Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Hidekazu Araki

Tomoharu Nakahara

Katsuhiro Sasada

Hiroyuki Fujii

Haisong Gu

A 3-dimensional object recognition method, by use of which three-dimensional position and posture of an object can be accurately recognized at high speed, comprises the steps of (A) taking a pair of first and second images for making a stereo image of the object; (B) detecting a two-dimensional feature of the object on each of the first and second images; (C) evaluating a degree of reliability of the result of the step (B) by comparing with a model data of the object; (D) making a correspondence of the two-dimensional feature between the first and second images according to a stereoscopic measurement principle; (E) evaluating a degree of reliability of the result of the step (D) by comparing the two-dimensional feature detected on the first image with the corresponding two-dimensional feature detected on the second image; (F) recognizing the three-dimensional position and posture of the object according to information in three dimensions of the two-dimensional feature obtained by the correspondence; and (G) evaluating a degree of reliability of the recognized three-dimensional position and posture. It is preferred to use the 3-dimensional object recognition method to a bin-picking system for picking up an article from a bin, in which a plurality of articles are heaped up in confusion, and carrying the picked-up article to a required position.

3-dimensional object recognition method and bin-picking system using the method

A method for recognizing a three-dimensional objective in which a two-dimensional image is obtained from the same viewing point as a distance image obtained by picking up the objective in a three-dimensional space and the two-dimensional image is utilized to previously limit an existence zone of the objective under detection for the distance image and to perform objective detecting operation over the partial distance image in the limited zone, thereby realizing a sufficiently high speed detection of, in particular, the three-dimensional objective.

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Kadoma, Japan

Hidekazu Araki