Robotic Vision Guidance for Predictive Feature Tracking in Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automotive assembly line operations face challenges due to movement irregularities and vibrations, which hinder accurate tracking and repeatability of robot motion control during final trim and assembly tasks, making traditional teach and repeat position-based systems ineffective.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a vision guidance system with mounted vision devices that monitor and predict the location of tracking features on workpieces, using both moving and static vision devices to track and predict the pose of workpieces, combining data to maintain accurate tracking despite interference and noise, and guide robot movements for precise assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional teach and repeat position based robot motion control is used, then the system is simple to operate, but the repeatability and accuracy of robot movements deteriorate due to movement irregularities and vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously captures images of tracking features on the workpiece, detects their positions, and uses this feedback information to predict and compensate for movement irregularities and vibrations in real-time, thereby maintaining high repeatability and accuracy despite the added system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary tracking and prediction of workpiece position and orientation before the robot executes its motion, allowing the robot to adapt its movements in advance to compensate for anticipated irregularities and vibrations
2Measurement precision
If vision devices are used to track workpiece position, then the accuracy of tracking improves, but the system becomes more complex and computationally intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and tracks specific distinctive features on the workpiece rather than processing the entire image, reducing computational complexity while maintaining high tracking accuracy by focusing only on the most informative elements
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses multiple vision devices to provide redundant tracking information, which improves measurement precision through data fusion while the computational load is managed by processing only the essential tracking data from each device
3Productivity
If the robot moves continuously on a moving line, then productivity increases, but movement irregularities and vibrations increase, reducing tracking accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The vision system continuously monitors the workpiece position and provides real-time feedback about movement irregularities and vibrations, enabling the system to compensate for these disturbances and maintain consistent positioning accuracy despite continuous motion on the assembly line
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts to the changing conditions of continuous motion by adjusting its tracking and prediction algorithms in real-time, allowing the robot to maintain accurate positioning even as the workpiece moves through the assembly line with varying speeds and vibrations
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for predicting the location at which a feature that is being tracked during a robotic assembly operation will be located within one or more images captured by a vision device. A vision device can be mounted to a robot such that the location of the vision device as the robot moves can be known or determined. In the event of an interruption of the tracking of the feature by the vision device as the corresponding workpiece is moving, the location of the feature relative to a vision device can be predicted, such as, via use of current or past historical movement information for the feature and/or the associated workpiece. Using the predicted location of the feature and the known location of the vision device, the location at which the feature will be located in an image(s) captured by the vision device can be predicted.