Article takeout apparatus and article takeout method using sensor and robot

An article takeout apparatus comprising:

• a sensor having a measurement range that is smaller than a working area in which a plurality of articles are arranged, and configured to be movable relative to the working area;
• a position/posture detector configured to detect a position/posture of the article on a basis of a measurement result of a measurement area that is a part of the working area with the sensor;
• a robot configured to take out the plurality of articles arranged in the measurement area on a basis of a detection result of the position/posture detector;
• a data storage configured to store evaluation data to evaluate a plurality of sensor measurement positions corresponding to respective positions at which the sensor measures a plurality of the measurement areas;
• a data update section configured to update the evaluation data after the measurement area is measured by the sensor and after the article is taken out by the robot;
• an evaluation value calculator configured to calculate a comprehensive evaluation value to evaluate a measurement state of an entirety of the working area on a basis of the updated evaluation data;
• and
• a sensor position selector configured to select a next sensor measurement position of the sensor from among the plurality of sensor measurement positions on a basis of the comprehensive evaluation value.