Component supply apparatus

A component supply apparatus, comprising:

• a bulk component box for receiving bulk components;
• a first robot comprising a parallel chuck hand for picking up a component from the bulk component box;
• a three-dimensional vision sensor configured to:
• measure a depth map of the bulk components in the bulk component box;
• perform template matching of shapes of small protruding parts that are grippable by the parallel chuck hand with respect to the depth map so as to search for and extract a plurality of candidates of the shapes of the small protruding parts;
• and
• perform an optimization calculation by giving scores to the plurality of extracted candidates of the shapes of the small protruding parts and selecting only one of the plurality of extracted candidates, which has a highest score, to determine one of the grippable small protruding parts in the bulk components;
• a temporary placing table on which the component gripped by the first robot is placed, the first robot placing the component by gripping the determined one of the grippable small protruding parts to pick up the component from the bulk component box, and then releasing the gripped component;
• a two-dimensional vision sensor for recognizing a position and orientation of the component on the temporary placing table;
• a plurality of second robots each comprising a parallel chuck hand for gripping the component;
• and
• a pallet for aligning and holding the component,
• wherein one of the plurality of second robots picks up the component placed on the temporary placing table with the parallel chuck hand thereof based on a result of measurement by the two-dimensional vision sensor,
• wherein the component is transferred between the one of the plurality of second robots and another of the plurality of second robots to change the position and orientation of the component, and
• wherein the component is inserted into the pallet.