Robot-Guided Wire Pickup Using 3D Vision Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in automated wire bundle assembly is the need to pick up wires from multiple different locations on a form board, despite uncertainty about the exact position and orientation of each wire.
Innovation Solution
A machine vision-based system is employed, which includes a robot arm, a tool head with a wire gripper motor, a wire holder, and cameras mounted on the robot arm. This system visually estimates the position and orientation of a contact-equipped wire held by a wire holder and generates robot guidance for automated pickup of the wire end section by a contact-insertion end effector.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automated wire pickup is performed without visual guidance, then the process is simpler and faster to implement, but the system cannot handle uncertainty in wire position and orientation
Solution Approach 1:
A machine vision system acts as an intermediary between the wire holder and the robot arm, providing visual feedback about wire position and orientation. The vision system captures images, processes them to determine wire location, and guides the robot arm for accurate pickup without requiring complex mechanical positioning mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements visual feedback by continuously monitoring wire position through camera imaging and using this information to adjust robot arm movements. The feedback loop enables the system to adapt to variations in wire placement and achieve reliable pickup despite positional uncertainties
2Measurement precision
If the robot arm is equipped with multiple cameras for visual guidance, then wire position detection accuracy improves, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple cameras positioned at different angles to capture wire position information from multiple dimensions. By combining views from different perspectives, the system achieves three-dimensional position reconstruction and improved measurement accuracy without requiring a single complex high-precision camera
3Manufacturing precision
If visual feedback is used to guide wire pickup, then accuracy improves despite position uncertainty, but the processing time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary imaging and position determination before the wire pickup operation. By capturing images and calculating wire position in advance, the system prepares the robot arm trajectory beforehand, reducing actual execution time and minimizing processing delays during the critical pickup moment
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for automated wire pickup using image-based robot guidance. The machine vision-based system includes: a robot arm; a tool head coupled to the distal end of the robot arm and including a wire gripper motor; a wire gripper movably coupled to the tool head and operatively coupled to the wire gripper motor; a wire holder configured for clamping a wire; camera means mounted to the distal end of the robot arm and having first and second fields of view which intersect in a volume of space that includes the tip of the wire gripper and the wire holder; and a computer system configured to control operation of the robot arm motors and wire gripper motor. More specifically, the computer system is configured for visually estimating the position and orientation of a contact-equipped wire being held by the wire holder and then generating robot guidance to enable automated pickup of the end section of the wire by the wire gripper.