Assembly assisting system
The assembly assistance system with a collaborative robot addresses labor-intensive and error-prone assembly issues by inspecting and complementing assembly work, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in large industrial machine assembly.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- FANUC LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-17
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-23
AI Technical Summary
Conventional assembly of large industrial machines is labor-intensive and prone to errors due to complex operations, increased manufacturing costs with multiple robots, and inefficiencies in mapping and guiding for mobile robots, with final inspections often incomplete and requiring manual reporting.
An assembly assistance system featuring a collaborative robot with an inspection unit, supplementary control unit, and storage unit that inspects, complements, and stores the assembly work status, including screw tightening and position verification, and integrates with a server for centralized management.
Enhances assembly efficiency by reducing human error, improving work completion accuracy, and facilitating centralized management of assembly data, thereby optimizing the assembly process for large industrial equipment.
Smart Images

Figure JP2025001444_23072026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Assembly assistance system
[0001] The present disclosure relates to an assembly assistance system.
[0002] Conventionally, in the assembly work of a plurality of large industrial machines (for example, injection molding machines, etc.), workers need to perform the assembly work while moving. When workers perform complex operations such as setting parts and temporarily tightening screws, if the number of screws increases, workers may forget or make mistakes in the work.
[0003] In order to reduce the labor of such workers, the use of collaborative robots can be mentioned (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-044619
[0005] However, in the case of conventional collaborative robots, when multiple robots are installed on the assembly line during the assembly of a plurality of large industrial machines, installing the assembly line increases the manufacturing cost.
[0006] When installing a robot on an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), it is necessary to install guiding members such as magnetic tapes and optical reflection tapes on the moving path of the AGV, but the installation of guiding members is costly.
[0007] Also, an AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot: autonomous mobile transport robot) requires the creation of a map in advance. However, in the case of a plurality of large industrial machines, since the working location is difficult to fix, it takes time to reinstall the robot. When the installation location of industrial machines is indefinite, it also takes time to create a map for the AMR.
[0008] After the collaborative work between the robot and the worker, the final inspection such as screw tightening is often performed by the worker, but the worker may forget to perform the work. Also, after the work of the assembly machine is completed, it is a burden for the worker to input the work information report to another place.
[0009] Thus, in the assembly work of large industrial machines, an assembly assistance system that collaborates with workers to perform the assembly work and assists the workers' assembly work is desired.
[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure is an assembly assistance system having a collaborative robot equipped with a mobile device, comprising: an inspection unit for inspecting the work status of assembly work of industrial equipment to be assembled; a supplementary control unit for supplementing the assembly work based on the inspection results of the inspection; and a storage unit for storing the work completion status of the industrial equipment to be assembled after the completion of the assembly work.
[0011] One aspect of the present disclosure is an assembly assistance system having a collaborative robot equipped with a mobile device, comprising: an inspection unit that inspects the work status after an worker has performed work in the assembly of industrial equipment to be assembled; a supplementary control unit that complements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the inspection; and a storage unit that stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment to be assembled after the completion of the assembly work.
[0012] This is a schematic diagram of an assembly assistance system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This is a diagram showing a specific example of the assembly assistance system according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the processing of the assembly assistance system according to the first embodiment. This is a diagram showing a specific example of the assembly assistance system according to the second embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the processing of the assembly assistance system according to the second embodiment.
[0013] Hereinafter, an assembly assistance system 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the assembly assistance system 1 according to the present embodiment.
[0014] The assembly assistance system 1 is used to assist in the assembly of industrial equipment 2. Industrial equipment 2 is a relatively large piece of industrial equipment, such as machine tools like lathes, drilling machines, milling machines, grinding machines, cutting machines, electrical discharge machines, laser processing machines, and injection molding machines, or industrial robots. Industrial equipment 2 is assembled through collaborative work between an operator and the assembly assistance system 1. In the following embodiments, industrial equipment 2 is mainly assumed to be an injection molding machine, but the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to injection molding machines.
[0015] The assembly assistance system 1 comprises a collaborative robot 10 and a server 20. The collaborative robot 10 has functions such as a contact stop function, a retraction mode function, and a reversal movement function, and can work safely in cooperation with a human. The contact stop function is a function that immediately stops when it comes into contact with a person with a light force (for example, 10 to 20 N (i.e., 1 to 2 kgf)). The retraction mode function is a function that allows the arms of the collaborative robot 10 to be retracted on each axis by, for example, a person pushing the arms of the collaborative robot 10. The reversal movement function is a function that reduces pinching by immediately reversing the arms when the collaborative robot 10 comes into contact with a hard object.
[0016] Furthermore, the collaborative robot 10 includes a robot control device 101, a storage device 102, a communication unit 103, a movable device 104, a moving device 105, an external force detection unit 106, an inspection unit 107, an instruction receiving unit 108, a robot vision unit 109, and a screw storage unit 110.
[0017] The robot control device 101 is a computer composed of hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and other arithmetic processing means, auxiliary storage means such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) for storing various computer programs, main memory means such as RAM (Random Access Memory) for storing data temporarily required when the arithmetic processing means executes computer programs, operating means such as a keyboard for the operator to perform various operations, and display means such as a display for displaying various information to the operator. The robot control device 101 is capable of sending and receiving various signals to and from each other, for example, via Ethernet (registered trademark).
[0018] The storage device 102 is composed of an external storage device such as an HDD or SSD, and stores a robot control program for controlling the operation of the collaborative robot 10. Furthermore, as will be described later, the storage device 102 stores the completion status of the work to be assembled for the industrial equipment 2 after the assembly work is completed.
[0019] The communication unit 103 is a communication interface for communicating with external devices such as the server 20 via a network. The communication unit 103 includes a processor, connectors, electrical circuits, etc., for performing communication.
[0020] The movable device 104 consists of a robot arm, a robot hand, a servo motor, a tool attached to the robot hand, a torque wrench, etc. The movable device 104 performs various operations according to commands from the robot control device 101. The movable device 104 may be able to switch between multiple robot hands, tools, etc., depending on the application. The movable device 104 may be able to switch between multiple torque wrenches, depending on the type of screw used in the assembly work.
[0021] In other words, the movable device 104 may further tighten screws that have been temporarily fastened with a torque wrench. Alternatively, the movable device 104 may use a tool or robotic hand to retrieve screws from the screw storage section 110, attach the screws to the industrial equipment 2, and then tighten them. Furthermore, the movable device 104 may perform collaborative tasks with an operator, such as tightening screws in hard-to-reach places or tightening screws on cover members that the operator is holding by hand.
[0022] The moving device 105 consists of wheels, a drive mechanism, a positioning mechanism that determines the relative relationship between the collaborative robot 10 and the worker and / or industrial equipment 2, and a fixing device that fixes the collaborative robot 10 to the position determined by the positioning mechanism. The moving device 105 moves and stops the collaborative robot 10 in accordance with commands from the robot control device 101.
[0023] The external force detection unit 106 is composed of, for example, a torque sensor, a force sensor, etc. In other words, the collaborative robot 10 detects contact with a person using the external force detection unit 106, and the robot control device 101 stops the operation of the collaborative robot 10 in accordance with the external force detected by the external force detection unit 106. As a result, the collaborative robot 10 can work safely in cooperation with a person.
[0024] The inspection unit 107 consists of a camera, sensors, etc., and inspects all or part of the work performed by the worker during the assembly of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled (for example, screw tightening). The inspection unit 107 may also inspect the work performed by the worker after the assembly of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled (for example, screw tightening).
[0025] Specifically, the inspection unit 107 may use a camera to capture images of screws that have been tightened by an operator in the industrial equipment 2, and determine whether the screws that have been tightened by the operator are properly tightened based on the captured data and pre-stored image data of screws when tightening is performed correctly.
[0026] Furthermore, the inspection unit 107 may use a camera to image the screw that has been temporarily fastened by the worker, and determine that the screw is temporarily fastened based on the image data and pre-stored image data of the screw when it was temporarily fastened.
[0027] Furthermore, the inspection unit 107 may determine, based on the image data of the screws captured as described above, that there are no screws in the industrial equipment 2 at the positions where the screws should be installed by the worker. After inspecting the work status of the assembly work as described above, the inspection unit 107 transmits the inspection results to the robot control device 101.
[0028] The instruction receiving unit 108 is composed of a microphone, a camera, etc., and receives assembly work instructions from the worker. The instruction receiving unit 108 receives the worker's voice through the microphone and transmits the received voice data to the robot control device 101. The robot control device 101 may analyze the voice data to recognize the assembly work instructions from the worker and execute the assembly work. Alternatively, the instruction receiving unit 108 may capture the worker's gestures with the camera and transmit the captured image data to the robot control device 101. The robot control device 101 may analyze the image data to recognize the assembly work instructions from the worker and execute the assembly work.
[0029] The robot vision unit 109 is composed of, for example, a camera, and captures an image of the exterior of the industrial equipment 2. Based on the captured data and data for the assembly work of the industrial equipment 2 that is pre-stored in the storage device 102, it determines the starting position for tightening screws during the assembly work.
[0030] The screw storage section 110 is configured to accommodate a large number of screws used for screw fastening as part of the assembly work of the industrial equipment 2. The screws stored in the screw storage section 110 are removed by the movable device 104 and attached to the industrial equipment 2.
[0031] Furthermore, the robot control device 101 includes a supplementary control unit 1011 and a follow-up control unit 1012. The supplementary control unit 1011 supplements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the work status by the inspection unit 107. After the assembly work is completed, the supplementary control unit 1011 stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled in the storage device 102.
[0032] The tracking control unit 1012 recognizes the worker based on the images captured by the cameras provided by the inspection unit 107, instruction reception unit 108, and robot vision unit 109, and controls the moving device 105 to follow the recognized worker.
[0033] Furthermore, if the inspection result of the work status indicates that the screw has been loosely fastened by the worker, the auxiliary control unit 1011 may control the movable device 104 to tighten the loosely fastened screw. If the inspection result of the work status indicates that a screw has been forgotten to be tightened, the auxiliary control unit 1011 may control the movable device 104 to tighten the screw that has been forgotten to be tightened. If the inspection result of the work status indicates that the torque for tightening the screw is insufficient, the auxiliary control unit 1011 may control the movable device 104 to tighten the screw further.
[0034] Furthermore, the complementary control unit 1011, in addition to complementing the assembly work, executes tasks received by the instruction receiving unit 108. In addition to complementing the assembly work, if the complementary control unit 1011 receives a request from the instruction receiving unit 108 for a parts transport operation, it executes the parts transport operation using the movable device 104 and the moving device 105. Also, in addition to complementing the assembly work, if the complementary control unit 1011 receives a request from the instruction receiving unit 108 for a screw tightening operation, it executes the screw tightening operation using the movable device 104.
[0035] The collaborative robot 10 may follow the worker and perform assembly work based on the relative positional relationship between the worker and the collaborative robot. After the assembly work is completed, if the worker moves to another industrial equipment 2 to be assembled, the collaborative robot 10 may move with the worker to the other industrial equipment 2 to be assembled and inspect the completion status of the worker's assembly work.
[0036] The inspection unit 107 inspects the screw tightening work status as part of the assembly work, and the collaborative robot 10 may also include a robot vision unit 109 that determines the starting position for screw tightening in the assembly work, and a screw storage unit 110 that stores screws for screw tightening.
[0037] In this case, the inspection unit 107 sequentially inspects the screw tightening work status from the screw tightening start position determined by the robot vision unit 109. Based on the inspection results, the complementary control unit 1011 may retighten the screw to reach a predetermined value if the screw tightening torque does not reach a predetermined value indicating that the screw is properly tightened. Furthermore, based on the inspection results, the complementary control unit 1011 may use the movable device 104 to remove the screw from the screw storage unit 110 and retighten the screw to the predetermined position if the screw is not in a predetermined position indicating that the screw is properly installed.
[0038] The communication unit 103 outputs the work completion status information described above to the server 20. The server 20 receives the work completion status information output from the communication unit 103 and stores the received work completion status information in the server 20's storage device.
[0039] [First Embodiment] Next, the assembly assistance system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of the assembly assistance system 1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the collaborative robot 10 performs an assembly (or a process accompanying the assembly) operation together with an operator. The complementary control unit 1011 of the collaborative robot 10 complements the assembly operation based on the inspection result of the work situation by the inspection unit 107.
[0040] The timing of the inspection of the work situation by the inspection unit 107 is not particularly limited. For example, the timing of the inspection of the work situation may be when the operator 3 has partially completed the assembly operation, or may be after the entire operation is completed. Also, the timing of the inspection of the work situation may be after the operations of the plurality of industrial machines 2 are completed.
[0041] For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the operator 3 has completed the screw tightening operation of a part of the injection molding machine as the industrial machine 2 and started the assembly operation of other parts.
[0042] In this case, the collaborative robot 10 inspects the work situation of the screw tightening of a part of the injection molding machine. If the inspection result indicates that the torque of the screw tightening is not sufficient, the collaborative robot 10 tightens the screw with insufficient torque more tightly.
[0043] Also, triggered by the scanning of a QR code (registered trademark) or the like, the communication unit 103 of the collaborative robot 10 may output information on the work completion status to the server 20.
[0044] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the assembly assistance system according to the first embodiment. In step S1, the collaborative robot 10 moves following the operator 3. In step S2, the collaborative robot 10 starts the assembly operation. The robot vision unit 109 of the collaborative robot 10 determines, for example, the screw tightening start position in the assembly operation.
[0045] In step S3, the inspection unit 107 inspects the work situation of the assembly operation (for example, screw tightening) of the industrial machine 2 scheduled for assembly.
[0046] In step S4, when the inspection result indicates that the assembly work is incomplete (YES), the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, when the inspection result indicates that the assembly work is complete (NO), the process proceeds to step S6.
[0047] In step S5, the complement control unit 1011 complements the assembly work based on the inspection result of the work status by the inspection unit 107. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the complement control unit 1011 controls the movable device 104 to tighten the screws with insufficient torque more tightly.
[0048] In step S6, after the completion of the assembly work, the complement control unit 1011 stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment 2 scheduled for assembly in the storage device 102. The communication unit 103 outputs the information on the work completion status to the server 20. The server 20 receives the information on the work completion status output from the communication unit 103 and stores the received information on the work completion status in the storage device of the server 20.
[0049] In step S7, when the worker 3 moves to the next work location, the collaborative robot 10 follows the worker and moves to the next work location. The assembly assistance system 1 according to the present embodiment repeats steps S1 to S7 as described above until all the assembly work is completed.
[0050] According to the first embodiment, the following effects are achieved. The assembly assistance system 1 for the industrial equipment 2 having the collaborative robot 10 provided with the moving device 105 includes an inspection unit 107 that inspects the work status of the worker in the assembly work of the industrial equipment 2 scheduled for assembly, a complement control unit 1011 that complements the assembly work based on the inspection result, and a storage device 102 that stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment 2 scheduled for assembly after the completion of the assembly work.
[0051] By having such a configuration, the assembly assistance system 1 can perform the assembly work in cooperation with the worker in the assembly work of the large industrial equipment 2 such as an injection molding machine by inspecting all or part of the work status, and can assist the worker's assembly work such as forgetting to tighten the screws and insufficient torque.
[0052] Furthermore, the assembly assistance system 1 for industrial equipment 2, which has a collaborative robot 10 equipped with a mobile device 105, includes an inspection unit 107 that inspects the work status after the worker has completed the assembly work of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled, a supplementary control unit 1011 that supplements the assembly work based on the inspection results, and a storage device 102 that stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled after the assembly work is completed.
[0053] By having this configuration, the assembly support system 1 can inspect the work status after the work is completed, thereby working in cooperation with the worker during the assembly of large industrial equipment 2 such as injection molding machines, and can also assist the worker in their assembly work, such as correcting forgotten screws or insufficient torque.
[0054] Furthermore, the assembly assistance system 1 is further equipped with an instruction receiving unit 108 that receives instructions for assembly work to the collaborative robot 10. The complementary control unit 1011 complements the assembly work and also executes the work received by the instruction receiving unit 108. With this configuration, the assembly assistance system 1 can have the collaborative robot 10 perform the work desired by the worker, further improving work efficiency.
[0055] Furthermore, in the assembly assistance system 1, the inspection unit 107 inspects the screw tightening work status as part of the assembly work, and the collaborative robot 10 includes a robot vision unit 109 that determines the starting position for screw tightening in the assembly work, and a screw storage unit 110 that stores screws for screw tightening. The inspection unit 107 sequentially inspects the screw tightening work status from the starting position for screw tightening determined by the robot vision unit 109, and the complementary control unit 1011, based on the inspection results, may retighten the screws to reach the predetermined value if the screw tightening torque does not reach a predetermined value indicating that the screws are properly tightened. In addition, based on the inspection results, if the screws are not in a predetermined position indicating that the screws are properly installed, the complementary control unit 1011 may use the movable device 104 to remove the screws from the screw storage unit 110 and retighten the screws to the predetermined position.
[0056] By having such a configuration, the assembly assistance system 1 can work in cooperation with the worker during screw tightening as part of the assembly work, and can also assist the worker in their assembly work, such as correcting forgotten screws or insufficient torque.
[0057] Furthermore, the assembly support system 1 is further equipped with a communication unit 103 that outputs information on the work completion status to the server 20. With this configuration, the assembly support system 1 can store information on the work completion status, and the server 20 can manage this information centrally, thereby improving the efficiency of managing assembly work information.
[0058] [Second Embodiment] Next, an assembly assistance system 1 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the assembly assistance system 1 according to the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the collaborative robot 10 performs assembly (or processing associated with assembly) work together with the worker. The complementary control unit 1011 of the collaborative robot 10 complements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the work status by the inspection unit 107.
[0059] The second embodiment performs the same operations as the first embodiment, but differs in that it assembles not only industrial equipment 2, as in the first embodiment, but also industrial equipment 2-M and 2-N. In the description of the second embodiment, the same configuration and operation as in the first embodiment will be omitted.
[0060] For example, in the example shown in Figure 4, it is assumed that worker 3 completes the screw tightening work on the injection molding machine as industrial equipment 2-M and moves on to the assembly work on the injection molding machine as industrial equipment 2-N.
[0061] In this case, the collaborative robot 10 inspects the screw tightening work status of the industrial equipment 2-M. If the inspection result indicates that the screw tightening torque is insufficient, the collaborative robot 10 further tightens the screws that are not sufficiently tightened as a supplement to the assembly work. Then, the collaborative robot 10 inspects the work status of the industrial equipment 2-M again. If the inspection result indicates that the work is complete, the collaborative robot 10 follows the worker 3 and moves to the industrial equipment 2-N.
[0062] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the assembly assistance system according to the second embodiment. In step S11, the collaborative robot 10 moves in accordance with the worker 3 during the assembly of the industrial equipment 2-M. In step S12, the collaborative robot 10 starts the assembly of the industrial equipment 2-M. The robot vision unit 109 of the collaborative robot 10 determines, for example, the starting position for tightening screws during the assembly work.
[0063] In step S13, the inspection unit 107 inspects the work status of the assembly process (for example, screw tightening) of the industrial equipment 2 to be assembled.
[0064] In step S14, if the inspection result indicates that the assembly of industrial equipment 2-M is incomplete (YES), the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, if the inspection result indicates that the assembly is complete (NO), the process proceeds to step S16.
[0065] In step S15, the supplementary control unit 1011 supplements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the work status by the inspection unit 107. For example, in the example shown in Figure 4, the supplementary control unit 1011 controls the movable device 104 to further tighten screws that do not have sufficient torque.
[0066] In step S16, after the completion of the assembly work, the complementary control unit 1011 stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment 2-M to be assembled in the storage device 102. The communication unit 103 outputs the work completion status information to the server 20. The server 20 receives the work completion status information output from the communication unit 103 and stores the received work completion status information in the server 20's storage device.
[0067] In step S17, when worker 3 moves to the next work location, industrial equipment 2-N, the collaborative robot 10 follows the worker and moves to industrial equipment 2-N. The assembly assistance system 1 according to this embodiment repeats steps S11 to S17 as described above until all assembly work is completed.
[0068] According to the second embodiment, the collaborative robot 10 may follow the worker and perform assembly work based on the relative positional relationship between the worker and the collaborative robot 10. After the completion of the assembly work, if the worker moves to another industrial equipment 2 to be assembled, the collaborative robot 10 may move with the worker to the other industrial equipment 2 to be assembled and inspect the completion status of the worker's assembly work.
[0069] By having such a configuration, the assembly support system 1 can perform assembly work in cooperation with workers in the assembly of distributed industrial equipment (for example, industrial equipment 2-M and 2-N), and can also assist the workers in their assembly work.
[0070] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the assembly assistance system 1 described above can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the control method performed by the assembly assistance system 1 described above can also be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Here, realization by software means realization by a computer reading and executing a program.
[0071] Programs can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitor computer-readable media. Non-transitor computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitor computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / Ws, and semiconductor memory (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs (random access memory)).
[0072] While this disclosure has been described in detail, it is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. These embodiments can be added, replaced, modified, partially deleted, etc., in any way that does not depart from the gist of this disclosure or from the spirit of this disclosure derived from the claims and their equivalents. Furthermore, these embodiments can be implemented in combination. For example, the order of operations and processes in the embodiments described above are shown as examples only and are not limited thereto. The same applies when numerical values or mathematical formulas are used in the description of the embodiments described above.
[0073] With respect to the above embodiments and modifications, the following additional notes are disclosed. (Addendum 1) An assembly assistance system (1) having a collaborative robot (10) equipped with a mobile device (105), comprising: an inspection unit (107) that inspects the work status of an operator in the assembly work of industrial equipment (2) to be assembled; a supplementary control unit (1011) that complements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the inspection; and a storage unit (102) that stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment to be assembled after the completion of the assembly work. (Note 2) An assembly assistance system (1) having a collaborative robot (10) equipped with a mobile device (105), comprising: an inspection unit (107) that inspects the work status after the worker has worked on the assembly work of the industrial equipment (2) to be assembled; a supplementary control unit (1011) that supplements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the inspection; and a storage unit (102) that stores the work completion status of the industrial equipment to be assembled after the completion of the assembly work. (Note 3) An assembly assistance system (1) according to Note 1 or 2, further comprising an instruction receiving unit (108) that receives instructions for the assembly work to the collaborative robot (10), wherein the supplementary control unit (1011) performs the work received by the instruction receiving unit (108) in addition to supplementing the assembly work. (Note 4) The assembly assistance system (1) described in Note 1 or 2, wherein the collaborative robot (10) follows the worker and performs the assembly work based on the relative positional relationship between the worker and the collaborative robot (10), and after the completion of the assembly work, if the worker moves to another industrial equipment to be assembled, the collaborative robot (10) moves with the worker to the other industrial equipment to be assembled and inspects the completion status of the worker's assembly work.(Note 5) The assembly assistance system (1) according to Note 1 or 2, further comprising: an inspection unit (107) which inspects the status of screw tightening as part of the assembly work; a collaborative robot (10) which comprises: a robot vision unit (109) which determines the starting position for screw tightening in the assembly work; and a screw storage unit (110) which stores screws for screw tightening; the inspection unit (107) which, based on the inspection results of the work status, sequentially inspects the status of screw tightening from the starting position for screw tightening established by the robot vision unit (109); the complementary control unit (1011) which, if the screw tightening torque does not reach a predetermined value during screw tightening, further tightens the screws to reach the predetermined value; and if the screws are not in a predetermined position during screw tightening, takes the screws out of the screw storage unit and further tightens the screws in the predetermined position. (Note 6) The assembly assistance system (1) according to Note 5, further comprising: a communication unit (103) which outputs information on the completion status of the work to a server (20).
[0074] 1 Assembly support system 2 Industrial equipment 10 Collaborative robot 20 Server 101 Robot control device 102 Storage device 103 Communication unit 104 Movable device 105 Moving device 106 External force detection unit 107 Inspection unit 108 Instruction reception unit 109 Robot vision unit 110 Screw storage unit 1011 Complementary control unit 1012 Follow-up control unit
Claims
1. An assembly assistance system having a collaborative robot equipped with a mobile device, comprising: an inspection unit that inspects the work status of an operator performing assembly work on industrial equipment to be assembled; a supplementary control unit that complements the assembly work based on the inspection results of the inspection; and a storage unit that stores the completion status of the work on the industrial equipment to be assembled after the completion of the assembly work.
2. An assembly assistance system having a collaborative robot equipped with a mobile device, comprising: an inspection unit that inspects the work status after an worker has completed an assembly task of an industrial machine to be assembled; a supplementary control unit that complements the assembly task based on the inspection results; and a storage unit that stores the completion status of the work of the industrial machine to be assembled after the completion of the assembly task.
3. The assembly assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an instruction receiving unit that receives instructions for the assembly work to the collaborative robot, wherein the complementary control unit performs the work received by the instruction receiving unit in addition to complementing the assembly work.
4. The assembly assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the collaborative robot follows the worker and performs the assembly work based on the relative positional relationship between the worker and the collaborative robot, and after the completion of the assembly work, if the worker moves to another industrial equipment to be assembled, the collaborative robot moves with the worker to the other industrial equipment to be assembled and inspects the completion status of the worker's assembly work.
5. The assembly assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inspection unit inspects the status of screw tightening as part of the assembly work, the collaborative robot comprises a robot vision unit for determining the starting position of screw tightening in the assembly work, and a screw storage unit for storing screws for screw tightening, the inspection unit sequentially inspects the status of screw tightening from the starting position of screw tightening established by the robot vision unit based on the inspection results of the work status, the complementary control unit, if the screw tightening torque does not reach a predetermined value during screw tightening, tightens the screws further to reach the predetermined value, and if the screws are not in a predetermined position during screw tightening, removes the screws from the screw storage unit and tightens the screws further at the predetermined position.
6. The assembly assistance system according to claim 5, further comprising a communication unit that outputs information on the completion status of the work to a server.