Automated Prosthetic Tooth Positioning via Image-Guided Gripper
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual handling of prosthetic teeth is time-consuming and prone to variations in positioning and quality, especially during sorting, inspection, and packaging, which affects the efficiency and consistency of the process.
Innovation Solution
An automated method using a modular system with a gripper or gripper arm controlled by a control unit to grasp prosthetic teeth at predefined points and position them accurately in a fully defined position, incorporating image recognition for grip point selection and automatic quality checks, enabling reproducible and consistent positioning and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual sorting and handling of prosthetic teeth is performed, then flexibility in handling different tooth types is maintained, but time consumption and positioning variations increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling with an automated robotic system that uses image recognition and computer-controlled positioning. The system captures images of prosthetic teeth, automatically identifies their types and orientations, and uses a robotic arm with adaptive grippers to position them precisely without manual intervention, thereby eliminating time consumption while maintaining handling flexibility through software control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables prosthetic teeth to be automatically identified and positioned based on their own visual characteristics. The image recognition system analyzes the teeth's features autonomously to determine their type, orientation, and correct placement position, allowing the system to serve itself without human decision-making, thus reducing time loss while preserving operational adaptability.
2Reliability
If manual quality inspection is performed on individual teeth, then quality assessment can be carried out, but positioning variations and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection with an automated image recognition system that captures high-resolution images of prosthetic teeth and uses computer algorithms to assess their quality, orientation, and type. This substitution eliminates the variability inherent in human inspection while maintaining reliable quality assessment, and simultaneously achieves precise, consistent positioning through robotic control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where image recognition continuously monitors the position and orientation of prosthetic teeth during the positioning process. The system compares the actual position with the target position and makes real-time adjustments to ensure precise placement, thereby improving manufacturing precision while maintaining quality assessment reliability.
3Productivity
If automated robotic positioning is implemented, then time consumption and positioning consistency improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a multi-functional robotic system that combines image recognition, automated gripping, adaptive positioning, and quality inspection in a single integrated platform. The robotic arm can handle different types of prosthetic teeth using the same basic mechanism, and the image recognition system can identify various tooth types through universal image processing algorithms, thereby improving productivity without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a computer control system as an intermediary that coordinates between the image recognition module, the robotic arm, and the positioning mechanism. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing the control logic and enabling modular design, where each component can be independently optimized while maintaining manageable system-level complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an automatic method for positioning a prosthetic tooth or artificial tooth using a modular system, said method having the following steps: providing a prosthetic tooth; automatically gripping a specific prosthetic tooth at at least one gripping point of a plurality of specified gripping points; and automatically positioning the gripped prosthetic tooth into a fully defined position relative to the modular system for subsequent machining steps.