A method and system for quickly emptying a plurality of substantially identical target items from a transport structure with a picking tool for placement into a transport container are provided. The method includes the step of providing a plurality of equivalence classes which partition all possible sequences of legal picks. Each equivalence class containing a subset of items from a ranked configuration. The method also includes ranking the equivalence classes in order of expected time efficiency and selecting the best ranked equivalence class for picking.
A method and system for optimizing the pose of a picking tool with respect to at least one previously selected item in a topmost layer of target items to be picked from a transport structure are provided. The method includes the step of generating all legal poses of the picking tool with respect to the configuration of items on the topmost layer in which the picking tool subtends the at least one previously selected item. The method also includes selecting the picking tool pose for picking the at least one previously selected item based on the generated legal poses.
A method and system for efficiently packing a transport container with a plurality of substantially identical target items picked from a transport structure with a picking tool are provided. The method includes the step of providing a plurality of equivalence classes which partition all possible sequences of legal picks. Each equivalence class containing a subset of items from a ranked configuration. The method also includes ranking the equivalence classes in order of expected time efficiency under the constraint that a minimum, predetermined level of space efficiency is maintained. Finally, the method includes selecting the best ranked equivalence class for picking.
G06Q 10/08 - Logistique, p. ex. entreposage, chargement ou distributionGestion d’inventaires ou de stocks
4.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DECANTING A PLURALITY OF ITEMS SUPPORTED ON A TRANSPORT STRUCTURE AT ONE TIME WITH A PICKING TOOL FOR PLACEMENT INTO A TRANSPORT CONTAINER
A method and system for decanting a plurality of substantially identical target items in a topmost layer of target items supported on a transport structure at one time with a picking tool for placement into a transport container are provided. The method includes the steps of providing a ranked configuration which describes the location and orientation of all items in the topmost layer and identifying a set of all legal picks of multiple items from the topmost layer based on the size and shape of the picking tool and the size and shape of the transport container. The method also includes the step of grouping the legal picks into equivalence classes. Each equivalence class contains a subset of items from the ranked configuration.
A method and system for manipulating (i.e. such as by picking) a multitude of target items supported on a substantially horizontal support surface one at a time. The support surface supports a configuration of substantially identical items aligned substantially perpendicular to the support surface. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of hypotheses which are ranked based on surprisals of the hypotheses. Each of the hypotheses describes an observation of an item in the configuration. The observations include an observation of the appearance of a perimeter of the item and an observation of the geometry of the perimeter of the item. The method also includes generating potential configurations for potential combinations of the multiple items based on the ranked hypotheses. Finally, the potential configurations are ranked. The step of ranking includes the step of combining the surprisals of the hypotheses in each potential configuration.
A method and system for manipulating a target item supported on a substantially horizontal support surface supporting a configuration of substantially identical items are provided. The system includes at least one light source configured to illuminate at least one surface including a top surface of the items to obtain backscattered illumination. A volumetric sensor such as a 2-D/3-D sensor is configured to sense the backscattered illumination to obtain at least one depth image and at least one appearance image. At least one processor is configured to determine geometric information and appearance information from the images. The at least one processor is also configured to generate a plurality of hypotheses and surprisals of the information and to rank the hypotheses based on their surprisals. In one embodiment, the best hypothesis is selected and the item is manipulated or picked from a pallet by a vision-guided robot based on the best hypothesis.
G01B 21/00 - Dispositions pour la mesure ou leurs détails, où la technique de mesure n'est pas couverte par les autres groupes de la présente sous-classe, est non spécifiée ou est non significative
A method and system for registering a 3D sensor with an autonomous manipulator is provided. The 3D sensor has a field of view and a sensor coordinate system. The autonomous manipulator is a vision-guided manipulator having a work envelope and a manipulator coordinate system. The method includes moving a registration target relative to the sensor in the field of view of the sensor in the work envelope to obtain a plurality of depth maps or images of the target. The depth maps or images are processed to obtain a plurality of extrinsic registration parameters between the manipulator and the sensor.
A method and system for registering a 3D sensor with an autonomous manipulator is provided. The 3D sensor has a field of view and a sensor coordinate system. The autonomous manipulator is a vision-guided manipulator having a work envelope and a manipulator coordinate system. The method includes moving a registration target relative to the sensor in the field of view of the sensor in the work envelope to obtain a plurality of depth maps or images of the target. The depth maps or images are processed to obtain a plurality of extrinsic registration parameters between the manipulator and the sensor.
A machine vision-based method and system for locating an object within a scene are provided. The method includes uniformly illuminating a target surface of the object within the scene with light having an intensity within a relatively narrow range of wavelengths such that the light overwhelms the intensity of ambient light within the narrow range to obtain reflected, backscattered illumination. The method also includes sensing brightness of the surface due to a diffuse component of the backscattered illumination to obtain brightness information. Backscattered illumination from the target surface is inspected to obtain geometric information. Rotationally and positionally invariant surface albedo of the object is computed based on the brightness and geometric information. The surface albedo and the geometric information may then be used by a matching algorithm.
G06V 10/60 - Extraction de caractéristiques d’images ou de vidéos relative aux propriétés luminescentes, p. ex. utilisant un modèle de réflectance ou d’éclairage
10.
MACHINE VISION-BASED METHOD AND SYSTEM TO FACILITATE THE UNLOADING OF A PILE OF CARTONS IN A CARTON HANDLING SYSTEM
A machine vision-based method and system to facilitate the unloading of a pile of cartons within a work cell are provided. The method includes the step of providing at least one 3-D or depth sensor having a field of view at the work cell. Each sensor has a set of radiation sensing elements which detect reflected, projected radiation to obtain 3-D sensor data. The 3-D sensor data including a plurality of pixels. For each possible pixel location and each possible carton orientation, the method includes generating a hypothesis that a carton with a known structure appears at that pixel location with that container orientation to obtain a plurality of hypotheses. The method further includes ranking the plurality of hypotheses. The step of ranking includes calculating a surprisal for each of the hypotheses to obtain a plurality of surprisals. The step of ranking is based on the surprisals of the hypotheses.
B65G 47/26 - Dispositifs pour influencer la position relative ou l'orientation des objets pendant le transport par transporteurs arrangeant les objets, p. ex. faisant varier l'espace entre chaque objet
G01B 11/25 - Dispositions pour la mesure caractérisées par l'utilisation de techniques optiques pour mesurer des contours ou des courbes en projetant un motif, p. ex. des franges de moiré, sur l'objet
G06T 7/73 - Détermination de la position ou de l'orientation des objets ou des caméras utilisant des procédés basés sur les caractéristiques
11.
MACHINE VISION-BASED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MEASURING 3D POSE OF A PART OR SUBASSEMBLY OF PARTS
A machine vision-based method and system for measuring 3D pose of a part or subassembly of parts having an unknown pose are disclosed. A number of different applications of the method and system are disclosed including applications which utilize a reprogrammable industrial automation machine such as a robot. The method includes providing a reference cloud of 3D voxels which represent a reference surface of a reference part or subassembly having a known reference pose. Using at least one 2D/3D hybrid sensor, a sample cloud of 3D voxels which represent a corresponding surface of a sample part or subassembly of the same type as the reference part or subassembly is acquired. The sample part or subassembly has an actual pose different from the reference pose. The voxels of the sample and reference clouds are processed utilizing a matching algorithm to determine the pose of the sample part or subassembly.
G01B 21/04 - Dispositions pour la mesure ou leurs détails, où la technique de mesure n'est pas couverte par les autres groupes de la présente sous-classe, est non spécifiée ou est non significative pour mesurer la longueur, la largeur ou l'épaisseur en mesurant les coordonnées de points
G01B 11/25 - Dispositions pour la mesure caractérisées par l'utilisation de techniques optiques pour mesurer des contours ou des courbes en projetant un motif, p. ex. des franges de moiré, sur l'objet
A method and system are provided for controlling an industrial automation machine using non-contact (virtual) position encoding. The system and method can be used to determine the position of an object under assembly on a conveyor system without mechanical coupling to a line or drive mechanism of the line.
B25J 19/00 - Accessoires adaptés aux manipulateurs, p. ex. pour contrôler, pour observerDispositifs de sécurité combinés avec les manipulateurs ou spécialement conçus pour être utilisés en association avec ces manipulateurs
G06T 17/00 - Modélisation tridimensionnelle [3D] pour infographie
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