JP7268628B2 - Robot control system, robot control method and control program - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a control system, method, and program for feeding a large amount of elongated food stored in a large container into a small container by a robot.

For example, when producing lunch boxes using noodles such as soba, udon, and pasta, a portion of the cooked noodles stored in a large container called a so-called Banju is taken out, and a certain amount is placed in a plurality of lunch box containers. It is necessary to subdivide and serve. Such work is generally performed manually, but it is very time-consuming, so it would be preferable if it could be automated. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an apparatus for quantitatively measuring seafood, agricultural products, and the like.

JP 2008-292194 A

However, when a large amount of elongated foods such as noodles are stored in the tray, the noodles are entangled with each other. Since it is difficult to do this, the automation of the task of subdividing a large amount of elongated foods from a weighted container into a fixed amount has not been achieved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to automate the task of subdividing elongated food into a plurality of small containers into substantially constant amounts, which could not be achieved in the past, by using a robot. An object of the present invention is to provide a robot control system, a robot control method, and a control program that can achieve the above.

According to the robot control system of claim 1, when the robot performs an operation of grasping a portion of a large amount of elongated food stored in a large container and throwing it into a plurality of small containers, the robot Detects the weight of the food gripped by Then, a small container in which the total weight of the food in the small container and the weight of the food gripped by the robot this time falls within a threshold range based on a predetermined weight is selected from among a plurality of small containers and put into the container. to control. Also, the position where the robot is caused to grip part of the food from the large container this time is a position that is at least affected by the robot's previous gripping of the food.

With this configuration, even food such as cooked noodles, which tends to get entangled with each other and is difficult to maintain a constant weight, can be held in one or more small containers. By checking the combination of the weight of the food put into the robot and the food picked up by the robot, the possibility of creating a combination that falls within the range of the threshold increases. Therefore, the robot can be used to automate the task of subdividing the elongated food into substantially constant amounts.

Also, if the robot grips part of the food from the large container, the amount of food at the gripped position is relatively smaller than the surrounding area. For example, if the position where the robot grips the food is modeled by a rectangular frame, the amount of food will fluctuate even in the surrounding area that is in contact with the rectangular frame due to the influence of the robot's gripping of the food.

Therefore, if the position where the food is gripped this time is set to a position that is at least affected by the food gripped by the robot in the past as described above, it can be expected that the weight of the food gripped by the robot will vary. If the above-mentioned weight variation occurs, the variation in the value combined with the weight of the food that has already been put into the small container increases. can.

A diagram showing the configuration of a robot control system according to an embodiment. Functional block diagram of the robot control system A plan view showing a schematic configuration of the ejection mechanism Front view showing a schematic configuration of the ejection mechanism A perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ejection mechanism Flowchart showing details of controller control Flowchart showing the details of the "measurement of gripping amount" process Flowchart showing details of the "confirm target value combination" process Flowchart showing details of the "discharge from hopper" process Diagram showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the combination of the weights of the two hoppers achieves the target (No. 1) A diagram (2) showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the target combination of the weights of the two hoppers is achieved. Diagram showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the combination of the weights of the two hoppers achieves the target (No. 3) A diagram showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the combination of the weights of the two hoppers achieves the target (No. 4). Diagram showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the combination of the weights of the two hoppers achieves the target (No. 5). Diagram showing an operation example of the discharge mechanism when the combination of the weights of the two hoppers achieves the target (No. 6) A diagram showing the order of the positions at which the noodles are gripped from the weight. A diagram showing an example of weight change of noodles put into each hopper Diagram showing a modified example of the order of gripping the noodles from the weight (Part 1) Diagram showing a modified example of the order of gripping the noodles from the weight (part 2) Diagram showing a modified example of the order of gripping the noodles from the weight (Part 3) A diagram showing a model of how the robot returns the noodles to the tray.

An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the robot control system 1 of this embodiment includes a robot 2 having a vertical six-axis arm and a controller 3 for the robot 2 . A weight 4, which is an example of a large container, is placed on an electronic scale 5 corresponding to a weight detection unit. of food is contained. At the tip of the arm of the robot 2, a tong 6 is arranged as a tool for gripping the noodles. The weight of the noodles 4 including the noodles measured by the electronic scale 5 is input to the controller 3 .

The controller 3 controls the robot 2 based on the control program stored in the internal memory to grip a part of the noodles from the weight 4 with the tongs 6, and hoppers 7(1) to 7(1) which are examples of small containers. 7 (6) to throw in. The hoppers 7(1) to 7(6) are used to discharge the loaded noodles by controlling the discharging mechanism 8 by the controller 3. FIG. The controller 3 is an example of a control device. The teaching pendant 11 is used when an operator performs an input operation to the controller 3 for teaching the robot 2 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , the discharge mechanism 8 includes a drive unit that linearly moves the discharge container 10 on the running rail 9 along the running rail 9 and a hopper 7 positioned above the discharge container 10 . and a tilting drive. However, illustration of these drive units is omitted. The hopper 7 has a shape of a vertical cylinder with one bottom surface open, and is arranged so that the open side faces the inside, which is the side of the discharge container 10 . The hopper 7 is always supported in a horizontal state, and when the hopper 7 is tilted so that the outside is lifted by the drive unit, the loaded noodles drop into the discharge container 10 .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 3 performs roughly three processes. That is, measurement of gripping amount (S1), confirmation of combination of target values (S2), and discharge from hopper 7 (S3).

As shown in FIG. 5, in the "measurement of gripping amount", first, the weight of the weight 4 is measured by the electronic scale 5, and the weight value is (n-1) (S11, first step). Next, when the robot 2 is controlled to grip a portion of the noodles from the weight 4 with the tongs 6 (S12, second step), the weight of the weight 4 is measured again to obtain the n weight value (S13). ). Then, the difference between the (n-1) weight value and the n weight value is obtained, and the difference is defined as the weight n of the noodle gripped by the robot 2 in step S12 (S14, third step).

As shown in FIG. 6, in the "confirmation of target value combination", the combination of the weight of the noodles put into each hopper 7 at that time and the weight n of the noodles gripped by the robot 2 is calculated ( S21). If the number of hoppers 7 is "6", the combination here becomes the following pattern. However, for example, if the target weight of the noodles is 100 g, and the amount of gripping at one time is about 30 g to 50 g, it is assumed that the combination of four times will almost certainly exceed 100 g, so the maximum combination The number should be "3".
Combination 1: grip amount n + hopper (1)
2: grip amount n + hopper (1) + hopper (2)
3: grip amount n + hopper (1) + hopper (3)
…
6: grip amount n + hopper (1) + hopper (6)
7: grip amount n + hopper (2)
8: grip amount n + hopper (2) + hopper (3)
…
20: grip amount n + hopper (2) + hopper (6)
21: grip amount n + hopper (3)
If the number of hoppers 7 is x, the number of patterns is x(1+x)/2.

Here, if the weight of the combination is within the range of 0% to +3% with respect to the predetermined amount of noodles, that is, the target value, it is acceptable. For example, if the target value is 100g, the combination of 100g to 103g is considered to be the target. If there is no combination of 0% to +3% with respect to the target value (S22; NO), the sum of the weight of each hopper 7 and the gripping amount n is calculated (S26). Then, it is determined whether or not there is one or more hoppers 7 whose total does not exceed the threshold (S27). That is, if the gripping amount n of any hopper 7 exceeds 103 g (NO), it means that the gripping amount n is too large. Therefore, after moving the hand of the robot 2 to a position where the noodles still remain in the weight 4, the tongue 6 is opened and the noodles are returned to the weight 4 (S29) to retry.

Here, if the robot 2 returns the gripped noodles to the position where the noodles still remain, as shown in FIG. 14, the amount of noodles at that position will surely increase. Therefore, it is possible to change the amount of noodles that the robot 2 grips from the position next time. Regarding the "position where noodles are still left", for example, the initial weight of the noodles with a weight of 4, the average weight of the noodles gripped by the tongs 6, whether or not the noodles have already been gripped once or more, and the like. The controller 3 may make a decision based on the information. Alternatively, an imaging device such as a CCD camera may be used to determine the state of the noodles in the weight 4 by image processing.

On the other hand, in step S27, if there is one or more hoppers 7 whose total does not exceed the threshold value (YES), the noodles gripped by the robot 2 are put into the hopper 7, and the weight of the hopper 7 is determined by the gripping amount n is added and updated (S25, fourth step).

By repeating the above process, if a combination of 0% to +3% with respect to the target value is generated (S22; YES), the number of the hopper 7 that is the combination closest to the target value is determined as the discharge target ( S23). Then, the noodles gripped by the robot 2 are thrown into the hopper 7 to be discharged, and the "discharge flag" status of the hopper 7 is turned on (S24). There are one or more hoppers 7 whose status is turned on here. Then, the process proceeds to step S25.

As shown in FIG. 7, in "discharge from hopper", it is determined whether or not there is a hopper 7 whose "discharge flag" status is ON (S31). is discharged (S32). Then, the weight of the discharged hopper 7 is updated to 0 g, and the "discharge flag" status is turned off (S33).

FIG. 8 shows an operation example of the discharge mechanism 8 when the target is achieved, for example, by the combination of the hopper 7(3) and the hopper 7(6). (A) The discharge container 10 moves from the initial position below the hoppers 7(1) and 7(2) to (B) below the hopper 7(3) and stops. (C) Then, the hopper 7 ( 3 ) is tilted to drop the contained surface into the discharge container 10 . (D) Next, the discharge container 10 moves below the hopper 7 (6) and stops. (E) Similarly, the hopper 7 (6) is tilted to drop the contained surface into the discharge container 10. (F) As a result, the weight of the surface accommodated in the discharge container 10 becomes the value corresponding to the target establishment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the order of positions in which the robot 2 grips the noodles from the number 4. The plane of the number 4 is divided into 4×4=“16” sections. Noodles are gripped in the order of (1) to (16). FIG. 10 shows an example of changes in input weight for each hopper 7(1) to 7(6). The initial weight of the hoppers 7(1) to 7(6) is 0 g, and the noodles are sequentially put into the hoppers 7(1) to 7(6) up to the sixth time.

Assume that the grip amount n of the robot 2 at the seventh time is 32.5 g. At this time, the total of the hoppers 7(3) and 7(6) and the gripping amount n is 36+34.5+32.5=103 (g). Therefore, after the noodles are thrown into the hopper 7(3), the controller 3 turns on the "discharge flag" status of the hoppers 7(3) and 7(6) to discharge these noodles into the discharge container 10. Let As a result, the weight of the hoppers 7(3) and 7(6) becomes 0 g.

The gripping amount n of the robot 2 in the following eighth time is 30.5 g, and at this point there is no combination with a total in the range of 100 g to 103 g, so the noodles are thrown into the hopper 7 (3). Assume that the gripping amount n of the robot 2 in the next ninth time is 27.5 g. At this time, the sum of the hoppers 7(1) and 7(3) and the gripping amount n is 44.5+30.5+27.5=102.5 (g). Therefore, after the noodles are thrown into the hopper 7(1), the controller 3 turns on the "discharge flag" status of the hoppers 7(1) and 7(3) to discharge these noodles into the discharge container 10. Let

Next, preferred variations of the order in which the robot 2 grips the noodles from the weight 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. The number shown to the right of the circled number in each figure indicates the number of sides of the rectangular frame affected by the previous gripping position. For example, although the above numbers are not shown in FIG. 9, the grip position (2) or (5) is affected by the previous grip position (1) by one side respectively, as indicated by the dashed line.

Since the amount of noodles at the gripping position (1) is smaller than that at the surrounding positions, the amount of noodles at the positions (2) and (5) adjacent to the gripping position (1) is also the same as the amount of noodles at the position (1). likely to change under the influence of reduced volume. In other words, "affected" means that the noodle is already gripped at a certain position, so that the gripping amount n of the current noodle tends to vary.

In FIG. 11, the gripping position (1) is "0" because there is no past gripping position, and the gripping position (2) is "1" because only one side is affected as in FIG. Also, the gripping position (6) is "2" because it is affected by the past gripping positions (3) and (5) on two sides. As shown in FIG. 12, the gripping position (1) may be set at a position other than the corner of the weight 4 . In this case, if one side of the following gripping positions (2) to (5) is set to touch the left, bottom, right, and top sides of the gripping position (1), any numbers affected will be becomes "1".

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, after (1) to (12) are gripped along the outer periphery of the weight 4, (13) to (16) are arranged in a spiral order as the inner side of the weight 4. Then, the number affected by (14) and (15) is "3", and the number affected by (16) is "4". Therefore, the variation in grip amount n can be increased.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the controller 3 uses the electronic scale 8 to detect the weight of the weight 4 containing a large amount of noodles, and the arm of the robot 2 moves the weight of the noodles from the weight 4 to the weight of the noodles. When performing an action of gripping a portion and throwing it into a plurality of hoppers 7, the weight of the gripped noodles is detected from the difference in the weight of the front and back weights 4 of the noodles gripped by the robot 2, and the plurality of hoppers 7 are sequentially loaded. put in. At that time, the sum of the weight of the noodles that have already been thrown into one or more of the plurality of hoppers 7 and the weight of the noodles that the robot 2 has gripped this time falls within the threshold range based on the predetermined weight. , the hopper 7 whose total is closest to the predetermined weight is selected and loaded.

With this configuration, even food such as cooked noodles, which is likely to be entangled with each other and difficult to maintain a constant weight with the tongs 6, can be handled by one or more hoppers. By checking the combination of the weights of the noodles put in 7 and the noodles gripped by the robot 2, it is highly likely that a combination that falls within the range of the threshold can be made. Therefore, the robot 2 can be used to automate the task of subdividing noodles into substantially constant amounts, which could not be automated in the past.

In addition, the controller 3 sets the position where the robot 2 is to grip part of the noodles from the weight 4 this time so that the range in which the amount of noodles fluctuates due to the gripping of noodles in the past is included. That is, if the robot 2 grips a portion of the noodles from the weight 4, the amount of noodles at the gripped position is relatively smaller than the surrounding portions. Therefore, if the range in which the amount of noodles fluctuates as described above is applied to the position where the noodles are gripped this time, it can be expected that the weight of the noodles gripped by the robot 2 will vary. If the weights vary, the variations in the weights of the noodles that have already been put into the hopper 7 and the combined values increase. can.

Further, the controller 3 changes the positions at which the robot 2 grips part of the noodles from the weight 4 in a certain order. As a result, it can be expected that the weight of the noodles that the robot 2 grips each time will more reliably vary.

In addition, when the sum of the weight of the noodles already put into the hopper 7 and the weight of the noodles gripped by the robot 2 this time exceeds the range of the threshold, the controller 3 reduces the weight of the noodles gripped by the robot 2 to the weight of the noodles gripped by the robot 2. In 4, the noodles are returned to the position where the noodles are still present, and then gripped again. This allows the robot 2 to change the weight of the next noodle to be gripped and retry to bring the total weight within the range of the threshold. In addition, by returning the noodles gripped by the robot 2 to the position where the noodles still remain, the amount of noodles at that position increases without fail. can also change.

In this embodiment, ambiguous terms such as “possibility” and “expectation” are also used, but this is because it is realistic to handle part of long and narrow foods like noodles quantitatively. based on the fact that it is technically difficult. However, by executing the processing as in this embodiment, it should be possible to say with certainty that the work of using a robot to subdivide a portion of a large amount of food into a certain amount can be realistically achieved. is.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or illustrated in the drawings, but can be modified or expanded as follows.
"Within the threshold range based on the predetermined weight" is not limited to +0% to +3%.
The target weight is not limited to 100g.
The number of hoppers may be "5" or less or "7" or more.
The order of gripping the noodles from the weight 4 is not necessarily limited to those shown in FIGS. 9 and 11-13.
The number of partitions into which the plane of weight 4 is divided is not limited to "16", but may be, for example, "9" or "25", and is not limited to square numbers.
The food is not limited to noodles, and may be shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, or the like.
The robot is not limited to the vertical 6-axis type.

In the drawings, 1 is a robot control system, 2 is a robot, 3 is a controller, 4 is a weight, 5 is an electronic scale, 6 is a tong, 7 is a hopper, 8 is a discharge mechanism, 9 is a running rail, and 10 is a discharge container 10. indicates

Claims (1)

A robot that grasps a portion of food in a large container containing a large amount of elongated food and puts it into a plurality of small containers,
detecting the weight of the food gripped by the robot;
A small container in which the sum of the weight of the food in the small container and the weight of the food gripped by the robot this time falls within a threshold range based on a predetermined weight is selected from the plurality of small containers and thrown. control like
A control system for a robot, wherein the position at which the robot is caused to grip a portion of the food from the large container this time is a position that is at least affected by past gripping of the food by the robot.

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