CN112010021B

CN112010021B - Workpiece conveying system, workpiece positioning system and positioning method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112010021B
Application number: CN201910470291.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李大源; 林志成; 周超; 张民奇
Original assignee: Ningbo Sunny Opotech Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ningbo Sunny Opotech Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-31
Filing date: 2019-05-31
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-31
Also published as: WO2020238538A1; CN112010021A

Abstract

The present invention provides a workpiece handling system adapted to transfer a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising: a starting position material taking device, wherein the starting position material taking device is positioned at the starting position, and the starting position material taking device obtains a starting position condition in the process of taking the workpiece from the starting position; a terminal position material drawing device, wherein the terminal position material drawing device is positioned at the terminal position, and the terminal position material drawing device obtains a terminal position condition and a workpiece condition in the process of placing the workpiece to the terminal position; and a transfer unit, wherein the transfer unit is communicably connected to the start position drawing device and the end position drawing device, respectively, wherein the transfer unit obtains the start position condition and takes the workpiece, wherein the transfer unit obtains the workpiece condition and the end position condition and pertinently places the workpiece at the end position. The invention further provides a workpiece positioning system and a method thereof, wherein the workpiece is accurately aligned with the preset position in the process of taking and placing the workpiece in the production flow, so that the workpiece is accurately placed.

Description

Workpiece conveying system, workpiece positioning system and positioning method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to an automatic production system, in particular to an industrial production system and a positioning method for transporting and positioning workpieces.

Background

In industrial production, workpieces are required to be transported and transported, and the workpieces can go through various processing procedures until the workpieces are tested to be qualified and then delivered. In a production environment, large-scale equipment is fixed, and workpieces need to be circulated among different equipment so as to finish different operations of the different equipment. Taking the camera module as an example, the camera module after being manufactured cannot be directly installed in the use equipment based on the fact that the camera module has a plurality of unstable factors in production. Every module of making a video recording all need be carried out different performance index's test then, can not the shipment to the module of making a video recording that does not satisfy the requirement. For the manufacturer, the yield of the product is very important, and the yield of the shipped product is more critical. Therefore, in the production of the camera module, all products are basically adopted to carry out all index tests. This means that a large number of workpieces need to undergo multiple passes or multiple test devices.

The existing manual workpiece transportation has time and cost consideration, and the precision can not meet the requirement. To efficient production requirement, automatic mechanized transportation operation is indispensable, and unit production time not only can be reduced, and the time of whole production work is not restricted by artifical rest, and precision and reliability can all promote moreover.

However, there are still many problems with existing mechanical transportation, as shown in fig. 1.

First, most of the flow lines are intended and not designed for each workpiece. In this case, the workpiece such as the camera module can achieve the effect of mass production, but the position of each workpiece is difficult to grasp. In particular, the camera module itself is small in size, and the camera module which is manufactured is easily damaged by being taken strongly. Particularly for the testing process, the relative position of each workpiece is important and may affect the testing result. In addition, the position of the camera module is difficult to observe and adjust in real time, and the situation that the placing angle or the left and right positions slightly deviate is likely to occur, so that the matching degree is not high, and the placing is not accurate. In addition, the placement process is not monitorable, visual inspection is difficult, and more time is delayed.

Secondly, the existing mechanical transportation relies on guiding positioning or sensing feedback to acquire position information. However, error accumulation is also quite feared, and the resulting batch of positioning information is of little value. Some existing pick and place devices rely on image acquisition of a given position to obtain a given position and pick and place device offset value. However, there is an error between the workpiece actually to be handled and the pick and place device. Moreover, each workpiece also has a different gap with respect to the pick and place device. Then, even if the offset value of the predetermined position is obtained, the workpiece is not accurately taken and placed. In addition, the initial position of the workpiece is manually placed, and the consistency of the initial position of the workpiece cannot be ensured. On the contrary, the more accurate the position information, the longer the required calculation time, the lower the transportation efficiency.

Thirdly, the shapes and the volumes of the workpieces of different types are different, and the different types of carrying tasks need parameter setting. The existing mechanical transportation is difficult to carry out self-adaptive setting on workpieces, and parameter adjustment is required manually for each task replacement. Particularly, in the case of testing the workpiece with the camera module, the testing position of the camera module is one aspect, and it is more critical that the camera module is powered on. That is, the camera module needs to be precisely connected to the testing device to obtain the captured image. Moreover, the number of the required test items is large, and the camera module is inevitably affected by repeated picking and accessing. Considering the time cost, the efficiency is affected by the independent connection and disconnection of the camera module in each test. . This brings more negative factors to the test and at the same time, it must not be able to adapt to the trend of development.

Moreover, in order to adapt to different types of camera modules, different testing methods can be performed, although a machine has a certain advantage in accuracy compared with a manual method, it is one of the challenges how to overcome the accumulated tolerance formed on the mechanical circulation in practice. Moreover, how to reduce time cost and improve the convenience of maintenance while ensuring the accuracy of the position. These are all considerations and improvements are difficult.

Disclosure of Invention

It is a primary advantage of the present invention to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the workpiece pick-up and place processes are precisely aligned with the workpiece and the predetermined position during the production flow, so that the workpiece is precisely placed.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the handling, operation and placement of the workpiece are not damaged, and the adverse effect of handling on the workpiece is reduced.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system, and a positioning method thereof, in which the position and angle of each workpiece are calculated and handled with specificity so that the workpieces can be placed at predetermined positions with a high degree of matching.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the placement of each workpiece can ensure that the operation is completed at one time without subsequent adjustment or repeated picking and placing, thereby reducing the probability of damage to the workpiece caused by handling.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, in which the position of a workpiece to be picked is acquired, and the operation is performed according to the specific position of the workpiece, ensuring reliability of initial operation.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the workpiece to be placed and the predetermined position are respectively obtained information, and a specific operation plan is obtained according to the difference between the two information, so as to ensure the accuracy of the placement.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein different types of workpieces or different handling tasks of the workpieces can be performed by adaptively adjusting parameters without changing hardware devices or calculation processes, thereby facilitating mass production.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein different types of workpieces can be distinguished from the information obtained therefrom, thereby handling the different types of workpieces to predetermined positions.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the contour of the workpiece to be placed and the contour of the predetermined position are respectively obtained, and the operation of the workpiece placement process is determined according to the comparison of the two contours, so that the workpiece is accurately handled.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, in which each workpiece can be electrically connected to a corresponding equipment system after being placed, so that the workpieces can be conveniently handled without manual reconnection, thereby saving production time and cost.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, wherein the position of each workpiece can be observed in real time, and can be stored and monitored in a targeted manner, which facilitates the use of optimized calculation.

Additional advantages and features of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are achieved in a method of positioning a workpiece adapted to transfer a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising the steps of:

I. identifying the start bit;

II, taking the workpiece from the initial position, so that the workpiece is transported to the final position according to a set task;

identifying the termination point location;

determining whether the workpiece is aligned with the end point location based on the identification of the workpiece located near the end point location;

and V, if not, identifying the workpiece again, returning to the previous step for circulation, and if so, placing the workpiece at the end point.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, step IV is implemented to be determined in a manner of extracting contour information of the workpiece.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the contour information of the workpiece is extracted from image information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, step I further comprises the steps of:

I.1. confirming a given conveying task of the workpiece;

I.2. searching the initial bit;

I.3. identifying whether the initial bit has the presence of the workpiece;

I.4. if not, returning to I.2, and if so, taking the workpiece corresponding to the existence information of the workpiece.

According to an embodiment of the invention, step IV further comprises the steps of:

IV.1, acquiring an image of the end point location after acquiring the existence condition of the end point location;

acquiring an image of the workpiece;

IV.3, respectively identifying the outline of the end point position and the outline of the workpiece based on the acquired image;

IV.4, calculating the difference between the outline of the end point position and the outline of the workpiece to obtain a movement plan of the workpiece;

IV.5, judging whether the planned outline of the end point position is aligned with the outline of the workpiece or not; and

and IV.6, if not, returning to the step IV.3, and if so, placing the workpiece at the end point position.

According to one embodiment of the invention, step iv.2 is implemented as a pre-entry of the profile data of the workpiece.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the calculation in step iv.4 comprises processing the coordinates of the contour data of the workpiece such that they are directly compared with the contour data of the end point location.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the calculation in step iv.4 comprises processing the proportion of the contour data of the workpiece such that it is directly compared with the contour data of the end point location.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a workpiece positioning system for use in transferring a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising:

a starting position material drawing device and a terminal position material drawing device, wherein the starting position material drawing device is located at the starting position, wherein the starting position material drawing device obtains a starting position condition in the process of taking the workpiece from the starting position, wherein the terminal position material drawing device is located at the terminal position, wherein the terminal position material drawing device obtains a terminal position condition and a workpiece condition in the process of placing the workpiece to the terminal position, wherein the workpiece is moved to the corresponding terminal position based on the starting position condition, and wherein the workpiece is adjusted and then correspondingly placed at the terminal position based on the difference between the workpiece condition and the terminal position condition.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the start bit condition comprises information that the workpiece may be present in the start bit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the end point situation comprises position information of the end point, wherein the workpiece situation comprises position information of the workpiece in the vicinity of the end point.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the start bit case is image data.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the end bit condition and the workpiece condition are image data.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the difference between the condition of the workpiece and the condition of the end point is whether the contour of the workpiece is aligned with the contour of the end point.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a workpiece handling system adapted to transfer a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising:

a starting position material taking device, wherein the starting position material taking device is positioned at the starting position, and the starting position material taking device obtains a starting position condition in the process of taking the workpiece from the starting position;

a terminal position material drawing device, wherein the terminal position material drawing device is positioned at the terminal position, and the terminal position material drawing device obtains a terminal position condition and a workpiece condition in the process of placing the workpiece to the terminal position; and

a transfer unit, wherein the transfer unit is communicably connected to the start position drawing device and the end position drawing device, respectively, wherein the transfer unit obtains the start position condition and takes the workpiece, wherein the transfer unit obtains the workpiece condition and the end position condition and pertinently places the workpiece at the end position.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the transfer unit extracts the contour of the workpiece and the contour of the end point according to the condition of the workpiece and the condition of the end point and adjusts the placement of the workpiece.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the workpiece condition and the end bit condition are image data.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the start position drawing device is pre-fixed at the start position, wherein the end position drawing device is pre-fixed at the end position, and wherein the transfer unit is movably arranged between the start position drawing device and the end position drawing device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the start position material drawing device and the end position material drawing device are pre-fixed on the transfer unit, so that the start position material drawing device and the end position material drawing device move along with the transfer unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the start position sampler is implemented as a start camera to obtain the start position situation from above the start position, wherein the end position sampler is implemented as an end position camera and a workpiece camera, respectively placed above and below the end position to obtain the end position situation and the workpiece situation, respectively.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the start-point imaging and the end-point imaging are implemented as the same device.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the turning unit comprises a gripping tool, a moving tool, a turning tool and a calculating tool, wherein the gripping tool is fixed to the moving tool and the turning tool, wherein the moving tool and the turning tool are connected to the calculating tool in a way that the moving tool and the turning tool are guided by the calculating tool in a plan driving the gripping tool between the start position and the end position.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the start camera and the end camera are pre-fixed to the side of the gripping tool of the transfer unit.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the gripping tool takes the workpiece by suction.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the calculation means plan in advance a transfer setting of the workpiece aligned with the end point location based on the workpiece condition and the end point location condition.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the calculation tool extracts the contour of the workpiece and the end point contour to adjust a plan for placing the workpiece.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the gripping tool places the workpiece at the end point after the moving tool and the rotating tool have adjusted the workpiece according to the plan of the calculation tool.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be fully apparent from the ensuing description and drawings.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional work transportation system.

Fig. 2 is an overall schematic view of a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a preferred schematic diagram of the workpiece positioning system and the positioning method thereof according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a workpiece positioning method according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of the fetching process of the workpiece positioning method according to the above preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of the placing process of the workpiece positioning method according to the above preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a detailed flowchart of the workpiece positioning method according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a process diagram of the workpiece positioning system and the positioning method thereof according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram schematic of the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a general schematic view of one possible approach of the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is an overall schematic view of another possible way of implementing the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12A is an overall view of the acquired information of the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12B is an overall schematic view of a processed image of the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is an overall schematic view of the workpiece handling system and the workpiece positioning system according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description is presented to disclose the invention so as to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention. The preferred embodiments in the following description are given by way of example only, and other obvious variations will occur to those skilled in the art. The basic principles of the invention, as defined in the following description, may be applied to other embodiments, variations, modifications, equivalents, and other technical solutions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in the present disclosure, the terms "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like are used in an orientation or positional relationship indicated in the drawings for ease of description and simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced devices or components must be in a particular orientation, constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus the above terms are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

It is understood that the terms "a" and "an" should be interpreted as meaning that a number of one element or element is one in one embodiment, while a number of other elements is one in another embodiment, and the terms "a" and "an" should not be interpreted as limiting the number.

The present invention provides a workpiece handling system, a workpiece positioning system and a positioning method thereof, as shown in fig. 2 to 13, wherein the workpiece handling system is suitable for automatically circulating a plurality of workpieces 90 among different operation devices 40 in batch production, so that each workpiece 90 can complete different operations according to a predetermined task. For example, as a finished product of a camera module, it needs to perform multiple functional tests at the end of the production process to ensure normal imaging. Generally, each camera module as the workpiece 90 needs to go through each operation device 40, so as to ensure that the workpieces 90 passing all tests are shipped after each workpiece 90 is tested. Of course, the workpieces 90 that fail in a certain link are correspondingly retained and recorded, so that the problem of passive shipment of the workpieces 90 is avoided, and the production flow is further optimized according to the record.

The workpiece positioning system draws information for a start position 41 and an end position 42 of the handling device 40, as shown in fig. 2, i.e. obtains actual information in a given task of the workpiece 90. In the preferred embodiment, the predetermined task assigned to one of the workpieces 90 during the production process is to transfer from the start position 41 of one of the operating devices 40 to the end position 42 of another one of the operating devices 40. By the workpiece positioning system, the basis and purpose of the transfer of the workpiece 90 are accurately judged, so that the taking operation and the placing operation of the workpiece 90 are effective and accurate. In particular, the acquisition of information on the start bit 41 by the workpiece positioning system ensures that the picking operation can indeed be aligned with the workpiece 90, so that the workpiece 90 is picked sufficiently reliably. The information of the end point position 42 and the workpiece 90 to be placed is obtained by the workpiece positioning system, so that the workpiece 90 is placed in alignment. That is, the workpiece positioning system provides information on two key locations to assist in the handling of the workpiece 90.

In the preferred embodiment, the workpiece 90 is, for example, a camera module, as shown in fig. 2 to 8, and the workpiece positioning system and the positioning method thereof correct the relative position of the workpiece 90 in a calculation and planning manner, so that the position accuracy of the carrying is high. It is worth mentioning that the positioning system and the positioning method thereof utilize the means of machine vision, and do not need to add an additional debugging device to complete the placing operation with high matching degree. Moreover, planning is performed for each workpiece 90, so that errors are reduced, and the production flow efficiency is improved. Preferably, the positioning system and the positioning method thereof are implemented in a monitorable manner, so that the production process is further assisted to be monitored, and the debugging efficiency is improved.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3, the workpiece positioning system and the positioning method thereof complete the conveying process of the workpiece 90 by extracting the contour information of the workpiece 90. That is, the information base of the preferred embodiment includes, in addition to the start point 41 and the end point 42, the position of the workpieces 90 to be obtained and adjusted, so that each workpiece 90 is subjected to adaptive planning and placing operations.

Further, the workpiece positioning method comprises the following steps:

I. identifying the start bit 41;

ii, taking the workpiece 90 from the start position 41, so that the workpiece 90 is transported according to a set task;

identifying the end point location 42;

determining whether said workpiece 90 is aligned with said end point location 42 based on the identification of said workpiece 90 located near said end point location 42;

v. if not, re-identifying the workpiece 90, returning to the previous step for circulation, and if so, placing the workpiece 90 at the end point 42, thereby completing the predetermined position.

It is worth mentioning that the workpiece positioning method separately performs information acquisition and identification from the start point 41 and the end point 42. Because of the handling goals involved in the intended task of the workpiece 90, the workpiece positioning method obtains the operational plan of the workpiece 90 from the end point 42 so that the workpiece 90 is placed with a high match, rather than being repositioned after the workpiece 90 is laid down. Each of the workpieces 90 is adaptively mapped and lowered such that the workpieces 90 experience reduced wear. Some existing mechanical positioning methods, such as guide runners, may cause irreversible damage to the workpiece 90 due to multiple sliding movements. Moreover, the electrical connection of the work 90 also requires extremely high placement accuracy. For example, in the case of a camera module as the workpiece 90, a circuit board or a connection member is worn by repeated sliding, but the workpiece 90 can be placed at the end point 42 at one time by the workpiece positioning method.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, step I of the workpiece positioning method further includes:

I.1. confirming a predetermined conveyance task of the workpiece 90;

I.2. looking for the initial bit 41;

I.3. identifying whether said initial bit 41 has said workpiece 90 present;

I.4. if not, returning to I.2, and if so, taking the workpiece 90 corresponding to the existence information of the workpiece 90.

More specifically, for one conveyance, the task of the workpiece 90 is first confirmed. For example, to transfer a camera module from a conveyor belt to a test apparatus, a new test is prepared for the camera module. Namely, the position of the workpiece 90 in the transfer direction is confirmed to meet the production requirements. Then, the initial bit 41, where the workpiece 90 may be, is sought. Next, it is recognized whether the workpiece 90 is actually present on the initial bit 41. Preferably, in addition to the existence of the workpiece 90, the detailed information of the workpiece 90 is also identified and acquired. For example, the workpiece 90 is recognized as a camera module product of a double-shot type. If it is assumed that no work piece 90 is present in this initial position 41, i.e. a task cannot be performed, the initial position 41 is returned, in which the work piece 90 may be present. If the workpiece 90 is present in the start position 41, the workpiece 90 is picked up from the start position 41 based on the identification information. It is worth mentioning that the workpiece positioning method grasps the task situation that the workpiece 90 needs to be put down during the taking process. More preferably, the desired condition for the retrieved workpiece 90 to be placed is confirmed to be complete. For example, the taken workpiece 90 is a double-shot type camera module product, which is to be placed at a position to be detected in a double-shot testing device.

More specifically, steps III to V of the workpiece positioning method are implemented in such a way that contour information of the workpiece 90 is extracted. That is, after the existence of the end point location 42 is recognized, the workpiece 90 is set down in a state where the contour of the workpiece 90 can be aligned with the contour of the end point location 42. It should be noted that the alignment or registration of the two contours refers to the case where the contours do not intersect, even though the contour portions remain parallel to each other.

Step IV of the workpiece positioning method further comprises:

IV.1, acquiring an image of the end point 42 after acquiring the existence condition of the end point 42;

iv.2. acquiring an image of the workpiece 90;

iv.3, based on the acquired images, respectively identifying the contour of the end point location 42 and the contour of the workpiece 90;

IV.4, calculating the difference between the outline of the end point position 42 and the outline of the workpiece 90 to obtain a movement plan of the workpiece 90;

IV.5, judging whether the outline of the end point position 42 passing the planning is aligned with the outline of the workpiece 90; and

iv.6. if not, return to step iv.3, if yes, place the workpiece 90 at the end point 42.

It should be noted that the workpiece positioning method not only can obtain the information of the end point 42 during the placing process, but also aligns the position of the workpiece 90 to the end point 42 in advance, so that the position where the workpiece 90 is placed is matched with the end point 42. In many prior arts, the information of the end point 42 is simply obtained, and the workpiece 90 is directly placed according to a predetermined condition. However, neither the condition of the workpiece 90 being picked up nor the condition with respect to the end point 42 is known. The workpiece positioning method obtains the movement plan of the workpiece 90 in a targeted manner according to the condition of each workpiece 90. That is, after steps iv.1 and iv.2, the relative position of the workpiece 90 to the end point 42 is obtained, and the sequence of steps iv.1 and iv.2 may not be consecutive. After the relative condition between the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 is obtained, in the preferred embodiment, the difference between the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 is obtained by extracting and comparing the outlines of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42. Based on the position acquisition of the workpiece 90, how to place the workpiece 90 can also be calculated. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the contour of the workpiece 90 is extracted, and the contour of the workpiece 90 is aligned to the end point 42, so that the placing operation process of the workpiece 90 is more reliable and accurate. By comparing the contour of the workpiece 90 with the contour of the end point 42, the manner in which the workpiece 90 needs to be operated can be designed precisely in advance not only from the moving distance but also from the placement angle.

In other possible embodiments, the relative position of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 may be obtained by other means, such as relative positions of a plurality of marking points, whether a particular marking point is blocked or overlapped, existence and depth of an acoustic wave recognition position, or a laser positioning edge. It is important to acquire the relative position of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42, so as to further plan the placing operation mode of the workpiece 90, and further lay down the workpiece 90. On one hand, calculation is performed before the workpieces 90 are put down, and on the other hand, the putting down operation is individually designed according to the condition of each workpiece 90, so that the workpieces 90 and the end point 42 have extremely high matching degree, and a high-precision basis for clamping operation is laid.

In addition, the workpiece 90 can be conveyed for different types by the workpiece positioning method. In other possible ways, the setup time is reduced by presetting and adjusting the transfer task of the workpiece 90, for example, updating the model data of the workpiece 90, re-calibrating the specific implementation manner of the pick-and-place task, or pre-inputting the profile data of the workpiece 90.

As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the specific placing operation of the workpiece positioning method of the preferred embodiment is explained, that is, the calculating and planning operation in step iv.4. First, from the acquired task and image of the workpiece 90, profile data of the workpiece 90 is extracted and obtained. The plan of the operating device 40 to which the workpiece 90 is going is already included in the predetermined task of the workpiece 90. Preferably, the type of the end point location 42 where the workpiece 90 is to be placed is identified already. After the contour of the workpiece 90 is obtained, the contour data of the workpiece 90 is saved. Then, the end point 42 is identified, and the position information of the end point 42 is obtained. The contour of workpiece 90 is then applied to the contour of termination point 42 for subsequent comparison of the relative positions of workpiece 90 and termination point 42. It should be noted that after the workpiece 90 is loaded into the contour of the end point 42, the contour information of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 are filtered and converted to obtain contour data of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 in the same coordinate system in the same proportion, that is, the contour information is calculated. Preferably, the coordinates and proportions of the profile data of the workpiece 90 are processed so as to be directly compared with the profile data of the end point location 42. More preferably, hardware errors, i.e. the actual distance and height between the image acquisition device and the capturing device, are taken into account in the calculation. By using hardware errors, which are also predetermined errors, coordinate shifting and scaling are performed on the profile data of the workpiece 90 preliminarily, so that the profile data and the profile data of the end point 42 are in the same coordinate system. Still further, the relative positions of the contour data of the workpiece 90 and the contour data of the end point 42 are adjusted so that the contour of the workpiece 90 is aligned with the contour of the end point 42. It is noted that the basis for adjusting the relative positions of the two contours is the filtering and preprocessing of the image data. And the false judgment that the outline proportion of the workpiece 90 is too small and the workpiece always meets the alignment condition after being loaded into the outline of the end point position 42 is prevented. The adjustment of the contour data of the workpiece 90 is designed virtually, and the final result of the adjustment is converted according to the scale of image processing or the like and recorded again as the actual plan of the operation on the workpiece 90. For example, if the image processing has enlarged the contour of the workpiece 90 by 1.5 times and moved to align the contour, the distance value obtained as the adjustment result is enlarged, and the distance value needs to be reduced to the original scale to form an operation plan. That is, when the profile data of the workpiece 90 is aligned with the profile data of the end point 42, the deviation therebetween, such as an identification error, a hardware error, or the like, is saved. Based on the stored data deviations, an actual operating plan for the workpiece 90 is set. Following a planning operation, such as moving and rotating the orientation of the workpiece 90, this operation ultimately places the workpiece 90 in the end point position 42 with a high degree of matching. Preferably, the terminal site 42 has a device electrical connection interface, and when the workpiece 90 is placed in a highly matched manner, the workpiece 90 is directly electrically connected to the terminal site 42, so that the operating device 40 communicates with the workpiece 90.

In addition, during the process of aligning the contour data of the workpiece 90 to the contour data of the end point 42, the image data is visualized, facilitating manual adjustment and inspection of the position.

Of course, the operation of applying the contour of the end point 42 to the contour of the workpiece 90 is also possible. In the preferred embodiment, the workpiece positioning system is implemented by a workpiece positioning system. The workpiece positioning system includes a start position sampler 10 and an end position sampler 20, wherein the start position sampler 10 obtains a start position condition 100 during the process of taking the workpiece 90 from the start position 41, and wherein the end position sampler 20 obtains an end position condition 201 and a workpiece condition 202 during the process of placing the workpiece 90 to the end position 42. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the start bit case 100 in the preferred embodiment includes information that the workpiece 90 may exist in the start bit 41, the end bit case 201 includes position information of the end bit 42, and the workpiece case 202 includes position information that the workpiece 90 is located near the end bit 42. Preferably, the start bit case 100 is image data of the workpiece 90 possibly existing at the start bit 41, the end bit case 201 is image data of the end bit 42, and the workpiece case 202 is image data of the workpiece 90 near the end bit 42. Further, the workpiece 90 is transfer-planned to be placed in alignment with the end point 42 based on the image data acquired by the workpiece positioning system.

The workpiece handling system includes the workpiece positioning system and a transfer unit 30, wherein the transfer unit 30 is communicatively coupled to the workpiece positioning system to obtain image data acquired by the workpiece positioning system to perform transfer planning on the workpiece 90. For convenience of explanation, a plurality of the workpieces 90 will be referred to herein as a first workpiece 91, a second workpiece 92, and so on, respectively. For each of the workpieces 90, the start position 41 and the end position 42 of the operating device 40 are opposite. That is, as shown in fig. 9, the first workpiece 91 is conveyed to the end point 42 of the right-hand operating device 40 for subsequent operation of the first workpiece 91. The second workpiece 92 is transported to the end point 42 of the left-hand operating device 40. Specifically, the first workpiece 91 is matched with the end point 42 of the right-side operating device 40, the second workpiece 92 is matched with the end point 42 of the left-side operating device 40, and the two times of accurate positioning depend on the acquired information of the positioning system.

In one possible implementation of the preferred embodiment, the workpiece positioning system is pre-fixed to the start position 41 and the end position 42 of the handling apparatus 40, and the transfer unit is movably disposed between the start position material drawing device 10 and the end position material drawing device 20, as shown in fig. 10. In another possible form of the preferred embodiment, the workpiece positioning system is pre-fastened to the transfer unit 30, as shown in fig. 11. Specifically, the start bit extractor 10 is implemented as a start camera 11 to obtain the start bit case 100 from above the start bit 41. The end position sampler 20 is implemented as an end camera 21 and a workpiece camera 22, respectively placed above and below the end position 42 to obtain the end position situation 201 and the workpiece situation 202, respectively. The transfer unit 30 comprises a gripping tool 31, a moving tool 32, a rotating tool 33 and a calculating tool 34, wherein the gripping tool 31 is fixed to the moving tool 32 and the rotating tool 33, wherein the moving tool 32 and the rotating tool 33 are connected to the calculating tool 34 in such a way that the moving tool 32 and the rotating tool 33 are guided by the calculating tool 34 in a planning manner that drives the gripping tool 31 to move between the start point 41 and the end point 42. The calculating means 34 obtains the start position condition 100 of the start position drawing device 10 to instruct the moving means 32 and the rotating means 33 to perform the drawing operation of the gripping means 31 against the workpiece 90. The calculation means 34 obtains the end position condition 201 and the workpiece condition 202 of the end position material drawing device 20 to instruct the moving means 32 and the rotating means 33 to perform the operation of placing the workpiece 90 with the gripping means 31 against the end position 42.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 10, the gripping tool 31 is in a gripping manner. The grasping tool 30 is fixed between the start position drawing device 10 and the end position drawing device. During the picking process, the calculating tool 34 obtains the start position condition 100 of the start position sampler 10, so that the gripping tool 30 can accurately pick up the workpiece 90 from the start position 41. The direction of transfer of the workpiece 90 to the end point location 42 is dependent upon the intended task of the workpiece 90. During placement, the calculation tool 34 obtains the end position condition 201 and the workpiece condition 202 of the end position material sampler 20, so that the gripping tool 30 places the workpiece 90 at the end position 42 with respect to the contour of the end position 42. That is, for different sizes and shapes of the workpieces 90, the workpieces can be placed at the corresponding end points 42. Preferably, based on the start bit condition 100, the calculation tool 34 can set a rough movement path to move the workpiece 90 to the vicinity of the end point 42, and then set a precise placement plan based on the end point condition 201 and the workpiece condition 202. More preferably, a relatively precise movement is set based on the calculation tool 34, and then fine-tuning is performed based on the end position condition 201 and the workpiece condition 202.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 11, in another embodiment of the present invention, the start position sampler 10 is fixed to the moving tool 32, so that the position change of the moving tool 32 will enable the start position sampler 10 to obtain the images of the start position 41 and the end position 42. That is, the start shot 11 and the end shot 21 are implemented as the same apparatus. When the transfer unit 30 executes a pickup process, the start image pickup 11 acquires the start bit condition 100 of the start bit 41. When the transfer unit 30 executes a placing process, the end point camera 21 acquires the end point position condition 201 of the end point position 42.

More specifically, as shown in fig. 12A to 12B, the present preferred embodiment employs a manner of extracting the contour information of the workpiece 90. The start image capturing 11 and the end image capturing 21 are implemented as the same device, and are fixed to the side of the gripping tool 31 to acquire information of the start position 41 and the end position 42 in accordance with the movement of the gripping tool 31. Preferably, the gripping means 31 is suction, for example implemented as a combination of an air pump and a suction nozzle. The moving means 32 is implemented as a moving rod in the X-axis Y-axis direction so that the gripping means 31 can be moved back and forth to a desired position. The turning tool 33 is embodied as a rotatable mechanism arranged on the upper side of the gripping tool 31. Therefore, the gripping tool 31 holding the workpiece 90 can be moved to the end point 42 according to a predetermined task, and the displacement and angle of the gripping tool 31 with respect to the end point 42 are adjusted according to the plan of the calculation tool 34, so that the workpiece 90 is finally placed at the end point 42 with a high degree of matching.

It should be noted that the preferred embodiment adopts a pre-planning mode, and performs calculation before placement, so that the final placement operation is accurately matched with the position, and damage to the workpiece 90 caused by repeated operations is avoided.

More specifically, the calculation tool 34 extracts and obtains contour data of the workpiece 90 from the task and the image of the workpiece 90 in the start bit situation 100 acquired by the start camera 11. The plan of the operating device 40 to which the workpiece 90 is going is already included in the predetermined task of the workpiece 90. Preferably, the calculation tool 34 identifies the type of the end point location 42 where the workpiece 90 has been placed soon after it has been identified. After the contour of the workpiece 90 is obtained by the calculation tool 34, the contour data of the workpiece 90 is saved. Then, the moving tool 32 brings the gripping tool 31 that has taken the workpiece 90 to the vicinity of the end point 42, depending on the task of the workpiece 90. In this case, not only the workpiece 90 can be acquired by the workpiece camera 22 as the workpiece condition 202, but also the end point camera 21 can acquire the end point condition 201 of the end point 42. According to the end point location condition 201, the calculation tool 34 identifies the end point location 42 to obtain the location information of the end point location 42. The calculation tool 34 then loads the contour of the workpiece 90 into the contour of the end point location 42 for subsequent comparison of the relative positions of the workpiece 90 and the end point location 42. It should be noted that after the workpiece 90 is loaded into the contour of the end point 42, the contour information of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 are filtered to obtain the contour data of the workpiece 90 and the end point 42 in the same proportion under the same coordinate, that is, the contour information is calculated. Preferably, the coordinates and proportions of the profile data of the workpiece 90 are processed so as to be directly compared with the profile data of the end point location 42. More preferably, hardware errors, i.e. the actual distance and height between the image acquisition device and the capturing device, are taken into account in the calculation. For example, two values of the height of the end point camera 21 with respect to the end point 42 and the height of the workpiece camera 22 with respect to the gripping tool 31 are predetermined, and the proportional relationship between the contour data of the workpiece 90 and the contour data of the end point 42 can be predetermined by calculating the focal lengths of the end point camera 21 and the workpiece camera 22. For another example, the coordinate of the contour data of the workpiece 90 is preliminarily shifted and scaled by a hardware error, which is also a predetermined error, so as to be consistent with the contour data coordinates of the end point 42.

More specifically, in another embodiment, the pre-planning method of the present invention includes primarily adjusting the equipment and measuring the parameters. Specifically, in step I.1, the method further comprises

I.11 identifying the start bit;

i.12 taking a standard workpiece from the starting position, and enabling the standard workpiece to be transported to the final position according to a set task;

i.13 identifying the end point location;

i.14 judging whether the standard workpiece is aligned with the end point position based on the identification of the standard workpiece positioned near the end point position;

and I.15, if not, identifying the workpiece again, returning to the previous step for circulation, and if so, storing and adjusting the parameter value of the standard workpiece.

That is, before the entire work of conveying the work 90 is realized, the work 90 is previously standardized by the facility execution, and a predetermined error in a predetermined task is grasped to simplify the subsequent calculation. It is worth mentioning that the standard workpiece is a same type of workpiece specimen corresponding to the workpiece 90, and has the same shape as the workpiece 90, so that the acquisition of the parameters is reliable. The above operations may be repeated for different types of workpieces 90 to store corresponding parameter values.

Still further, the relative positions of the contour data of the workpiece 90 and the contour data of the end point 42 are adjusted so that the contour of the workpiece 90 is aligned with the contour of the end point 42. It is noted that the basis for adjusting the relative positions of the two contours is the filtering and preprocessing of the image data. And the false judgment that the outline proportion of the workpiece 90 is too small and the workpiece always meets the alignment condition after being loaded into the outline of the end point position 42 is prevented. The adjustment of the contour data of the workpiece 90 by the calculation tool 34 is virtually designed, and the final result of the adjustment is converted according to the scale of image processing and the like, and is recorded again as the actual plan of the operation on the workpiece 90. For example, if the image processing has magnified the contour of the workpiece 90 by 2 times and performed the left side movement by 0.01mm for alignment, the magnified distance value is obtained as the adjustment result, and the operation plan needs to be formed by reducing the distance value to the original scale, that is, the left side movement is 0.005 mm. It should be noted that, according to the predetermined error in the predetermined task obtained in advance, the rough planning is performed first, and then the fine adjustment is performed according to the image processing result, so that the calculation flow is simplified, and the processing speed is increased. That is, when the contour data of the workpiece 90 is aligned with the contour data of the end point 42, the deviation therebetween is saved. Based on the stored data deviations, an actual operating plan for the workpiece 90 is set. According to the planning operation, the moving tool 32 moves and rotates the orientation of the workpiece 90 held by the gripping tool 31, so that the workpiece 90 is finally positioned at the end point 42 in a highly matched manner in the present operation. In addition, during the process of aligning the profile data of the workpiece 90 to the profile data of the end point 42, the image data may be transmitted to a human-machine interface, as shown in fig. 13, for convenient manual adjustment and inspection of the position. Preferably, through the display of the contour alignment data, the parameters of errors or anomalies which often occur can be known and adjusted, and the edge-to-edge correspondence is high.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention described above and shown in the drawings are given by way of example only and are not limiting of the invention. The objects of the invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The functional and structural principles of the present invention have been shown and described in the examples, and any variations or modifications of the embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the principles.

Claims

1. A method of positioning a workpiece adapted to transfer a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising the steps of:

I. identifying the start bit;

identifying the termination point location;

v, if not, identifying the workpiece again, returning to the previous step for circulation, and if so, placing the workpiece at the end point;

wherein, step IV includes:

acquiring an image of the workpiece;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step IV is performed in a manner to extract contour information of the workpiece.

3. The workpiece positioning method of claim 2, wherein the contour information of the workpiece is extracted from image information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step I further comprises the steps of:

I.1. confirming a given conveying task of the workpiece;

I.2. searching the start bit;

I.3. identifying whether the start bit has the presence of the workpiece;

5. A method for positioning a workpiece as defined in claim 1 wherein step iv.2 is carried out by pre-entering profile data of the workpiece.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the calculation in step iv.4 comprises processing the coordinates of the profile data of the workpiece so that they are directly compared with the profile data of the end point location.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the calculation in step iv.4 comprises processing the proportion of the profile data of the workpiece so that it is directly compared with the profile data of the end point location.

8. A workpiece positioning system for use in a process of transferring a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising:

a start position material drawing device and an end position material drawing device, wherein the start position material drawing device is located at the start position, wherein the start position material drawing device obtains a start position condition during the process of taking the workpiece from the start position, wherein the end position material drawing device is located at the end position, wherein the end position material drawing device obtains an end position condition and a workpiece condition during the process of placing the workpiece to the end position, the end position condition includes position information of the end position, wherein the workpiece condition includes position information of the workpiece near the end position, the end position condition and the workpiece condition are image data, so that the workpiece is moved to the vicinity of the corresponding end position based on the start position condition and the end position condition, based on a difference between the workpiece condition of the end position and the end position condition, that is, the difference between the contour of the end point and the contour of the workpiece is adjusted and then the workpiece is correspondingly placed at the end point.

9. The workpiece positioning system of claim 8, wherein the start bit condition comprises information that the workpiece may be present at the start bit.

10. The workpiece positioning system of claim 9, wherein the start bit condition is image data.

11. A workpiece handling system adapted to transfer a workpiece from a start position to an end position, comprising:

a terminal position material drawing device, wherein the terminal position material drawing device is positioned at the terminal position, wherein the terminal position material drawing device obtains a terminal position condition and a workpiece condition in the process of placing the workpiece to the terminal position, wherein the workpiece condition and the terminal position condition are image data; and

a transfer unit, wherein the transfer unit is communicably connected to the start position drawing device and the end position drawing device, respectively, wherein the transfer unit takes the workpiece and transfers toward the end position by acquiring the start position condition and the end position condition, wherein the transfer unit acquires the workpiece condition and the end position condition around the end position, the transfer unit extracts the contour of the workpiece and the contour of the end position according to the workpiece condition and the end position condition, and adjusts the placement of the workpiece at the end position according to a difference between the contour of the end position and the contour of the workpiece.

12. The workpiece handling system of claim 11, wherein the home position take off is pre-secured to the home position, wherein the end position take off is pre-secured to the end position, and wherein the transfer unit is movably disposed between the home position take off and the end position take off.

13. The workpiece handling system of claim 11, wherein the home position material picker and the end position material picker are pre-secured to the transfer unit for movement of the home position material picker and the end position material picker with the transfer unit.

14. The workpiece handling system of claim 13, wherein the home position picker is implemented as a home camera to obtain the home position condition from above the home position, wherein the end position picker is implemented as an end position camera and a workpiece camera, respectively, positioned above and below the end position to obtain the end position condition and the workpiece condition, respectively.

15. The workpiece handling system of claim 14, wherein the start camera and the end camera are implemented as the same device.

16. The workpiece handling system of claim 14, wherein the transfer unit comprises a grasping tool, a moving tool, a rotating tool, and a computing tool, wherein the grasping tool is secured to the moving tool and the rotating tool, wherein the moving tool and the rotating tool are coupled to the computing tool in a manner that the moving tool and the rotating tool are directed by the computing tool to drive the grasping tool between the start position and the end position.

17. The workpiece handling system of claim 16, wherein the grasping tool picks up the workpiece using suction.

18. The workpiece handling system of claim 16, wherein the computing tool pre-programs a transfer setting of the workpiece to align with the end point location based on the workpiece condition and the end point location condition.

19. The workpiece handling system of claim 18, wherein the computing tool extracts a contour of the workpiece and the endpoint location contour to adjust a plan for placement of the workpiece.

20. The workpiece handling system of claim 18 or 19, wherein the gripping tool places the workpiece at the end point after the moving tool and the rotating tool adjust the workpiece according to the plan of the computing tool.