JP7122276B2 - Quality evaluation device and quality evaluation method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ready-mixed concrete quality evaluation apparatus and quality evaluation method.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of quality evaluation apparatuses and quality evaluation methods are conventionally known for use in acceptance inspections of ready-mixed concrete. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-132760 describes a fresh concrete testing apparatus. This test apparatus uses images to measure the flow velocity and volume of concrete flowing through a chute. The test equipment consists of a camera that takes pictures of the concrete flowing through the chute at regular intervals, a flat laser rangefinder that measures the height of the concrete in the chute, an inclinometer that measures the inclination of the chute, and a display that displays the judgment result of the concrete. and a computer that

A camera, a flat laser rangefinder and an inclinometer are fixed to a light-shielding cover that covers the chute, and various measurements are performed with the light-shielding cover attached to the chute. The computer calculates the flow rate of concrete flowing through the chute per unit time from the image taken by the camera, the height of the concrete measured by the planar laser rangefinder, and the inclination of the chute. The computer compares the calculated flow rate per unit time with the standard flow rate determined for each inclination of the chute, and judges whether the concrete is acceptable depending on whether the calculated flow rate is within the allowable range for the standard flow rate. .

JP 2013-132760 A

The pass/fail judgment of the quality of the fresh concrete is performed when the fresh concrete is discharged into a chute from a mixer truck or agitator truck equipped with a kneading drum. For example, hard concrete with a slump value below a predetermined value may be difficult to pump or compact, or may cause construction failures. In addition, soft concrete with a slump value higher than a predetermined value may cause insufficient strength or defective construction. Therefore, it is required to eliminate concrete that may cause such poor construction by judging the quality of ready-mixed concrete. (In particular, it is required to reliably remove poor ready-mixed concrete, which has a low slump value and is hard, before receiving it.)

Further, in the fresh concrete testing apparatus described above, acceptance/rejection of concrete is determined in a state in which a light-shielding cover to which a camera, a plane laser rangefinder and an inclinometer are fixed is attached to a chute. Therefore, when judging whether or not concrete is acceptable using this testing apparatus, it is necessary to attach a light-shielding cover to each of the chutes of all vehicles such as mixer vehicles and agitator vehicles. For example, when many cars come in succession, it is necessary to attach a shading cover to each car. In this way, since a light-shielding cover must be attached to each vehicle, the quality evaluation is complicated and the cost for the quality evaluation increases. Therefore, the current situation is that the quality evaluation of ready-mixed concrete cannot be performed efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a quality evaluation apparatus and a quality evaluation method capable of reliably excluding defective concrete before receiving it and efficiently evaluating the quality of ready-mixed concrete.

A quality evaluation apparatus according to the present invention is a quality evaluation apparatus for ready-mixed concrete, comprising a camera for capturing a video of ready-mixed concrete flowing obliquely downward along an inclined surface of a chute ; a surface recognition unit that recognizes the surface; a tilt calculation unit that calculates the tilt of the surface shape of the fresh concrete from the surface of the fresh concrete recognized by the surface recognition unit; and a quality determination unit that determines the quality of

In this quality evaluation device, a camera captures a moving image of ready-mixed concrete flowing down along an inclined plane. The surface recognition unit recognizes the surface of the fresh concrete from the captured moving image, and the inclination calculation unit calculates the inclination of the surface shape of the fresh concrete from the recognized surface of the fresh concrete. A quality judging unit for judging the quality of fresh concrete judges the quality of fresh concrete from the inclination of the surface shape of fresh concrete. Hard ready-mixed concrete with a low slump value tends to flow with a certain thickness (height) at the beginning of the chute of the agitator wheel, resulting in a large inclination and a slow down flow rate. On the other hand, soft concrete with a high slump value tends to flow with no thickness (height) at the beginning of the chute of the agitator wheel, so the slope becomes relatively small and the flow velocity tends to increase. This quality evaluation device captures this difference and judges the quality of ready-mixed concrete. Therefore, by judging the quality of the ready-mixed concrete from the inclination of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete by the quality judging section, the hard ready-mixed concrete having a low slump value can be reliably excluded, so that the defective ready-mixed concrete can be reliably rejected before it is received. can be eliminated. In addition, with this quality evaluation device, if a camera for taking shots is provided, the quality of freshly mixed concrete can be determined by calculating the inclination of the surface shape of the freshly mixed concrete from the moving image. Therefore, since it is not necessary to attach special equipment to each vehicle, it is possible to efficiently evaluate the quality of ready-mixed concrete. As a result, the quality evaluation of ready-mixed concrete can be efficiently performed for all target vehicles, and thus the quality inspection of all vehicles can be efficiently performed by taking moving images of ready-mixed concrete with a single camera. be able to.

Moreover, the quality evaluation device described above may include a display unit that displays the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete calculated by the inclination calculation unit. In this case, since the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete flowing down the chute can be displayed in real time by the display section, it is possible to visually evaluate the quality of the ready-mixed concrete by looking at the displayed inclination. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of quality evaluation of ready-mixed concrete.

The quality evaluation method according to the present invention is a method for evaluating the quality of ready-mixed concrete. A process of photographing, a process of recognizing the surface of the fresh concrete from the video of the fresh concrete, a process of calculating the inclination of the surface shape of the fresh concrete from the surface of the fresh concrete, and judging the quality of the fresh concrete from the inclination of the fresh concrete. and a step.

In this quality evaluation method, ready-mixed concrete flowing along an inclined surface is photographed, the surface of the ready-mixed concrete flowing down is recognized from the moving image, and the inclination of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete is calculated. In this quality evaluation method, the quality of fresh concrete is determined from the slope of the surface shape of the fresh concrete. Concrete can be reliably removed before acceptance. Moreover, in this quality evaluation method, the quality of ready-mixed concrete can be evaluated by photographing a moving image of the ready-mixed concrete with a camera. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently evaluate the quality of ready-mixed concrete for all target vehicles.

Further, in the step of recognizing the surface, a plurality of moving points in the moving image may be recognized, and in the step of calculating the tilt, the tilt may be calculated from the movement direction and the movement distance of the plurality of points in a certain period of time. In this case, a plurality of points in the moving image are recognized, and the slope of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete flowing down is calculated from the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points. Therefore, the inclination of the surface shape of freshly mixed concrete can be calculated with higher accuracy, so that the quality evaluation of freshly mixed concrete can be performed with higher accuracy.

In addition, in the step of calculating the inclination, the inclination may be calculated by linearly approximating the moving directions and moving distances of a plurality of points for a certain period of time. In this case, since the slope of the ready-mixed concrete flowing down is calculated by linear approximation from the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points, the slope of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete can be calculated by a simple process.

In the step of judging the quality, when the integrated value from when the ready-mixed concrete starts to flow down along the slope until the slope becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is judged to be poor. You can judge. By the way, in the case of hard ready-mixed concrete, the slope of the surface shape tends to take a long time until it reaches 0 as the inclination increases after starting to flow down. Therefore, in the case of hard ready-mixed concrete, it takes longer than soft ready-mixed concrete to reach 0 as the inclination increases after starting to flow down. That is, in the case of soft ready-mixed concrete, the inclination rise is small from the start of flowing down and the time until it reaches 0 is short. Therefore, by determining that the quality of the fresh concrete is not good when the integrated value of the time-series data of the slope from the start of the flow until the slope becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, the hard ready-mixed concrete is ensured. can be eliminated.

In the process of flowing down, ready-mixed concrete flows down along the inclined surface of the chute. When it is equal to or greater than the second threshold, it may be determined that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is not good. When the slump value of ready-mixed concrete is low and the ready-mixed concrete is hard, the average slope value tends to be higher than that of soft ready-mixed concrete for a certain period of time after the fresh concrete reaches the tip of the chute. be. Therefore, by determining that the quality is not good when the average value of the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete from reaching the tip of the chute until a certain time elapses is equal to or greater than the second threshold value, the slump value is low and hard ready-mixed concrete can be more reliably eliminated.

Further, in the step of determining the quality, it may be determined that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is not good when the slope is equal to or less than the third threshold. Ready-mixed concrete, which is hard and has a low slump value, has many irregularities on the surface, and tends to have an unstable slope when it flows down compared to soft ready-mixed concrete. Therefore, by judging that ready-mixed concrete having an inclination equal to or less than the third threshold value is not good, it is possible to further reliably exclude acceptance of hard ready-mixed concrete having an unstable inclination. Therefore, it is possible to judge the quality of ready-mixed concrete with higher accuracy.

In the step of flowing down, the ready-mixed concrete flows down along the inclined surface of the chute, the inclined surface of which is a concave curved surface. The inclination within a parallelogram-shaped frame including two sides parallel to the edge and two sides parallel to a line segment connecting the tip of the edge in the flowing direction and the bottom of the curved surface may be calculated. In this case, the slope in the parallelogram-shaped frame is calculated with reference to the edge of the curved surface of the chute and the line segment connecting the tip of the edge in the flowing direction and the bottom of the curved surface. Therefore, since the inclination of the fresh concrete in the predetermined area can be calculated, the inclination can be calculated and the quality of the fresh concrete can be determined more accurately and easily.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to eliminate a defective concrete reliably before acceptance, quality evaluation of ready-mixed concrete can be performed efficiently.

It is a side view which shows typically the camera of the quality evaluation apparatus which concerns on embodiment, an agitator wheel, and a pump wheel. It is a block diagram which shows the function of the quality evaluation apparatus which concerns on embodiment. 3 is a perspective view showing a parallelogram-shaped frame displayed by the quality evaluation device of FIG. 2 and the inclination of ready-mixed concrete flowing down the inclined surface of the chute. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing moving directions and moving distances of points of moving images of ready-mixed concrete flowing down from the image obtained by the camera of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the positional relationship between the curved surface of the chute and the parallelogram-shaped frame; FIG. 10 is a graph showing exemplary time-series data of inclination of the surface shape of ready-mixed concrete flowing through a chute and examples of quality evaluation determination timing; FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of time-series data of slopes calculated by the slope calculator in FIG. 2; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of each process of a fresh concrete quality evaluation method according to an embodiment. (a) and (b) are graphs showing examples of time-series data of the surface shape of ready-mixed concrete.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment of the quality evaluation apparatus and quality evaluation method of ready-mixed concrete which concerns on this invention is described, referring drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following examples, but is intended to include all modifications indicated in the claims and within the scope equivalent to the claims. In the description of the drawings, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions are omitted as appropriate. Also, the drawings may be partially simplified or exaggerated for ease of understanding, and dimensional ratios, angles, and the like are not limited to those described in the drawings.

First, an example of an agitator car A and a pump car B to which the quality evaluation device 1 according to the present embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The agitator vehicle A is a vehicle for transporting the ready-mixed concrete C (see FIG. 3) manufactured in the factory to the site. As shown in FIG. 1, the agitator wheel A includes a cylindrical drum A1 that accommodates the ready-mixed concrete C and agitates the ready-mixed concrete C by rotating. The pump car B is, for example, a vehicle that pours the ready-mixed concrete C transported by the agitator car A into a formwork installed on site. At the rear of the agitator car A, a chute 3 is provided as a conveying path for ready-mixed concrete C. As shown in FIG.

The quality evaluation device 1 according to this embodiment evaluates the quality of ready-mixed concrete C flowing down the chute 3 . The quality evaluation device 1 is provided with a camera 2 for capturing a moving image of the fresh concrete C flowing down the chute 3, and evaluates the quality of the fresh concrete C from the moving image of the fresh concrete C captured by the camera 2. - 特許庁For example, although the number of frames of moving images by the camera 2 is 30 fps, it can be changed as appropriate.

The quality evaluation device 1, for example, determines whether the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is acceptable. The ready-mixed concrete C determined as acceptable by the quality evaluation device 1 is continuously transferred to the pump car B via the chute 3, for example. On the other hand, ready-mixed concrete C determined to be unacceptable by the quality evaluation device 1 is not transferred to the pump truck B, for example.

As described above, the quality evaluation device 1 inspects the ready-mixed concrete C transported by the agitator car A before it is put into the pump car B. As shown in FIG. Ready-mixed concrete C is fresh concrete and is unloaded in an unhardened state. If a problem occurs with the ready-mixed concrete C after it hardens, it takes a lot of time and money to repair or remove it, so it is important to conduct a thorough quality inspection before hardening. The quality evaluation device 1 evaluates the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C carried into the site by the agitator vehicle A, and determines whether the hardness of the ready-mixed concrete C is appropriate, that is, whether the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete C is appropriate. Check whether or not

The quality evaluation device 1 is arranged outside the agitator car A, for example, and performs an acceptance inspection of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing through the chute 3 outside the agitator car A. As shown in FIG. In this way, the acceptance inspection is performed outside the agitator wheel A by the quality evaluation device 1, so that it is possible to inspect the ready-mixed concrete C of each of the plurality of agitator wheels A with one quality evaluation device 1. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of the quality evaluation device 1. As shown in FIG. Note that each function provided in the quality evaluation apparatus 1 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2 and can be changed as appropriate. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the quality evaluation device 1 includes a camera 2 for photographing the ready-mixed concrete C, and a judging unit 10 for judging the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C from the video of the ready-mixed concrete C photographed by the camera 2. and an output unit 20 including a display unit 21 for outputting the determination result by the determination unit 10 and displaying the determination result.

A camera 2 photographs ready-mixed concrete C flowing obliquely downward in a chute 3. - 特許庁For example, the camera 2 is installed on a tripod 2a, and photographs the ready-mixed concrete C on the chute 3 from obliquely above (for example, a direction forming an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane). The camera 2 outputs the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C captured in real time to the determination unit 10. - 特許庁Note that the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C captured by the camera 2 may be displayed on the display unit 21 . In this case, it is also possible to visually confirm the properties of the ready-mixed concrete C.

The determination unit 10 receives the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C from the camera 2 . The determination unit 10 may be provided in a computer such as a personal computer, for example, and can communicate with each of the camera 2 and the output unit 20 . The computer provided with the determination unit 10 includes, for example, a processor (e.g., CPU) that executes an operating system and application programs, etc., a main storage unit configured with ROM, RAM, etc., and an auxiliary storage unit configured with a hard disk, flash memory, or the like. It comprises a storage unit, a communication control unit composed of a network card or a wireless communication module, an input device such as a keyboard or mouse, and an output device such as a monitor.

Each functional element of the computer of the determination unit 10 is realized by causing a processor or main storage unit to read predetermined software and execute the software. The processor operates the communication control unit, the input device, or the output device described above according to the software, and reads and writes data in the main storage unit or the auxiliary storage unit. Data necessary for computer processing are stored in a main memory or an auxiliary memory.

The determination unit 10 includes, as functional components, a surface recognition unit 11 that recognizes the surface of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing through the chute 3, and an inclination calculation unit that calculates the inclination K (see FIG. 3) of the surface of the ready-mixed concrete C. 12 and a quality determination unit 13 for determining the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C. The surface recognition unit 11 recognizes the surface of the ready-mixed concrete C from the moving image captured by the camera 2 .

For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the surface recognition unit 11 recognizes a plurality of moving points P in the animation of ready-mixed concrete C flowing down the chute 3 . The surface recognition unit 11, for example, captures the moving directions and moving distances of a plurality of points P for a certain period of time (for example, between frames) as vectors (for example, arrows Y).

Recognition of a plurality of points P by the surface recognition unit 11 is performed inside a parallelogram-shaped frame F, for example. As shown in FIG. 5, the chute 3 has an inclined surface 3b (upper surface) on which ready-mixed concrete C flows down, and the inclined surface 3b is a curved concave surface. That is, the inclined surface 3b has a U-shaped cross section perpendicular to the flow direction D1 in which the ready-mixed concrete C flows, and the ready-mixed concrete C flows down inside the U-shaped cross section of the chute 3 . The length of the chute 3 in the width direction D2 is, for example, gradually narrowed from upstream to downstream in the flow path of the ready-mixed concrete C of the chute 3 .

The frame F has a parallelogram shape including, for example, an end side 3a of the chute 3 extending along the flowing direction D1 of the ready-mixed concrete C, and a line segment L1 connecting the lower end 3c of the end side 3a and the bottom 3d of the chute 3. It is The point _B0 indicates the bottom surface of the upper end of the chute 3 in the flow-down direction D1, and the points B and _C0 indicate the corners of the frame F for reference. For example, when the camera 2 photographs the range of the frame F, the surface recognition unit 11 recognizes the point P within the range of the frame F. FIG. The shape, size and position of the frame F are not limited to those shown in FIG. may be located.

The tilt calculator 12 calculates the tilt K of the fresh concrete C from the surface of the fresh concrete C recognized by the surface recognition unit 11 . The inclination calculator 12 calculates, for example, the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down from the moving directions and moving distances of a plurality of points P in a certain period of time. As an example, the tilt calculator 12 calculates the tilt K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C by linearly approximating the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points P per fixed time captured by the surface recognition unit 11 . For example, the inclination calculator 12 calculates the inclination of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C with respect to the flowing direction D1. In addition, the inclination calculator 12 linearly approximates the X component (for example, horizontal component) and Y component (for example, vertical component) of the vector of the plurality of points P by the least squares method to obtain the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C. An inclination K with respect to the horizontal plane may be calculated.

The quality judging section 13 judges the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C from the time-series data of the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C calculated by the inclination calculating section 12 . For example, as shown in FIG. 6, ready-mixed concrete C that is hard (for example, the slump value is 7.5 cm) is soft (for example, the slump value is 23.0 cm or 12.0 cm) immediately after starting to flow down to the chute 3. 0 cm) Compared to the ready-mixed concrete C, the tip of the chute 3 swells greatly.

That is, the gradient K of the surface shape of the hard ready-mixed concrete C is larger than the gradient K of the surface shape of the soft ready-mixed concrete C at the tip of the chute 3 . In the graph of FIG. 6, the vertical axis indicates the inclination K (unit: cm/m) of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C, and the horizontal axis indicates time. That is, FIG. 6 is a graph showing an example of time-series data of the slope K of the surface shape of ready-mixed concrete C. As shown in FIG.

Therefore, the quality determination unit 13 determines in advance the integrated value (the area M of the graph in FIG. 6) from when the ready-mixed concrete C starts to flow down along the inclined surface 3b until the slope K becomes 0. When it is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, it is determined that the ready-mixed concrete C is hard concrete and the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good.

Thus, when the integrated value of the time-series data of the gradient K of the surface shape of the fresh concrete C is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the quality determination unit 13 determines that the quality of the fresh concrete C is not good. Concrete can be reliably excluded. Note that the value of the first threshold is, for example, 2400 cm/(m·frame), but can be changed as appropriate.

In addition, the average value of the slope K from the arrival of the ready-mixed concrete C to the tip of the chute 3 until a certain time (for example, 2 seconds in the range G in FIG. 6, or the second time t2) has elapsed is the soft ready-mixed concrete C The hard ready-mixed concrete C is larger than Therefore, for example, when the average value of the slope K from when the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3 until a certain period of time elapses is equal to or greater than the second threshold, It is judged that the quality of ready-mixed concrete C is not good. The value of the second threshold is, for example, −5 (cm/m), but can be changed as appropriate.

Furthermore, in the case of hard ready-mixed concrete C, the slope K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C is unstable, and the slope K may become extremely small as shown by the mark X in FIG. 6, for example. Therefore, the quality determination unit 13 determines that the fresh concrete C is hard and the quality of the fresh concrete C is not good, for example, when the inclination K of the surface shape of the fresh concrete C is equal to or less than the third threshold value. The value of the third threshold is, for example, −35 (cm/m), but can be changed as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 2, the output unit 20 includes a display unit 21 for displaying the determination result of the ready-mixed concrete C by the quality determination unit 13, and a and an equipment control unit 23 for controlling various equipment according to the determination result of the quality determination unit 13 .

The display unit 21 includes, for example, a display of an information terminal such as a personal computer or a notebook computer, and a display of a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or tablet. The display unit 21 displays, for example, an image of the flowing state of the ready-mixed concrete C including the frame F, the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C, and the time-series data of the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C illustrated in FIG. Display Z.

In the graph shown in FIG. 7, the vertical axis is the slope K (cm/m) and the horizontal axis is time. For example, the right end of the graph is 0. As the ready-mixed concrete C flows down, the time-series data Z in FIG. 7 moves to the left, and the time-series data Z from the present to several seconds ago (for example, 10 seconds ago) is displayed in real time. By displaying the time-series data Z in real time in this way, it is possible to grasp the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C in real time.

The alarm output unit 22 outputs an alarm when the quality judgment unit 13 judges that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good. For example, the alarm output unit 22 transmits an output signal to an alarm device such as a patrol light (registered trademark), a siren, or a speaker on site, and outputs an alarm by activating the patrol light, the siren, or the speaker. In addition, the warning output unit 22 may output a warning to an information terminal such as a portable terminal possessed by a worker or the like.

The equipment control unit 23 controls the operation of the equipment according to the evaluation result of the ready-mixed concrete C determined by the quality determination unit 13 . For example, the device control unit 23 can communicate with a pump that pumps the ready-mixed concrete C, and controls the operation of the pump according to the evaluation result of the ready-mixed concrete C by the quality determination unit 13 . As an example, the device control unit 23 stops pumping the ready-mixed concrete C by the pump when it is determined that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good. Note that the type of device controlled by the device control unit 23 may be a device other than the pump, and can be changed as appropriate.

Next, a method for evaluating the quality of ready-mixed concrete C according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows an example of each step of the quality evaluation method according to this embodiment. First, ready-mixed concrete C flows down along the inclined surface 3 b of the chute 3 . At this time, for example, the ready-mixed concrete C is poured from the agitator car A onto the chute 3 installed at the rear of the agitator car A (step of flowing down the ready-mixed concrete).

On the other hand, in order to photograph the position including the frame F of the chute 3, for example, the camera 2 is installed on a tripod 2a, and the camera 2 photographs the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down along the inclined surface 3b. (step S1, step of taking a moving image of ready-mixed concrete). A moving image of ready-mixed concrete C photographed by the camera 2 is output to the determination unit 10 in real time, and image-processed by the determination unit 10 .

After the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C is output to the determination unit 10, the surface recognition unit 11 recognizes the surface of the ready-mixed concrete C from the moving image of the ready-mixed concrete C. At this time, the surface recognition unit 11 recognizes a plurality of points P moving in the moving image of the fresh concrete C from the moving image (step of recognizing the surface of the fresh concrete).

After the surface recognition unit 11 recognizes the plurality of points P, the inclination calculation unit 12 calculates the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C. FIG. For example, the tilt calculator 12 calculates the tilt K by linearly approximating the moving directions and moving distances of a plurality of points P for a certain period of time. The tilt K calculated by the tilt calculating unit 12 is displayed, for example, in the frame F displayed together with the moving image captured by the camera 2 by the display unit 21, and displayed as a graph of time-series data (step S2, surface step of calculating the slope of the shape).

The quality determination unit 13 determines the quality of the fresh concrete C from the inclination K of the fresh concrete C. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the quality determination unit 13 integrates the time-series data of the slope K from the flow start time t0 of the ready-mixed concrete C until the first time t1 elapses. It is determined whether or not the value is greater than or equal to the first threshold TH1 (step S3, quality determination step). The first time t1 is the time until the increased slope K reaches 0 from the flow start time t0.

When the integrated value of the slope K is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, the quality determination unit 13 determines that the quality of the fresh concrete C is abnormal. A warning to that effect is issued (step S4). Then, as the series of steps is completed, the reception of ready-mixed concrete C is stopped.

On the other hand, when the quality determination unit 13 determines in step S3 that the integrated value of the slope K is not equal to or greater than the first threshold TH1, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the quality determination unit 13 determines whether or not the average value of the slope K over a certain period of time after the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3 is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2. That is, the quality determination unit 13 determines whether or not the average value of the slope K from the first time t1 until the second time t2 elapses is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2 (process for determining quality).

When the average value of the slopes K is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2, the quality determination unit 13 determines that the fresh concrete C is not of good quality, and proceeds to step S4. Also, when the average value of the slope K is not equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2, the quality determination unit 13 proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the quality determination unit 13 determines whether or not the slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold TH3. For example, the quality determination unit 13 determines whether or not the slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold TH3 until the third time t3 elapses (step of determining quality).

When the quality determination unit 13 determines that the slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold TH3, it determines that the fresh concrete C is not of good quality, and proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, when the quality determination unit 13 determines that the slope K is not equal to or less than the third threshold value TH3, the quality determination unit 13 determines that the quality of the fresh concrete C is good. It is notified that it is good (step S7). Thereafter, for example, ready-mixed concrete C from the agitator wheel A is received, and each step of the quality evaluation method described above is performed on the next agitator wheel A in the same manner. After executing each step of the quality evaluation method for all the agitator wheels A, a series of steps is completed.

Next, the effects obtained from the quality evaluation apparatus 1 and the quality evaluation method for ready-mixed concrete C according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. In the quality evaluation device 1 and the quality evaluation method according to this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the camera 2 shoots moving images of ready-mixed concrete C flowing down along the inclined surface 3b. The surface recognition unit 11 recognizes the surface of the ready-mixed concrete C from the captured moving image, and the inclination calculation unit 12 calculates the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C from the recognized surface of the ready-mixed concrete C.

A quality determination unit 13 that determines the quality of the fresh concrete C determines the quality of the fresh concrete C from the inclination K of the surface shape of the fresh concrete C. A hard ready-mixed concrete C with a low slump value has more irregularities on the surface than a soft ready-mixed concrete C, and the fluctuation of the inclination K is large. Therefore, by judging the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C from the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C by the quality judging unit 13, the hard ready-mixed concrete C having a low slump value can be reliably excluded, and thus the defective ready-mixed concrete can be eliminated. C can be reliably excluded before acceptance.

Moreover, if the quality evaluation apparatus 1 has a camera 2 for photographing the chute 3, it is possible to determine the quality of the fresh concrete C by calculating the inclination K of the surface shape of the fresh concrete C from the moving image. Therefore, since it is not necessary to attach a special device to each vehicle including the agitator vehicle A, the ready-mixed concrete C can be evaluated efficiently. As a result, the quality evaluation of the ready-mixed concrete C can be efficiently performed for all target vehicles. can be done efficiently.

The quality evaluation device 1 also includes a display section 21 that displays the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C calculated by the inclination calculation section 12 . Therefore, since the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down the chute 3 (for example, the image of the frame F and the inclination K shown in FIG. 3) can be displayed in real time by the display unit 21, the displayed inclination K can be seen. It is also possible to visually evaluate the quality of ready-mixed concrete C. Therefore, the accuracy of the quality evaluation of ready-mixed concrete C can be improved.

In the quality evaluation method according to the present embodiment, in the step of recognizing the surface, a plurality of points P moving in the moving image are recognized, and in the step of calculating the inclination K, the movement direction and movement of the plurality of points P during a certain period of time An inclination K is calculated from the distance. That is, a plurality of points P are recognized on the moving image, and the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down is calculated from the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points P. Therefore, since the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C can be calculated with high accuracy, the quality evaluation of the ready-mixed concrete C can be performed with high accuracy.

Further, in the step of calculating the slope K, the slope K is calculated by linearly approximating the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points P for a certain period of time. Therefore, since the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down is calculated by linear approximation from the moving directions and moving distances of the plurality of points P, the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C can be calculated by a simple process.

Further, in the quality evaluation method according to the present embodiment, the process of determining quality is executed a plurality of times (for example, three times of steps S3, S5 and S6). Therefore, the determination of the fresh concrete C can be performed efficiently and the determination of the fresh concrete C can be performed with high accuracy. That is, by performing the quality evaluation of the ready-mixed concrete C in a plurality of steps, defective ready-mixed concrete C can be eliminated more reliably.

Further, in the step of judging the quality, when the integrated value from when the ready-mixed concrete C starts to flow down along the inclined surface 3b until the slope K becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold TH1, the ready-mixed concrete C It is determined that the quality is not good. As exemplified in FIG. 6, in the case of hard ready-mixed concrete C, the slope K of the surface shape tends to increase after the start of flowing down and take a long time until it reaches zero.

Therefore, in the case of hard ready-mixed concrete C, it takes longer than soft ready-mixed concrete C for the slope K to become 0 as the slope K increases after the start of flowing down. That is, in the case of soft ready-mixed concrete C, the slope K from the start of flowing down is small and the time until it reaches 0 is short. Therefore, by determining that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good when the integrated value of the time-series data of the slope K from the start of the flow until the slope becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, hard raw concrete C can be obtained. Concrete C can be reliably excluded.

In the step of flowing down, the ready-mixed concrete C flows down along the inclined surface 3b of the chute 3, and in the step of judging the quality, the time from when the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3 until a certain time elapses. When the average value of the slopes K is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2, it is determined that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good. When the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete C is low and the ready-mixed concrete C is hard, the average of the inclination K is compared with the soft ready-mixed concrete C for a certain period of time after the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3. values tend to be higher.

Therefore, by determining that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C for which the average value of the slope K from the time the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3 until the predetermined time elapses is equal to or greater than the second threshold value TH2 is not good, , hard ready-mixed concrete C having a low slump value can be reliably excluded.

Further, in the step of judging the quality, it is judged that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C is not good when the slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold value TH3. Ready-mixed concrete C, which is hard and has a low slump value, has many irregularities on the surface. Therefore, by judging the ready-mixed concrete C whose slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold value TH3 to be unsatisfactory, the reception of hard ready-mixed concrete C whose slope K is unstable can be further reliably excluded. Therefore, quality determination of ready-mixed concrete C can be performed with higher accuracy.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in the step of flowing down, ready-mixed concrete C flows down along the inclined surface 3b of the chute 3 whose inclined surface 3b is a concave curved surface, and in the step of calculating the inclination K, Two sides parallel to the edge 3a of the curved surface extending along the flow direction D1 in which ready-mixed concrete C flows, and parallel to the line segment L1 connecting the lower end 3c of the edge 3a in the flow direction D1 and the bottom 3d of the curved surface Inclination K within a parallelogram-shaped frame F having two sides is calculated.

That is, the inclination K within the parallelogram-shaped frame F is based on the edge 3a of the curved surface of the chute 3 and the line segment L1 connecting the lower end 3c of the edge 3a in the flow-down direction D1 and the bottom 3d of the curved surface. Calculate Therefore, since the inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C within the predetermined area can be calculated, the calculation of the inclination K and the quality judgment of the ready-mixed concrete C can be performed more easily.

The embodiments of the quality evaluation device and the quality evaluation method according to the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be modified or applied to other things within the scope of not changing the gist described in each claim. That is, the function, shape, size, material, number and arrangement of each part of the quality evaluation device, and the content and order of each step of the quality evaluation method can be changed as appropriate without changing the above gist.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the ready-mixed concrete C whose integrated value from when the ready-mixed concrete C starts to flow down until the slope K becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1, and the ready-mixed concrete C reach the tip of the chute 3. Hard ready-mixed concrete C in which the average value of the slope K from arrival until a certain time elapses is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2, and to ready-mixed concrete C in which the slope K is equal to or less than the third threshold TH3 An example in which the quality is determined to be C and the quality is not good has been described.

However, the quality evaluation device and quality evaluation method may determine that the ready-mixed concrete C that is too soft is of poor quality. In this case, for example, the integrated value from when the ready-mixed concrete C starts to flow down until the slope K becomes 0 is equal to or less than the fourth threshold, and a certain time has elapsed since the ready-mixed concrete C reached the tip of the chute 3. Ready-mixed concrete C for which the average value of the slope K until the point is equal to or lower than the fifth threshold value can be excluded as too soft ready-mixed concrete C. In this manner, conditions such as the hardness of the ready-mixed concrete C used for judging the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C can be appropriately changed.

Furthermore, in the quality evaluation device and quality evaluation method, whether or not the integrated value from when the flow starts along the inclined surface 3b to when the slope K becomes 0 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value T1 (for example, step S3), Whether or not the average value of the slope K from when the ready-mixed concrete C reaches the tip of the chute 3 until the lapse of a certain period of time is greater than or equal to the second threshold TH2 (for example, step S5), and whether the slope K is the third threshold TH3 It is also possible to determine whether or not at least one of the following (for example, step S6), not all of them.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a display that displays an image of the ready-mixed concrete C flowing down state including the frame F, the inclination K of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete C, and the time-series data Z of the surface shape inclination K of the ready-mixed concrete C. Part 21 is illustrated. However, what the display unit displays is not limited to the above example, and can be changed as appropriate.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), the display unit may display the surface shape and inclination of the fresh concrete C as well as the thickness of the fresh concrete C. FIG. 9(a) shows a time-series graph of the thickness of slightly hard ready-mixed concrete C with a slump value of 11 cm, and FIG. 9(b) shows a time-series graph of the thickness of soft ready-mixed concrete C with a slump value of 19 cm. is shown. In this way, even when the time-series graph of the thickness of the ready-mixed concrete C is displayed, it is possible to judge the quality of the ready-mixed concrete C because the slope of the surface shape can be displayed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the ready-mixed concrete C inside the chute 3 is photographed from the camera 2 installed on the tripod 2a. However, the positions and arrangements of the cameras can be changed as appropriate. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the chute 3 in which the length in the width direction D2 gradually narrows from the upstream side to the downstream side of the flow path of the ready-mixed concrete C has been described. However, the shape, size and arrangement of the chutes can be changed as appropriate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the output unit 20 including the display unit 21, the alarm output unit 22, and the device control unit 23 has been described. However, the configuration of the output unit is not limited to the example including the display unit 21, the alarm output unit 22, and the device control unit 23, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, an output unit in which at least one of the display unit 21, the alarm output unit 22, and the device control unit 23 is omitted may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example of evaluating the quality of ready-mixed concrete C flowing down from the agitator vehicle A through the chute 3 has been described. However, the vehicle targeted by the quality evaluation device and quality evaluation method is not limited to the agitator vehicle A and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the quality evaluation device and quality evaluation method may evaluate ready-mixed concrete of a vehicle other than the agitator vehicle A (for example, a mixer vehicle).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Quality evaluation apparatus 2... Camera 2a... Tripod 3... Chute 3a... Edge side 3b... Inclined surface 3c... Lower end 3d... Bottom part 10... Judgment part 11... Surface recognition part 12... Inclination Calculation unit 13 Quality determination unit 20 Output unit 21 Display unit 22 Alarm output unit 23 Equipment control unit A Agitator vehicle (car) A1 Drum B Pump pump C Ready-mixed concrete, D1: Flow direction, D2: Width direction, F: Frame, L1: Line segment, M: Area, P: Point, X: Marked portion, Y: Arrow, Z: Time-series data.

Claims (9)

A ready-mixed concrete quality evaluation device,
A camera that captures a video of ready-mixed concrete flowing diagonally downward along the sloping surface of the chute ,
a surface recognition unit that recognizes the surface of the ready-mixed concrete from the moving image captured by the camera;
an inclination calculation unit that calculates an inclination of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete from the surface of the ready-mixed concrete recognized by the surface recognition unit;
a quality determination unit that determines the quality of the ready-mixed concrete from the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete calculated by the inclination calculation unit;
Quality evaluation device comprising. A display unit that displays the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete calculated by the inclination calculation unit,
The quality evaluation device according to claim 1. A quality evaluation method for ready-mixed concrete,
a step of flowing ready-mixed concrete along the inclined surface of the chute ;
a step of photographing a moving image of the ready-mixed concrete flowing obliquely downward along the inclined surface of the chute ;
a step of recognizing the surface of the ready-mixed concrete from the video of the ready-mixed concrete;
a step of calculating an inclination of the surface shape of the ready-mixed concrete from the surface of the ready-mixed concrete;
determining the quality of the ready-mixed concrete from the inclination of the ready-mixed concrete;
A quality evaluation method comprising: recognizing the surface includes recognizing a plurality of moving points in the moving image;
In the step of calculating the inclination, the inclination is calculated from the movement direction and the movement distance of the plurality of points for a certain period of time.
The quality evaluation method according to claim 3. In the step of calculating the inclination, the inclination is calculated by linearly approximating the movement direction and the movement distance of the plurality of points for a certain period of time.
The quality evaluation method according to claim 4. In the step of judging the quality, the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is good when the integrated value from when the ready-mixed concrete starts to flow down along the inclined surface until the slope becomes 0 is equal to or greater than a first threshold. determine not
The quality evaluation method according to any one of claims 3-5. In the step of flowing down, ready-mixed concrete flows down along the inclined surface of the chute,
In the step of judging the quality, the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is good when the average value of the slopes from when the ready-mixed concrete reaches the tip of the chute to when the predetermined time elapses is equal to or greater than a second threshold. determine not
The quality evaluation method according to any one of claims 3-6. In the step of determining the quality, it is determined that the quality of the ready-mixed concrete is not good when the slope is equal to or less than a third threshold.
The quality evaluation method according to any one of claims 3-7. In the step of flowing down, the ready-mixed concrete flows down along the inclined surface of the chute, the inclined surface being a concave curved surface;
In the step of calculating the inclination, two sides parallel to the edge of the curved surface extending along the direction in which the ready-mixed concrete flows down, the tip of the edge in the flowing direction, and the bottom of the curved surface Calculate the inclination in a parallelogram frame consisting of two sides parallel to the connecting line segment,
The quality evaluation method according to any one of claims 3-8.

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