A battery module screw automatic tightening method, system, device and medium

Abstract

The application provides a battery module screw automatic tightening method, system, equipment and medium in the technical field of battery module production, and the method comprises the following steps: step S1, a PLC controls an AGV trolley to transplant a PACK box loaded with a battery module to a tightening station based on a conveying instruction sent by a PC; step S2, after receiving a positioning signal of the AGV trolley, the PLC positions and jacks up the AGV trolley through a jacking positioning mechanism; step S3, the PLC obtains offset data of a screw on the battery module through visual positioning of the screw on the battery module by a CCD camera; step S4, the PLC controls a six-axis robot clamping servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screw on the battery module based on the offset data; and step S5, the PLC controls a six-axis robot moving marking cylinder to mark a screw that fails to be tightened based on a tightening state fed back by the servo tightening gun. The application has the advantage that the efficiency of battery module screw tightening is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of battery module production, and in particular to a method, system, equipment and medium for automatically tightening screws of a battery module. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of electric vehicles, the demand for power batteries is also increasing. During the production process, battery modules must be screwed to the packaging box to ensure the stability of the power battery. Traditionally, tightening battery module screws has been done using a non-fully automated method, which has the following disadvantages: 1. It requires a lot of manpower and time, which cannot meet the needs of large-scale production; 2. After a screw is tightened incorrectly, it is necessary to first observe the incorrect image and then compare it with the actual workstation to find the approximate position. Subsequent precise positioning requires manual confirmation. When the number of screws reaches a certain level, locating the incorrect point becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive.

[0003] Therefore, how to provide a method, system, equipment and medium for automatically tightening battery module screws to improve the efficiency of tightening battery module screws has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method, system, equipment and medium for automatically tightening battery module screws, so as to improve the efficiency of tightening battery module screws.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for automatically tightening screws of a battery module, comprising the following steps:

[0006] Step S1: Based on the conveying instructions sent by the PC, the PLC controls the AGV to move the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station;

[0007] Step S2: After receiving the arrival signal of the AGV, the PLC positions and lifts the AGV through the lifting and positioning mechanism.

[0008] Step S3: The PLC uses a CCD camera to visually locate each screw on the battery module to obtain screw offset data;

[0009] Step S4: The PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun and automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data.

[0010] Step S5: Based on the tightening status fed back by the servo tightening gun, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that have failed to be tightened.

[0011] Furthermore, the step S3 is specifically as follows:

[0012] The PLC uses a CCD camera to take a bird's-eye view of the battery module to obtain a module image. After pre-processing the module image for visual enhancement, it searches for screws in the module image through feature matching, roughly locates the found screws through affine transformation, and then uses a circle-finding tool to fit a circle to the screw to obtain the center coordinates. The center coordinates are compared with the base point of the reference to obtain the screw offset data.

[0013] Furthermore, the step S4 is specifically as follows:

[0014] Based on the offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun, places the sleeve of the servo tightening gun on the screws of the battery module, and automatically tightens each screw in sequence through the servo tightening gun.

[0015] Furthermore, the step S5 is specifically as follows:

[0016] The servo tightening gun provides real-time feedback to the PLC on the tightening status of each screw, indicating whether it is tightened successfully or failed. When the PLC determines that all screws are tightened successfully based on the tightening status, it releases the AGV through the jacking and positioning mechanism.

[0017] When the PLC determines that there is a screw that has failed to be tightened based on the tightening status, it controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to the top of the screw that has failed to be tightened, and then controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod and press it on the top of the screw, and then smear the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top of the screw to mark the screw that has failed to be tightened. After all the screws that have failed to be tightened are marked, the AGV car is released through the jacking positioning mechanism.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a battery module screw automatic tightening system, comprising the following modules:

[0019] The PACK box transfer module is used to control the AGV to transfer the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station based on the conveying instructions sent by the PLC from the PC;

[0020] The trolley positioning and lifting module is used to position and lift the AGV trolley through the lifting and positioning mechanism after the PLC receives the AGV trolley's arrival signal;

[0021] The screw positioning module is used by the PLC to visually locate each screw on the battery module through a CCD camera to obtain the screw offset data;

[0022] A screw tightening module is used for the PLC to control the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data;

[0023] The screw marking module is used for marking the failed screw by moving the marking cylinder based on the tightening state of the servo tightening gun fed back by the PLC.

[0024] Further, the screw positioning module is specifically used for:

[0025] The PLC obtains the module image by taking a picture of the battery module from above through a CCD camera, and obtains the offset data of the screw by comparing the center coordinates of the screw with the base point of the reference after performing visual enhancement preprocessing on the module image, performing rough positioning on the found screw through affine transformation, and fitting a circle to the screw through a circle finding tool to obtain the center coordinates of the circle.

[0026] Further, the screw tightening module is specifically used for:

[0027] The PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun, and the sleeve of the servo tightening gun is placed on the screw of the battery module, and the servo tightening gun is used to automatically tighten each screw in sequence based on the offset data.

[0028] Further, the screw marking module is specifically used for:

[0029] The servo tightening gun feeds back the tightening state of each screw to the PLC in real time, and the PLC controls the lifting positioning mechanism to release the AGV when it is determined that all the screws are successfully tightened based on the tightening state.

[0030] The PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder above the failed screw, and controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod to press against the top end of the screw, and then smears the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top end of the screw to mark the failed screw, and controls the lifting positioning mechanism to release the AGV after marking all the failed screws.

[0031] In a third aspect, the present application provides a battery module screw automatic tightening device, which comprises a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the processor implements the method of the first aspect when executing the program.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a battery module screw automatic tightening medium, which stores a computer program executable by a processor to implement the method of the first aspect.

[0033] The one or more technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application have at least the following technical effects or advantages:

[0034] Through the PLC based on the conveying instructions sent by the PC, the AGV is controlled to move the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station, and the AGV is positioned and lifted by the lifting and positioning mechanism; then the PLC uses the CCD camera to visually locate each screw on the battery module to obtain the offset data of the screw. Based on the offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws on the battery module. Based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun, the six-axis robot is controlled to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that have failed to be tightened; that is, after the screws are visually positioned by the CCD camera, the six-axis robot moves the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws, and the marking cylinder automatically marks the screws that have failed to be tightened. The entire process does not require human intervention and is suitable for large-scale screw tightening, which ultimately greatly improves the efficiency of battery module screw tightening.

[0035] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present invention, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present invention are specifically listed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0037] Figure 1 The present invention is a flowchart of a method for automatically tightening screws of a battery module.

[0038] Figure 2 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the structure of a battery module automatic screw tightening system.

[0039] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of an automatic battery module screw tightening device of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a medium for automatically tightening a battery module screw according to the present invention.

[0041] Figure 5 It is a hardware architecture diagram of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The embodiments of the present application provide a method, system, device and medium for automatically tightening battery module screws, thereby improving the efficiency of tightening battery module screws.

[0043] The technical solution in the embodiment of the present application has the following overall idea: after visually locating the screws through a CCD camera, the screws are automatically tightened by moving the servo tightening gun through a six-axis robot, and the screws that fail to be tightened are automatically marked by a marking cylinder. The entire process does not require human intervention, thereby improving the efficiency of tightening the battery module screws.

[0044] Example 1

[0045] This embodiment provides a method for automatically tightening screws of a battery module. Figure 1 、 5 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0046] Step S1: Based on the transport instructions sent by the PC, the PLC (programmable logic controller) controls the AGV via Profinet to move the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station along the planned shortest route;

[0047] Step S2: After receiving the arrival signal of the AGV, the PLC positions and lifts the AGV through the lifting and positioning mechanism.

[0048] Step S3: The PLC uses a CCD camera to visually locate each screw on the battery module to obtain screw offset data;

[0049] Step S4: The PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun and automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data.

[0050] In step S5, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that failed to be tightened based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun, and generates a screw tightening report and uploads it to the PC for archiving to facilitate later traceability; the screw tightening report carries at least the tightening time, battery module number, total tightening quantity, number of successful tightenings, number of failed tightenings, and tightening sequence; in specific implementation, the PC uses the national secret algorithm to encrypt and archive the received screw tightening report.

[0051] The step S3 is specifically as follows:

[0052] The PLC uses a CCD camera to capture an overhead image of the battery module. After preprocessing the module image for visual enhancement, it searches for screws in the module image through feature matching. The screws are roughly located using an affine transformation. A circle-finding tool is then used to fit a circle to the screw to determine its center coordinates. These center coordinates are then compared with a reference base point to obtain the screw's offset data. By combining the positioning of the jacking and positioning mechanism with preprocessing for visual enhancement of the module image, the CCD camera is positioned optimally for the shot and features are clearly matched within the module image, significantly improving screw positioning accuracy and, consequently, screw tightening accuracy.

[0053] The screw position corresponding to the battery module will be closer to the battery module, so when feature matching finds two circles, the Y value will be compared to obtain the correct screw position that is closer to the current tightening battery module.

[0054] The step S4 is specifically as follows:

[0055] Based on this offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp a servo tightening gun, placing the servo tightening gun's sleeve on the battery module's screws. The servo tightening gun automatically tightens each screw in sequence. In practice, the six-axis robot can simultaneously clamp several servo tightening guns and tighten them simultaneously, improving screw tightening efficiency.

[0056] The step S5 is specifically as follows:

[0057] The servo tightening gun provides real-time feedback to the PLC on the tightening status of each screw, indicating whether it is tightened successfully or failed. When the PLC determines that all screws are tightened successfully based on the tightening status, it releases the AGV through the jacking and positioning mechanism.

[0058] When the PLC determines that there is a screw that has failed to be tightened based on the tightening status, it controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to the top of the screw that has failed to be tightened, and then controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod and press it on the top of the screw, and then smear the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top of the screw to mark the screw that has failed to be tightened. After all the screws that have failed to be tightened are marked, the AGV car is released through the jacking positioning mechanism.

[0059] Example 2

[0060] This embodiment provides a battery module screw automatic tightening system, such as Figure 2 、 5 As shown, it includes the following modules:

[0061] The PACK box transfer module is used for PLC (programmable logic controller) based on the conveying instructions sent by the PC. It controls the AGV car through Profinet to transfer the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station along the shortest planned route;

[0062] The trolley positioning and lifting module is used to position and lift the AGV trolley through the lifting and positioning mechanism after the PLC receives the AGV trolley's arrival signal;

[0063] The screw positioning module is used by the PLC to visually locate each screw on the battery module through a CCD camera to obtain the screw offset data;

[0064] A screw tightening module is used for the PLC to control the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data;

[0065] The screw marking module is used to control the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that failed to be tightened based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun by the PLC, and generate a screw tightening report and upload it to the PC for archiving to facilitate later traceability; the screw tightening report at least carries the tightening time, battery module number, total tightening quantity, number of successful tightenings, number of failed tightenings and tightening sequence; in specific implementation, the PC uses the national secret algorithm to encrypt and archive the received screw tightening report.

[0066] The screw positioning module is specifically used for:

[0067] The PLC uses a CCD camera to capture an overhead image of the battery module. After preprocessing the module image for visual enhancement, it searches for screws in the module image through feature matching. The screws are roughly located using an affine transformation. A circle-finding tool is then used to fit a circle to the screw to determine its center coordinates. These center coordinates are then compared with a reference base point to obtain the screw's offset data. By combining the positioning of the jacking and positioning mechanism with preprocessing for visual enhancement of the module image, the CCD camera is positioned optimally for the shot and features are clearly matched within the module image, significantly improving screw positioning accuracy and, consequently, screw tightening accuracy.

[0068] The screw position corresponding to the battery module will be closer to the battery module, so when feature matching finds two circles, the Y value will be compared to obtain the correct screw position that is closer to the current tightening battery module.

[0069] The screw tightening module is specifically used for:

[0070] Based on this offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp a servo tightening gun, placing the servo tightening gun's sleeve on the battery module's screws. The servo tightening gun automatically tightens each screw in sequence. In practice, the six-axis robot can simultaneously clamp several servo tightening guns and tighten them simultaneously, improving screw tightening efficiency.

[0071] The screw marking module is specifically used for:

[0072] The servo tightening gun provides real-time feedback to the PLC on the tightening status of each screw, indicating whether it is tightened successfully or failed. When the PLC determines that all screws are tightened successfully based on the tightening status, it releases the AGV through the jacking and positioning mechanism.

[0073] When the PLC determines that there is a screw that has failed to be tightened based on the tightening status, it controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to the top of the screw that has failed to be tightened, and then controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod and press it on the top of the screw, and then smear the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top of the screw to mark the screw that has failed to be tightened. After all the screws that have failed to be tightened are marked, the AGV car is released through the jacking positioning mechanism.

[0074] Based on the same inventive concept, this application provides an electronic device embodiment corresponding to the first embodiment, see the third embodiment for details.

[0075] Example 3

[0076] This embodiment provides a battery module screw automatic tightening device, such as Figure 3 As shown, it includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the computer program, any implementation method in the first embodiment can be implemented.

[0077] Since the electronic device described in this embodiment is the device used to implement the method in Example 1 of this application, based on the method described in Example 1 of this application, those skilled in the art will be able to understand the specific implementation of the electronic device of this embodiment and its various variations. Therefore, how the electronic device implements the method in the embodiment of this application will not be described in detail here. As long as the device used by those skilled in the art to implement the method in the embodiment of this application falls within the scope of protection to be provided by this application.

[0078] Based on the same inventive concept, this application provides a storage medium corresponding to Example 1, see Example 4 for details.

[0079] Example 4

[0080] This embodiment provides a battery module screw automatic tightening medium, such as Figure 4As shown, a computer program is stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, any implementation method in Example 1 can be implemented.

[0081] Since the storage medium described in this embodiment is the storage medium used to implement the method in Example 1 of this application, based on the method described in Example 1 of this application, those skilled in the art will be able to understand the specific implementation and various variations of the storage medium of this embodiment, so how the storage medium implements the method in the embodiment of this application will not be described in detail here. As long as those skilled in the art implement the storage medium used in the method in the embodiment of this application, it falls within the scope of protection of this application.

[0082] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application have at least the following technical effects or advantages:

[0083] Through the PLC based on the conveying instructions sent by the PC, the AGV is controlled to move the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station, and the AGV is positioned and lifted by the lifting and positioning mechanism; then the PLC uses the CCD camera to visually locate each screw on the battery module to obtain the offset data of the screw. Based on the offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws on the battery module. Based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun, the six-axis robot is controlled to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that have failed to be tightened; that is, after the screws are visually positioned by the CCD camera, the six-axis robot moves the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws, and the marking cylinder automatically marks the screws that have failed to be tightened. The entire process does not require human intervention and is suitable for large-scale screw tightening, which ultimately greatly improves the efficiency of battery module screw tightening.

[0084] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Thus, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0085] The present invention is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products of the embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that each process and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, as well as the combination of processes and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0086] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0087] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operational steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A step that specifies a function in one or more boxes.

[0088] Although the specific embodiments of the present invention are described above, those skilled in the art should understand that the specific embodiments described are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Equivalent modifications and changes made by those skilled in the art in accordance with the spirit of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for automatically tightening screws of a battery module, characterized by: The steps include: Step S1: Based on the conveying instructions sent by the PC, the PLC controls the AGV to move the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station; Step S2: After receiving the arrival signal of the AGV, the PLC positions and lifts the AGV through the lifting and positioning mechanism. Step S3: The PLC uses a CCD camera to visually locate each screw on the battery module to obtain screw offset data; Step S4: The PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun and automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data. Step S5: The PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that failed to be tightened based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun; The step S3 is specifically as follows: The PLC uses a CCD camera to take a bird's-eye view of the battery module to obtain a module image. After pre-processing the module image for visual enhancement, the PLC searches for screws in the module image through feature matching. The screws are roughly located using affine transformation. A circle-finding tool is then used to fit a circle to the screw to obtain the center coordinates. The center coordinates are then compared with the base point of the reference to obtain the screw offset data. The step S5 is specifically as follows: The servo tightening gun provides real-time feedback to the PLC on the tightening status of each screw, indicating whether it is tightened successfully or failed. When the PLC determines that all screws are tightened successfully based on the tightening status, it releases the AGV through the jacking and positioning mechanism. When the PLC determines that there is a screw that has failed to be tightened based on the tightening status, it controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to the top of the screw that has failed to be tightened, and then controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod and press it on the top of the screw, and then smear the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top of the screw to mark the screw that has failed to be tightened. After all the screws that have failed to be tightened are marked, the AGV car is released through the jacking positioning mechanism.

2. The method for automatically tightening screws of a battery module according to claim 1, wherein: The step S4 is specifically as follows: Based on the offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun, places the sleeve of the servo tightening gun on the screws of the battery module, and automatically tightens each screw in sequence through the servo tightening gun.

3. A battery module screw automatic tightening system, characterized by: Includes the following modules: The PACK box transfer module is used to control the AGV to transfer the PACK box loaded with battery modules to the tightening station based on the conveying instructions sent by the PLC from the PC; The trolley positioning and lifting module is used to position and lift the AGV trolley through the lifting and positioning mechanism after the PLC receives the AGV trolley's arrival signal; The screw positioning module is used by the PLC to visually locate each screw on the battery module through a CCD camera to obtain the screw offset data; A screw tightening module is used for the PLC to control the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun to automatically tighten the screws on the battery module based on the offset data; The screw marking module is used by the PLC to control the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to mark the screws that failed to be tightened based on the tightening status feedback from the servo tightening gun; The screw positioning module is specifically used for: The PLC uses a CCD camera to take a bird's-eye view of the battery module to obtain a module image. After pre-processing the module image for visual enhancement, the PLC searches for screws in the module image through feature matching. The screws are roughly located using affine transformation. A circle-finding tool is then used to fit a circle to the screw to obtain the center coordinates. The center coordinates are then compared with the base point of the reference to obtain the screw offset data. The screw marking module is specifically used for: The servo tightening gun provides real-time feedback to the PLC on the tightening status of each screw, indicating whether it is tightened successfully or failed. When the PLC determines that all screws are tightened successfully based on the tightening status, it releases the AGV through the jacking and positioning mechanism. When the PLC determines that there is a screw that has failed to be tightened based on the tightening status, it controls the six-axis robot to move the marking cylinder to the top of the screw that has failed to be tightened, and then controls the marking cylinder to extend the marking rod and press it on the top of the screw, and then smear the ink at the bottom end of the marking rod on the top of the screw to mark the screw that has failed to be tightened. After all the screws that have failed to be tightened are marked, the AGV car is released through the jacking positioning mechanism.

4. The automatic screw tightening system for battery modules according to claim 3, characterized in that: The screw tightening module is specifically used for: Based on the offset data, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to clamp the servo tightening gun, places the sleeve of the servo tightening gun on the screws of the battery module, and automatically tightens each screw in sequence through the servo tightening gun.

5. A battery module screw automatic tightening device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that: When the processor executes the program, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 2 is implemented.

6. A battery module screw automatic tightening medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that: When the program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 2 is implemented.

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