Welding position specification system, welding position specification method and welding position specification program

Abstract

To provide a welding position specification system, a welding position specification method and a welding position specification program capable of improving welding quality.SOLUTION: A welding position specification system includes a photographing part and a control part. The photographing part is configured so as to be able to photograph an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins. The control part is configured so as to be able to execute pin position specification processing for specifying the position of each metal pin using image data photographed by the photographing part and welding position specification processing for specifying a welding position of the pair of metal pins on the basis of the specified position of each metal pin.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a welding position identifying system, a welding position identifying method, and a welding position identifying program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is a welding machine that includes a camera that photographs a product to be processed, an edge extraction unit, an invariant edge acquisition unit, a processing program correction unit, and a welding robot (Patent Document 1, etc.). In the welding machine of Patent Document 1, the edge extraction unit extracts an edge image from an image of the product photographed by the camera. In addition, the invariant edge acquisition unit acquires, as an invariant edge image, an edge image on an invariant surface that does not shift in position relative to a welding point set in the processing program, from among the edge images.

[0003] The correction amount acquisition unit performs pattern matching between the master invariant edge image and the workpiece invariant edge image acquired by the invariant edge acquisition unit, and acquires the amount of deviation between them as a correction amount for the welding point. Furthermore, the machining program correction unit corrects the welding point by the correction amount to generate a corrected machining program for welding the workpiece. Then, the welding robot welds the workpiece based on the corrected machining program. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6286276 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, for example, when welding adjacent metal pins to be used in an electric motor, the objects to be welded are small and the tolerance for the welding position is limited, so there is a problem that even a slight deviation in the positioning of the welding robot's control program can result in a large welding error. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately analyze the positional relationship of the metal pins and derive the appropriate welding position.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a welding position identifying system, a welding position identifying method, and a welding position identifying program that can improve welding quality. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A welding position identification system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an imaging unit and a control unit, wherein the imaging unit is configured to be capable of imaging an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins, and the control unit is configured to be capable of executing a pin position identification process that identifies the position of each metal pin from image data captured by the imaging unit, and a welding position identification process that identifies the welding position of the pair of metal pins based on the identified positions of each metal pin.

[0008] A welding position identifying method according to one aspect of the present invention includes an imaging process for imaging an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins using an imaging unit, a pin position identifying process for identifying the positions of the metal pins from the captured image data, and a welding position identifying process for identifying the welding position of the pair of metal pins.

[0009] A welding position identification program according to one embodiment of the present invention causes a control device to execute an imaging process that causes an imaging unit to image an area that includes at least a pair of adjacent metal pins, a pin position identification process that identifies the positions of the metal pins from the captured image data, and a welding position identification process that identifies the welding position of the pair of metal pins. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the welding position identifying system, welding position identifying method, and welding position identifying program of one embodiment of the present invention, the position of a metal pin is identified from image data captured by an imaging unit, and the welding position is identified based on the identified position, thereby improving welding quality. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a welding position identifying system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the welding jig of the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the control device of the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of image data captured by the camera of this embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a region including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins in the image data of the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the pin area identification process of this embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the central position candidate specifying process of this embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the first center position specifying process of the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the first center position specifying process of the present embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the first center position specifying process of the present embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the second center position specifying process of the present embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the welding position specifying process of this embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the welding position specifying process of this embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the welding position specifying process of this embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the welding position specifying method of the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the inventions according to the claims, and all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0013] [Overall configuration of the welding position identification system according to this embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a welding position identifying system according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, a welding position identifying system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be outlined with reference to Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the welding position identifying system 1 according to the present embodiment generally includes a camera 50 functioning as an imaging unit, and a control device 100. The welding position identifying system 1 also includes a welding jig 10 and a welding head 30.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the welding jig of the present embodiment. 2, the welding jig 10 is configured to be able to attach a plurality of metal pins P (rectangular wires) to be welded. The welding jig 10 also has a rotating part and is configured to be rotatable. Note that the welding jig 10 can employ various known configurations, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0015] 1, the welding head 30 is disposed above the welding jig 10 and is configured to be able to weld a pair of adjacent metal pins P. A laser beam oscillated by a laser oscillator (not shown) is sent to the welding head 30 via an optical fiber. The welding head 30 welds the pair of adjacent metal pins P by irradiating the metal pins P with laser light from a nozzle (not shown).

[0016] The welding head 30 is attached to an orthogonal coordinate moving device or the like, and is configured to be freely movable in three axial directions, i.e., forward / backward, left / right, and depth directions, on the welding jig 10. The welding head 30 also has a tilt axis and a rotation axis, and can freely change the irradiation direction of the laser light. Note that the welding head 30 can adopt various known configurations, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of image data captured by the camera of this embodiment. The camera 50 is provided with one lens and one image sensor, and is disposed above the welding jig 10 so as to be able to capture an image of an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins P, as shown in Figures 1 and 4. In this embodiment, the camera 50 is configured to capture an image of the multiple metal pins P attached to the welding jig 10 from above, as shown in Figure 1.

[0018] Camera 50 is configured to supply captured image data 122 to control device 100. Note that camera 50 according to this embodiment may be configured to directly output a digital signal (image data 122) from camera 50 to control device 100, or may be configured to convert an analog signal (captured image signal) output from camera 50 into a digital signal (image data 122) by an A / D converter (not shown) or the like and output the digital signal to control device 100.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the control device of the present embodiment. 3, the control device 100 includes a control unit 110 and a storage unit 120. The control device 100 according to this embodiment is, for example, a numerical control device or an electronic computer such as a desktop personal computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet terminal.

[0020] The control device 100 is configured to be able to control the camera 50. Moreover, the control device 100 acquires image data 122 captured by the camera 50 and stores it in the storage unit 120. Furthermore, the control device 100 may be configured to be able to control the welding head 30.

[0021] The control unit 110 is configured, for example, by an integrated arithmetic processing device having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 110 includes a pin position identifying unit 112, a center position identifying unit 114, and a welding position identifying unit 116.

[0022] The control unit 110 is configured to be able to execute a pin position specifying process for specifying the position of each metal pin P from the image data 122 captured by the camera 50, and a welding position specifying process for specifying the welding position W of a pair of metal pins P based on the specified position of each metal pin P. The pin position specifying process includes a pin position candidate specifying process for specifying candidates for the position of the metal pin P from the image data 122, and a center position specifying process for specifying the center position C of each metal pin P.

[0023] In this embodiment, the center position C of the metal pin P generally refers to the centroid position of the metal pin P when the metal pin P attached to the welding jig 10 is viewed from above in a plan view, but is not limited to this. For example, if the tip of the metal pin P is formed in a convex shape, the apex of the tip (the highest point of the convex shape) may be specified as the center position C.

[0024] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins in the image data of this embodiment, and Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the pin area specifying process of this embodiment. The pin position identifying unit 112 is configured to be able to execute a pin position candidate identifying process. The pin position candidate identifying process includes a pin area identifying process for identifying a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P from the image data 122 by color detection, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

[0025] For ease of explanation, in this embodiment, the image data 122 will be described as image data that shows only some of the metal pins P attached to the welding jig 10, but this is not limited to this, and the image data 122 may be image data that shows all of the metal pins P, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0026] In the pin region identification process, the pin position identification unit 112 identifies the region of the pair of metal pins P by color detection in the HSV color space. Specifically, the pin position identification unit 112 identifies the region of the pair of metal pins P by color detection based on the difference between the color of the surface of the welding jig 10 and the color of the surface of the metal pin P. Furthermore, when there is a blown-out region in the image data 122, the pin position identification unit 112 can interpolate from the surrounding image regions.

[0027] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the central position candidate specifying process of this embodiment. 7, the pin position candidate identifying process includes a center position candidate identifying process for identifying candidates CC for the center positions of each metal pin P from the image data 122 by machine learning. In the pin position candidate identifying process, the pin position identifying unit 112 analyzes the image data 122 based on the teacher data 124 stored in the storage unit 120, and identifies candidates CC for the center positions of each metal pin P.

[0028] In this embodiment, the teacher data 124 is created by using an image including only a metal pin P as correct answer data (positive image) and an image not including a metal pin P as non-correct answer data (negative image), and the pin position identification unit 112 is configured to perform analysis using a cascade detector.

[0029] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the first center position specifying process of the present embodiment. The center position identifying unit 114 is configured to be able to execute a center position identifying process. In this embodiment, the center position identifying unit 114 is configured to be able to execute a first center position identifying process by image processing and a second center position identifying process by machine learning. In the first center position identifying process, the center position identifying unit 114 identifies a center position C of each metal pin P based on a luminance change in at least two directions of a rectangular area A identified in the pin area identifying process, as shown in FIG.

[0030] 9 and 10 are schematic diagrams showing the first center position specifying process of this embodiment. Specifically, the center position identification unit 114 identifies a candidate CC for the center position of each metal pin P based on the change in brightness in the long side direction of the rectangular area A, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, and identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the change in brightness in the short side direction passing through the center position candidate CC, as shown in Figure 10.

[0031] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the second center position specifying process of the present embodiment. In the second center position identifying process, the center position identifying unit 114 identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 11, the center position identifying unit 114 searches for an area in which the same color or similar colors are distributed in large numbers around the center position candidate CC of each metal pin P identified by the pin position identifying unit 112 from the image data 122 by machine learning in the center position candidate identifying process, and identifies it as the center position C of the metal pin P.

[0032] In addition, the center position identification unit 114 is configured to be able to execute a candidate identification determination process that determines whether or not a center position candidate CC has been identified through machine learning, and can selectively use the first center position identification process and the second center position identification process based on the determination result.

[0033] Specifically, when the pin position identifying unit 112 does not identify a center position candidate CC, the center position identifying unit 114 executes a first center position identifying process, and identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change within the rectangular area A identified by the pin position identifying unit 112 in the pin area identifying process. In addition, when the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies a center position candidate CC, the center position identifying unit 114 executes a second center position identifying process, and identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC.

[0034] 12 to 14 are schematic diagrams showing the welding position specifying process of this embodiment. The welding position identifying unit 116 is configured to be able to execute a welding position identifying process. In the welding position identifying process, the welding position identifying unit 116 assumes a middle position between a pair of metal pins P as a candidate for the welding position, as shown in Fig. 12. Then, the welding position identifying unit 116 extracts a luminance distribution on a straight line passing through each center position C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate for the welding position, and identifies a position on the straight line between the metal pins P with the lowest luminance value as the welding position W, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14.

[0035] Furthermore, as a pre-processing of the welding position identifying process, the welding position identifying unit 116 may perform a smoothing process on the luminance distribution on a line passing through each of the center positions C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate welding position. By performing the smoothing process, when there is a position on the line with an extremely low luminance value, it is possible to prevent the position from being erroneously identified as the welding position W.

[0036] The control unit 110 having the above configuration is configured to be able to create a control program for the welding head 30 for welding the metal pin P, based on the identified welding position W. In addition, the control unit 110 is configured to be able to correct the control program for the welding head 30, based on the identified welding position W.

[0037] The storage unit 120 has a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various data in a readable and writable manner. As shown in Fig. 2, the storage unit 120 stores image data 122, teacher data 124, and a welding position identification program 126. Furthermore, the storage unit 120 stores programs necessary for controlling each part of the control device 100.

[0038] The welding position specifying program 126 causes the control device 100 to execute an imaging process for causing an imaging unit (camera 50 in this embodiment) to image an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins P, a pin position specifying process for specifying the position of the metal pin P from the captured image data 122, and a welding position specifying process for specifying the welding position W of the pair of metal pins P. The welding position specifying program 126 also includes information on the number of metal pins P attached to the welding jig 10. By including information on the number of metal pins P attached to the welding jig 10, there is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the metal pins P included in the image data 122 from being overlooked.

[0039] [Method for identifying welding position according to this embodiment] Next, a description will be given of a welding position identifying method of the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment. The welding position identifying method of the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment generally includes an imaging step of imaging an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins P by an imaging unit (camera 50 in this embodiment), a pin position identifying step of identifying the position of the metal pin P from the captured image data 122, and a welding position identifying step of identifying the welding position W of the pair of metal pins P.

[0040] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the welding position specifying method of the present embodiment. First, the camera 50 captures an image of an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins P (S1 in FIG. 15: imaging step). Specifically, the camera 50 captures an image of a plurality of metal pins P attached to the welding jig 10. Then, the control unit 110 of the control device 100 acquires image data 122 captured by the camera 50.

[0041] Next, the control unit 110 of the control device 100 identifies the positions of the metal pins P from the image data 122 captured by the camera 50 (S10 in FIG. 15: pin position identifying step). The pin position identifying step will be described in detail below. First, the pin position identifying unit 112 of the control unit 110 identifies candidates for the positions of the metal pins P from the image data 122 (S11 in FIG. 15: pin position candidate identifying step).

[0042] In the pin position candidate identifying process, the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P by color detection from the image data 122 (S111 in FIG. 15: pin area identifying process). Specifically, the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies the area of ​​the pair of metal pins P based on the difference between the color of the surface of the welding jig 10 and the color of the surface of the metal pin P by color detection in the HSV color space.

[0043] In addition, in a pin position candidate identifying process, the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies candidates CC for the center position of each metal pin P from the image data 122 by machine learning (S112 in FIG. 15: center position candidate identifying process). Specifically, the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies candidates CC for the center position of each metal pin P from the image data 122 using a cascade classifier based on the teacher data 124 in the storage unit 120.

[0044] Next, the center position identifying unit 114 identifies the center position C of each metal pin P (center position identifying step). Specifically, the center position identifying unit 114 determines whether or not the pin position identifying unit 112 has identified a center position candidate CC by machine learning in the center position candidate identifying step (S12 in FIG. 15: candidate identifying and determining step).

[0045] When the pin position identifying unit 112 identifies a center position candidate CC (YES in S12 in FIG. 15), the center position identifying unit 114 identifies the center position C based on the color distribution around the identified center position candidate CC (S13 in FIG. 15: second center position identifying step). Specifically, the center position identifying unit 114 detects an area in which the same color or similar colors are distributed in large amounts around the center position candidate CC, and identifies it as the center position C of the metal pin P.

[0046] On the other hand, if the pin position identifying unit 112 has not identified a center position candidate CC (NO in S12 in FIG. 15), the center position identifying unit 114 identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change within the rectangular area A identified by the pin position identifying unit 112 in the pin area identifying step (S14 in FIG. 15: first center position identifying step). Specifically, the center position identifying unit 114 identifies the center position candidate CC of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the long side direction of the identified rectangular area A, and identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the short side direction passing through the center position candidate CC.

[0047] Thereafter, the welding position identifying unit 116 identifies the welding position W of the pair of metal pins P based on the position of each metal pin P identified in the pin position identifying process (S20 in FIG. 15: welding position identifying step). Specifically, the welding position identifying unit 116 assumes the middle position of the pair of metal pins P as a candidate for the welding position, extracts the luminance distribution on a line passing through each center position C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate for the welding position, and identifies the position on the line with the lowest luminance value between each metal pin P as the welding position W. Through the above steps, a series of welding position identifying methods is performed by the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0048] [Advantages of the welding position identifying system, welding position identifying method, and welding position identifying program according to the present embodiment] As described above, the welding position identification system 1 according to this embodiment includes an imaging unit (in this embodiment, camera 50) and a control unit 110. The imaging unit is configured to be able to image an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins P. The control unit 110 is configured to be able to execute a pin position identification process that identifies the position of each metal pin P from image data 122 captured by the imaging unit, and a welding position identification process that identifies the welding position W of the pair of metal pins P based on the identified position of each metal pin P.

[0049] The welding position identifying system 1 according to the present embodiment, having such a configuration, identifies the position of the metal pin P from the image data 122 captured by the imaging unit, and identifies the welding position W of a pair of metal pins P based on the identified position of the metal pin P, thereby having the advantage of being able to improve welding quality.

[0050] Moreover, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, the pin position identifying process includes a pin position candidate identifying process for identifying candidates for the positions of the metal pins P from the image data 122, and a center position identifying process for identifying the center positions C of the metal pins P. By providing such a configuration, there is an advantage that the analysis process of the welding positions W (processing necessary to identify the welding positions W) can be reduced.

[0051] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, the pin position candidate identifying process has a pin area identifying process that identifies a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P by color detection from the image data 122. By providing such a configuration, it has an advantage that erroneous detection can be reduced more than, for example, detecting the shape of the metal pins P by edge extraction.

[0052] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, in the pin area identifying process, the control unit 110 identifies the areas of the pair of metal pins P by color detection in the HSV color space. With this configuration, the areas of the pair of metal pins P are identified taking into account differences in saturation and brightness, which has the advantage of making it possible to identify the areas more accurately and thereby improve welding quality.

[0053] Moreover, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to the present embodiment, the pin position candidate identifying process includes a center position candidate identifying process that identifies candidates CC for the center position of each metal pin P by machine learning from the image data 122. By providing such a configuration, there is an advantage that the center position candidates CC can be identified in a short time.

[0054] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, the control unit 110 identifies the center position C of each metal pin P in the center position identifying process based on the luminance changes in at least two directions of the rectangular area A identified in the pin area identifying process. With this configuration, there is an advantage that the center position C can be identified without identifying the center position candidate CC.

[0055] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, the control unit 110 identifies candidates CC for the center position of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the long side direction of the rectangular region A, and identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the short side direction passing through the center position candidate CC. With this configuration, the center position C can be identified efficiently and accurately, which has the advantage of improving welding quality.

[0056] In the welding position identifying system 1 according to the present embodiment, the control unit 110 identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC in the center position identifying process. With this configuration, the center position C can be identified more quickly and accurately than when it is identified based on a luminance change, which is advantageous in that the welding quality can be further improved.

[0057] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to the present embodiment, the pin position candidate identifying process includes a pin area identifying process for identifying a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P by color detection from the image data 122, and the control unit 110 is configured to be able to execute a candidate identifying determination process for determining whether or not a center position candidate CC has been identified by machine learning. If the center position candidate CC has not been identified, the center position identifying process identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the rectangular area A identified by the pin area identifying process, and if the center position candidate CC has been identified, the center position identifying process identifies the center position C based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC. With such a configuration, when there is a center position candidate CC, a more accurate second center position identifying process can be automatically selected, which has the advantage of further improving the welding quality.

[0058] Furthermore, in the welding position identifying system 1 according to this embodiment, the control unit 110 assumes the intermediate position of the pair of metal pins P as a candidate for the welding position in the welding position identifying process, extracts the luminance distribution on a line passing through each center position C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate for the welding position, and identifies the position on the line with the lowest luminance value between the metal pins P as the welding position W. With this configuration, the welding position can be identified with high accuracy, which has the advantage of improving the welding quality.

[0059] [Variations] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above-mentioned embodiments. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0060] For example, in the above embodiment, the pin position specifying process has been described as including a pin position candidate specifying process that specifies candidates for the positions of the metal pins P from the image data 122, and a center position specifying process that specifies the center positions C of the metal pins P, but is not limited to this. The pin position specifying process does not have to include both the pin position candidate specifying process and the center position specifying process, and may include only one of them.

[0061] In the above-described embodiment, the pin position candidate identification process has been described as including a pin area identification process that identifies a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P by color detection from the image data 122, but is not limited to this, and the pin position candidate identification process does not need to include a pin area identification process.

[0062] In the above embodiment, in the pin area identification process, the control unit 110 is described as identifying the area of ​​the pair of metal pins P by color detection in the HSV color space, but this is not limiting. In the pin area identification process, the control unit 110 does not have to identify the area of ​​the pair of metal pins P by color detection in the HSV color space. For example, the control unit 110 may identify the area of ​​the pair of metal pins P by color detection in the RGB color space.

[0063] In the above-described embodiment, the pin position candidate identification process has been described as including a center position candidate identification process that identifies candidates CC for the center position of each metal pin P from the image data 122 by machine learning, but is not limited to this, and the pin position candidate identification process does not need to include a center position candidate identification process.

[0064] In the above embodiment, the control unit 110 has been described as specifying the center position C of each metal pin P in the center position specifying process based on the luminance changes in at least two directions of the rectangular area A specified in the pin area specifying process, but this is not limited to this. In the center position specifying process, the control unit 110 does not have to specify the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance changes in at least two directions of the rectangular area A specified in the pin area specifying process. For example, the control unit 110 may specify the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in one direction of the rectangular area A.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the control unit 110 is described as specifying the candidate CC for the center position of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the long side direction of the rectangular region A, and specifying the center position C of each metal pin based on the luminance change in the short side direction passing through the candidate CC for the center position, but is not limited to this. The control unit 110 does not have to specify the candidate CC for the center position of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the long side direction of the rectangular region A, and specify the center position C of each metal pin based on the luminance change in the short side direction passing through the candidate CC for the center position. For example, the control unit 110 may specify the candidate CC for the center position of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the short side direction of the rectangular region A, and specify the center position C of each metal pin based on the luminance change in the long side direction passing through the candidate CC for the center position. The control unit 110 may also specify the center position C of each metal pin based on the luminance change in the diagonal direction of the rectangular region A.

[0066] In the embodiment described above, the control unit 110 is described as specifying the center position C of each metal pin P based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC in the center position specifying process, but is not limited to this. In the center position specifying process, the control unit 110 does not have to specify the center position C of each metal pin P based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC.

[0067] In the above-described embodiment, the pin position candidate identifying process includes a pin area identifying process for identifying a rectangular area A including a pair of metal pins P by color detection from the image data 122, and the control unit 110 is configured to be able to execute a candidate identifying determination process for determining whether or not a center position candidate CC has been identified by machine learning, and if a center position candidate CC has not been identified, the center position identifying process identifies the center position C of each metal pin P based on the luminance change in the rectangular area A identified in the pin area identifying process, and if a center position candidate CC has been identified, the center position identifying process identifies the center position C based on the color distribution around the center position candidate CC, but this is not limiting. The control unit 110 does not have to be able to execute the candidate identifying determination process.

[0068] In the above embodiment, the control unit 110 assumes the intermediate position of the pair of metal pins P as a candidate for the welding position in the welding position identification process, extracts the luminance distribution on a line passing through the center positions C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate for the welding position, and identifies the position on the line where the luminance value is lowest between each metal pin P as the welding position W. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the welding position identification process, the control unit 110 does not have to assume the intermediate position of the pair of metal pins P as a candidate for the welding position, extracts the luminance distribution on a line passing through the center positions C of the pair of metal pins P and the candidate for the welding position, and identifies the position on the line where the luminance value is lowest between each metal pin P as the welding position W.

[0069] In the above-described embodiment, camera 50 has been described as being attached above welding jig 10 on a ceiling surface or the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and camera 50 may be built into welding head 30 and oriented in the same direction as the direction in which welding head 30 emits laser light. Camera 50 may also be attached to the outside of welding head 30. When camera 50 is built into welding head 30 or attached to the outside of welding head 30, control device 100 may rotate image data 122 in accordance with the attitude of welding head 30 (camera 50). [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 1 Welding position identification system 10 Welding fixture 30 Welding Head 50 Camera 100 Control device 110 Control section 112 Pin location identification unit 114 Center position identification part 116 Welding position identification part 120 Storage section 122 Image data 124 Teacher Data 126 Welding position identification program A rectangular area C center position CC center position candidate P Metal pin W Welding position

Claims

1. Equipped with a photographing unit and a control unit, The photographing unit is configured to be able to photograph an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins, The control unit is a pin position identification process for identifying the positions of each metal pin from the image data captured by the imaging unit; a welding position identification process for identifying welding positions of the pair of metal pins based on the identified positions of each metal pin; is configured to run Weld location system.

2. The pin position identification process includes: a pin position candidate specification process for specifying candidates for the positions of the metal pins from the image data; A center position determination process for determining the center position of each metal pin; Includes The weld location identification system of claim 1 .

3. The pin position candidate specifying process includes a pin area specifying process for specifying a rectangular area including the pair of metal pins by color detection from the image data. The weld location identification system of claim 2 .

4. In the pin area identification process, the control unit identifies the areas of the pair of metal pins by color detection in an HSV color space. The weld location identification system of claim 3 .

5. The pin position candidate specification process includes a center position candidate specification process for specifying candidates for the center positions of the metal pins from the image data by machine learning. The welding position identifying system according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. In the center position specifying process, the control unit specifies the center position of each metal pin based on a luminance change in at least two directions of the rectangular area specified in the pin area specifying process. The welding position identifying system according to claim 3 or 4.

7. The control unit identifies candidates for a center position of each metal pin based on a luminance change in a long side direction of the rectangular region, and identifies the center position of each metal pin based on a luminance change in a short side direction passing through the candidates for the center position. The weld location identification system of claim 6.

8. In the center position identification process, the control unit identifies the center position of each metal pin based on a color distribution around the center position candidate. The weld location identification system of claim 5 .

9. the pin position candidate specifying process includes a pin area specifying process for specifying a rectangular area including the pair of metal pins by color detection from the image data; the control unit is configured to be capable of executing a candidate identification determination process for determining whether or not a candidate for the center position has been identified by the machine learning, When the candidate for the center position is not identified, the center position identification process identifies the center position of each metal pin based on a luminance change within the rectangular region identified in the pin region identification process; When the candidate for the center position is identified, the center position is identified based on a color distribution around the candidate for the center position in the center position identification process. The weld location identification system of claim 5 .

10. In the welding position identification process, the control unit assumes a middle position between the pair of metal pins as a candidate for a welding position, A luminance distribution on a line passing through each center position of the pair of metal pins and the candidate welding position is extracted, and a position on the line where the luminance value between the metal pins is the lowest is specified as the welding position. The welding position identifying system according to claim 1 or 2.

11. an imaging step of imaging an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins by an imaging unit; a pin position identifying step of identifying the position of the metal pin from the captured image data; a welding position specifying step of specifying welding positions of the pair of metal pins; Equipped How to identify weld location.

12. an imaging process for imaging an area including at least a pair of adjacent metal pins with an imaging unit; a pin position identification process for identifying the position of the metal pin from the captured image data; a welding position identification process for identifying welding positions of the pair of metal pins; The control device executes Welding location identification program.

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