Fanuc Corporation

Ichiro Kanno

Kazunori Ban

Atsushi Watanabe

Masafumi Ooba

Katsutoshi Takizawa

Keisuke Watanabe

Kentarou Koga

Tetsuaki Kato

Soichi Arita

Fumikazu Warashina

Ryuichi Hara

Shouta Takizawa

Hidetoshi Kumiya

Taro Arimatsu

Toshiyuki Ando

Gang Shen

Gang Fanucmanshonharimomi Shen

The present invention provides a collaborative robot system in which a robot and a worker share tasks and perform the tasks. The collaborative robot system including: a work-time-measurement-unit that measures work time for locations assigned to the worker and the robot; a difference-at-increase/decrease-prediction-unit that predicts a difference between the work time of the worker and the robot, when the number of locations assigned to the worker is increased or decreased; an assigned-location-adjustment-unit that increases or decreases the number of locations so that the difference in the work time becomes smaller, in a case in which a predicted-difference-value based on the work time of the worker and the robot, when the number of locations assigned to the worker is maintained is greater than the predicted-difference-value; and an assigned-location-indication-unit that indicates the locations assigned to the worker after the number of assigned locations is increased or decreased.

Collaborative robot system

An apparatus for setting a conveyor coordinate system in a robot system. The apparatus includes features provided on a movable part of a conveyor; a sensor provided on a robot; a first coordinate acquiring section for making the sensor detect positions of two features, when the movable part is in a first position, and acquiring two first coordinates in a base coordinate system of the robot; a conveying operation executing section for making the movable part perform a conveying operation from the first position toward a second position; a second coordinate acquiring section for making the sensor detect a position of one feature, when the movable part is in the second position, and acquiring one second coordinate in the base coordinate system; and a coordinate system determining section for determining the conveyor coordinate system based on a conveying operation direction, two first coordinates and one second coordinate.

Coordinate system setting method, coordinate system setting apparatus, and robot system provided with coordinate system setting apparatus

An image processing device according to the present invention includes container reference position and posture setting unit for setting a position and posture to be a reference for the container, workpiece reference height setting unit for setting a height to be a reference for the workpiece, a reference search window setting unit, container position and posture acquisition unit, a workpiece height calculation unit a search window calculation unit for calculating an amount of adjustment of the search window from the reference container position and posture, the workpiece reference height, the container position and posture, and the workpiece height, and calculating the search window from the reference search window and the amount of adjustment of the search window, and workpiece detection unit for detecting the workpiece from the image using the calculated search window.

Image processing device with function for automatically adjusting search window

An article arraying device including a robot; a vision sensor for obtaining position information of each of randomly arranged articles; an arrangement pattern generating section for generating an arrangement pattern by using the position information, the arrangement pattern including pattern elements in a regular arrangement, in such a manner that any one of the pattern elements coincides with a position of a reference article in the randomly arranged articles; a picking motion generating section for generating a picking motion by using the position information, the robot picking up by the picking motion an article other than the reference article; an arraying motion generating section for generating an arraying motion, the robot placing by the arraying motion the picked-up article in a position juxtaposed to the reference article in accordance with the arrangement pattern; and a robot controlling section for controlling the picking motion and the arraying motion.

Device and method of arraying articles by using robot, and article transfer system

An article transferring device with a robot. An image processing section includes an article detecting section for executing image capturing and detection of articles that move according to a conveying motion of a conveyor, with a first period allowing all of the articles to be captured and detected, and obtain initial position information of each of all articles; and an article tracking section for executing image capturing and detection of the articles that move according to the conveying motion of the conveyor, with a second period shorter than the first period, and obtain shifted position information of each article iteratively with the second period, the shifted position information being based on the initial position information. A robot controlling section is configured to control the robot by using the shifted position information, so as to make the robot hold and transfer each article while following the conveying motion of the conveyor.

Device and method of transferring articles by using robot

An object picking device, which is inexpensive and capable of speedily and accurately picking one object at a time from a random pile state. A target detecting part of an image processing part processes an image captured by a camera and detects objects. A target selecting part selects an object among the detected objects based on a certain rule. A view line direction calculating part calculates the direction of a view line extending to the selected object. A target position estimating part estimates the position including the height of the selected object based on size information of the object in the image. Then, a grip correction calculating part calculates an amount of correction of the movement of a robot so as to grip the object by using the robot.

Object picking device

A teaching position correcting apparatus corrects plural teaching point positions of a robot in a robot operation program, by sequentially moving the robot to each of the plural teaching points and by sequentially reading a current position of the robot at each of the plural teaching points. The apparatus includes: a position correction amount calculating unit that calculates a position correction amount, based on corrected teaching point positions and teaching point positions before correction; and a corrected-position calculating unit that calculates corrected positions of teaching point positions before correction out of the plural teaching points, based on the position correction amount. At the time of moving the robot to uncorrected teaching points, a moving unit moves the robot to corrected positions of the teaching point positions before correction.

Teaching position correcting apparatus and teaching position correction method

An apparatus for picking up objects including a robot for picking up an object, at least one part of the object having a curved shape, having a storing means for storing a gray gradient distribution model of the object, a recognizing means for recognizing a gray image of the object, a gradient extracting means for extracting a gray gradient distribution from the gray image recognized by the recognizing means, an object detecting means for detecting a position or position posture of the object in the gray image in accordance with the gray gradient distribution extracted by the gradient extracting means and the gray gradient distribution model stored by the storing means, a detection information converting means for converting information of the position or position posture detected by the object detecting means into information of position or position posture in a coordinate system regarding the robot; and a robot moving means for moving the robot to the position or position posture converted by the detection information converting means to pick up the object. Thus, the object having a curved shape can be detected and picked up in a reasonably short period of time.

Apparatus for picking up objects

An article conveying robot system capable of effectively containing an article in a container conveyed by a conveyor by using a robot. A container detecting part measures the distribution of shading of an image of each containing cell based on a detection result of the container, detects the containing state of each cell, and stores the detection result of each cell. An information managing part of a controller of an upstream side robot receives information from a container detecting part of a controller of a downstream side robot, and then generates containing cell information. An information managing part checks the cell information to be processed, and then transmits the cell information to a task executing part only when an article is not located in the corresponding cell. Task executing part controls the robot so as to locate an article in the selected cell based on the cell information.

Article conveying robot system

A workpiece picking apparatus includes a robot, a workpiece recognition device for recognizing the workpieces located in a wide area, an accurate measurement device for accurately measuring the three-dimensional position of the workpiece, a workpiece select device for selecting the workpiece to be picked, and an NG workpiece storage device for storing information on the rough position of an failed NG workpiece when the measurement of the three-dimensional position or the picking for the workpiece has failed. The workpiece select device excludes the NG workpiece stored in the NG workpiece storage device and selects the next workpiece to be measured. The robot picks the selected workpiece based on the three-dimensional position of the workpiece measured by the accurate measurement device.

Workpiece picking apparatus

A work model (or an image) is displayed on an image plane of a robot simulator (), and a measuring portion and a measuring method are designated () and a work shape and a work loading state are designated (), and then it is judged whether or not the measuring portion and the measuring method are good (). When the measuring portion and the measuring method are good, a program is generated and the processing is completed (). When the measuring portion and the measuring method are not good, an alarm is given (), and the continuation () or the repetition () of the processing is directed. At the time of analyzing the program, the loading (), the analysis and display of the measuring portion and the measuring method () and the work information () are designated, and then it is judged whether or not the measuring portion and the measuring method, which have been analyzed, are good (). When the measuring portion and the measuring method are good, the processing is finished (). When the measuring portion and the measuring method are not good, an alarm is given (), and either the completion of the processing () or the correction of the program () is selected. Due to the foregoing, a burden imposed for raising and maintaining the visual sensor robot system can be reduced.

Robot program generating device and robot program analyzing device

The system includes a detecting section detecting an object to be picked, among a plurality of objects placed in a manner as to be at least partially superimposed on each other; a storage section storing appearance information of a predetermined portion of a reference object having an outward appearance identical to an outward appearance of the object to be picked; a determining section determining whether an inspected portion of the object to be picked, corresponding to the predetermined portion of the reference object, is concealed by another object, based on the appearance information of the reference object stored in the storage section; a control section deciding a picking motion for the object to be picked and outputting a control signal of the picking motion; and a picking mechanism performing the picking motion on the object to be picked in accordance with the control signal output from the control section.

Object picking system

A robot system can grasp and take out one of a plurality of workpieces placed in a basket-like container by a hand mounted at the forward end of a robot arm. The workpiece is detected by a visual sensor, and the robot is controlled depending on a position and an orientation of the workpiece. When a problem such as interference or the like occurs, information relating to the problem is stored in a robot control unit or a visual sensor control unit. Information relating to the problem includes a predetermined amount of the latest data retrospectively traced from the time point of problem occurrence, a position which the robot has reached, the target position data, the content of the process executed by the visual sensor, and the detection result. When the problem is reproduced, these data are used to simulate the situation at the time of problem occurrence by using simulation unit. The situation at the time of problem occurrence can also be reproduced by using the actual robot without using the simulation unit.

Robot system

Slit light is projected onto the surface of an object, the reflected light is received using a video camera and analyzed by means of an image processor to thereby determine an equation of the surface onto which the slit light is projected. Then, an image is captured through normal image taking using the video camera and a straight line (line of sight) passing through the measuring point on the object and the center of the video camera is determined. Furthermore, parameters such as an affine transformation are determined by a comparison between the image of a characteristic area F of the object and a reference image. Then, the three-dimensional position and posture of the measuring point are determined from an intersection between the line of sight and the determined surface.

Three-dimensional visual sensor

A three-dimensional visual sensor which measures the three-dimensional position and orientation of an objective workpiece accurately even when the position and orientation thereof varies. The position Ca, tilting angle &#x3b8;a and size S of a first region A which includes a characteristic part of an objective workpiece, and the position Cb and radius Rb of a second region B which is a target region of measurement are determined in a two-dimensional image of a representative objective workpiece captured from a predetermined position, and stored as reference information. An image of a to-be-measured objective workpiece is captured, and in the image, a region corresponding to the second region is determined on the basis of the position C'a, tilting angle &#x3b8;&#x2032;a and size S&#x2032; of a region corresponding to the first region A, and the reference information. The position and orientation of the objective workpiece is obtained by measuring the region determined as corresponding to the second region.

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi, Japan

Ichiro Kanno