Robot Image Capture Timing Using Simulated Retraction Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
In pick-and-place devices, it is challenging to reduce cycle time due to the variability in the timing of the robot arm's retraction from the workpiece group, leading to inefficient image capture and increased costs with additional sensors.
Innovation Solution
A robot control device that includes an obtaining unit, simulation unit, and control unit to simulate the robot's operation and control image capture based on defined image capture forbidden spaces, ensuring the robot is retracted from areas where it overlaps with the workpiece group, allowing for timely and accurate image capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If image capture is started at a fixed timing (e.g., a few seconds later after workpiece pickup) to ensure the robot arm is retracted, then the reliability of image capture is improved, but the cycle time increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary simulation of the robot arm's movement trajectory and calculates the exact timing when the arm will be retracted from the image capture forbidden space. This allows the image sensor to start capturing at the precise moment the robot arm clears the workspace, rather than waiting for a fixed delayed time, thereby improving productivity while maintaining capture reliability.
2Productivity
If a separate sensor is added to specify the timing when the robot arm is retracted, then the productivity is improved by enabling timely image capture, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the robot arm in a simulation environment that mirrors the real robot's movement characteristics. By simulating the robot arm's trajectory and calculating when it will clear the image capture forbidden space, the system obtains timing information without adding physical sensors, thus improving productivity while avoiding increased device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical sensor-based detection approach with a computational simulation approach. Instead of using additional physical sensors to detect when the robot arm is retracted, the system uses virtual simulation and mathematical calculation to determine the retraction timing, thereby avoiding increased device complexity while achieving the desired productivity improvement.
3Measurement precision
If image capture is delayed to ensure the robot arm is not in the image, then the image quality is improved, but the cycle time increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary simulation of the robot arm's movement to precisely calculate when the arm will clear the image capture forbidden space. This allows the image sensor to start capturing at the exact moment the robot arm is no longer in the image, ensuring image quality without unnecessary delays, thereby improving productivity while maintaining image quality.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided are a robot control device, a robot control method, and a robot control program that can promptly obtain a captured image at a timing at which a robot has been retracted from an image capture forbidden space in which an image is potentially captured with the robot overlapping each other a workpiece group to be handled by the robot. A robot control device 10 includes an obtaining unit 30 configured to obtain, from an image sensor S configured to capture the workpiece group to be handled by a robot RB, the captured image, a simulation unit 32 configured to simulate operation of the robot RB, and a control unit 34 configured to perform control such that an image captured by the image sensor S is obtained if, in the simulation, the robot is retracted from at least one image capture forbidden space, in which an image is potentially captured with the workpiece group and the robot overlapping each other, the image capture forbidden space being a space set based on either or both a first space, which is the visual field range of the image sensor S, and at least one columnar second space, which is obtained by taking a workpiece region including the workpiece group or each of a plurality of divided regions into which the workpiece region is divided, as a bottom area, and extending the bottom area to the position of the image sensor.