WO2019123578A1

WO2019123578A1 - Stacking assistance system

Info

Publication number: WO2019123578A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/045792
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朋弘仲道; 克英鈴木; 勉石田; 徐　剛
Original assignee: ＫｙｏｔｏＲｏｂｏｔｉｃｓ株式会社
Priority date: 2017-12-20
Filing date: 2017-12-20
Publication date: 2019-06-27
Also published as: JPWO2019123578A1

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a stacking assistance system that calculates a stacking position on an article carrying unit for an article to be aligned and transported and indicates that position to a worker, and that can perform article inspection simultaneously with stacking work. [Solution] A stacking assistance system comprises: a first three-dimensional measuring means 3 for performing three-dimensional measurement of an article 10 to be aligned and transported; a stacking position calculating means 2 for calculating a stacking position for the article 10 on an article carrying unit 12 using the measurement results of the first three-dimensional measuring means 3; a stacking position indicating means 5 for visually indicating the article stacking position calculated by the stacking position calculating means 2; a second three-dimensional measuring means 4 for performing three-dimensional measurement of the stacked article 10 on the article carrying unit 12; a determining means 2 for determining whether the article 10 is properly stacked by comparing the measurement results by the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 and the stacking position calculated by the stacking position calculating means 2; and a warning means 7 for issuing a warning when the article stacking is determined to be improper by the determining means 2.

Description

Stowage support system

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stowing support system for stowing an article which has been aligned and transported onto an article placing portion such as a transport device.

Generally, in the shipping process of goods in the distribution industry, after the necessary goods are taken out from the distribution warehouse and sorted according to the delivery destination such as a region or a store, the sorted goods are taken out from the corresponding outlet. It is transported to The articles transported to each outlet are stacked on a carrier such as a basket car, pallet, car truck, etc., and after the inspection work of the article is performed there, the carrier is put on a truck etc. and sent to the shipping destination. Will be delivered.

In recent years, with the expansion of the e-commerce market and the like, the physical flow has been increasing, and therefore, it is required to improve the efficiency of distribution. Mechanization and automation are also in progress regarding the shipping process of goods in the above-mentioned distribution warehouses and the like. For example, a digital picking system that picks up items according to the instruction of a digital indicator attached to a shelf or the like of the warehouse when taking out the items from the warehouse, or automatically sorts the items by delivery destination when sorting the items Sorter system etc. In addition, there are also automatic warehouses in which goods are automatically delivered from a rack by a stacker crane, and from picking up to sorting is automated. Patent Document 1 discloses a transport facility that transports the articles delivered in order from a plurality of automatic warehouses to a plurality of transport destinations in order.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2015-098397

Even in the case of warehouses that are mechanized or automated by the above-mentioned automatic warehouses or transport facilities, etc., the process of loading the articles aligned and transported by them into the transport equipment is currently performed manually. It is. A worker at the site sees the transported items, and on the spot, examines and places the loading position on the transport equipment. The work efficiency in this process is not good because this loading requires time for the operator to consider. In addition, in order to carry out the inspection work after loading the articles onto the transport equipment, the articles had to be loaded so as to be substantially V-shaped. Since this inspection work is performed by reading the barcode attached to the item, the worker turns the barcode around the loaded item without hiding the item inside after being loaded. It is stacked in a roughly V shape for readability. However, this substantially V-shaped loading is not efficient because the inside space is empty.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in the step of stacking the aligned and transported articles on an article placing portion such as a transport device, the stacking position of the transported articles is calculated By showing the calculated position to the worker, the worker can eliminate the time for considering the loading and improve the working efficiency, and additionally, by carrying out the inspection work of the goods at the time of the loading work, It is an object of the present invention to provide a stowing support system capable of enhancing the loading efficiency of articles without the need to stow the articles in a substantially V-shape.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a loading assistance system according to the present invention uses a first three-dimensional measuring means for performing three-dimensional measurement of articles conveyed in alignment and transported, and a measurement result by the first three-dimensional measuring means. Loading position calculating means for calculating the loading position of the article on the loading portion, loading position indicating means for visually presenting the loading position of the article calculated by the loading position calculating means, the article The second three-dimensional measurement means for performing three-dimensional measurement of the articles stacked on the mounting portion, and the measurement result by the second three-dimensional measurement means and the loading position calculated by the loading position calculation means And determining means for determining whether or not the loading of the article is correct, and a warning means for issuing a warning when the determination means determines that the loading of the article is incorrect.

Furthermore, the loading position presenting means is characterized by projecting an image specifying two adjacent sides of the bottom surface of the item to the loading position of the item.

Alternatively, the loading position presenting means displays an image indicating the loading position on the image display device.

According to the loading support system according to the present invention, the articles which have been aligned and transported are subjected to three-dimensional measurement by the first three-dimensional measurement means, and from the measurement results to the article placement portion by the loading position calculation means The loading position of is calculated. Then, since the calculated loading position is visually presented by the loading position presentation means, the worker only has to load the articles transported to the presented loading position, and the worker can load it. The work efficiency can be improved because time for examining the placement position can be eliminated. Furthermore, when the worker loads the goods, the second three-dimensional measurement means performs three-dimensional measurement, and the measurement results are compared with the storage positions calculated by the storage position calculation means for storage. It is determined by the determination means whether the load is correct or not, and when the determination means determines that the loading is incorrect, the warning means warns. As a result, it can be understood that the transported items have been properly loaded without any load leakage, and the inspection operation is also performed at the same time as the loading operation, so the bar code after all the conventional loading operations have been completed This eliminates the need for the inspection work of the articles by the like, and the time for the inspection work can be shortened. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to use a substantially V-shaped loading assuming inspection work, calculation of the loading position by the loading position calculation means can also be performed to improve the loading efficiency without any limitations such as the substantially V-shape. As it can be done, the loading efficiency can be improved.

Then, the loading position presentation means of the loading assistance system according to the present invention projects an image identifying two adjacent sides of the bottom surface of the article to the loading position of the article. Since it is possible to know at a glance how to load the goods to be loaded at what position and in what direction, it is less likely that mistakes in loading will occur, and work efficiency will also increase.

Alternatively, since the loading position presentation means of the loading assistance system according to the present invention displays an image indicating the loading position on the image display device, the operator can display the image indicating the loading position displayed on the image display device. Since it is sufficient to carry out the loading work in accordance with, errors are less likely to occur and work efficiency is also improved.

It is a model top view showing an example of the stowage support system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a computer used with a storage assistance system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a series of processes of the storage assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

An embodiment of a stowing support system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the sorted and sequentially arranged articles 10 are conveyed one by one to the mounting place of the car 12 by the conveyor 17. The transported articles 10 are loaded by the worker 15 onto the basket car 12. The loading assistance system 1 according to the present embodiment is used in a process in which the worker 15 loads the transported item 10 onto the basket 12.

In the present embodiment, the article 10 is a substantially rectangular box or case in which a product or the like is packaged inside, such as a cardboard or the like. In addition, the basket car 12 is an article placing portion on which the articles 10 are stacked, and the basket 12 provided on the lower surface of the substantially rectangular placing face on which the article 10 which is the bottom face is placed. Caster for moving the object, fences standing up substantially vertically upward from three sides of the outer periphery of the mounting surface and surrounding three sides of the side of the basket 12, and the basket 12 for loading and unloading the articles 10. It is a conveying apparatus also called a roll box pallet which has an inlet / outlet which is an opening surface of the remaining one surface of a side. In this embodiment, although the basket car 12 is used as the article placing portion for loading the articles 10, not only the basket car 12 but also other conveyance devices such as a pallet and a car track can load the articles 10 I hope there is.

The loading assistance system 1 according to the present embodiment is, as shown in FIG. 1, a computer 2, a first three-dimensional measuring unit 3, a second three-dimensional measuring unit 4, and a projector (loading position presenting unit) 5. And a light curtain (detection means) 6 and a speaker (warning means) 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 2 has a processing unit 21, a storage unit 22, and an input / output unit 23, each of which is connected to a system bus 27. Transmission and reception are possible. The processing unit 21 executes various programs to perform data processing, control of external devices connected to the computer 2, and the like. For example, CPU and RAM. The storage unit 22 can freely store and delete various data, and various programs to be executed by the processing unit 21 are stored in advance, and the data processed by the processing unit 21 and the computer 2 can be stored. The data etc. from the external device input into can be stored. For example, a hard disk or a flash memory. The input / output unit 23 is a part to which various external devices are connected, and the computer 2 and the external device can transmit / receive data to / from each other through the input / output unit 23. For example, it is a LAN port or a USB port. The connection between the input / output unit 23 and the external device may be wired or wireless. The first three-dimensional measuring means 3, the second three-dimensional measuring means 4, the projector 5, the light curtain 6 and the speakers 7 which are components of the stowing support system 1 are all connected to the input / output unit 23. Data can be transmitted and received mutually. Also, input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, and output means such as a display are connected to the input / output unit 23 so that the operator 15 or the like can operate the computer 2 by the input means, or the contents of processing of the computer 2 are output It may be displayed by means.

In the storage unit 22, a control / processing program 221, an image processing program 222, a loading position calculation program 225, and a loading determination program 226 are stored in advance. Each program is executed by the processing unit 21.

The control and processing program 221 is a program for performing a series of processes of the stowing support system 1 shown in FIG. 3 and processes signals and data received from each component of the stowing support system 1 and processes thereof. Control of each component is performed based on it.

The image processing program 222 is a program for analyzing three-dimensional geometric information of an object to be photographed by processing image data photographed by the first three-dimensional measurement means 3 or the second three-dimensional measurement means 4. By processing the image data from the first three-dimensional measuring means 3, three-dimensional data of the article 10 can be obtained. From the three-dimensional data of the article 10, the size, shape, etc. of the article 10 can be known. By processing the image data from the second three-dimensional measuring means 4, three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 can be obtained. From the three-dimensional data of the cart 12, for example, the dimensions of the loading space of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped capable of loading the article 10 surrounded by the fence and the entry / exit of the loading surface and side of the cart 12 It is possible to know the size of the article 10 loaded in the car 12 and in what position and in what state the article 10 is loaded.

The loading position calculation program (loading position calculation means) 225 uses three-dimensional data of the article 10 obtained by processing the image data taken by the first three-dimensional measuring means 3 by the image processing program 222. , A program for calculating the loading position of the article 10 on the basket 12. In the present embodiment, three-dimensional data of the article 10 and three-dimensional data of the basket 12 obtained by processing the image data captured by the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 by the image processing program 222 are used. Calculate. The calculation result by the loading position calculation program 225 is obtained as three-dimensional data of the loading position, which is obtained by adding the three-dimensional data of the article 10 to the calculated loading position of the three-dimensional data of the cart 12.

The calculation of the loading position is, for example, one example, but when calculating the loading position of the article 10b of FIG. 1, the article 10b is first mounted at the lowermost position in the empty space of the loading space of the cart 12 Calculated to be placed, and at least two sides of the side of the article 10b are three sides except the side of the article 10a already loaded on the car 12 and the loading / unloading side of the loading space of the car 12 Calculate to touch either. At this time, it is preferred to contact the side surface of the already loaded article 10a. Also, when the lateral width of the side of the article 10b is longer than the lateral width of the side of the article 10a, contact is made at the side where the length of the article 10b protrudes from the article 10a is shorter. As described above, the loading position is calculated so as to eliminate empty space as much as possible instead of being substantially V-shaped, and therefore the loading efficiency is higher than that of substantially V-shaped loading. The calculation of the loading position in the present embodiment is merely an example, and the loading position may be calculated by another known calculation method or simulation. A means for obtaining the weight of the article 10 may be newly provided, and the weight of the article 10 may also be used to calculate the loading position taking into consideration the balance of weight after loading, such as the center of gravity position. Further, in the present embodiment, the dimensions of the loading space of the cart 12 analyzed from the three-dimensional data of the cart 12, the state of the article 10 loaded on the cart 12, etc. are used. If only one type of part has the same size and the installation location of the article placement part is accurately determined, the dimensions of the article placement part may be input in advance to the storage part 22 and used. You may In that case, the three-dimensional data of the article placement unit acquired by the image processing program 222 may be only the dimensions, positions, etc. of the articles 10 stacked on the article placement unit.

The loading determination program (determination means) 226 determines whether the item 10 loaded on the car 12 is the correct item 10 to be loaded and at the loading position calculated by the loading position calculation program 225, It is a program to determine if it has been loaded properly. This determination is made by the three-dimensional data of the loading position of the item 10 calculated by the loading position calculation program 225 and the third order of the basket 12 after the item 10 obtained by the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 is loaded. This is performed by comparing with the original data, and it is determined that the loading is correct if the size and the loading position of the article 10 are correct, and it is determined that the loading is incorrect if either one is different.

The determination of whether or not the dimensions of the article 10 are correct depends on the dimensions of the article 10 from the three-dimensional data of the loading position by the loading position calculation program 225, that is, the first three-dimensional measuring means when the article 10 is transported. The dimensions of the article 10 from the three-dimensional data of the article 10 according to 3 and the dimensions of the article 10 actually loaded by the operator 15 from the three-dimensional data of the basket 12 by the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 coincide If it does not match, it is determined that it is correct. If it does not match, it is determined that it is incorrect. As dimensions, three parameters of height, width, depth may be used, or three-dimensional data itself may be used. Since the article 10 may be slightly deformed during the loading work by the worker 15, or the measurement error of the first three-dimensional measurement means 3 or the second three-dimensional measurement means 4 may be considered, the tolerance is set and the range If it is inside, it may be determined that they match. It is preferable to set this tolerance as small as possible, because it is considered that the dimensional error does not increase too much, but if it is set too small, it may be determined to be incorrect for the correct article 10 or vice versa. Since it is determined that the product 10 is the correct one even when the container is loaded, the tolerance is set appropriately. For example, although this is merely an example, it may be about 1% of the size of the article 10 acquired by the first three-dimensional measurement means 3.

The determination of whether the loading position of the article 10 is correct depends on the bottom surface of the article 10 in the three-dimensional data of the loading position by the loading position calculation program 225 and the three-dimensional data of the cart 12 by the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 Are compared with the bottom of the article 10 at the point of. As for the determination of the loading position, the loading operation is carried out by the worker 15 who is a person, and it is difficult to load the calculated loading position completely completely, so that a shift is generated as it occurs. A tolerance is set, and if it is within the tolerance, it is determined that the loading position is correct. The deviation includes a position deviation in which the center of gravity of the bottom surface of the article 10 is deviated, and a rotation deviation in which a rotation angle with respect to an axis perpendicular to the bottom surface from the center of gravity of the bottom of the article 10 is deviated. Therefore, the tolerance is set for misalignment and rotational misalignment, for example, about 5% of the size of the bottom surface of the article 10 in the three-dimensional data of the loading position for misalignment, and 5 degrees for rotational misalignment Set as degree. The magnitude of the tolerance may be set appropriately. Although the bottom of the article 10 is used to determine the loading position here, the top may be used, or three-dimensional data itself may be used.

In the present embodiment, the computer 2 is configured to control each component of the stowage support system 1 and to calculate and determine the stowing position. A dedicated electronic circuit may be designed and used so that processing and processing can be performed.

The first three-dimensional measuring means 3 has a projector 3a, two cameras 3b, and a sensor 3c, and is provided in the vicinity of the conveyor 17 to perform three-dimensional measurement of the articles 10 flowing on the conveyor 17. ing. The projector 3 a projects a pattern image necessary for performing three-dimensional measurement on the article 10 flowing on the conveyor 17. The two cameras 3b perform shooting at the same position, but are provided at different positions, and simultaneously shoot the article 10 on which the pattern image is projected by the projector 3a. The image data taken by the two cameras 3 b is transmitted to the computer 2 and processed by the image processing program 222. The sensor 3 c is provided upstream of the position in which the projector 3 a and the two cameras 3 b are provided in the flow direction of the conveyor 17, and detects that the article 10 has flowed on the conveyor 17. For example, it is a photoelectric sensor or the like. The positional information of the projector 3a, the two cameras 3b and the sensor 3c, and the flow speed of the conveyor 17 are input in advance to the storage unit 22 of the computer 2, from which the articles 10 flowing on the conveyor 17 are detected by the sensor 3c. It is possible to calculate the time from when it reaches the position of the projector 3a and the two cameras 3b.

In the present embodiment, two first cameras 3b are provided by the first three-dimensional measurement means 3. However, two or more cameras 3b may be provided, and three or more cameras 3b may be provided. In addition, although the projector 3a and the camera 3b are configured to perform three-dimensional measurement by projecting a pattern image, other three-dimensional measurement means such as light cutting using a line laser, time of flight, etc. are used. It is also good. Also, although the first three-dimensional measurement means 3 is provided on the conveyor 17 to perform three-dimensional measurement of the articles 10 flowing thereon, a dedicated booth for performing three-dimensional measurement is provided, the conveyor 17 The article 10 that has flowed may be moved to the booth and three-dimensional measurement may be performed at the booth. Moreover, although it is comprised so that three-dimensional data of the articles | goods 10 may be acquired by performing three-dimensional measurement by the 1st three-dimensional measurement means 3, for example, the warehouse management system etc. which manages the whole warehouse beforehand. When data such as the size and shape of the article 10 is present, a bar code reader or the like for reading a bar code attached to the article 10 is provided on the conveyor 17, and the size of the article 10 from the warehouse management system Data may be acquired.

The second three-dimensional measurement means 4 has a projector 4 a and two cameras 4 b, and is provided at the installation place of the basket car 12. The projector 4 a projects a pattern image necessary for three-dimensional measurement on the basket 12. The two cameras 4b are provided at positions where they can shoot the car 12 from different positions respectively, and simultaneously shoots the car 12 on which the pattern image is projected by the projector 4a. The image data taken by the two cameras 4 b is transmitted to the computer 2 and processed by the image processing program 222. The positional information of the projector 4a, the two cameras 4b, and the projector 5 is input in advance to the storage unit 22 of the computer 2, and by the photographing of the basket car 12, the basket car 12, the projector 4a and the two cameras 4b, and the projector Calibration of the positional relationship with 5 can be performed. In the present embodiment, although two cameras 4b of the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 are used, when the number of the articles 10 loaded on the basket car 12 increases, an article to be stacked and measured If there are two cameras 4b at 10, it is possible to hide and prevent sufficient measurement, so three or more cameras 4b may be used.

The projector (loading position presentation means) 5 projects an image specifying the dimensions of the bottom of the article 10 on the loading position of the article 10 calculated by the loading position calculation program 225. The image specifying the dimensions of the bottom surface of the article 10 may be any image as long as two adjacent sides of the bottom surface of the article 10 can be identified. For example, it may be a substantially L-shaped image in which line segments are shown at the positions of two adjacent sides of the bottom surface of the article 10, or an image showing points at the positions of three vertices on the bottom surface. However, since this image is an image for showing the position where the article 10 is to be loaded to the worker 15, it is preferable that the outer periphery of the bottom is indicated by a line segment so that the worker 15 can easily see and understand. Images are preferable. Furthermore, in order to make it easy to understand, characters, symbols, figures, etc. may be displayed on the inner side, or the image data when the article 10 is photographed by the first three-dimensional measuring means 3 may be displayed. Good. Also, the color, density, etc. of the image may be changed.

This image is projected to the loading position so as to have the same dimensions as the dimensions of the bottom of the actual article 10. This is possible because the calibration of the positional relationship between the projector 5 and the basket car 12 is performed. Alternatively, after projecting the image to the loading position, it may be confirmed by the camera 4b whether the image of the correct size is projected to the correct position. In addition to the projection of the image to the loading position, when the loading position of the goods 10 on the car 12 is advanced and the loading position for projecting the image is high next and it is difficult for the operator 15 to view, etc. For example, an arrow may be projected on the side surface of the already loaded article 10 adjacent to the position to indicate the position to the worker 15.

In the present embodiment, the projector 5 is used as the loading position presenting unit, but the projector 4a is used to project a pattern image for three-dimensional measurement to the basket 12 by the second three-dimensional measuring unit 4. Therefore, the projector 4a may be used as a loading position presentation unit to project an image indicating the loading position. In this case, a projector that can perform projection with a strong output is used for projecting a pattern image for three-dimensional measurement and for projecting an image indicating a loading position. In addition, an image display device capable of displaying an image on a screen or the like instead of directly projecting an image to a loading position by a projector is used as a loading position presentation unit to indicate the loading position on the image display device. An image may be displayed. The image display device is, for example, a screen of a liquid crystal display connected to the computer 2 or a screen of a mobile terminal such as a tablet connected to the computer 2 wirelessly. The display of the image showing the loading position on the image display device may be shown three-dimensionally three-dimensionally as it is from the three-dimensional data of the loading position calculated by the loading position calculation program 225. It may be shown two-dimensionally by the like. At this time, the color of the item 10 to be loaded may be changed or the like so that the operator 15 can easily view and display it.

The light curtain 6 includes a light projector 6a and a light receiver 6b. The light projector 6a projects light to the light receiver 6b, and the light receiver 6b receives and detects the light thus projected. The light curtain 6 is provided in the car 12 so that the light between the light projector 6a and the light receiver 6b is blocked by the goods 10 and the worker 15 when the worker 15 loads the goods 10 onto the car 12. It is provided in the vicinity of the loading / unloading port which takes in and out the goods 10. When the light between the light projector 6a and the light receiver 6b is interrupted, the light detected by the light receiver 6b decreases, so that it is possible to detect the end of the work of loading the article 10 onto the basket 12 by the worker 15 . For example, when the light starts to decrease can be positioned as the start of the loading operation, during the light reduction as the loading operation, when the light returns to the end as the end of the loading operation. Since it is conceivable that the light of the light curtain 6 is interrupted unintentionally and momentarily, the reduction of the light is continued only for a predetermined time or more, for example, for about 2 seconds, when the light returns thereafter. May be determined to be the end of the loading operation. In the present embodiment, the light curtain 6 is used as a detection means for the end of the loading operation, but any means capable of detecting the end of the loading operation may be used. For example, a photoelectric sensor may be used, and when the loading operation is completed using a foot switch, a button switch or the like, the operator 15 may be configured to detect the end of the loading operation by pressing the foot switch or the like. It is also good.

The speaker (warning means) 7 is a device capable of making various sounds, and when the loading of the article 10 on the car 12 is improper or when the car 12 is full, the warning sound is given. It is used to warn the worker 15. Depending on the content of the warning, the pitch, size, and length of the sound may be changed, or a song having not only a single tone but also a chord or a melody may be played. Although the speaker 7 is used as the warning means in the present embodiment, any means that allows the worker 15 to recognize the warning may be used. For example, since the projector 5 is used as the loading position presentation means, the projector 5 changes the color of the image projected to the loading position, or projects characters, marks, symbols, photographs, etc. that indicate a warning. Or the image to be projected may blink as a warning. Instead of using the projector 5, a warning-dedicated projector or the like may be used, or an image indicating a warning may be displayed on an image display device such as a display. In addition, it may be configured such that the worker 15 can perceive a warning both visually and aurally by combining a speaker and a projector.

Hereinafter, the flow of a series of processes by the stowing support system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3.

The articles 10 sorted and arranged in order are conveyed one by one by the conveyor 17 to the loading place of the car (article loading unit) 12. Here, among the articles 10, the article 10a that has been conveyed first will be described. When the article 10a flowing on the conveyor 17 reaches the point of the sensor 3c, the sensor 3c detects that the article 10a has flowed (S1). When a detection signal of the article 10a by the sensor 3c is input to the computer 2 through the input / output unit 23, the processing unit 21 of the computer 2 calls the control / processing program 221 stored in the storage unit 22 as a trigger. It executes and executes a series of control and processing following S2 of the flow chart of FIG. First, three-dimensional measurement of the basket car 12 is performed by the second three-dimensional measurement means 4 (S2). When the image data captured in S2 is input to the computer 2, the computer 2 executes the image processing program 222 to acquire three-dimensional data of the basket car 12. Every time image data is transmitted from the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 to the computer 2 and the three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 is acquired, the storage unit 22 stores the three-dimensional data as three-dimensional data of the latest basket car 12 Save to At this time, the three-dimensional data of the old basket car 12 may be deleted or stored separately.

When the article 10a flows on the conveyor 17 and reaches the installation position of the projector 3a and the two cameras 3b of the first three-dimensional measuring means 3, three-dimensional measurement of the article 10a is performed by them (S3). When the image data captured in S3 is input to the computer 2, the computer 2 executes the image processing program 222 to acquire three-dimensional data of the article 10a. The computer 2 creates a list of three-dimensional data of the article 10 in the storage unit 22, and whenever image data is transmitted from the first three-dimensional measuring means 3 and three-dimensional data of the article 10 is acquired, the three-dimensional Add data to the end of the list. Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, when the sensor 3c detects that the article 10b next to the article 10a has been conveyed by the conveyor 17, the computer 2 performs the article by the first three-dimensional measuring means 3 similar to S3. The three-dimensional measurement 10 b is performed to obtain three-dimensional data of the article 10 b and add it to the end of the list of three-dimensional data of the article 10 in the storage unit 22. The same applies to the next item 10c of the item 10b and the subsequent items. These are performed in parallel separately from the processing of the flowchart of FIG.

When the computer 2 acquires the three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 and the three-dimensional data of the article 10a, the computer 2 executes a loading position calculation program 225. The loading position calculation program 225 calculates the three-dimensional data of the latest car 12 stored in the storage unit 22 and the three-dimensional data of the top of the three-dimensional data list of the article 10 (here, the three-dimensional data of the article 10a And calculates the loading position of the article 10a on the basket 12 (S4). The loading position calculated in S4 is stored in the storage unit 22 as three-dimensional data of the loading position. When the loading position is calculated by the loading position calculation program 225 in S4, the top three-dimensional data of the list of the three-dimensional data of the latest basket car 12 and the three-dimensional data of the article 10 used at that time are used Completed flag is given. The loading position calculation program 225 is executed when the top of the list of the latest three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 or the three-dimensional data of the article 10 is updated, only when neither of the used flags is given. Be done.

There is no problem because the item 10a is the first item 10 that has been transported, but when the loading of the item 10 onto the basket 12 proceeds, when the loading position calculation program 225 is executed in S4, the item 10 at that time. When it is tried to load the cargo car 12 is full and the loading space of the car 12 is out of range, and the time when the loading position can not be calculated comes (YES in S5). At this time, the computer 2 emits a warning sound from the speaker 7 to notify that the car 12 is full (S6). When the worker 15 receives the warning at S6, the worker 15 replaces the full load car 12 with a new car 12. When the work of replacing the basket car 12 is finished, the operator 15 notifies the computer 2 that the basket car 12 has been replaced by a sensor such as a foot switch (not shown) (S7). When the computer 2 receives the detection signal of replacement of the basket car 12 at S7, the second three-dimensional measuring means 4 performs three-dimensional measurement of the basket car 12 and acquires three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 (S8). The three-dimensional data of the latest basket car 12 of the storage unit 22 is updated to the three-dimensional data acquired at S8, and thereafter, the processing returns to S4 and the loading position is similarly calculated.

When the loading position of the article 10a is calculated in S4 (NO in S5), an image specifying the dimensions of the bottom of the article 10a to be loaded by the projector 5 is determined based on the calculated three-dimensional data of the loading position. Projecting to the loading position, the loading position of the article 10a is presented to the worker 15 (S9). When the article 10a is conveyed by the conveyor 17 to the loading place of the car 12, the worker 15 carries out the loading operation of the article 10a at the loading position presented in S9. When the worker 15 finishes the work of stacking the articles 10a, it is detected by the light curtain 6 that the work is finished (S10). When the detection signal of the work end by the light curtain 6 is input to the computer 2, the computer 2 ends the projection of the image to the loading position by the projector 5, and the second three-dimensional measuring unit 4 Three-dimensional measurement is performed (S11). When the image data captured in S11 is input to the computer 2, the computer 2 executes the image processing program 222 to acquire three-dimensional data of the basket car 12, and the three-dimensional data is used as the tertiary car of the latest basket car 12. It is stored in the storage unit 22 as original data.

After S10, in response to the update of the three-dimensional data of the latest car 12 at S11, the computer 2 executes the loading determination program 226, and the loading position three-dimensional data stored in the storage unit 22 And using the latest three-dimensional data of the basket car 12, it is determined whether the loading of the article 10a on the basket car 12 is correct (S12). If it is determined in S12 that the loading is incorrect (YES in S12), the computer 2 again projects an image indicating the loading position of the article 10a from the three-dimensional data of the loading position by the projector 5, and A warning sound is issued by 7 to indicate that the loading is improper, and the worker 15 is warned (S13). The worker 15 corrects the loading when the loading error is warned by the speaker 7 in S13. When the worker 15 finishes the correction work of the loading of the article 10a, the end of the correction work is detected by the light curtain 6 as in S10 (S14). When a detection signal indicating the end of the loading operation in S14 is input to the computer 2, the process returns to S11 to acquire three-dimensional data of the basket car 12, and the loading determination is performed in S12. S11 to S14 are repeated until it is determined in S12 that the determination of the loading is correct.

If it is determined that the loading is correct in S12 (NO in S12), the first three-dimensional data (here, the three-dimensional data of the article 10a) is deleted from the three-dimensional data list of the article 10, and the second of the list The three-dimensional data of (the article 10b) is moved to the top of the list, the third three-dimensional data is moved to the second, and so on. In addition, three-dimensional data of the loading position is also deleted from the storage unit 22. Although the deletion is made here, it may be stored by giving a used flag to another place. At this time, if the list of three-dimensional data of the article 10 is not empty and three-dimensional data exists (YES in S15), the process returns to S4, and the three-dimensional data at the top of the list of three-dimensional data of the article 10 Calculation of the loading position from the latest three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 (here, the three-dimensional data of the basket car 12 at S11 used when the loading is determined to be correct in S12) The same processing is performed thereafter. When the list of three-dimensional data of the article 10 is empty (NO in S15), the process waits for the article 10 to be newly transported. When detection of the article 10 conveyed by the sensor 3c for a predetermined time set in advance (YES in S16), the process returns to S3, three-dimensional measurement of the article 10 is performed, and the same processing is performed. If the sensor 3c does not detect the article 10 during the predetermined time (NO in S16), the computer 2 ends the control and processing program 221.

The above description is merely an embodiment of the stowing support system according to the present invention, and therefore, can be appropriately changed without departing from the concept of the present invention.

1 loading support system 2 computer 225 loading position calculation program (loading position calculation means)
226 Loading determination program (determination means)
3 first three-dimensional measuring means 4 second three-dimensional measuring means 5 projector (loading position presenting means)
7 Speaker (warning means)
10 articles 12 basket cars (article placement department)

Claims

First three-dimensional measuring means for performing three-dimensional measurement of articles conveyed in alignment and transported;
Stowage position calculation means for calculating the stowage position of the article on the article placement portion using the measurement result by the first three-dimensional measurement means;
Loading position presentation means for visually presenting the loading position of the article calculated by the loading position calculation means;
Second three-dimensional measurement means for performing three-dimensional measurement of the articles stacked on the article placement unit;
Determining means for comparing the measurement result by the second three-dimensional measuring means with the loading position calculated by the loading position calculating means to determine whether the loading of the article is correct or not;
Warning means for giving a warning when it is determined by the determination means that the loading of the article is incorrect;
Stowage support system with.
The loading assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the loading position presentation means projects an image specifying two adjacent sides of the bottom surface of the article on the loading position of the article.
The loading assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the loading position presenting means displays an image indicating the loading position on an image display device.