JPH02310214A - Unloader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate work in an accurate manner by detecting height of an article top face optically, picking up a plane image of the article at the height, and further performing an image process by means of pattern recognition, and making it so as to control a robot through the information, in an unloader of flatly installed articles by a robot hand. CONSTITUTION:A robot 11 displaces a robot hand 12 in the vertical direction with a command of a robot controller 21, and detects the extent of article top height through a height detector 28, feeding it to a general controller 22 which, in turn, stores this information and transmits it to an image processor 24, photographing a plane image at the uppermost stage of an article 17 at the height by a camera unit 32. The image processor 24 performs discriminations of a central position of the article 17 and its directional property based on this camera signal, and these data are fed to the general controller 22 together with unloading sequence and number or the like, thereby controlling the robot 11. With this constitution, work can be done accurately and easily.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides an unloading device that unloads a plurality of items arranged in a plane one by one to different locations using a robot hand. Regarding.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, unloading devices have been used in which a so-called robot having a robot hand holds a plurality of items one by one and unloads the items to another location. In this device, information about the height and position of each item is given to the robot in advance, which is necessary for the robot hand to hold the item.
Based on this information, the robot hand is controlled to hold the item.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the above device, in order for the robot hand to properly hold the items, a plurality of items must be arranged according to the information given in advance, and the Loading operations are severely restricted. Further, even if the items are loaded according to the above information, if the items are misaligned due to shifting of the items, it becomes difficult for the robot hand to hold the items.

An object of the present invention is to provide an unloading device that can reliably hold and unload a plurality of items using a robot hand without being affected by the arrangement of the items or their misalignment. There is a particular thing.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The unloading device according to the present invention unloads a plurality of items arranged on a plane one by one using a robot hand, and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. and a light emitting part that irradiates the plurality of items with light from the side thereof,
The present invention includes a height detection device that detects the height of the top surface of the article based on whether or not the article blocks the light beam. Further, an imaging device is provided that inputs the height information from the height detection device and captures a planar image of the plurality of items at the height, and also detects the image of each of the items by pattern recognition from the imaging signal from the imaging device. An image processing device is provided for obtaining information regarding the position and direction of the image. Furthermore, a robot controller is provided which provides control commands to cause the robot hand to unload each of the items in sequence according to information regarding the height, position, and direction of the item.

(Function) In the present invention, first, the height detection device optically detects the top surface height of the item to be unloaded. Thereafter, plane images of a plurality of items at this height are captured, and information regarding the position and direction of each item is obtained from the image signals by pattern recognition.

The robot hand is then controlled according to each piece of information. Therefore, the items can be reliably held and unloaded without being affected by the arrangement of the items or their displacement.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the overall configuration of the unloading equipment to which the present invention is applied will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes an unloading robot, which has a robot hand 12 for holding items via an arm lla that can move up and down, move back and forth, and rotate. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the robot hand 12 has a plurality of vacuum chucks 14 attached to a base member 13 so as to be movable up and down.

Furthermore, conveyor lines 15 are provided on both sides of the robot 11, and one or more loading pallets 16 are arranged near the robot 11.

On this pallet 16, as shown in FIG. 6(1)(b), a plurality of articles 17 are stacked in multiple tiers, and a plurality of articles 17 are arranged on the plane of each tier. Each item I7
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a mark 18 is attached along the longitudinal direction at the center of the upper surface.

Then, the robot 11 uses the vacuum chuck 14 of the robot hand 12 to pick up each item 17 on the pallet 16.
are held by suction and unloaded onto one of the conveyor lines 15 one after another.

The system configuration of an unloading device applied to such equipment will be explained with reference to FIG. The robot 11 is provided with a robot controller 21 that provides various control commands to be described later, and further provided with a general controller 22 for overall control. This general controller 2
2 is a master file 2 on a floppy disk, etc.
3, and transmits and receives various data between the robot controller 21 and an image processing device 24, which will be described later.

Furthermore, it has a monitor 25 and a printer 26 for outputting predetermined items.

In addition, the robot 11 is provided with an item 1 on a pallet 16.
A height detection device 27 for detecting the height of the top surface of 7 is provided. This height detection device 27 is composed of a sensor 28 configured to be displaceable along the vertical direction, and a processing section within the robot controller 21 that determines the height based on a signal from the sensor 28. . In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the sensor 28 is mounted on the base member 13 of the robot hand 12 to enable vertical displacement. As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 28 functions as a light emitting section that irradiates the article 17 on the pallet 16 with a light beam 29 from the side thereof.

A mirror 30 is provided for this light emitting unit, that is, the sensor 28, with the items 17 on the pallet 16 interposed therebetween. This mirror 30 is connected to the light beam 29 from the light emitting section.
The angle is set to reflect this light beam 29 toward the sensor 28 when the sensor 28 receives the light beam 29 . Further, the mirror 30 is erected on the ground in a columnar shape and is formed along the vertical direction, so that it can receive the light beam 29 from any height in response to the vertical displacement of the light emitting section. can.

The sensor 28 detects the presence or absence of reflected light from the mirror 30;
That is, whether or not the light beam 29 is blocked by the item 17 is electrically detected. Therefore, as described above, the sensor 28 functions not only as a light emitting section but also as a light receiving section. The processing unit in the robot controller 21 is configured to invert the output signal of the sensor 28, that is, change from the light shielding state by the item 17 to the reflection state by the mirror 30, or change from the reflection state by the mirror 3G to the light shielding state by the item 17. The change is detected and the height of the sensor 28 at which this reversal occurs is determined as the height of the top surface of the item 17.

The master file 23 contains the items 17 to be unloaded.
variety, and the size and number of items 17 for each variety,
Alternatively, data such as the number of stacks is stored. Note that this data can be changed by setting the overall controller 22 to offline mode.

The image processing device 24 includes a camera 32 as an imaging device.
has. This camera 32 captures a planar image of the items 17 placed on the pallet 16, and for example,
As shown in FIG. 4, it is installed on the ceiling so that the plane image is incident through an inclined mirror 33 placed above the pallet 16.

The image processing device 24 inputs an imaging signal from the camera 32, performs pattern recognition using the mark 18 on the item 17, and obtains information regarding the center position of each imaged item 17 and their orientation.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 35 is an operation box, which is equipped with a push button switch, an indicator light, etc. (not shown), and is used to switch forward and reverse the conveyor line 15 and start it up, as shown in FIG. - Generates a stop command or a start command to start unloading.

Next, the operation will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The two pallets 16 shown in Fig. 3 are unloaded alternately, such that when one is unloading, the other is waiting, and when one is finished unloading, the other is unloaded. will be carried out. In the system shown in Figure 1,
When the power of the image processing device 24 and the robot controller 21 is turned on, each of these devices performs a return-to-origin operation, and then starts up after completion of the return-to-origin operation. Next, the overall controller 22
When you turn on the power and insert the floppy disk, the program and master file data are loaded from the floppy disk and the computer enters online mode.

In this state, the actual pallet 16 to be unloaded is
When placed in position as shown in the figure, this actual pallet 16
(step a), and the type of the article 17 to be unloaded is set by the general controller 22 (step b). When the robot controller 21 recognizes that the pallet 16 has been replaced, the robot 11
instructs the pallet height detection program. Therefore, the robot 11 performs height detection using the sensor 28 (step C). That is, while displacing the robot hand 12 in the vertical direction, the mirror 30 is
A light beam 29 is irradiated towards the target. As described above, the height of the top surface of the item 17 is recognized from the height position at the time when the output signal of the sensor 28 is reversed. The height information obtained in this manner is transmitted to the general controller 22. The general controller 22 stores this height information, sends it to the image processing device 24, and focuses the camera 32 on the top surface of the item 17 at the above height position (steps d, e). In this state, the camera 32 is at the above-mentioned height position, that is, the items 1 stacked on the pallet 16.
7 (step f). This imaging signal is taken into the image processing device 24, and the center position of each item 17 and their orientation are determined by pattern recognition.

An example of the method for determining the position and direction will be described. An origin that coincides with the origin of the palette coordinates is set in the image processing device 24, and the coordinate position of the pattern-recognized image in the X and Y directions with respect to the origin is determined. That is,
As shown in FIG. 7, a mark 37 in black or the like is affixed to the top surface of each item 17, and since the length of this mark 37 is a known value from the set product type, the pattern cannot be recognized. From the image of the marked mark 37, the distance of the midpoint in the longitudinal direction, that is, the center point of the item 17, from the origin in the X and Y directions can be calculated.

Further, the angle with respect to the X axis, that is, the directionality of the item 17 is determined from the center point coordinates determined in this way and the edge coordinates of the recognized image. Furthermore, the order in which the above-described image analysis is performed becomes the order in which the cargo is unloaded.

Each item 1 obtained in this way by the image processing device 24
Information regarding the position, direction, unloading order, number, etc. of 7 (these are called plane data) is sent to the general controller 2.
2 (step g).

The general controller 22 checks this plane data (step h), and if it is good, sends these data to the robot 11 via the robot controller 21 (step i). The robot 11 operates according to the height data and the plane data (step j), and the robot hand 12 moves the articles 17 for one stage one by one onto the conveyor line 15.
Unload the top one by one (step l). Then, it is determined whether the above-mentioned unloading has been completed N times for one stage (step m), and if it has been completed, the robot hand 12 and its arm 11! After retreating from the field of view of the camera 32 (step n), it is determined whether the M stage has been completed (step 0).
).

As a result, if M stages (the total number of stages) have not been completed, the process returns to step e and the processes from step e onwards are repeated.

Here, because the height dimension of the item 17 is a known value due to the product type setting described above, the top surface height of each tier from the second tier onwards is based on the top surface height dimension of the second upper tier. It can be obtained by calculation. Therefore, in step e, the camera 32 can be immediately focused on the determined height position.

In this way, by repeating the operations from steps e to 0, all the items I7 on the pallet 16 are unloaded onto the conveyor line 15. A similar operation is then performed for the items 17 on the pallet 16.

The above explanation is based on the assumption that all the items 17 on the pallet 16 are to be unloaded, but if only a preset number of items are to be unloaded, the determination in step m indicates that the set number of items N has been unloaded. If so, there is no need to proceed to step n (
It becomes END.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the height of the top surface of a plurality of items arranged on a plane is detected, and information regarding the position, direction, etc. of the items arranged on the plane is obtained by pattern recognition. This allows the loading process to be carried out easily and quickly, regardless of the direction in which the items can be placed. Even if the object deviates from its original position, it can be reliably caught, improving the reliability of work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the unloading device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the device shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 5 is a front view showing the configuration of the robot hand shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the article. 11...Robot, 12...Robot hand, 17...
Articles, 21...Robot controller, 22...General controller, 24...Image processing device, 27...Height detection device, 29...Light beam, 32...Imaging device. May 25, 1989 Inventor Hayashi 1) Tadashi
Hayashi Butsuma
Good six times Irie
Sei Kengo Ino
Masaki Ko Patent applicant Okura Transport Machinery Co., Ltd. Jundo Kaba Sawa
Atsumi 2 p-11■”

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An unloading device that unloads a plurality of items arranged in a two-dimensional manner one by one using a robot hand, which has a light emitting part configured to be displaceable in the vertical direction,
A height detection device that irradiates the plurality of items with a light beam from the side thereof and detects the height of the top surface of the items depending on whether or not the light beam is blocked by the items, and height information from the height detection device is an image processing device that obtains information regarding the position and direction of each of the items through pattern recognition from the imaging signal from the imaging device; and an unloading device comprising: a robot controller that issues a control command to cause the robot hand to unload each item in sequence according to information regarding the height, position, and direction of the robot hand;