Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080240511 | APPARATUS FOR PICKING UP OBJECTS - 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. | 10-02-2008 |
20080300723 | Teaching position correcting device - A teaching position correcting device which can easily correct, with high precision, teaching positions after shifting at least one of a robot and an object worked by the robot. Calibration is carried out using a vision sensor (i.e., CCD camera) that is mounted on a work tool. The vision sensor measures three-dimensional positions of at least three reference marks not aligned in a straight line on the object. The vision sensor is optionally detached from the work tool, and at least one of the robot and the object is shifted. After the shifting, calibration (this can be omitted when the vision sensor is not detached) and measuring of three-dimensional positions of the reference marks are carried out gain. A change in a relative positional relationship between the robot and the object is obtained using the result of measuring three-dimensional positions of the reference marks before and after the shifting respectively. To compensate for this change, the teaching position data that is valid before the shifting is corrected. The robot can have a measuring robot mechanical unit having a vision sensor, and a separate working robot mechanical unit that works the object. In this case, positions of the working robot mechanical unit before and after the shifting, respectively, are also measured. | 12-04-2008 |
20100004778 | OBJECT PICKING DEVICE - 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. | 01-07-2010 |
20100078953 | WORKPIECE GRIPPING DEVICE - A workpiece gripping device includes a primary catching mechanism having a suction pad adapted to hold a workpiece by suction power and a rod-like part having the suction pad mounted on one end thereof, gripping pawls sandwiching and gripping the workpiece, a drive unit for supplying a drive power, and a transmission mechanism transmitting the drive power of the drive unit to the gripping pawls. The transmission mechanism moves the gripping pawls along an axis of the rod-like part between a gripping position where the gripping pawls are projected beyond the suction pad and a retreated position where the gripping pawls are retreated from the suction pad toward the base plate. The gripping pawls are moved to the gripping position along the axis of the rod-like part while shortening the distance between the gripping pawls. | 04-01-2010 |
20100141776 | CALIBRATING DEVICE FOR CALIBRATION AND IMAGE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM COMPRISING CALIBRATING DEVICE - A calibrating device for calibration of an image measurement system. The calibrating device includes a main body having an upper surface, and a characteristic portion, which serves as a benchmark for calibration and is in the form of a recess formed in the upper surface of the main body, wherein the characteristic portion includes a side surface extending in a direction crossing the upper surface, and a bottom surface extending in a direction crossing the side surface, the bottom surface has an optical reflectance lower than an optical reflectance of the upper surface in relation to light identical to each other. This can provide a calibrating device for calibration of an image measurement system, which can detect the characteristic portion on the calibrating device stably, precisely and independent of the illumination conditions, which is less costly and can be easily handled. | 06-10-2010 |
20100191372 | PRODUCTION SYSTEM HAVING COOPERATING PROCESS AREA BETWEEN HUMAN AND ROBOT - A production system in which a human and a robot may simultaneously perform a cooperative task in the same area while ensuring human's safety. A robot is positioned at one side of a working table, and an operator is positioned at the other side of the working table. The reachable area of the operator is limited by the working table. An area of the working table is divided into an area where only the operator may perform a task, an area where only the robot may perform a task, and an area where both the operator and the robot may enter. In a cooperation mode, the maximum movement speed of a component of the robot is limited lower than when the component of the robot is outside the cooperative task area, and, the motion of the robot is limited so that the robot does not enter a robot entry-prohibited area. | 07-29-2010 |
20110029131 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING TOOL CENTER POINT POSITION OF ROBOT - A measurement apparatus for determining a position of a tool center point ( | 02-03-2011 |
20110218675 | ROBOT SYSTEM COMPRISING VISUAL SENSOR - A robot system ( | 09-08-2011 |
20110295421 | DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR RESTORING POSITIONAL INFORMATION OF ROBOT - A device for restoring positional information of a robot provided with a first member and a second member connected movable relative to each other via an articulation axis; a motor moving the second member relative to the first member; and a sensor outputting a sensor signal according to a driving amount of the motor. The device includes an imaging section obtaining an image signal in a region including a first mark and a second mark representing a positional relationship between the first member and the second member; a mark position computation section computing a first positional relationship between the first mark and the second mark at a first time and a second positional relationship between the first mark and the second mark at a second time, based on an image signal obtained by the imaging section at the first time and at the second time; and a correction section correcting positional information depending on a sensor signal output by the sensor after the second time, based on the first positional relationship and the second positional relationship, a first sensor signal output by the sensor at the first time and a second sensor signal output by the sensor at the second time. | 12-01-2011 |
20120029686 | WORKPIECE REMOVING DEVICE AND METHOD - A workpiece removing device including a camera for imaging a workpiece loading area including a plurality of workpieces loaded in bulk; a workpiece detection section for detecting a workpiece, based on a camera image taken with the camera; a workpiece selection section for selecting a workpiece adapted to be removed, based on a detection result by the workpiece detection section; a robot for removing the workpiece selected by the workpiece selection section; a loading state determination section for determining whether a loading state of the workpieces in the workpiece loading area has changed due to a operation of the robot; and an area setting section for setting a workpiece detection area where the workpiece detection section detects a workpiece. If the loading state determination section determines that the loading state of the workpieces has changed, the area setting section sets the workpiece detection area in a peripheral area of a changing position of the loading state, i.e., in a portion of the workpiece loading area. | 02-02-2012 |
20140156072 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING TOOL CENTER POINT POSITION OF ROBOT - A measurement apparatus for determining a position of a tool center point ( | 06-05-2014 |