Robot system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11090810-B2
Application number	US-201816155994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 10, 2018
Priority date	Oct 11, 2017
Publication date	Aug 17, 2021
Grant date	Aug 17, 2021

Abstract

A robot system includes a robot including a robot arm and a first camera, a second camera installed separately from the robot, and a control device which controls the robot and the second camera. The first camera has already been calibrated in advance, and a first calibration data which is the calibration data between the coordinate system of the robot and the coordinate system of the first camera is known. The control device (i) images a calibration pattern with the first camera to acquire a first pattern image and images a calibration pattern with the second camera to acquire a second pattern image, and (ii) executes calibration process for obtaining a second calibration data which is the calibration data between the coordinate system of the robot and the coordinate system of the second camera using the first pattern image, the second pattern image, and the first calibration data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A robot system comprising:
a robot having a robot arm and a first camera, the first camera being attached on the robot, the first camera having a first field of view in a first mode and a second field of view in a second mode, the first field of view being different from the second field of view, wherein, when the robot performs a work by moving the robot arm with respect to a component in a work area, the first camera captures an image of only the work area by using the first field of view in the first mode, and when the robot system performs a calibration process, the first camera captures an image of only a calibration area in which a calibration pattern is located by using the second field of view in the second mode;
a second camera that is installed separately from the robot, the second camera having a third field of view in the first and second modes, the third field of view being overlapped with the second field of view of the first camera and different from the first field of view of the first camera; and
a control device that controls the robot and the second camera,
wherein the control device includes a processor, the processor being configured to execute a program stored in a memory so as to:
drive a joint of the robot to make the first camera in the second mode and cause the first camera having the second field of view to image the calibration area before the work is executed in the work area;
make the first and second cameras in the second mode, cause the first camera to image the calibration pattern located at the calibration area to acquire a first pattern image, and cause the second camera to image the calibration pattern located at the calibration area to acquire a second pattern image;
execute the calibration process for obtaining calibration data of the second camera using the first pattern image, the second pattern image, and calibration data of the first camera stored in the memory; and
execute the work in the work area while the first camera images the work area with the first field of view after executing the calibration process and execute an operation in the calibration area using the robot arm while the second camera images the calibration area with the third field of view,

wherein, when the component is supplied to the calibration area, the processor is configured to cause the arm to pick up the component in the calibration area and move the picked up component from the calibration area to the work area during the executed work and the executed operation while the first camera images only the work area with the first field of view and the second camera images the calibration area with the third field of view.

2. The robot system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the joint of the robot is a torsion joint that rotates a position of the first camera with respect to a base of the robot.

3. The robot system according to claim 1 , wherein the first camera is a 3D camera, and
the second camera is a 2D camera.

4. The robot system according to claim 1 , wherein the first camera is not attached on the robot arm.

5. The robot system according to claim 1 , wherein the first camera is attached on the robot arm.

6. The robot system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processor is configured to control the robot arm to place the calibration pattern in the calibration area before the processor makes the first and second cameras in the second mode to image the calibration pattern to acquire the first and second pattern images, respectively.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Harada Tomoki

Classifications

• G05B2219/39057

  Hand eye calibration, eye, camera on hand, end effector · CPC title

• B25J9/1697

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title

• B25J17/00

  Joints · CPC title

• B25J9/1692 Primary

  Calibration of manipulator · CPC title

• B25J9/16

  Program controls (total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, G05B19/418) · CPC title