Control apparatus and robot system
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsToyotaro Kinoshita, Toshiyuki Ishigaki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control apparatus that controls a robot system including a part feeder having a container that accommodates a part and a plurality of vibration actuators for vibrating the container, and a robot having an end effector for picking up a part from the container, the apparatus comprising: a processor that is configured to execute computer-executable instructions so as to control the part feeder and the robot, wherein the processor is configured to select one or more control commands from a plurality of control commands respectively including control parameters of the plurality of vibration actuators and transmits the selected control command to the part feeder for causing the part feeder to perform an operation according to the selected control command.
Claims20
A control apparatus that controls a robot system including a part feeder having a container that accommodates a plurality of parts and a plurality of vibration actuators for vibrating the container, and a robot having an end effector for picking up one of the parts from the container, the control apparatus comprising:
- a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions, a plurality of control commands including first control command and second control command, and image data of the parts including first image data, second image data, and third image data;
- and
- a processor that is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions so as to:
- cause a camera to capture an image of the parts in the container so as to create captured image corresponding to captured image data;
- compare the captured image data with the image data stored in the memory;
- perform a first activation in which at least one of the vibration actuators transmits vibration to the container so as to move the parts from a distal end to a proximal end of the container along a first direction when the captured image data correspond to the first image data, the distal end of the container being directly adjacent to a supply source of the parts, the proximal end of the container being directly adjacent to a part tray;
- perform a second activation in which the vibration actuators transmit vibration to the container so as to flip the parts in the container when the captured image data correspond to the second image data;
- and
- cause the end effector to pick up one of the parts located near the proximal end of the container and move the picked part to the part tray when the captured image data correspond to the third image data,
- wherein the processor selects the first control command in the first activation, and the processor selects the second control command in the second activation, and
- a vibration time of the vibration corresponding to the first control command is longer than a vibration time of the vibration corresponding to the second control command.
A robot system comprising:
- a part feeder having a container that accommodates a plurality of parts and a plurality of vibration actuators for vibrating the container;
- a robot having an end effector for picking up one of the parts from the container;
- a camera configured to capture an image of the parts;
- a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions, a plurality of control commands including first control command and second control command, and image data of the parts including first image data, second image data, and third image data;
- and
- a processor that is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions so as to:
- cause the camera to capture the image of the parts in the container so as to create captured image corresponding to captured image data;
- compare the captured image data with the image data stored in the memory;
- perform a first activation in which at least one of the vibration actuators transmits vibration to the container so as to move the parts from a distal end to a proximal end of the container along a first direction when the captured image data correspond to the first image data, the distal end of the container being directly adjacent to a supply source of the parts, the proximal end of the container being directly adjacent to a part tray;
- perform a second activation in which the vibration actuators transmit vibration to the container so as to flip the parts in the container when the captured image data correspond to the second image data;
- and
- cause the end effector to pick up one of the parts located near the proximal end of the container and move the picked part to the part tray when the captured image data correspond to the third image data,
- wherein the processor selects the first control command in the first activation, and the processor selects the second control command in the second activation, and
- a vibration time of the vibration corresponding to the first control command is longer than a vibration time of the vibration corresponding to the second control command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.