position and orientation of the marker 14 is calculated from the coordinates of the detected four vertices of the marker 14. In this method, after detecting each marker 14, the center point of the marker 14 is set to four vertices, Processing is performed as if one large marker was detected, and the position and orientation of the virtual marker viewed from the camera are calculated. As a result, it is possible to present the CG with almost the same accuracy as when a large marker is arranged there while securing a large processing area.

  With this method shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to display the heating wire 15 so as to be accurately overlapped and displayed on the iron plate 11 that is the object to be processed. In addition, by displaying the heated portion on the heating line 15 differently from the color of the portion to be heated, the portion to be heated can be easily recognized as a color boundary. The worker 1 may move the heating burner 9 so that the flame hits the color boundary portion. As described above, the superimposed display using the head mounted display 10 has an advantage that the work instruction h that changes with time can be given to the worker 1. The worker 1 can perform work equivalent to that of an expert even by a beginner by working while watching the image as shown in FIG. 5 displayed on the head mounted display 10.

  The present invention can be used as an apparatus that supports operations such as processing, assembly, inspection, and repair at a manufacturing site. In particular, it is effective for accurately and quickly transferring the skills of skilled workers to unskilled workers. Further, even in occupations other than the manufacturing industry, for example, it can be used for toy work instructions whose main purpose is to achieve a desired state by manual work.

It is explanatory drawing which showed the flow of the work assistance of this invention. It is a figure explaining a mode that a worker wears a head mount display (HMD) and performs heat processing work. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the iron plate bent in the character shape which concerns on Example 1 of this invention is made into a plane by linear heating. It is a figure explaining arrangement | positioning of the work target object and three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus in the operation | work of Example 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which displayed the heating wire on the iron plate which is a work target object with a head mounted display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Worker 2 Information processing part 3 Work object 4 Measurement part 5 Design drawing / database 6 Display part 7 Camera 8 Heating position 9 Heating burner 10 Head mounted display 11 Iron plate 12 Three-dimensional shape measuring device 13 Work table 14 Marker 15 Heating line

Claims (2)

Measuring device for measuring a three-dimensional shape of an object to be worked in an apparatus for performing a heat working work for deforming a work target object by heating including linear heating, spot heating, and welding distortion removing work, and obtained measurement Compare the three-dimensional shape in the design drawing prepared in advance with the result and make the deformation amount of the work target object to be deformed by thermal processing in order to make the shape as the design drawing at each point of the work target object Information processing means for calculating and calculating the heating position and heating amount necessary to obtain the deformation, and a display for superimposing the heating position and heating amount obtained by the calculation on the work target object and presenting them to the operator By providing a means, the work assistance apparatus which performs the work instruction which changes in time at a work site with respect to an operator . In the display means, the markers are arranged in a grid pattern on the work target object , a virtual marker having the vertex of the center point of these markers is formed, and computer graphics are displayed on the virtual marker. The work support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

Images