Automatic assembly apparatus and automatic assembly method

An automatic assembly apparatus having a mechanical coordinate system, for use with an object of recognition, said apparatus comprising:

• an image recognition unit operable to produce recognition results, said image recognition unit including an optical coordinate system, and a zoom optical system operable to carry out a location alignment based on the recognition results, said zoom optical system having a variable zoom magnification index;
• a memory section operable to store zoom magnification indices of said zoom optical system, a plurality of recognition offset data, which specify a relationship in the relative location between the optical coordinate system of said image recognition unit and the mechanical coordinate system, corresponding to each of the zoom magnification indices, respectively, and a plurality of pixel rates, which are dimension conversion coefficients between the optical coordinate system and the mechanical coordinate system, corresponding to each of the zoom magnification indices, respectively;
• a selection section operable to select one recognition offset datum, among the plurality of recognition offset data stored in said memory section, and one pixel rate, among the plurality of pixel rates stored in said memory section, in accordance with the zoom magnification index of said zoom optical system;
• a camera operable to obtain an image of the object of recognition;
• a recognition process section operable to recognize the image of the object of recognition obtained by said camera and to output, as a result of recognition, at least location information of the object of recognition in terms of the optical coordinate system;
• a coordinate conversion section operable to convert the location information outputted by said recognition process section into mechanical coordinate location information, in terms of the mechanical coordinate system, based on the recognition offset datum and pixel rate selected by said selection section;
• and
• a control section operable to control said automatic assembly apparatus in accordance with the mechanical coordinate location information.

A method of automatic assembly using a mechanical coordinate system, for use with an object of recognition and an image recognition unit including an optical coordinate system and a zoom optical system, having a variable zoom magnification index, operable to carry out a location alignment based on recognition results produced by the image recognition unit, said method comprising:

• storing, in a memory section, zoom magnification indices of the zoom optical system and a plurality of recognition offset data, which specify a relationship in the relative location between the optical coordinate system of the image recognition unit and the mechanical coordinate system, corresponding to each of the zoom magnification indices, respectively;
• selecting, in a selection section, one recognition offset datum, among the plurality of recognition offset data stored in the memory section, in accordance with the zoom magnification index of the zoom optical system;
• recognizing, in a recognition process section, an image of the object of recognition obtained by a camera and outputting, as a result of recognition, location information of the object of recognition in terms of the optical coordinate system;
• converting, in a coordinate conversion section, the outputted location information into mechanical coordinate location information, in terms of the mechanical coordinate system, based on the selected recognition offset datum;
• and
• controlling, in a control section, the automatic assembly in accordance with the mechanical coordinate location information.

A method of automatic assembly using a mechanical coordinate system, for use with an object of recognition and an image recognition unit including an optical coordinate system and a zoom optical system, having a variable zoom magnification index, operable to carry out a location alignment based on recognition results produced by the image recognition unit, said method comprising:

• storing, in a memory section, zoom magnification indices of the zoom optical system, a plurality of recognition offset data, which specify a relationship in the relative location between the optical coordinate system of the image recognition unit and the mechanical coordinate system, corresponding to each of the zoom magnification indices, respectively, and a plurality of pixel rates, which are dimension conversion coefficients between the optical coordinate system and the mechanical coordinate system, corresponding to each of the zoom magnification indices, respectively;
• selecting, in a selection section, one recognition offset datum, among the plurality of recognition offset data stored in the memory section, and one pixel rate, among the plurality of pixel rates stored in the memory section, in accordance with the zoom magnification index of the zoom optical system;
• recognizing, in a recognition process section, the image of the object of recognition obtained by a camera and outputting, as a result of recognition, at least location information of the object of recognition in terms of the optical coordinate system;
• converting, in a coordinate conversion section, the outputted location information into mechanical coordinate location information, in terms of the mechanical coordinate system, based on the selected recognition offset datum and pixel rate;
• and
• controlling, in a control section, the automatic assembly in accordance with the mechanical coordinate location information.