JPH018311Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a workpiece discrimination device that can accurately classify and identify the shape and type of workpieces that are conveyed one after another at random. The present invention relates to a workpiece discrimination device suitable for use in such cases.

Generally, a workpiece discrimination device is installed in the middle of a conveyor line, and an industrial painting robot is installed next to the workpiece discrimination device, and the shape of the workpieces that are successively conveyed along the conveyor line is determined by the workpiece discrimination device. An automatic coating apparatus is known that is configured to perform a playback operation of an industrial robot based on the discrimination result and apply coating to the workpiece.

By the way, the work discrimination device used in the above-mentioned painting apparatus uses a pattern recognition method using silhouette data based on back illumination, a pattern recognition method using grayscale image data obtained from illumination from the imaging direction, or the like. However, the former pattern recognition method using silhouette data is useful for identifying many types of workpieces that have the same external shape but different surface shapes, such as those that differ depending on the presence or absence of non-penetrating uneven shapes. There is a drawback that objects that differ due to the presence or absence of holes smaller than the imaging resolution are easily distinguished as having the same shape, and accurate determination cannot be made. On the other hand, with the latter pattern recognition method that uses grayscale image data, the feature extraction processing method that serves as a discrimination index is complicated in order to discriminate between many types of workpieces, making it difficult to perform easy and accurate discrimination. It has the disadvantage of being ugly.

The present invention has been developed by focusing on the shortcomings of the prior art described above. Among many types of workpieces, it is possible to accurately discriminate workpieces that have the same external shape but different surface shapes and detailed shapes. First, rough pattern recognition is performed to group the workpieces, and then a simple feature extraction method is used to determine the area of shadow parts, the presence or absence of small holes, etc., and the final judgment is made. The purpose is to provide a device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first imaging means that obtains silhouette data by imaging the workpiece silhouette while back-illuminating the workpiece transported by the transporting means at a predetermined position;
A second imaging means is provided after the first imaging means and obtains gradation data by imaging the workpiece while illuminating it from the imaging direction, and a second imaging means is provided at a stage after the first imaging means, and obtains shading data by imaging the workpiece while illuminating it from the imaging direction, and a second imaging means is provided at a stage after the first imaging means. The present invention is comprised of a discrimination processing device that determines the general pattern of the workpiece, and then determines the detailed pattern of the workpiece based on the grayscale data inputted from the second imaging means to perform final identification of the workpiece.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the case where this invention is applied to an automatic painting apparatus will be explained together with the embodiment shown in the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a conveyor line that advances in the direction of the arrow, and works 2 to be coated are successively conveyed from the conveyor line 1.
Switches 3, 4, and 5 are provided at a predetermined distance from the conveyor line 1 to detect the arrival of the workpiece. Switch 3 is a switch for detecting a silhouette image capturing position, switch 4 is a switch for detecting a grayscale image capturing position, and switch 5 is a switch for detecting a grayscale image capturing position. operate as a coating position detection switch.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a back lighting device installed at a position corresponding to the switch 3 on the right side of the conveyor line 1 in the direction of movement. It is designed to emit shadowless light throughout.
Reference numeral 7 denotes a silhouette image pickup device provided on the left side of the conveyor line 1 in a position facing the back illumination device 6, and the image pickup device 7 may be, for example, an electron tube type image pickup device using an image pickup tube, or an image pickup device. A solid-state imaging device using an element is used. In any case, when the workpiece 2 faces the back lighting device 6 and the switch 3 is closed, the silhouette image capturing device 7 converts the amount of light received from the back lighting device 6 into an electrical signal. By converting, the silhouette of the work 2 is captured. On the other hand, reference numeral 8 denotes a silhouette image processing device provided at the next stage of the silhouette image capturing device 7, and the processing device 8 binarizes the electrical signal inputted from the image capturing device 7 to create a silhouette image. The data is processed and output as silhouette data to a discrimination processing device, which will be described later. Therefore, in the present invention, the above-described back illumination device 6, silhouette image pickup device 7, silhouette image processing device 8, etc. constitute the first image pickup means.

On the other hand, reference numeral 9 denotes an imaging direction illumination device provided at a position corresponding to the switch 4 on the left side of the conveyor line 1 in the traveling direction, and the illumination device 9 is, for example, a normal lamp-type illumination device. 10 is the lighting device 9
The image capturing device 10 is the same image capturing device as the silhouette image capturing device 7, and the workpiece 2 faces the illumination device 9 in the imaging direction. At the same time, when the switch 4 is closed, the amount of light reflected from the workpiece 2 is converted into an electrical signal, thereby capturing a grayscale image of the workpiece 2. Further, 11 is the grayscale image capturing device 1
0, the processing device 11 performs grayscale image processing by binarizing the electric signal input from the imaging device 10, and uses the grayscale data as grayscale data to be processed by a discrimination processing device, which will be described later. This is what you input. Therefore, in the present invention, the above-mentioned imaging direction illumination device 9, grayscale image imaging device 10,
A second imaging means is constituted by the grayscale image processing device 11 and the like.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a discrimination processing device constituted by, for example, a microcomputer, and the processing device 12 compares the silhouette data with pre-stored pattern data based on the silhouette data input from the silhouette image processing device 8. The rough pattern recognition of the work 2 is performed to classify the work 2 into groups, and then, based on the shading data inputted from the shading image processing device 11, the area of the black dot portion that will become a shadow is stored in advance, It has a function of making a final judgment on the workpiece pattern by recognizing the pattern over the detailed position, and outputting the judgment result as a workpiece judgment signal.

Further, reference numeral 13 indicates a robot control device, and 14 indicates a painting industrial robot provided at a position corresponding to the switch 5. Of the teaching contents for each work, the teaching contents of the work 2 are accessed, and when the work 2 reaches the painting position and the switch 5 is closed, the teaching contents are output to the industrial robot 14, and the industrial robot 14 is controlled to a predetermined position. It has a function to perform preback operation according to the procedure.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will now be described.

First, the workpiece 2 is conveyed by the conveyor line 1 in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the workpiece 2 is transferred to the switch 3.
The switch 3 closes when the camera reaches the point where the silhouette image taken by the silhouette image pickup device 7 is inputted to the silhouette image processing device 8, and the silhouette data from the processing device 8 is processed. The information is input to the discrimination processing device 12. As a result, the discrimination processing device 12 performs pattern discrimination processing by comparing the pre-stored pattern data with the inputted silhouette data, and roughly categorizes the workpieces 2 into groups based on their external shape, size, etc. Do this.

Next, when the workpiece 2 reaches the switch 4, the switch 4 is closed. As a result, the reflected light from the imaging direction illumination device 9 reflected by the workpiece 2 is imaged by the grayscale image capturing device 10, the grayscale image from this is input to the grayscale image processing device 11, and the grayscale data from the processing device 11 is The information is input to the discrimination processing device 12. Then, in addition to the general pattern identification processing executed in advance as described above, the discrimination processing device 12 performs pattern identification processing of the surface shape and detailed shape of the workpiece 2 using a feature extraction method based on the gradation data. The type of workpiece 2 is finally determined and a workpiece discrimination signal is output to the robot control device 13.

Next, when the workpiece 2 reaches the switch 5 and is closed, the robot control device 13 causes the industrial robot to perform a pre-back operation according to the painting procedure based on the predetermined teaching content based on the workpiece discrimination result described above, and pre-backs the workpiece. 2 to do the painting work.

In the above-described embodiments, the workpiece discrimination device of the present invention is applied to an automatic coating device, but the device may also be applied to other systems such as an automatic welding device.

The workpiece discrimination device according to the present invention, as described in detail above, performs pattern recognition based on the shape, size, etc. of the workpiece by performing silhouette image processing as a preliminary step, and then performs grayscale image processing. Therefore, since patterns of surface shapes and detailed shapes which cannot be determined by the above-mentioned silhouette image processing are identified, accurate pattern determination can be performed even on workpieces having complex shapes. Further, by installing the gray scale image pickup device close to the workpiece, it becomes possible to distinguish between a workpiece including a mesh-like small hole or a slit-like small hole. Furthermore, since the types of workpieces can be roughly classified into groups in advance, it is possible to use a very simple feature extraction method that uses only the truly characteristic parts when identifying patterns using grayscale images. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is an overall configuration diagram showing a case where the workpiece discrimination device of the present invention is applied to an automatic painting device. 1...Conveyor line, 2...Work, 3,
4, 5...Switch, 6...Back lighting device, 7...
... Silhouette image capturing device, 8... Silhouette image processing device, 9... Imaging direction illumination device, 10...
Grayscale image capturing device, 11... Grayscale image processing device,
12...discrimination processing device, 13...robot control device, 14...industrial robot.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A first imaging means that obtains silhouette data by imaging the silhouette of the workpiece while back-illuminating the workpiece transported by the transporting means at a predetermined position; a second imaging means for obtaining density data by imaging the workpiece while illuminating it; and
The rough pattern of the workpiece is determined based on the silhouette data input from the second imaging means, and then the second
1. A workpiece discriminating device comprising: a discriminating processing device for determining a detailed pattern of a workpiece based on grayscale data inputted from an imaging means, and performing final discrimination of the workpiece.