Mounting head image system and integrated management method

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of electronic component mounting equipment, and particularly discloses a mounting head image system and an integrated management method, and the system comprises a multi-view camera main control unit which is integrated on a mounting head moving device and manages a plurality of image sensors; the optical fiber transmission module is directly connected with the multi-view camera main control unit through an optical module and is connected with an optical port of the main control board through a single optical fiber so as to realize an image data acquisition function of the main control board; the at least two reference camera modules are physically connected with the multi-view camera main control unit through a network interface connector; wherein the multi-view camera main control unit manages the reference camera module in a unified manner. The mounting head image system as a whole is managed and controlled in a unified mode, the whole image system is managed more intensively, and the integration level and stability of the system are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of electronic component mounting equipment, and particularly relates to a mounting head image system and an integrated management method, and especially relates to a unified management architecture for a multi-camera vision system and a reference camera and an optimized optical fiber transmission solution. Background Art

[0002] As a device in a production link of an SMT production line, a mounter is equipped with a machine vision device. Among them, the mounting head, as a picking and mounting component for components to be mounted, is equipped with a multi-camera and a reference camera for capturing component images and machine fiducial point images. Taking the existing model as an example, the mounting head is equipped with 10 picking and mounting component assemblies, and the matching multi-camera has 5 cameras, and each camera can capture the end images of 2 picking and mounting component assemblies. One reference camera is distributed on each side of the mounting head.

[0003] In the existing technical solution, as shown in the appendix Figure 1 The image data cable uses a CXP cable. The control cable of the multi-camera does not pass through the CXP cable but through an RS485 cable. For details, refer to Chinese invention patent CN115052112A. The reference camera and the multi-camera are at the same unified management level. Similarly, the control cable and the image data cable are connected, and there are 2 cameras. The cables passing through the drag chain are doubled.

[0004] Taking the multi-camera as an example, the CXP interface is enabled to transmit a large amount of image data. Therefore, a special CXP coaxial cable and a CXP acquisition card need to be used to upload the image data to the final processing end. The main control board manages each unit of the mounter, so it manages the camera system on the mounting head through the control cable. This solution involves the use of multiple cables and 1 acquisition card. The large number of components and nodes means that the stability of the mounting head image system will decrease relatively. In addition, the multiple cables of the camera need to pass through the drag chain to reach the main board, which also has requirements for the anti-fatigue performance of the cable characteristics. The cost of building the entire system increases, but the electrical performance cannot be effectively guaranteed. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the problems existing in the prior art and provide a mounting head image system and an integrated management method.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the first aspect of the present invention provides a mounting head image system, including: A multi-camera main control unit, integrated in the mounting head moving device, manages multiple image sensors; An optical fiber transmission module, directly connected to the multi-camera main control unit by an optical module, and connected to the optical port of the main control board through a single optical fiber to implement the image data acquisition function of the main control board; At least two reference camera modules are physically connected to the multi-camera master unit through an Ethernet connector; wherein, the multi-camera master unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules.

[0007] Preferably, the fiber optic transmission module uses a custom transmission protocol to replace the CXP protocol.

[0008] Preferably, the multi-camera master unit manages multiple image sensors through an FPGA, and the fiber optic transmission module is directly connected to the FPGA through an optical module.

[0009] Preferably, the fiber optic transmission module includes: a receiving optical module and a transmitting optical module integrated on the main control board; a receiving optical module and a transmitting optical module directly connected to the FPGA; a fiber optic connection medium.

[0010] Preferably, the multi-camera master unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules through a custom full-duplex protocol.

[0011] Preferably, the custom full-duplex protocol is a custom handshake protocol that is not a standard network protocol.

[0012] Preferably, the main control board integrates the image receiving function of the CXP acquisition card and directly processes the image data transmitted through the optical port through a PCIe interface.

[0013] The second aspect of the present invention provides an integrated management method for a pick-and-place head image system, including the following steps: Integrate the control and management rights of the reference camera into the multi-camera master unit, so that the multi-camera master unit simultaneously manages multiple image sensors of the multi-camera and the reference camera through a custom communication protocol; Connect the multi-camera and the reference camera through a full-duplex communication link based on Ethernet, and use a custom handshake protocol to achieve synchronous transmission of control instructions and image data; Replace the image data transmission interface of the multi-camera from a CXP interface to an optical port, directly connect the optical module of the fiber optic to the main control board through a fiber optic, and implement full-duplex communication at the optical port link layer based on a custom protocol; Through the multi-camera master unit, uniformly schedule the image data and control instructions of the multi-camera and the reference camera, and eliminate independent cables and control levels.

[0014] Preferably, the multi-camera master unit uses an FPGA chip to implement parallel management of the multi-camera and the reference camera through hardware logic, including Time-sharing scheduling of multiple image sensors of the multi-camera; Assign priorities to the marker point recognition tasks of the reference camera; Complete the integrated transmission of data between the optical port and the Ethernet port based on a custom protocol.

[0015] Preferably, the implementation method of the optical port includes: Directly connect the optical module to the FPGA chip to replace the dedicated CXP interface chip; Integrate the optical module communication interface on the main control board to implement the function of receiving image data through the optical port; Use a single optical fiber to transmit the image data and control instructions of the multi-camera.

[0016] Through the above technical solutions, the following technical effects are achieved: (1) The pick-and-place head image system is uniformly managed and controlled as a whole, and the management of the entire image system is more centralized, improving the system integration and stability; (2) Some nodes are streamlined, reducing the cost of the system link; (3) Only the optical port and network port are used as the physical communication media, and a custom protocol is designed, with a higher degree of freedom in information addition and deletion management. Similarly, the information flow processing between FPGAs is more effective than the processing of FPGA to CPU, greatly reducing the probability of data loss, and further improving the system stability; (4) The external transmission is changed to optical fiber, greatly improving the electromagnetic immunity compared with coaxial cables; (5) The pick-and-place head image system is uniformly managed and controlled as a whole, streamlining the communication and management links to the upper layer, improving the system stability and facilitating system maintenance. Description of the Drawings

[0017] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the pick-and-place head image system of the prior art solution; Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the pick-and-place head image system of the embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0018] The following will describe in detail the specific embodiments of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining and illustrating the embodiments of the present invention, and are not used to limit the embodiments of the present invention.

[0019] Taking the pick-and-place head image system as a whole for consideration, analyze the usage methods of each camera. Considering that the multi-camera is actually a main control unit managing 5 image sensors to achieve multi-camera image capture, which is similar to managing 5 independent cameras at the same time. Similarly, a reference camera is introduced. This camera is a relatively independent individual in terms of structure, but there is no requirement for simultaneous image output with the multi-camera, that is, there is no competition management relationship between the reference camera and the other 5 image sensors, and the management right can be transferred to the main control unit of the multi-camera. Based on this analysis and consideration, the first aspect of the present invention provides a pick-and-place head image system, as Figure 2 shown, including: The multi-camera main control unit, integrated in the pick-and-place head moving device, manages multiple image sensors, The fiber optic transmission module directly connects an optical module to the multi-camera master control unit and is connected to the optical port of the main control board through a single fiber optic cable to implement the image data acquisition function of the main control board; At least two reference camera modules are physically connected to the multi-camera master control unit through a network port connector; among them, the multi-camera master control unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules. Among them, Figure 2 The multi-camera described above includes multiple sensors of the multi-camera master control unit.

[0020] Based on the above solution, the reference camera can be mounted on the multi-camera and uniformly managed by the multi-camera.

[0021] Furthermore, the main control board integrates the image receiving function of the CXP acquisition card and directly processes the image data transmitted through the optical port through the PCIe interface.

[0022] Modify the physical layer of the image link, integrate the original CXP acquisition card function into the main control board, and replace the original CXP acquisition card, which can effectively reduce the cost of the multi-camera image transmission link.

[0023] Furthermore, the multi-camera master control unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules through a custom full-duplex protocol, and the custom full-duplex protocol is a custom handshake protocol for non-standard network protocols.

[0024] The reference camera still uses a network port as the cable. Preferably, a Category 6 network cable is used between the reference camera and the multi-camera. However, since both the reference camera and the multi-camera are located on the placement head, the length of the image data cable between the two is reduced to less than 10% of the original length, which reduces the cost and improves the reliability. Secondly, the network cable is selected because the process of the finished network cable is relatively mature. However, unlike the existing solutions, there is no need to implement complex network protocols. It only needs to agree on the underlying handshake protocol between the multi-camera master control unit and the master control unit in the reference camera. The two hardware layers use a full-duplex communication method based on the network port, that is, the hardware physical layer supports it. Therefore, no additional control line is required. The support of the full-duplex method allows both parties to send and receive information simultaneously. Therefore, the control instructions sent through the control line can also be sent through the network port. Here, the network port is only the physical support of the communication protocol and does not follow the standard network protocol. As long as the custom protocols of both parties are the same, multiple handshakes can ensure that there is no packet loss problem at the hardware layer, rather than the UDP protocol to the main board in the previous solution, avoiding the packet loss risk when the main board has too many processing tasks.

[0025] A custom protocol can be defined between the multi-view camera master control unit and the reference camera module. By selecting the FPGA as the master control unit, the real-time and rapidity of information can be ensured. The network port link here is only the physical carrier medium of the protocol. Moreover, after the complete network protocol does not need to be implemented, the power consumption of the master control unit of the reference camera will be reduced, thereby reducing the impact of temperature rise on imaging.

[0026] Furthermore, the fiber optic transmission module adopts a custom transmission protocol to replace the CXP protocol; the multi-view camera master control unit manages multiple image sensors through the FPGA, and the fiber optic transmission module is directly connected to the FPGA through an optical module; the fiber optic transmission module includes: a receiving optical module and a transmitting optical module integrated on the main control board, a receiving optical module and a transmitting optical module directly connected to the FPGA; a fiber optic connection medium.

[0027] Exemplarily, the multi-view camera master control unit manages 5 image sensors through the FPGA. Through the fiber optic transmission module, the image data interface transmitted by the multi-view camera master control unit is changed from a CXP interface to an optical port, effectively avoiding the following problems: (1) When the image data reaches the main board from the master control unit FPGA via the CXP interface, CXP cable and CXP acquisition card, once a picture is lost, it needs to be checked and located in multiple segments; (2) The CXP cable is a coaxial cable with a transmission rate of up to 10 Gbps and above. Although the cable has a shielding layer, it is inevitable that it may be affected by the electromagnetic environment of the whole machine, resulting in abnormal data transmission; (3) When implementing the solution, a standard CXP protocol needs to be followed for logical design to be compatible with standard commercial acquisition cards.

[0028] In the system of the present invention, the CXP interface is changed to an optical port. First, the optical port transmission can also meet the existing rate requirements. Second, after changing to the optical port, the dedicated chip, dedicated connector, dedicated coaxial cable, and dedicated acquisition card of the CXP interface can all be optimized. The optical port only needs to directly connect to the master control chip FPGA through a commercial optical module via a gold finger connector, without the need for a dedicated chip. Similarly, the receiving end acquisition card is cancelled, and the optical port is integrated onto the main control board. Calculated from the system cost, the cost of this set of links is reduced by about 97% compared with the existing solution; second, from the analysis of system stability, this set of links is only composed of two end docking optical modules and the intermediate optical fiber, with fewer intermediate nodes; finally, the unique advantage of the optical port is that it uses optical fiber to transmit optical signals instead of electrical signals, and will not be affected by the electromagnetic environment of the whole machine.

[0029] In the system of the present invention, there is only one fiber optic interconnection between the multi-camera master control unit and the main control board. The optical port physical link layer also supports full-duplex communication mode, which is similar to the communication mode with the multi-camera and the reference camera. A custom protocol can be used, and both parties can send and receive simultaneously, so there is no longer a need for a control line. The custom protocol covers various abnormal situation handling such as handshake and retransmission that may result in data loss, and realizes effective fixed-point data transmission. Therefore, the placement head image system is managed and controlled as a whole, with internal streamlining, external centralization and unity, improving the system integration degree as a whole, greatly reducing the system cost, and improving the system stability.

[0030] Based on the same inventive concept, a second aspect of the embodiment of the present invention provides an integrated management method for a placement head image system, including the following steps: Integrate the control management right of the reference camera into the multi-camera master control unit, so that the multi-camera master control unit manages multiple image sensors of the multi-camera and the reference camera simultaneously through a custom communication protocol; Connect the multi-camera and the reference camera through a full-duplex communication link based on the network port, and use a custom handshake protocol to realize the synchronous transmission of control instructions and image data; Replace the image data transmission interface of the multi-camera from the CXP interface with an optical port, directly connect the optical fiber to the optical module of the main control board, and realize full-duplex communication of the optical port link layer based on a custom protocol; Unify the scheduling of the image data and control instructions of the multi-camera and the reference camera through the multi-camera master control unit, and eliminate independent cables and control levels.

[0031] Further, the multi-camera master control unit uses an FPGA chip to realize parallel management of the multi-camera and the reference camera through hardware logic, including Performing time-sharing scheduling on multiple image sensors of the multi-camera; Assigning priorities to the marker point recognition tasks of the reference camera; Completing the integrated transmission of data between the optical port and the network port based on a custom protocol.

[0032] Further, the implementation method of the optical port includes: Directly connect the optical module to the FPGA chip to replace the CXP interface dedicated chip; Integrate the optical module communication interface on the main control board to realize the optical port receiving function, and integrate the CXP acquisition card to realize the image data acquisition function; Use a single fiber optic to transmit the image data and control instructions of the multi-camera.

[0033] In summary, the technical solution of the present invention simultaneously solves the following technical problems: (1) The independent architecture of the multi-camera and the reference camera leads to redundant cables; (2) The complex hierarchical structure of the CXP protocol link; (3) The packet loss risk in the transmission of traditional network protocols; (4) The influence of electromagnetic interference on coaxial cables; (5) The mechanical load problem caused by multi-wire harness drag chains. The following technical effects are achieved: (1) The management of the entire image system is more centralized, improving the system integration and stability; (2) Some nodes are streamlined, reducing the cost of the system link. The length of the image data cable between the reference camera and the multi-camera is reduced to less than 10% of the original, and the cost of the entire link has been reduced to about 3% of the original plan; (3) Only optical ports and network ports are borrowed as physical communication media, and a custom protocol is designed, with a higher degree of freedom in information addition and deletion management. Similarly, for the FPGA-to-FPGA information flow processing, compared with the FPGA-to-CPU processing, the information transmission is more effective, and the probability of data loss is greatly reduced; (4) The external transmission is changed to optical fiber, and the electromagnetic immunity is greatly improved compared with coaxial cables.

[0034] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solution of the present invention, including various specific technical features combined in any suitable manner. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the present invention will not separately describe various possible combination methods. However, these simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as the content disclosed by the present invention and fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mounting head imaging system, characterized in that: include: Multi-camera master control unit, integrated into the placement head mobile device, manages multiple image sensors; The optical fiber transmission module adopts an optical module to directly connect to the multi-eye camera main control unit, and is connected to the optical port of the main control board through a single optical fiber to realize the image data acquisition function of the main control board; At least two reference camera modules are physically connected to the multi-camera main control unit through a network port connector; wherein the multi-camera main control unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The optical fiber transmission module adopts a custom transmission protocol to replace the CXP protocol.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The multi-camera main control unit manages multiple image sensors through FPGA, and the optical fiber transmission module is directly connected to the FPGA through an optical module.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The optical fiber transmission module comprises: a receiving optical module and a sending optical module integrated in the main control board; a receiving optical module and a sending optical module directly connected to the FPGA; and an optical fiber connection medium.

5. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The multi-camera main control unit uniformly manages the reference camera modules through a custom full-duplex protocol.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that The custom full-duplex protocol is a custom handshake protocol of a non-standard network protocol.

7. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The main control board integrates the image collection function of the CXP acquisition card and directly processes the image data transmitted by the optical port through the PCIe interface.

8. An integrated management method for a placement head image system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Integrate the control and management rights of the reference camera into the multi-camera main control unit, so that the multi-camera main control unit can simultaneously manage multiple image sensors and the reference camera of the multi-camera through a custom communication protocol; The multi-eye camera and the reference camera are connected via a full-duplex communication link based on an Internet port, and a custom handshake protocol is used to realize synchronous transmission of control instructions and image data; The image data transmission interface of the multi-camera is replaced by an optical port from the CXP port, which is directly connected to the optical module of the main control board through optical fiber, and full-duplex communication of the optical port link layer is realized based on a custom protocol; The multi-camera main control unit is used to uniformly dispatch image data and control instructions of the multi-camera and the reference camera, thereby eliminating independent cables and control levels.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The multi-camera main control unit adopts FPGA chip and realizes parallel management of multi-camera and reference camera through hardware logic, including Perform time-sharing scheduling on multiple image sensors of multi-view cameras; Prioritize the landmark recognition tasks of the reference camera; Complete data integration and transmission between optical port and network port based on custom protocol.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The optical port implementation method includes: Directly connect the optical module to the FPGA chip to replace the dedicated chip for the CXP interface; Integrate the optical module communication interface on the main control board to realize the function of receiving image data through the optical port; A single optical fiber is used to transmit the image data and control instructions of multiple cameras.

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