The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 10, 1990
Filed:
Dec. 05, 1988
Friedrich Krieger, Wurzburg, DE;
Noell GmbH, Wurzburg, DE;
Abstract
An apparatus for recognizing and approaching a target in a space not directly visible within the maximum range of an industrial robot with camera on the end of a boom. The camera is used to observe an environment of the space including the target and to send images to a monitor at a remote control station. The apparatus includes an industrial robot with a plurality of axes having degrees of freedom and a camera with a lens having an optical axis which can be selectively rotated 360 degrees around a first axis and selectively pivoted 180 degrees around a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis. The rotating and pivoting motions are used to move the camera and the optical axis until the target can be seen in the monitor. A system is used to control various movements of the robot while sensing and maintaining the camera position and the target direction during movement of the end of the boom from the robot to the target.