JPH0488918A - Guiding device of fruit vegetable harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately guide a hand without performing an image treatment, etc., by changing the direction of a vacuum pad from a set direction, adjusting the position of the hand to the changed direction and simultaneously guiding the hand. CONSTITUTION:The direction of a vacuum pad 10 is set to such the direction that a hand H proceeds toward a fruit vegetable F and if the guiding direction is wrong, the direction of the vacuum pad is changed with air cylinders 21 and the error is detected with a sensor S4. The position of the hand H is adjusted and simultaneously guided to suck the fruit vegetable F.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a hand equipped with a vacuum pad that attracts a work object, and a hand that guides the hand to move the vacuum pad toward the work object. The present invention relates to a guidance device for a fruit and vegetable harvesting machine, which is provided with a control means for controlling.

[Conventional technology]

In the above-mentioned guidance device for this type of work machine for fruits and vegetables, the work target is located by processing the image information taken with the hand positioned at the initial position to start approaching the work target. You will need to find a direction and guide your hand in that direction.

However, there are cases where an error occurs in the guiding direction and the work target cannot be captured properly.

Conventionally, when the work target cannot be captured, for example, when the hand returns to a set distance in front of the work target, the hand is stopped and re-imaged, and the re-imaged image information is processed by image processing. Then, the guiding direction was re-detected and the hand was guided in that direction.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

According to the above conventional configuration, in order to re-guide the hand, it is necessary to temporarily stop the hand, re-image the hand, and perform image processing again. Therefore, re-guidance of the hand cannot be started until the guiding direction is re-detected, which has the disadvantage of reducing work efficiency.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a guidance for a fruit and vegetable harvesting machine that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and is capable of reliably guiding the hand while minimizing a decrease in work efficiency when harvesting fruit by re-guiding the hand. You are on the point of getting the equipment.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this object, the guiding device for a fruit and vegetable harvesting machine according to the present invention is characterized in that the vacuum pad is provided in a state where the direction can be freely changed with respect to the hand body and is biased to return to the set direction; Detection means for detecting the orientation of the vacuum pad with respect to the hand body is provided, and the control means corrects the position of the hand in the direction in which the vacuum pad changes its orientation from the set orientation based on information from the detection means. It is configured to guide the user while

[For production]

The direction of the vacuum pad is set so that it approaches the hand or work object. When the hand approaches the workpiece and touches the vacuum pad or the workpiece, if there is an error in the guiding direction, the hand will come into contact with the edge of the vacuum pad, and the direction of the vacuum pad relative to the hand body will change. That will happen.

Therefore, by detecting the error in the guidance direction based on this information and correcting the position of the hand, it is possible to make the guidance direction in re-guidance accurate. Further, at this time, there is no need to perform re-imaging processing, etc., and re-guidance can be started immediately.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, when a harvesting operation fails and the hand is re-guided to harvest fruit, reliable guidance can be performed while minimizing a decrease in work efficiency.

〔Example〕

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a guidance device for a fruit harvesting machine will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in Fig. 5, a boom (2) is attached to a vehicle body (V) equipped with a pair of left and right running wheels (1) at the front and rear so that it can be driven up and down and rotated, and the tip of the boom (2) An auxiliary boom (3) is attached to the auxiliary boom (3) so as to be able to swing freely in the horizontal direction, and a working manipulator (4) equipped with a fruit harvesting hand (H) is attached to the auxiliary boom (3).
attached to the tip of the

In the figure, (5) is the hydraulic cylinder for lifting the boom, (6)
(7) is a hydraulic cylinder for swinging the boom, and (7) is a hydraulic cylinder for swinging the auxiliary boom.

The working manipulator (4) consists of a multi-joint telescopic arm (8) and a hand (H) attached to the tip of the telescopic arm (8).

The telescopic arm (8) is powered by an electric motor (9a).
It is configured to be rotated around the vertical axis (Y) by the electric motor (9b), oscillated around the horizontal axis (CX) by the electric motor (9b), and extended and contracted by the electric motor (9c). has been done.

To explain the hand (H), as shown in FIG.
), a vacuum pad (10) for adsorbing fruit (10), a trapping part case (12) for covering the fruit (F) adsorbed to the suction port (10a) of the vacuum pad (1o),
A handle cutting device (13) is provided which cuts the handle part of the fruit (F) taken into the trapping part case (12) while holding it in the vertical direction.

To explain the vacuum pad (10), as shown in FIG.
) so that the direction can be changed freely. Further, the suction port (10a) at the tip is urged back forward. To explain, there is a frame body (20) that is movable in the front and rear directions with respect to the ventilation pipe (11), an air cylinder (21) that moves the frame body (20) in and out, and a frame body (20). On the other hand, there are provided three connecting culms (22) which are inserted and fitted so as to be movable in the front-back direction. The frames (20) are arranged at intervals of 120° on the same circumference. Also, connected culms (
The tip (22a) of 22) is biased forward by the spring (23), and the tip (22a) is connected to the suction port (22).
10a). Take the suction port (10
a) is returned forwardly and the three air cylinders (21) are moved in and out at the same time, thereby opening the suction port (
10a) can be moved in and out of the ventilation pipe (11) with it facing forward.

Incidentally, when capturing an image of fruit using an image sensor (Sl), which will be described later, or when releasing harvested fruit, each air cylinder (21) is retired as shown in Figure 1 (b), and the fruit suction operation is activated. When this is done, each air cylinder (21) is made to protrude as shown in FIG. 1(d).

In the figure, (S4) is a photoelectric sensor that separately detects the backward movement with respect to the connecting culm (22) or the frame (20), and the direction of the vacuum pad (10) with respect to the ventilation pipe (11). It corresponds to the detection means that detects.

The trapping part case (12) includes the vacuum pad (
The hand is retired to the rear side so as not to interfere with the approach until the fruit (F) is adsorbed by the vacuum pad (10), and after the vacuum pad (10) has adsorbed the fruit (F), the adsorbed fruit ( In order to protrude toward the front side of the hand so as to cover F), the vacuum pad (10) is externally fitted and supported on the ventilation pipe (11) of the vacuum pad (10) so as to be freely movable in the front and rear directions.

The ventilation pipe (11) is a bellows-type hose (14) (
(see FIG. 5), and is connected via piping to a suction pump (17) mounted on the vehicle body (V) side.

The handle cutting device (13) includes a clipper-shaped blade (13a) for cutting the handle of the fruit (F), and a blade (13a) for cutting the handle of the fruit (F).
) and a handle support member (13b) that presses and supports the handle of the fruit (F) from below.

However, it will not be described in detail, but the hand (H) includes an actuator for operating the harvesting part, such as an actuator for moving the trapping part case (12) in and out, and an actuator for driving the handle cutting device (13). Various pneumatic actuators, a negative pressure sensor (Sl) that detects that the fruit (F) is adsorbed to the vacuum pad (10) (see Figure 2), and detection of the exit/retraction position of the trapping part case (12). Various sensors will be provided, such as a sensor for this purpose and a sensor for detecting the driving state of the handle cutting device (13).

In FIG. 1(A), (Sl) is the working hand (H).
) is a color image sensor that images the fruit (F) located in the direction facing the work hand (H
) is a reflective proximity sensor that uses infrared light to detect when the target fruit (F) approaches within a set distance. It is provided inside the vacuum pad (10) to keep it out of the way. or,(
15) is an illumination device for illuminating the front side of the working hand (H) with a set light amount in synchronization with the imaging processing of the image sensor (Sl), and is generally a so-called strobe light emitting device. It will be used.

Then, the catching part case (12) is retired to the rear side of the hand, and the suction port (10) of the vacuum pad (10) is removed.
a) positioning the working hand (H) at an approach start position as a preset initial position in a state where the handle protrudes further forward than the catching part case (12), and
The image sensor (Sl) captures and processes an image in the direction in which the fruit (F) to be harvested is located, and guides the working hand (H) based on information obtained by processing the captured image information. This is to determine the direction of approach.

After determining the approach direction, the work hand (H
) move linearly toward the determined approach direction, each of the electric motors (9a), (9b),
(9c), and the proximity sensor (S2
) detects the fruit (F), the vacuum pad (10) is operated to attract the fruit (F) to be harvested, and the trapping part case (12) is protruded and the inside of the fruit (F) is protruded. After the fruit (F) is taken in, the stalk is cut and harvested.

However, after the proximity sensor (S2) is activated, the hand (
H) is the set distance at which the proximity sensor (S2) operates,
If the negative pressure sensor (S3) does not operate while moving forward, it is determined that harvesting has failed, and from the position where the set distance is moved back to the front, based on the detection information of the photoelectric sensor (S4). Then move the vacuum pad (10) or the hand (H
) position and re-approach.

By the way, the direction of the vacuum pad (10) is, for example, when only one of the photoelectric sensors (S4) is turned on, in that direction, and when two are turned on, it is oriented in the direction between the two photoelectric sensors (S4). It is now determined that these changes have been made.

Next, based on the image information captured by the image sensor (S,) and the detection information of the photoelectric sensor (S4), the direction in which the fruit (F) is located, that is, the approach direction of the hand (H), is determined, and the hand (H) The control configuration for inducing this will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, there is an image processing means (100) which performs image processing on the image information captured by the image sensor (Sl) to determine the direction in which the fruit to be harvested (F) is located; ), controlling each of the hydraulic cylinders (5), (6), (7) and each of the electric motors (9a), (9b), (9c) based on the information of
Move your hand (H) from the approach start position to the fruit to be harvested (
A microcomputer-based control device (16) constituting each of the control means (101) for guiding the sensor toward the sensor (S, F) is provided.
), (S2), (sa), (S4), the air cylinder (21), and each of the hydraulic cylinders (5).

(6), (7) and each electric motor (9a), (9b)
, (9c) are connected.

Next, the operation of the control device (16) will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 1 (0), the hand (H) is set at a preset approach start position, all air cylinders (21) are retracted, image processing is performed, and the captured image information is By image processing, a specific color area (Fl) corresponding to the color of the fruit (F) and its specific color area (Fl) are identified.
), the highlight area (F2) whose brightness is greater than the set value and the center of gravity (W2) of the highlight area (F2)
) (see Figure 4 (a) and (b)).

Then, based on the size of the highlight area (F2), the approach direction of the hand (H) is set such that the hand (H) is moved in the direction where the center of gravity (W2) of the item with the largest size is located. is determined and the telescopic arm (8
) will be extended. At this time, all the air cylinders (21) are operated in a protruding manner.

After starting to extend the telescoping arm (8), the proximity sensor (
Based on the information in S2), it is determined whether or not the hand (H) has approached the target fruit (F) to the set distance, and as the hand (H) approaches within the set distance, the telescopic arm At the same time as changing the extension speed of (8) to low speed, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (lO) is started, and the hand (H
) to the fruit side.

When the negative pressure sensor (S3) is turned on and detects fruit adsorption, the telescopic arm (8) is stopped and the harvesting operation is started.

However, if the negative pressure sensor (S2) does not operate while the proximity sensor (S2) is turned on and the robot moves a set distance, it is determined that the harvest has failed. At this time, if at least one of the photoelectric sensors (S4) is turned ON as shown in FIG.
The hand (H) is once returned to the position where it was turned on, the position of the hand (H) is corrected as described above, and the hand (H) is approached again (see FIG. 1 (d)). If none of the photoelectric sensors (S4) are turned on, it is determined that harvesting is impossible and the hand (H) is returned to the approach starting position.

When the fruit can be harvested by the first approach or the second approach, the working hand (H) is moved to the approach while holding the fruit (F) whose handle has been cut in the trapping part case (12). Return to the starting position and remove the fruit (
F) will be discharged.

After discharging the harvested fruits (F), it is determined whether the work is finished or not based on the number of specific color areas (Fl) and highlight areas (F2) extracted from the first captured image information at the approach start position. If the work is not completed, the work hand (H) is reset to the approach start position and image processing is performed, and the remaining fruit (F)
The approach direction and approach order are determined, and each process of guiding the working hand (H) toward the determined approach direction is repeated.

[Another example]

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a guidance device for a fruit harvesting working machine, but the present invention can be applied to various fruit and vegetable working machines, such as a tomato and other vegetable harvesting machine. Therefore, the specific configuration of each part, such as the specific configuration of the hand (H), can be changed in various ways.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings by adding reference numerals in the claims for convenient comparison with the drawings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the guidance device for a fruit and vegetable harvesting machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 (a) to (d) are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the hand, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control configuration, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the operation of the hand. is a flowchart of control operation, Figures 4 ((), (0), and (c) are explanatory diagrams of image processing, and Figure 5 is a schematic side view of the harvester. Pad, (101)・
...control means, (H) ...hand, (S
4)...Detection means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A hand (H) equipped with a vacuum pad (10) that attracts a work object, and a hand (H) that moves the vacuum pad (10) toward the work object.
) is provided with a control means (101) for guiding the vacuum pad (10).
) is provided in a state where the direction can be freely changed with respect to the hand body and is biased to return to the set direction, and a detection means (S_4) for detecting the orientation of the vacuum pad (10) with respect to the hand body is provided, and the control The means (101) is configured to guide the hand (H) while correcting the position of the hand (H) in a direction in which the vacuum pad (10) is changed from a set orientation based on information from the detection means (S_4). Guidance device for fruit and vegetable harvesting machines.