KR102437602B1 - Apparatus and method for automatically transferring shoe soles - Google Patents

Abstract

An automated device is provided. The automated device includes: a photographing unit for photographing a shoe window to which a QR code is attached; an analysis unit that analyzes the QR code; It may include; a control unit for controlling the robot for transferring the shoe sole according to the analysis result of the analysis unit.

Description

{Apparatus and method for automatically transferring shoe soles}

The present invention relates to a robot automation system that recognizes information on a shoe sole and automatically transports a shoe window using the information.

Recently, under the influence of Adidas' Speed Factory, a German shoe manufacturer, shoe manufacturers with production bases abroad have been interested in returning to their home countries. Automation has been introduced, and research on intelligent shoe factories has been recently developed to provide customized shoes to users.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2058300 discloses a transport device that carries a shoe sole while following a rail.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2058300

An object of the present invention is to provide an automated device and an automated method for recognizing various types of shoe sole information using a QR code, and transferring the corresponding shoe sole using posture information or a transfer grip point identified through the QR code.

The automated device of the present invention includes a photographing unit for photographing a shoe window to which a QR code is attached; an analysis unit that analyzes the QR code; It may include; a control unit for controlling the robot for transferring the shoe sole according to the analysis result of the analysis unit.

The automation method of the present invention executes the QR code recognition motion of the shoe sole only once initially, matches the identification information of the shoe window to the compartment of the carrier and stores it, and when a transfer request of the specific shoe window is received from the control server, the specific shoe window is identified Extracting the specific compartment in which the specific shoe window is loaded using the information, and controlling the robot moving to the specific compartment in a recognized posture, the second symbol included in the QR code of the specific shoe window loaded in the specific compartment Recognize, extract the gripping position of the shoe sole using the second symbol, and control the gripping posture of the robot to grip the gripping position.

The present invention can determine the posture information or gripping point of the shoe sole by using the geometric features of the QR code including the shoe sole information.

According to the present invention, a robot automation system that can accurately grip and transport shoe soles of various types, various sizes, and various postures using QR codes can be implemented.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an automated device of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a control unit.
3 is a schematic view showing a shoe sole loaded on a carrier.
4 is a schematic diagram showing information on a shoe sole;
5 is a schematic diagram showing a QR code recognition path of the robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a robot's QR code recognition motion and shoe sole information stack.
7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of an analysis unit.
8 is a conceptual diagram for extracting the center coordinates of a QR code.
9 is a conceptual diagram for extracting a gradient of a QR code.
10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating coordinate transformation.
11 is a flowchart illustrating an automated method of the present invention.
12 is a diagram illustrating a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily implement them. However, the present invention may be embodied in several different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. And in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

In this specification, duplicate descriptions of the same components will be omitted.

Also, in this specification, when a component is referred to as 'connected' or 'connected' to another component, it may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but other components in the middle It should be understood that there may be On the other hand, in the present specification, when it is mentioned that a certain element is 'directly connected' or 'directly connected' to another element, it should be understood that the other element does not exist in the middle.

In addition, the terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

Also in this specification, the singular expression may include the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Also, in this specification, terms such as 'include' or 'have' are only intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, and one or more It should be understood that the existence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, acts, components, parts, or combinations thereof, is not precluded in advance.

Also in this specification, the term 'and/or' includes a combination of a plurality of listed items or any of a plurality of listed items. In this specification, 'A or B' may include 'A', 'B', or 'both A and B'.

Also, in this specification, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

The sole of the shoe is subdivided into an insole, a midsole, and an outsole. Among them, the outsole and midsole can be assembled by applying adhesive, and the midsole can be assembled with the upper. In the intelligent shoe factory, instead of the 3D scanner system, which has problems such as high cost, frequent algorithm changes due to model changes, and noise caused by external conditions, the midsole is seated in a 3D mold manufactured by satisfying tolerances to secure precision and then 3D Based on the gauge line extracted from the 3D shape information of the mold, the adhesive application is planned.

The shoe sole 30 adhesive application operation is one of the most important operations in the assembly process of a finished shoe product consisting of a combination of an upper and a sole (sole). In order for the adhesive application operation of the shoe sole 30 to be normally performed, it is important that the posture of the shoe sole 30 entering the adhesive application unit maintains a preset position. In various shoe manufacturing processes other than adhesive application, the need for a transfer robot 101 capable of moving the shoe sole 30 to a set posture is increasing.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an automated device 100 of the present invention.

The automated apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include a transfer robot 101 , an application chamber 50 , and a drying chamber 60 .

The transfer robot 101 may pick up the shoe sole 30 loaded on the carrier 20 or the like and put it on the conveyor line 51 connected to the entrance of the application chamber 50 .

The shoe sole 30 mounted on the conveyor line 51 may be input into the application chamber 50 by the conveyor line 51 .

The application chamber 50 may apply an adhesive to the shoe sole 30 . The shoe sole 30 to which the adhesive is applied may be adhered to another member in the application chamber 50 or another chamber.

The drying chamber 60 may dry the adhesive applied to the shoe sole 30 .

The transfer robot 101 may pick up the shoe sole 30 disposed at the first position p1 . The transfer robot 101 may move to a second preset position p2 while picking up the shoe sole 30 . Then, the transfer robot 101 may put down the shoe sole 30 at the second position p2.

A control unit 103 for controlling the transfer robot 101 may be provided. The control unit 103 may be integrally formed with the transfer robot 101 , or may be provided separately from the transfer robot 101 , and may perform wired/wireless communication with the transfer robot 101 .

2 is a block diagram showing the control unit 103 .

The control unit 103 may include a photographing unit 610 , an analysis unit 630 , and a control unit 650 . Macroscopically, the photographing unit 610 , the analyzing unit 630 , and the control unit 650 may be included in the automated device 100 .

The photographing unit 610 may photograph the shoe sole 30 disposed at the first position p1 . The photographing unit 610 may include a camera, a vision, a range finder, and the like. The photographing unit 610 may be installed at a location spaced apart from the robot, or may be installed directly on the robot.

The analysis unit 630 may analyze the posture of the shoe sole 30 through analysis of the first image captured by the photographing unit 610 .

The controller 650 may control the second posture of the suction tool provided in the transfer robot 101 according to the first posture of the shoe sole 30 analyzed by the analysis unit 630 .

When the shoe sole 30 is loaded in the suction tool, the controller 650 may control the transfer robot 101 to move the shoe sole 30 to the second position. The adsorption tool may perform the loading in a manner to adsorb the shoe sole 30 by forming a sucking negative pressure of air. Alternatively, the suction tool may perform loading by grabbing the shoe sole 30 using a plurality of fingers moving in a direction approaching each other with the shoe sole 30 interposed therebetween.

The controller 650 may control the transfer robot 101 so that the suction tool that has absorbed the shoe sole 30 is in a preset unloading posture at the second position. It is preferable that the shoe sole 30 be input to the post process in a preset posture so that the post process such as the adhesive application process in which the shoe sole 30 is input is performed accurately and quickly. The unloading posture of the suction tool may refer to a posture of the suction tool in which the shoe sole 30 is placed in the set posture when the shoe sole 30 is unloaded at the second position. The 'posture' described herein may include a three-dimensional position (coordinate) and an angle based on each axis in a three-dimensional space formed by three orthogonal x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis.

The controller 650 may control the transfer robot 101 so that the suction tool unloads the shoe sole 30 to the second position in the unloading posture. Unloading the suction tool may mean releasing the restraint and placing or leaving the sole 30 in the second position.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a shoe sole 30 loaded on a carrier 20 .

In the shoe production automation line, RFID or QR code 90 is individually attached for tracking and recognition of each accessory, and a QR code 90 (Quick Response Code) is attached to the shoe window 30 which is the work object of the present invention. is attached. For example, the QR mode may be formed in the center of the upper surface of the shoe sole (30).

When the carrier 20 of the shoe sole 30 arrives at the designated position by the field worker, the transfer robot 101 transfers the shoe sole 30 loaded on the carrier 20 by the control unit to the robot 101 application automation line. It can recognize the QR code 90 attached to the shoe sole 30 to transfer to.

Since it is difficult to maintain the set posture as shown in 3 for the shoe sole 30 that the field worker arbitrarily loads into the loading box, the inclination (on a plane) and position recognition of the shoe sole 30 for the transfer operation of the robot 101 and A conversion method between the camera coordinate system and the robot 101 coordinate system for precise gripping is required. This is because the shoe sole 30 must be put in a prescribed posture in the application automation line to which the shoe sole 30 is to be transferred.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the carrier 20 may be divided into a plurality of compartments ①, ②, ③, and ④ by the partition wall. The shoe sole 30 put into each compartment may take different postures.

The shoe sole 30 put into each compartment may be stacked in a plurality of layers. The carrier 20 may be provided with a support 21 for supporting the shoe sole 30 . The support part 21 may be installed on the carrier 20 so as to be liftable. Through the elevating operation, the support unit 21 holds the shoe sole 30 of the uppermost layer at a constant height regardless of whether the shoe sole 30 is loaded (injected) or unloaded (extracted) with respect to the carrier 20. can be positioned.

4 is a schematic diagram showing information on the shoe sole 30 .

The shoe sole 30 has various models, colors, and sizes, and even if the shoe sole 30 is the same, it is necessary to define data for distinguishing the left foot from the right foot.

A plurality of data definitions for specifying the shoe sole 30 may be provided as shown in (a) of FIG. 4 .

For example, as information of the shoe sole 30 , name data Model representing the model name of the shoe sole 30 , color data Color representing the color of the shoe sole 30 , and size data representing the size of the shoe sole 30 . Size, division data Left/Right indicating left and right division of the shoe sole 30 may be provided.

The QR code 90 may be formed to include model data, color data, size data, and classification data.

For example, different shoe soles 30 may be loaded in a plurality of compartments ①, ②, ③, and ④ formed in the carrier 20 . At this time, the shoe sole 30 put into each compartment may be divided through the QR code 90, and the QR code 90 may include a plurality of identification information for the corresponding division. As identification information at this time, name data, color data, size data, and classification data may be used.

For example, the model name of the shoe sole 30 contained in the compartment ① may be SHOE1, the color may be Y (Yellow), the size may be 270 (Cm), and the right foot may be R (Right). At this time, the QR code 90 attached to the shoe sole 30 may be formed or promised in advance in a format including all of the above four pieces of information. As an example, the corresponding QR code 90 may be formed to indicate 'SHOE1_Y_270_R' as shown in FIG. 4B .

The QR code 90 may be photographed by the photographing unit 610 and analyzed by the analysis unit 630 . The control unit 650 may control the robot 101 that transports the shoe sole 30 according to the analysis result of the analysis unit 630 .

In order to recognize the QR code 90 of the shoe sole contained in each compartment in the carrier 20 , the control unit 650 may control the photographing unit 610 . The analysis result of the QR code 90 may include at least one of name data, color data, size data, and classification data.

The control unit 650 may control the arm of the robot 101 in which the photographing unit 610 is installed to move the plurality of compartments formed in the carrier 20 according to a setting order. The control unit 650 may control the photographing unit 610 to photograph the QR code 90 of the shoe sole 30 contained in the corresponding compartment whenever the arm of the robot 101 moves along each compartment.

5 is a schematic diagram showing a QR code 90 recognition path of the robot 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 5 , the movement path of the robot 101 is formed in the order of ①, ②, ③, and ④ sections by the control unit 650 .

By analyzing the QR code 90 obtained while moving along the corresponding path, the analysis unit 630 may grasp information of the shoe sole 30 loaded in each compartment.

The analysis unit 630 may store the analysis result of the QR code 90 in a storage location corresponding to each of the sections.

As an example, the analysis unit 630 may store the identified information of the shoe sole 30 in a stack structure according to the order of the setting sections.

6 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of stacking the QR code 90 recognition motion of the robot 101 and the shoe sole 30 information.

The order of the stacks may be the same as the recognition order of the QR code 90 .

As an example, if the recognition order of the QR code 90 is the same as the section ①, section ②, section ③, section ④, the QR code 90 information of the shoe window 30 contained in section ① as shown in FIG. 6, section ② QR code 90 information of the shoe sole 30 contained in the QR code 90 information of the shoe sole 30 contained in the compartment ③, the QR code 90 information of the shoe sole 30 contained in the compartment ④ can be stacked with

The control unit 650 may specify the compartmental position of the specific shoe sole 30 to which the transfer instruction is given through the search of the storage unit on the carrier 20, and may move the robot 101 toward the specified compartmental position.

The analysis unit 630 of the present invention may analyze the posture of the shoe sole 30 using the geometrical features of the QR code 90 .

7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the analysis unit 630 .

In the QR code 90 of the present invention, in addition to the first symbol indicating information of the shoe sole 30, a second symbol of a promised geometric shape that is distinguished from the first symbol may be provided.

For example, the second symbol is formed in various predefined shapes, and the number of second symbols included in one QR code 90 may also be defined in advance. In FIG. 7 , the second symbol is disposed at three vertices of the quadrangular QR code 90 , and is formed in a double quadrangular shape in which a small quadrangle exists in a large quadrangle.

The QR code 90 may be recognized through the photographing unit 610 such as a vision camera.

When the QR code 90 is recognized, the analysis unit 630 may detect a finder pattern corresponding to the second symbol. The analysis unit 630 may extract the coordinates of the finder pattern, and extract the center coordinates of the QR code 90 , the inclination of the QR code 90 , and the like by using the coordinates of the finder pattern. In other words, the analysis unit 630 may calculate at least one of the center coordinates of the QR code 90 and the inclination of the QR code 90 by using the second symbol.

The controller 650 may determine the gripping position of the shoe sole 30 using the central coordinates or the inclination, and control the robot 101 to grip the determined gripping position.

8 is a conceptual diagram for extracting the center coordinates of the QR code (90).

Three second symbols A, B, and D may be formed at each position facing the three vertices of the square-shaped QR code 90 .

According to the diagonal rule, the centers of the second symbol A and the second symbol B arranged at symmetrical positions may be calculated as the center coordinates C of the QR code 90 . Coordinate information of the second symbol A and the second symbol B may be identified based on a camera located on a section in which the corresponding QR code 90 is disposed.

9 is a conceptual diagram for extracting the gradient of the QR code (90).

The analysis unit 630 obtains the reference direction from the robot 101, and calculates the angle between the virtual line connecting the centers of the two second symbols and the reference direction of the robot 101 as the inclination of the QR code 90. have. The analysis unit 630 may perform an operation such as arc tangent necessary for calculating the slope.

Meanwhile, the center coordinate c = [c _x , c _y ] calculated using the plurality of second symbols may be a pixel unit of the camera image. Therefore, the center coordinates need to be converted into a real Cartesian coordinate system in mm for the real robot 101 to work.

10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating coordinate transformation.

The analyzer 630 may convert the unit on the captured image according to the actual unit by using a ratio between the actual geometrical characteristic of the second symbol and the geometrical characteristic of the second symbol photographed by the photographing unit 610 . The geometrical characteristic may include a distance between the plurality of second symbols, a slope, a size, a center, and a length of a side of a polygon formed by the plurality of second symbols.

As an example, the analysis unit 630 defines the ratio of the interval between the second symbols actually measured and the interval between the second symbols of the QR code 90 reflected on the image as a coefficient u, and the center c of the actual coordinate system using the coefficient u. _mm = [x _mm , y _mm ] can be obtained.

Coefficient u and the real center coordinate c _mm of the QR code 90 = [x _mm , y _mm ] may be expressed as in Equation 1 below.

By the coefficient u, the height and width of the camera image reference (unit: pixel) may also be converted into the actual coordinate system reference (unit: mm) by the analysis unit 630 as in Equation 2 .

The automation device of the present invention is a process of recognizing the QR code 90 of the shoe sole 30 contained in the carrier 20 to move the shoe sole 30 contained in the carrier 20 to another place, the recognized QR code ( 90) may be used to perform the process of transferring the shoe sole 30.

When the suction tool for picking up the shoe sole 30 and the photographing unit 610 are installed together in a single robot 101 , the robot 101 is operated at least twice in the air above the carrier 20 for the recognition process and the transfer process. can move

The robot 101 requires a first posture for recognizing the QR code 90 and a second posture for gripping the shoe sole 30 .

The first posture P = [P _x P _y P _z P _O P _A P _T ] is the shoe sole 30 or QR placed in each compartment (compartment) of the carrier 20 as the carrier 20 is fixed in a designated position. It may include a posture capable of recognizing the code 90 . The first posture may be arbitrarily designated by the user.

The definition of the second posture G = [G _x G _y G _z G _O G _A G _T ] may be the same as in Equation 3.

Gz is related to the height of the sole to be picked up, and the height of the sole can always be kept constant due to the lifting structure.

11 is a flowchart illustrating an automated method of the present invention.

The automation method illustrated in FIG. 11 may be performed by the automation device or the controller 650 illustrated in FIG. 1 .

The automation device may initially execute the recognition motion of the QR code 90 of the shoe sole 30 only once, and match the identified identification information of the shoe sole 30 to the compartment of the carrier 20 and store it. According to an external work command from the control server, the robot 101 can automatically create a path and perform a transfer operation as in the following algorithm.

When the transfer request of the specific shoe window 30 is received from the control server, the control unit 650 may search the pre-stored QR code 90 recognition information.

The control unit 650 may use the retrieved QR code 90 recognition information to determine the compartment of the carrier 20 on which the shoe window 30 to be picked up is placed. In other words, the controller 650 may extract a specific compartment in which the specific shoe sole 30 is loaded by using the identification information of the specific shoe sole 30 .

The control unit 650 may move the photographing unit 610 to the identified section.

The control unit 650 can recognize the second symbol included in the QR code 90 of the specific shoe sole 30 loaded in the specific compartment while controlling the robot 101 that has moved to the specific compartment in the recognition posture. have.

The controller 650 may extract the gripping position of the shoe sole 30 using the second symbol and control the gripping posture of the robot 101 to grip the gripping position.

Specifically, the control unit 650 may cause the analysis unit 630 to analyze the captured image, and determine the posture of the QR code 90 included in the captured image.

Since the posture of the QR code 90 means the posture of the shoe sole 30 , the controller 650 uses the posture information of the QR code 90 to grip the robot 101 that picks up the shoe sole 30 . You can control your posture.

Thereafter, the control unit 650 may re-photograph the corresponding area using the photographing unit 610 . If the QR code 90 or the shoe sole 30 is photographed again, it means that gripping has failed, so the controller 650 may return the robot 101 to the gripping posture.

As a result of re-photography, if the QR code 90 and the shoe sole 30 are not detected, the controller 650 may move the robot 101 to a second position corresponding to the transfer destination. When the robot 101 arrives at the second position, the controller 650 may release the gripping state of the shoe sole 30 . The release of the gripping state allows the shoe sole 30 to be in the second position.

12 is a diagram illustrating a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computing device TN100 of FIG. 12 may be a device described herein (eg, the automation device 100 , the control unit 103 , etc.).

In the embodiment of FIG. 12 , the computing device TN100 may include at least one processor TN110 , a transceiver device TN120 , and a memory TN130 . Also, the computing device TN100 may further include a storage device TN140 , an input interface device TN150 , an output interface device TN160 , and the like. Components included in the computing device TN100 may be connected by a bus TN170 to communicate with each other.

The processor TN110 may execute a program command stored in at least one of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140. The processor TN110 may mean a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to an embodiment of the present invention are performed. The processor TN110 may be configured to implement procedures, functions, and methods described in connection with an embodiment of the present invention. The processor TN110 may control each component of the computing device TN100 .

Each of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140 may store various information related to the operation of the processor TN110 . Each of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140 may be configured as at least one of a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. For example, the memory TN130 may include at least one of a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

The transceiver TN120 may transmit or receive a wired signal or a wireless signal. The transceiver TN120 may be connected to a network to perform communication.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention is not implemented only through the apparatus and/or method described so far, and a program for realizing a function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium in which the program is recorded may be implemented. And, such an implementation can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the description of the above-described embodiments.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements by those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention as defined in the following claims are also present. It belongs to the scope of the invention.

20...Carrier 21...Support
30...shoe window 90...QR code
101...Robot 103...Control Unit
100...automation unit 610...photography department
630...analysis unit 650...control unit

Claims (5)

A photographing unit for photographing a shoe window in which a QR code is formed;
an analysis unit for analyzing the QR code included in the captured image of the photographing unit;
A control unit for controlling the robot for transferring the shoe sole according to the analysis result of the analysis unit;
A second symbol of a promised geometric shape is formed at a position facing the vertex in the QR code of the rectangular shape,
The analysis unit extracts the center between the two second symbols formed at positions symmetrical to each other as the center coordinates of the QR code,
The analysis unit obtains a reference direction from the robot, and extracts an angle between the reference direction and an imaginary line connecting the centers of two second symbols as a slope of the QR code,
The analysis unit calculates the center coordinates of the QR code in the real coordinate system by using the ratio of the actual measured interval between the second symbols and the interval between the second symbols included in the captured image,
The control unit determines the grip position of the shoe window using the central coordinates and the inclination of the QR code calculated in the actual coordinate system,
The control unit is an automated device for controlling the robot to grip the determined grip position.
The method of claim 1,
The shoe sole to be transported by the robot is loaded on a carrier divided into a plurality of compartments,
The QR code includes at least one of name data indicating the model name of the shoe sole, color data indicating the color of the shoe sole, size data indicating the size of the shoe sole, and division data indicating the left and right division of the shoe sole,
The analysis result of the QR code includes at least one of the name data, the color data, the size data, and the classification data,
The analysis unit stores the analysis result of the QR code in a storage location corresponding to each of the compartments,
The control unit specifies, on the carrier, a division position of a specific shoe window to which a transfer command has been issued through a search of the storage unit, and an automated device for moving the robot toward the specified division position.
delete delete In the automation method performed by the automation device,
The QR code recognition motion of the shoe sole is initially executed only once, and the identification information of the shoe window is matched to the compartment of the carrier and stored,
When a transfer request for a specific shoe window is received from the control server, the specific compartment in which the specific shoe window is loaded is extracted using the identification information of the specific shoe window,
Recognizing the second symbol included in the photographed image of the QR code of the specific shoe sole loaded in the specific compartment in a state in which the robot moved to the specific compartment is controlled in the recognition posture,
When the second symbol of the promised geometric shape is formed at the position facing the vertex in the QR code of the rectangular shape,
Extracting the center between the two second symbols formed at positions symmetrical to each other in the captured image as the center coordinates of the QR code,
Obtaining a reference direction from the robot, extracting an angle between the reference direction and an imaginary line connecting the centers of two second symbols as the inclination of the QR code,
Calculate the center coordinates of the QR code in the real coordinate system by using the ratio of the actual measured interval between the second symbols and the interval between the second symbols included in the captured image,
Determine the grip position of the shoe sole by using the center coordinates and the inclination of the QR code calculated in the actual coordinate system,
An automated method of controlling the gripping posture of the robot to grip the determined gripping position.

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