Robot Article Arraying with Vision Pattern Generation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for rearranging articles from a random to a regular arrangement using robots are inefficient and often require specialized robots, lacking in flexibility and general-purpose applicability.
Innovation Solution
A robot-based article arraying device that utilizes a vision sensor to obtain position information, generates an arrangement pattern, and executes picking and arraying motions to rearrange articles into a regular configuration, allowing for the use of general-purpose robots and minimizing interference between articles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a robot picks up and transfers articles one by one from random arrangement to regular arrangement, then the articles can be rearranged to a regular arrangement, but the working efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of all articles' positions and orientations using a vision sensor before any picking operation begins. An arrangement pattern is pre-calculated based on detected article positions, allowing the robot to execute efficient picking and placing operations without real-time decision delays, thereby improving working efficiency and reducing total operation time.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a specialized robot with specific configuration is used for article arraying, then the arraying operation can be performed, but the system lacks flexibility and general-purpose applicability
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a general-purpose robot equipped with a standard gripper that can handle various types of articles. The control system generates picking and placing motions based on vision-detected article positions and a calculated arrangement pattern, allowing the same robot configuration to perform arraying operations for different article types without requiring specialized mechanical structures, thereby achieving versatility while maintaining simple device complexity.
3Productivity
If multiple robots are used to pick up articles simultaneously from different areas, then the transfer speed is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The image area detected by the vision sensor is divided into multiple areas, and the arrangement pattern is correspondingly segmented. A single robot sequentially picks up articles from different areas according to the segmented arrangement pattern, achieving efficient article transfer without requiring multiple simultaneous robots. This segmentation approach maintains productivity while avoiding the complexity of coordinating multiple robots.
Data Source
AI summary
An article arraying device including a robot; a vision sensor for obtaining position information of each of randomly arranged articles; an arrangement pattern generating section for generating an arrangement pattern by using the position information, the arrangement pattern including pattern elements in a regular arrangement, in such a manner that any one of the pattern elements coincides with a position of a reference article in the randomly arranged articles; a picking motion generating section for generating a picking motion by using the position information, the robot picking up by the picking motion an article other than the reference article; an arraying motion generating section for generating an arraying motion, the robot placing by the arraying motion the picked-up article in a position juxtaposed to the reference article in accordance with the arrangement pattern; and a robot controlling section for controlling the picking motion and the arraying motion.