JPH09273924A - Apparatus for locating object to be transferred - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify a hold position so that a required object is caught from a group of long objects arranged in an overlapping state without loading an excessive burden onto a worker. SOLUTION: A plurality of long objects K are overlaid in an up-down direction at an estimated place inside a container 1. A longitudinal direction of the objects K is set in a predetermined direction and, the objects are laid side by side in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction. A height of the group of objects K is specified at each position in a plan view along the laid direction in the estimated place. A position of the object K to be held by a holding means 5 is specified based on the specified height information to be the highest position in the predetermined place.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention vertically stacks a plurality of elongated objects in a predetermined position with their longitudinal directions aligned in a predetermined direction and aligned along a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. The present invention relates to a position determination device for a transfer target object that determines the position of the transfer target object in the acquired object group.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above-mentioned apparatus for determining the position of an object to be transferred, conventionally, for example, in the case of supplying fruit and vegetables such as cucumber, which is an example of a long object, to a sorting machine for sorting according to its length, From the object group consisting of multiple cucumbers that are stacked and stored in the container (corresponding to the planned location) such as a cardboard box, the operator manually selects the desired cucumber to be transferred. It was designed to be grasped (grasped), taken out, and transferred to an inspection device or the like on the sorter side.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the operator visually determines the object to be taken out of the object group and transfers it manually, the labor of the operator becomes excessive. There was a problem that became.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to select a long object group that is juxtaposed in a stacked state without imposing an excessive labor burden on an operator. An object of the present invention is to obtain a transfer target object position determination device for determining the position of a desired transfer target object.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of elongated objects are arranged at predetermined locations in a state where their longitudinal directions are aligned in a predetermined direction and are aligned along a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. The height of the object group at each position in plan view along the arrangement direction of multiple objects in the planned location is detected for the object group stacked vertically, and the object group is based on the height information. At, the position of the object to be transferred is determined.

Accordingly, at each position of the object group, the object located on the upper side can be discriminated as the object to be transferred first. Therefore, according to the position information of the object to be transferred, for example, the object is transferred by the transfer robot. Since it is possible to perform automatic transfer work etc. by gripping, it is not necessary for the operator to visually perform the transfer work etc. while visually deciding the position of the transfer target object, unlike the conventional case. Excessive labor burden is eliminated.

According to a second aspect, in the above-mentioned first aspect, the position where the height of the object group is the highest at each position within the planned place is determined as the position of the transfer target object.

Therefore, since the object located at the uppermost side of the entire object group can be discriminated as the object to be transferred first, when the object is gripped by a gripping robot for transfer or the like, the operation of the robot is performed. The arm does not come into contact with an object that is not a transfer target in the surroundings and does not interfere with the operation, and the transfer can be carried out in a good state, so that the preferable means of claim 1 can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the distance detection means installed at a predetermined height above the planned location determines the distance to the object group at each position within the planned location. The height of the object group at each position within the planned location is detected based on the distance detection information of the distance detection means and the installation position information.

Therefore, with a relatively simple structure in which the distance detecting means such as an optical type is installed above the planned location,
The height of the object group can be satisfactorily detected, and the preferred means of claim 1 or 2 can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect, in the first, second or third aspect, the height of the object group is detected for each of the sections obtained by dividing the planned place into a plurality of sections in the arrangement direction of the objects. Based on the height detection information for each section, the position where the height of the object group is highest in the section is determined as the position of the transfer target object.

Therefore, since the height detection of the object group and the transfer operation of the objects discriminated by the height detection can be performed for each of the above-mentioned sections, the planned location is not divided into a plurality of compartments. For the whole of, compared with the one that performs the height detection of the object group and the transfer work of the objects determined by it,
The transfer work or the like can be efficiently performed in a shorter work time interval, so that the preferable means of claim 1, 2 or 3 can be obtained.

According to claim 5, in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, a plurality of fruit and vegetables as elongated objects
The inside of the container having the opening on the upper side is stored as the predetermined place.

Therefore, by storing fruit vegetables such as cucumber having large variations in length and bending in a container, a group of objects is formed in a stable state and the position of the fruit vegetables to be transferred in the container is determined. Based on this, it can be transferred accurately and can be automatically supplied to, for example, a fruit vegetable sorter or the like, and the preferred means of claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 can be obtained.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the position determining apparatus for an object to be transferred according to the present invention is applied to a cucumber sorter for inspecting and sorting cucumber K which is an example of a fruit and vegetable as a long object. The case where it is applied will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting machine conveys and supplies a container 1 as a container for accommodating a plurality of cucumbers K, and a container 1 on the supply device A.
The inspection unit B for inspecting the cucumber K transferred from the inspection unit, and the sorting unit D including the plurality of sorting containers 4 for storing the cucumber K inspected by the inspection unit B for each rank.
And a transfer device C for transferring the cucumber K from the supply device A to the inspection device B and from the inspection device B to the sorting unit D.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer device C is provided with a pair of holding arms 5 for holding the cucumber K from both sides, and is pivoted about the longitudinal axis and in the front-back and up-down directions. Of the articulated arms 6a and 6b capable of moving.
Here, the base end of the lower arm 6a is rotatable about the vertical axis X1 and swingable about the horizontal axis Y1 with respect to the machine base 6c, and the base end of the upper arm 6b is the lower arm 6a. Of the upper arm 6b is swingable about the horizontal axis Y3 and rotatable about the vertical axis X2 with respect to the distal end of the upper arm 6b. ing. Although not shown, each arm is provided with a driving motor and a rotary encoder that detects the operation amount of the motor.

As shown in FIG. 2, the feeder A is constructed by linearly arranging roller conveyors 2 for conveying the container 1, and a plurality of cucumbers K are arranged in the container 1 in a predetermined longitudinal direction. Direction, that is, a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the roller conveyor 2, and stacked in the container in the vertical direction in a state intersecting the longitudinal direction thereof, that is, aligned along the transport direction of the roller conveyor 2, as an object group. It constitutes a cucumber group. Here, the container 1 is provided with an opening 1a on the upper side, and the inside of the container is set as a place where the cucumber group is to be placed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, at a predetermined height above the container 1 at the object supply position (the position of the container 1 in the middle in FIG. 1), the cucumbers K in the container 1 are arranged in the direction (roller). A distance sensor 7 as a distance detecting means for detecting the distance to the cucumber group at each position in a plan view along the conveyor 2) is oscillated by the oscillating motor 7a within a predetermined angle range around the horizontal axis P. It is installed in a ready state. A rotary encoder 7b for detecting the swing angle of the distance sensor 7 around the horizontal axis P is provided (see FIG. 2). Here, the distance sensor 7
As the sensor, an optical sensor or an ultrasonic sensor is used.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection device B is driven by the transportation motor 3a to drive the cucumber K.
From the start end side to the end side, the receiving position p and the inspection position q
And a transfer conveyor 3 for transferring the picked-up position r in that order, and a CCD video camera S for capturing an image of the cucumber K transferred to the inspection position q by the transfer conveyor 3. Then, the gripping robot 6 grips the cucumber K to be inspected and transfers it from the object supply point (container 1) of the supply device A to the receiving position p, and the inspected cucumber K on the take-out position r. Is gripped and transferred to each sorting container 4 of the sorting section D, that is, the object storage location. That is, the cucumber K transferred to the receiving position p is transported to the inspection position q by the transport conveyor 3, and is classified into five ranks by the length L (see FIG. 4) based on the imaging information there, and the inspection is performed. Cucumber K already used is the conveyor 3
When it is conveyed to the take-out position r by, it is transferred to a predetermined sorting container 4 based on the rank information.

The control configuration is shown in FIG. A control device 10 utilizing a microcomputer is provided, and the control device 10
Further, the image pickup information of the video camera S, the distance sensor 7, and the rotary encoder 7b for detecting the swing angle.
Further, each detection information such as a rotary encoder in the gripping robot 6 is input, and the control device 10 drives a motor for operating the arms 5, 6a, 6b of the gripping robot 6, a transport motor 3a, and a swinging motor. A drive signal for the drive motor 7a is output.

The control device 10 and the distance sensor 7
Utilizing the above, the height detecting means 102 for detecting the height of the cucumber group at each position in a plan view along the arrangement direction of the plurality of cucumbers K in the container 1 is configured.
That is, the height detection means 102 includes the distance sensor 7, and based on the distance detection information and the installation position information,
The height of the cucumber group at each position in the container 1 is detected.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the installation height H of the distance sensor 7 (based on the bottom position of the container 1) and the swing angle φ based on the direction directly below the distance sensor 7 are used. And the respective information of the detection distance h from the distance sensor 7 to the upper position of the cucumber group, the height y of the cucumber group at the position of the distance z from the position directly below the distance sensor 7 and the distance z thereof are expressed by the following formula. Can be found at.

[0024]

[Formula 1] y = H−h · cos φ z = h · sin φ

Then, using the control device 10, based on the information of the height detecting means 102, the cucumber K as a transfer target object to be grasped in the cucumber group.
A discriminating means 103 for discriminating the position of is formed. Specifically, the determination unit 103 determines the position of the highest cucumber group among the respective positions in the container 1 as the position of the cucumber K to be transferred. Then, the cucumber K at the highest position is gripped and transferred by the gripping robot 6.

Further, by using the control device 10, the cucumber K based on the image pickup information of the inspection video camera S.
Area extracting means 100 for extracting an image area corresponding to
Based on the image area information of the area extraction means 100, the gripping position for gripping the cucumber K located at the take-out position r of the conveyor 3 by the gripping robot 6 is the center of gravity of the image area corresponding to the cucumber K or Position setting means 101 for setting the position in the vicinity thereof is configured.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the position setting means 101 is in a state of being along a direction intersecting (for example, orthogonal to) the longitudinal direction of the long image area corresponding to the cucumber K. A straight line LK passing through the position G of the center of gravity of the elongated image area and an intersection point kp of the peripheral portion of the elongated image area in the lateral direction are set as gripping positions by the pair of arms 5, and The center position cp in the horizontal width direction of the lengthwise image region is obtained at a plurality of vertical positions of the lengthwise image region, and the center positions cp in the widthwise direction at the plurality of vertical positions are obtained by connecting them. The approximate straight line LN is configured to be the longitudinal direction of the elongated image area.

Next, the control device 10 will be described with respect to each process of determining the holding position in the cucumber group in the container 1, determining the length of the cucumber K for inspection, and setting the holding position for taking out. 5 and the flowchart of FIG. 6 will be described.

In the discrimination processing of the gripping position in the cucumber group (that is, the position of the cucumber to be transferred) (FIG. 5), first, the distance detection data of the distance sensor 7 and the swing angle φ data at that time are detected. Is input (Step 2
0, 21). Next, based on the above data, the height y of the cucumber group and its position z are calculated and stored (step 22). Here, it is determined whether or not the swinging within a preset angle range is completed. If it is not completed, steps 20 to 22 are repeated, while if it is completed, the position z The maximum height ym of the heights y and its position zm are determined (step 2).
3, 24). That is, this maximum height ym and its position zm
Is the position of the cucumber K to be transferred in the cucumber group.

In the processing for determining the length of the cucumber and setting the gripping position for taking out (FIG. 6), first, the image of the video camera S is input (step 1). At this time, cucumber K
The posture is substantially along the direction (longitudinal direction of the screen) whose longitudinal direction intersects the direction of the scanning line on the imaging screen. Then, the image of the video camera S is binarized for each pixel based on the set threshold value, and the image area corresponding to the cucumber K and the other area are processed as different data (step 2). That is, the data of the image area corresponding to the cucumber K is set to “1”, and the data of the other areas is set to “0”. In addition, the end image is removed within a set distance range from both end positions in the longitudinal direction of the cucumber K of the binarized image (that is, data is set to “0”) to remove the influence of the fruit pattern, petals, and the like. ing.

Next, in the image of the video camera S, the distance X ₁ from the upper end of the screen to the upper end of the cucumber K and the distance X ₂ from the lower end of the screen to the lower end of the cucumber K (see FIG. 4) are obtained (step 3, 4) Obtain the vertical length X ₃ of the cucumber K from the vertical screen width X ₀ and the distances X ₁ and X ₂ (step 5).

Next, the center positions cp in the lateral width direction, that is, the middle point sequence at a plurality of positions in the longitudinal direction in the image area of the cucumber K are obtained (step 6). Specifically, for each pixel row along each scanning line, a point at the peripheral portion of the obtained image area, that is,
The points at which the data changes from "0" to "1" and the points at which the data changes from "1" to "0" are sequentially extracted to obtain the middle point for each scanning line. Then, each midpoint sequence thus obtained is linearly approximated based on the least square method to obtain one approximated straight line LN (step 7). Then, the length X ₃ obtained in step 5, the vertical direction and the approximate straight line LN
Based on the angle θ formed by and, the length L of the cucumber K along the approximate straight line LN is obtained by the equation L = X ₃ · arccos θ (step 8), and the length L is preset and stored. The standard values that are present are compared to determine which of the five ranks is present (step 9). This is the end of the process of determining the length L.

Next, the center of gravity position G in the image area of the obtained cucumber K is obtained (step 10), and the straight line LK which intersects (orthogonal to) the approximate straight line LN through the center of gravity position G is obtained (step 11). , Intersection points kp between the straight line LK and the peripheral portion of the image area of the cucumber K, that is, points at which the data switches from “0” to “1” and from “1” to “0” are extracted (step 12), which is the gripping position. The gripping position set here is for the cucumber K at the inspection position q, and is actually the cucumber K.
Is not for the take-out position r at which the image is gripped, but is conveyed by a preset distance from the inspection position q to the take-out position r, that is, for example, the image is displayed on the screen so that the right end of the screen is the end position of the conveyer conveyor 3. Assuming that the movement is parallel to the right direction, the grip position for the cucumber K at the take-out position r is set.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the height detection means 102 detects the entire width of the object group in the planned position (inside the container 1) in the direction of arrangement in a range of one detection operation (swing operation). However, in addition to this, as shown in FIG. 7, the planned location is divided into a plurality of sections (four sections each having a width Δz in the figure) in the arrangement direction of the objects K, and the height is increased for each section. It may be configured to perform the depth detection. That is, the range of one detection operation (swing operation) is set as the range of each of the above sections. Then, in this case, the discrimination means 103
On the basis of the height detection information for each section, the position where the height of the object group is the highest in the section is set as the position of the transfer target object K to be gripped.

In the above embodiment, the distance detecting means (distance sensor 7) is fixedly installed above the planned location (container 1). However, in addition to this, as shown in FIG. , May be installed so as to be movable along the guide rail 9 that is horizontally oriented at the predetermined height H ′. In this case, the height y of the object group (cucumber group) at the distance z based on the position directly below the distance sensor 7 is calculated from the information of the height H ′ of the distance sensor 7 and the detection distance h ′. y =
The distance z is obtained by the formula H′−h ′, and the distance z is obtained by counting the number of rotations of a drive motor or the like for moving the distance sensor 7 along the guide rail 9.

In the above embodiment, the case where the long object K is a fruit or vegetable such as curie has been described, but the object is not limited to the fruit and vegetable and various objects can be targeted.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the long object K is housed in the container (container 1) and the inside of the container is set as the predetermined place. However, it is not always necessary to house it in the container. A predetermined area on the upper surface of the conveyor belt may be set as a predetermined area and directly stacked on the predetermined area.

In the above embodiment, the height detecting means 102 is
The position where the height of the object group is the highest at each position in the planned place is the position of the transfer target object, but the position is not limited to this.For example, a position higher than the adjacent positions on both sides is the transfer target object. It may be the position of.

In the above embodiment, the height detecting means 102 is
The height of the object group is detected based on the detection information of the distance detection means 7 that is installed on the upper side of the planned location and detects the distance to the object group, but the invention is not limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the grasping means 6 is constituted as a nipping robot for nipping the object K from the both sides by the pair of nipping arms 5. However, as the nipping means, in addition to this, for example, a suction pad is provided on the tip side. A suction robot or the like may be used.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, when the object K to be transferred is transferred from the supply device side to the inspection device side in the sorting device for inspecting the object K and performing the sorting processing, Although applied, the position determination device for the transfer target object can be applied to other cases.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the entire sorter.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control configuration of a sorter.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of height detection for a cucumber group.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an image pickup screen for explaining length determination and grip position determination.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart.

FIG. 6 is a control flowchart.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of height detection according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a height detecting means according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 K object 102 height detection means 103 discrimination means 7 distance detection means 1 container 1a opening

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An object group in which a plurality of elongated objects are vertically stacked at a predetermined location in a state where their longitudinal directions are aligned in a predetermined direction and arranged along a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, A position determination device for a transfer target object for determining the position of a transfer target object, the height of the object group at each position in a plan view along the arrangement direction of the plurality of objects in the scheduled location A position determination device for a transfer target object, which is provided with height detection means for detecting, and determination means for determining the position of the transfer target object based on information of the height detection means. 2. The discriminating means is configured so that the position of the highest height of the object group is the position of the transfer target object among the respective positions within the planned place. Device for determining the position of a transfer target object. 3. The height detecting means includes a distance detecting means installed at a predetermined height above the planned place and detecting a distance to each of the object groups at each position in the planned place,
The transfer according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured to detect the height of the object group at each position within the planned location based on the distance detection information of the distance detection means and the installation position information. Positioning device for target object. 4. The height detecting means is configured to detect the height for each of the sections obtained by dividing the planned location into a plurality of sections in the direction in which the objects are arranged. 4. The position of the object group having the highest height within the section is set as the position of the transfer target object based on the height detection information for each section. Device for determining the position of an object to be transferred. 5. The long object is a fruit and vegetables, and a container for storing a plurality of the fruit and vegetables has an opening on the upper side, and the inside of the container serves as the predetermined location. The position determination device for the transfer target object according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.