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US 12,103,165 B2Granted
Actuator apparatus, object taking-out method using actuator apparatus, and object taking-out system
AssigneePanasonic Holdings Corporation
InventorsYusuke Kato, Jun Ozawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An actuator apparatus includes an actuator, a setter, an operation controller, and an acquirer. The operation controller is configured to control the actuator to take out an object from a placement table. The actuator includes a suction nozzle configured to suck and hold the object. The acquirer is configured to acquire a difference between a first moment applied to the suction nozzle and a second moment applied to the suction nozzle when the object is taken out by the suction nozzle by a first taking-out movement distance. The operation controller is configured to control whether or not to further continue taking-out the object, based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment.
Claims16
An actuator apparatus, comprising:
- an actuator including a suction nozzle for sucking a first object;
- a setter;
- an operation controller;
- and
- an acquirer,
- wherein:
- the actuator is configured to take out the first object from a placement table while the suction nozzle sucks the first object at a suction position and a side surface of the first object is in contact with a side surface of a second object, the first object and the second object being on the placement table with the side surface of the first object being in contact with the side surface of the second object before the suction nozzle sucks the first object;
- the setter is configured to set a taking-out movement distance by which the first object is to be moved by the actuator from the placement table;
- the operation controller is configured to control a sucking operation of the actuator and a taking-out operation of the actuator;
- the acquirer is configured to acquire a moment applied to the suction nozzle;
- the acquirer is configured to acquire, as the moment, a difference between a first moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle and a second moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is taken out by a first taking-out movement distance by the suction nozzle from the placement table;
- the first taking-out movement distance is a distance by which the first object is moved until the first object is taken out from the placement table, the first object being in contact with the second object immediately after the first object is moved by the first taking-out movement distance;
- and
- the operation controller is configured to control whether or not to further continue the taking-out operation based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment.
11 more elements
An object taking-out method, comprising:
- setting, by a setter, a taking-out movement distance by which a first object is to be moved by an actuator including a suction nozzle for sucking the first object from a placement table on which the first object and a second object are placed with a side surface of the first object being in contact with a side surface of the second object before the suction nozzle sucks the first object, and controlling, by an operation controller, a suction operation performed by the actuator and a taking-out operation performed by the actuator such that the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle at a suction position and taken out from the placement table while the side surface of the first object is in contact with the side surface of the second object;
- acquiring, by an acquirer, as a moment applied to the suction nozzle, a difference between a first moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle and a second moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is taken out by a first taking-out movement distance by the suction nozzle from the placement table,
- wherein the first taking-out movement distance is a distance by which the first object is moved until the first object is taken out from the placement table, the first object being in contact with the second object immediately after the first object is moved by the first taking-out movement distance;
- and
- controlling, by the operation controller, based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment, whether or not the taking-out operation is further continued.
2 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon for causing a computer to perform an object taking-out method, the object taking-out method comprising:
- setting, by a setter, a taking-out movement distance by which a first object is to be moved by an actuator including a suction nozzle for sucking the first object from a placement table on which the first object and a second object are placed with a side surface of the first object being in contact with a side surface of the second object before the suction nozzle sucks the first object, and controlling, by an operation controller, a suction operation performed by the actuator and a taking-out operation performed by the actuator such that the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle at a suction position and taken out from the placement table while the side surface of the first object is in contact with the side surface of the second object;
- acquiring, by an acquirer, as a moment applied to the suction nozzle, a difference between a first moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle and a second moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is taken out by a first taking-out movement distance by the suction nozzle from the placement table,
- wherein the first taking-out movement distance is a distance by which the first object is moved until the first object is taken out from the placement table, the first object being in contact with the second object immediately after the first object is moved by the first taking-out movement distance;
- and
- controlling, by the operation controller, based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment, whether or not the taking-out operation is further continued.
2 more elements
An object taking-out system, comprising:
- actuator apparatuses disposed in respective environments, each of the actuator apparatuses including an operation controller, an acquirer, and an actuator including a suction nozzle for sucking a first object;
- a setter;
- a server;
- an operation target object database;
- and
- an operation result database,
- wherein:
- the server is connected to each of the actuator apparatuses, the setter, the operation target object database, and the operation result database;
- each of the actuators is configured to take out the first object from a placement table while one of the suction nozzles sucks the first object at a suction position and a side surface of the first object is in contact with a side surface of a second object, the first object and the second object being on the placement table with the side surface of the first object being in contact with the side surface of the second object before the one of the suction nozzles sucks the first object;
- the setter is configured to set a taking-out movement distance by which the first object is to be moved by one of the actuators from the placement table, and store the taking-out movement distance in the operation target object database via the server;
- the operation controller is configured to control a sucking operation by one of the actuators and a taking-out operation by the one of the actuators based on the taking-out movement distance,
- the acquirer is configured to acquire a moment applied to the one of the suction nozzles;
- the acquirer is configured to acquire, as the moment, a difference between a first moment applied to the one of the suction nozzles when the first object is sucked by the one of the suction nozzles and a second moment applied to the one of the suction nozzles when the first object is taken out by a first taking-out movement distance by the one of the suction nozzles from the placement table, where the first taking-out movement distance is a distance by which the first object is moved until the first object is taken out from the placement table, the first object being in contact with the second object immediately after the first object is moved by the first taking-out movement distance;
- and
- the operation controller is configured to control whether or not to further continue the taking-out operation based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment.
12 more elements
An object taking-out method, comprising:
- setting a distance by which a first object is to be moved from among objects including the first object and a second object;
- causing a suction nozzle of an actuator apparatus to suck a first part of the first object;
- acquiring, in a first period starting immediately after the sucking, first moments output by a force sensor;
- causing arms of the actuator apparatus to move the first object immediately after the first period;
- causing the arms to stop moving the first object when the first object moves by the distance such that the first object touches the second object before the suction nozzle sucks the first part of the first object and immediately after the arms stop moving the first object;
- acquiring, in a second period starting immediately after the stopping, second moments output by the force sensor;
- continuing the stopping over the second period;
- and
- causing the suction nozzle to suck a second part of the first object which is different from the first part of the first object in a case where an average value of the second moments is equal to or greater than a sum of an average value of the first moments and a predetermined value,
- wherein the force sensor is between the suction nozzle and the arms.
7 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- an actuator having a suction nozzle;
- a setter configured to set a distance;
- and
- a computer for controlling the actuator,
- wherein the computer is configured to perform, when the suction nozzle sucks a first object from among objects including the first object and a second object placed on a placement table with a side surface of the first object being in contact with a side surface of the second object and the first object is taken out from the placement table with the side surface of the first object being in contact with the side surface of the second object:
- acquiring a difference between a first moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is sucked by the suction nozzle and a second moment applied to the suction nozzle when the first object is in a process of being taken out by the suction nozzle, the process including moving the first object by the distance, and the first object being in contact with the second object immediately after the first object is moved by the distance;
- and
- controlling, based on the difference between the first moment and the second moment, whether or not the taking-out operation is to be further continued.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.