US-12626391-B2 - Device determination system, device determination method, and device determination program

US12626391B2US 12626391 B2US12626391 B2US 12626391B2US-12626391-B2

Abstract

A device determination system includes an assistance device configured to assist a work for a workpiece stacked in a stacking area and having portability so as to be freely arranged, an image capturing device capable of capturing an image of the stacking area, and a control device configured to determine an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of the assistance device in the stacking area based on the captured image captured by the image capturing device, in which the assistance device includes an indicator by which a position and an orientation of the assistance device reflected in the captured image can be identified, and the control device detects the indicator included in the captured image so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation.

Inventors

Satoshi TAKATSU
Teruyuki Kubota
Kai SHIMURA

Assignees

AMADA CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220120
Priority Date: 20210205

Claims (18)

1 . A device determination system, comprising: a working machine; a loading machine configured to supply a workpiece stacked in a stacking area to the working machine; an assistance device configured to assist a work of the loading machine and having portability so as to be freely arranged; an image capturing device capable of capturing an image of the stacking area; and a control device configured to determine an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of the assistance device in the stacking area based on the captured image captured by the image capturing device, wherein the assistance device includes an indicator by which a position and an orientation of the assistance device reflected in the captured image can be identified; the control device detects the indicator included in the captured image so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation; the assistance device is a lifting device for lifting and separating, from other workpieces, an uppermost workpiece of a plurality of the workpieces placed in the stacking area, a plurality of the assistance device are provided, and the control device is configured to be capable of detecting the workpiece in the stacking area based on the captured image and execute a determining processing on whether or not the plurality of assistance device are arranged for the detected workpiece.
2 . The device determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the control device compares the detected indicator with an indicator indicated by an indicator model image stored in advance so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation.
3 . The device determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance device includes a device main body including a top surface part, and the indicator is provided on at least the top surface part of the device main body.
4 . The device determination system according to claim 3 , wherein the assistance device includes, on the device main body, an inclined surface part inclined from the top surface part, and the indicator is provided on the inclined surface part of the device main body.
5 . The device determination system according to claim 4 , wherein the indicator provided on the inclined surface part is provided at a location most distant from the top surface part.
6 . The device determination system according to claim 4 , wherein the indicator provided on the top surface part is larger than the indicator provided on the inclined surface part.
7 . The device determination system according to claim 3 , wherein the assistance device includes, on the device main body, a pair of side surface parts connected to the top surface part, and the indicator is provided on each of the pair of side surface parts of the device main body.
8 . The device determination system according to claim 3 , wherein the indicator has a light transmitting property, and the assistance device is provided with a light source inside the device main body.
9 . The device determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the control device determines an arrangement status including the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation of each of the assistance devices in the stacking area, which are determined based on the detected indicator.
10 . The device determination system according to claim 9 , wherein the control device specifies the assistance device to be operated for the workpiece based on a determination result of the arrangement status.
11 . The device determination system according to claim 9 , further comprising detecting means capable of detecting the assistance device stored in a storage area provided at a location distant from the stacking area, wherein the control device determines a storage status of the assistance device in the storage area based on a detection result from the detecting means.
12 . The device determination system according to claim 11 , further comprising issuing means capable of issuing a predetermined alarm, wherein the control device controls the issuing means to issue the predetermined alarm based on a determination result of the arrangement status and/or the storage status.
13 . A device determination method, comprising: capturing, by an image capturing device, an image of a stacking area provided with an assistance device configured to assist a work for a workpiece stacked in the stacking area and having portability so as to be freely arranged; and determining, by a control device, an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of the assistance device in the stacking area based on the captured image captured by the image capturing device, wherein in the determining, an indicator by which a position and an orientation of the assistance device reflected in the captured image can be identified is detected from the captured image so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation; and wherein the assistance device is configured to assist a work of a loading machine which supplies the workpiece stacked in the stacking area to a working machine, and is a lifting device for lifting and separating, from other workpieces, an uppermost workpiece of a plurality of the workpieces placed in the stacking area, a plurality of the assistance device are provided, and the device determination method comprises: detecting the workpiece in the stacking area based on the captured image by the control device; and determining whether or not the plurality of assistance device are arranged for the workpiece detected through the detecting by the control device.
14 . The device determination method according to claim 13 , wherein in the image capturing, an image of the stacking area in which a plurality of the assistance devices are arranged is captured, and in the determining, an arrangement status including the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation of each of the assistance devices in the stacking area, which are determined based on the detected indicator, is determined.
15 . The device determination method according to claim 14 , further comprising detecting, by the control device, the workpiece in the stacking area based on the captured image so as to specify the assistance device to be operated for the workpiece based on a determination result of the arrangement status.
16 . The device determination method according to claim 14 , further comprising: detecting, by detecting means, the assistance device stored in a storage area provided at a location distant from the stacking area; and determining, by the control device, a storage status of the assistance device in the storage area based on a detection result from the detecting means.
17 . The device determination method according to claim 16 , further comprising issuing a predetermined alarm by controlling issuing means capable of issuing the predetermined alarm with the control device based on a determination result of the arrangement status and/or the storage status.
18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a device determination program causing a computer to execute: acquiring a captured image obtained by capturing, with an image capturing device, an image of a stacking area provided with an assistance device configured to assist a work for a workpiece stacked in the stacking area and having portability so as be freely arranged; determining an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of the assistance device in the stacking area based on the captured image that is acquired; detecting the workpiece in the stacking area based on the captured image; and determining whether or not a plurality of the assistance device are arranged for the workpiece detected through the detecting, wherein in the determining, an indicator by which a position and an orientation of the assistance device reflected in the captured image can be identified is detected from the captured image so that the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation are determined; and wherein the assistance device is configured to assist a work of a loading machine which supplies the workpiece stacked in the stacking area to a working machine, and is a lifting device for lifting and separating, from other workpieces, an uppermost workpiece of a plurality of the workpieces placed in the stacking area.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a device determination system, a device determination method, and a device determination program. BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a plurality of workpieces such as plate materials stacked in a stacking area are supplied, by a loading machine such as a supply robot, to a working machine such as a press brake that carries out a bending process and the like. Then, a workpiece lifting device (a single-sheet lifter), such as a magnet floater that separates a workpiece from other workpieces by floating the workpiece by a magnetic force and or an air separator (for example, see Patent Literature 1) that separates a workpiece from other workpieces by an injection pressure of an air, is used for loading, for example. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2017-149496 SUMMARY Technical Problem Typically, the workpiece lifting device of the prior art including the air separator described in Patent Literature 1 is provided in a fixed state to an arrangement table arranged at a position adjacent to the stacking area. Therefore, the plurality of workpieces stacked in the stacking area placed at one location, and one workpiece lifting device corresponding to these workpieces is arranged. However, there has been a market demand to eliminate a dead space and carry out the loading efficiently, if the stacking area is wide, by arranging the plurality of workpieces of different types at a plurality of locations in the stacking area and arranging a plurality of the workpiece lifting devices corresponding to these workpieces. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstance, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a device determination system, a device determination method, and a device determination program capable of accurately determining an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of an assistance device, such as a workpiece lifting device, which is configured to assist a work for a workpiece stacked in a stacking area and has portability so as to be freely arranged. Solution to Problem A device determination system according to the present invention includes an assistance device configured to assist a work for a workpiece stacked in a stacking area and having portability so as to be freely arranged, an image capturing device capable of capturing an image of the stacking area, and a control device configured to determine an arrangement position and an arrangement orientation of the assistance device in the stacking area based on the captured image captured by the image capturing device, in which the assistance device includes an indicator by which a position and an orientation of the assistance device reflected in the captured image can be identified, and the control device detects the indicator included in the captured image so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation. In an embodiment of the present invention, the control device compares the detected indicator with an indicator indicated by an indicator model image stored in advance so as to determine the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation. In another embodiment of the present invention, the assistance device includes a device main body including a top surface part, and the indicator is provided on at least the top surface part of the device main body. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the assistance device includes, on the device main body, an inclined surface part inclined from the top surface part, and the indicator is provided on the inclined surface part of the device main body. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the indicator provided on the inclined surface part is provided at a location most distant from the top surface part. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the indicator provided on the top surface part is larger than the indicator provided on the inclined surface part. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the assistance device includes, on the device main body, a pair of side surface parts connected to the top surface part, and the indicator is provided on each of the pair of side surface parts of the device main body. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the indicator has a light transmitting property, and the assistance device is provided with a light source inside the device main body. In still another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the assistance devices are provided, and the control device determines an arrangement status including the arrangement position and the arrangement orientation of each of the assistance devices in the stacking area, which are determined based on the detected indicator. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the control device detects the workpiece in the stacking area based on the captured ima