Abstract: An article transport system with few missed detections, and a controller used in the system. The system includes: a conveyor that sequentially transports plural workpieces; a conveyor sensor that obtains conveyance operation information of the conveyor; an arrival sensor that senses the arrival of each workpiece; a camera that captures an image of each workpiece; a position detection processing section that detects the workpiece from the image, and identifies a position of the workpiece on the conveyor; a movement distance designation section that designates first and second movement distances; an image capturing control section that controls the camera to capture an image of the workpiece upon the conveyor advancing by the first movement distance after the arrival of the workpiece has been sensed, and each time the conveyor advances by the second movement distance; and a number designation section that designates an upper limit number for the detection process.

Abstract: A robot system including a conveying apparatus that conveys an object; a robot that performs a process on the object being conveyed; a visual sensor that acquires visual information about the object; a high-frequency processing unit that detects at least one of a conveying velocity at which the object is being conveyed by the conveying apparatus and a position of the object by processing, at a first frequency, the visual information; a low-frequency processing unit that detects a position of the object by processing, at a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency, the visual information; and a control unit that controls the robot.

Abstract: A robot system provided with: a conveying apparatus; a robot that performs processing on an article being conveyed; a camera that captures images of the article being conveyed; a conveying-velocity calculating portion that calculates at least one of a position of the article on the conveying apparatus and a velocity at which the article is conveyed by the conveying apparatus on the basis of the plurality of images captured by the camera; and a control unit that controls the robot on the basis of at least one of the position and the conveying velocity. The control unit determines whether or not the article is present in the images, and, in the case in which the article is absent, controls the robot on the basis of at least one of the position and the conveying velocity calculated by the conveying-velocity calculating portion immediately therebefore.

Abstract: A controller is provided with a machine learning device learning an operation start condition for storing motions for an article on the carrier device by means of the robot. The machine learning device observes operation start condition data showing the operation start condition and conveyance state data showing states of articles on the carrier device, as state variables indicating a current state of an environment. Further, the machine learning device acquires judgment data showing an appropriateness judgment result of the storing motion and learns the operation start condition in association with the conveyance state data, using the observed state variables and the acquired judgment data.

Abstract: An article conveying device, capable of selecting and taking out an appropriate article, even when plural articles are conveyed while overlapping each other. The device has: a supplying section for conveying articles; a position/orientation detecting section for detecting 3-D position/orientation of the article on the supplying section; a movement amount detecting section for detecting an amount of movement of the supplying section; a working section for taking out the article while following a conveying motion of the supplying section, based on the detected 3-D position/orientation and based on the detected amount of movement; and an article selecting section for, when the articles are conveyed while being overlapped with each other, selecting an article to be taken out, on which another article is not overlapped on the object in a determined take-out direction, and outputting a command to the working section for taking out the selected article.

Abstract: Provided is an article conveying apparatus including a three-dimensional sensor that measures a three-dimensional shape of an article; an adhering portion that is made to adhere to a surface of the article; a moving mechanism that moves a position of the adhering portion in a three-dimensional manner; and a control unit that controls the moving mechanism. The control unit is provided with a center-of-gravity calculating portion that calculates a center of gravity of the article on the basis of the three-dimensional shape of the article measured by the three-dimensional sensor and controls the moving mechanism so as to place the adhering portion in the vicinity of the center of gravity calculated by the center-of-gravity calculating portion.

Abstract: A work assisting system includes a sensor unit that detects a position and an orientation of at least one body part of a worker; a supply unit that supplies a part or a tool to the worker; and a cell controller that controls the supply unit, the cell controller including a machine learning unit that constructs a model by learning a work status of the worker on the basis of the detected position and orientation, and a work status determining unit that determines the work status of the worker by using the constructed model. The supply unit selects the part or tool on the basis of the determined work status and changes the position and orientation of the part or tool on the basis of the position and orientation of the at least one body part.

Abstract: A machine learning device according to the present invention learns an operation condition of a robot that stores a plurality of objects disposed on a carrier device in a container using a hand for grasping the objects. The machine learning device includes a state observation unit for observing the positions and postures of the objects and a state variable including at least one of cycle time to store the objects in the container and torque and vibration occurring when the robot grasps the objects during operation of the robot; a determination data obtaining unit for obtaining determination data for determining a margin of each of the cycle time, the torque, and the vibration against an allowance value; and a learning unit for learning the operation condition of the robot in accordance with a training data set constituted of a combination of the state variable and the determination data.

Abstract: A carrier device includes a conveyor configured to carry objects supplied continuously; an object detection unit configured to detect the positions and orientations of the objects disposed in a predetermined area on the conveyor; a combination calculation unit, when a robot grasps multiple objects, out of the objects, with a hand and places the grasped objects in a container, configured to calculate combinations of sequences to grasp the objects by the hand; an index calculation unit configured to calculate an index for each combination using the distances and rotation amounts between the objects to be grasped by the hand based on the positions and orientations of the objects; and a robot control unit configured to determine the sequences to grasp the objects by the hand based on the indexes, and grasping the objects and placing the objects in the containers in accordance with the determined sequences.

Abstract: An operation management system includes a sensor for obtaining data on an operator and a cell control device connected to the sensor. The cell control device includes a sensor management unit for managing information from the sensor; an operator monitor unit for monitoring at least one of the motion amount and condition amount of the operator; a learning unit for learning at least one of the degrees of fatigue, proficiency, and interest of the operator; and a notification management unit that transmits condition information including at least one of the degrees of fatigue, proficiency, and interest of the operator, when receiving a condition notification request from a host management unit, and that receives an operation details change notification and transfers the operation details change notification to the operator, or that transmits the condition information to the operator, when receiving a condition notification request from the operator.

Abstract: An article conveying device having a temporary placement section and capable of conveying articles. The article conveying device has: a supplying section configured to sequentially convey or supply plural articles; a discharging section configured to sequentially convey plural containers for containing the articles; a temporary placement section on which at least one article can be temporarily placed; a first detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the article on the supplying section and successively detect an amount of movement of the supplying section; a second detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the container on the discharging section and successively detect an amount of movement of the discharging section; a working machine configured to convey the article between the supplying section, the temporary placement section and the discharging section; and a controlling section configured to control the working machine based on a predetermined condition.

Abstract: An article alignment apparatus includes an interval setting unit configured to specify a distance between articles aligned along a movement direction of a conveyor, a movement amount acquisition unit configured to acquire a movement amount of a placement portion of the conveyor from a detector, a virtual target generation unit configured to generate a virtual target which serves as a reference in positioning the article on the placement portion, before a robot executes a placement operation of the article, and a placement operation execution unit configured to place the article within the virtual target by tracking the virtual target moving together with the conveyor based on information detected by the detector.

Abstract: This article transfer apparatus comprises a disk member, an article supply apparatus which changes at least positions of the respective articles at a predetermined circumferential position of the rotating disk member, a rotation sensor which detects a rotational position of the disk member, a visual sensor which obtains information for identifying at least positions of the respective articles on the disk member, and a robot which picks up the articles on the disk member in a state in which the disk member is rotating, by using an article position information in which the information obtained by the visual sensor corresponds to a detected result of the rotation sensor at the time of obtaining the information, and a detected result of the rotation sensor at the time of picking up the articles.

Abstract: A machine learning device, which performs a task using a plurality of industrial machines and learns task sharing for the plurality of industrial machines, includes a state variable observation unit which observes state variables of the plurality of industrial machines; and a learning unit which learns task sharing for the plurality of industrial machines, on the basis of the state variables observed by the state variable observation unit.

Abstract: A cell controller of a system includes: a sensor management part that collectively manages information from a sensor; a workpiece management part that monitors at least one of the stroke and the state amount of a workpiece, the stroke and state amount being included in the information from the sensor; and a task management part that selects the workpiece to be handled based on the task request from a machine controller and at least one of the stroke and the state amount of the workpiece, and transmits information on the workpiece to be handled to the machine controller.

Abstract: An article arraying device including a robot; a vision sensor for obtaining position information of each of randomly arranged articles; an arrangement pattern generating section for generating an arrangement pattern by using the position information, the arrangement pattern including pattern elements in a regular arrangement, in such a manner that any one of the pattern elements coincides with a position of a reference article in the randomly arranged articles; a picking motion generating section for generating a picking motion by using the position information, the robot picking up by the picking motion an article other than the reference article; an arraying motion generating section for generating an arraying motion, the robot placing by the arraying motion the picked-up article in a position juxtaposed to the reference article in accordance with the arrangement pattern; and a robot controlling section for controlling the picking motion and the arraying motion.

Abstract: An apparatus for setting a conveyor coordinate system in a robot system. The apparatus includes features provided on a movable part of a conveyor; a sensor provided on a robot; a first coordinate acquiring section for making the sensor detect positions of two features, when the movable part is in a first position, and acquiring two first coordinates in a base coordinate system of the robot; a conveying operation executing section for making the movable part perform a conveying operation from the first position toward a second position; a second coordinate acquiring section for making the sensor detect a position of one feature, when the movable part is in the second position, and acquiring one second coordinate in the base coordinate system; and a coordinate system determining section for determining the conveyor coordinate system based on a conveying operation direction, two first coordinates and one second coordinate.

Abstract: An article alignment apparatus includes an interval setting unit configured to specify a distance between articles aligned along a movement direction of a conveyor, a movement amount acquisition unit configured to acquire a movement amount of a placement portion of the conveyor from a detector, a virtual target generation unit configured to generate a virtual target which serves as a reference in positioning the article on the placement portion, before a robot executes a placement operation of the article, and a placement operation execution unit configured to place the article within the virtual target by tracking the virtual target moving together with the conveyor based on information detected by the detector.

Abstract: An article arraying device including a robot; a vision sensor for obtaining position information of each of randomly arranged articles; an arrangement pattern generating section for generating an arrangement pattern by using the position information, the arrangement pattern including pattern elements in a regular arrangement, in such a manner that any one of the pattern elements coincides with a position of a reference article in the randomly arranged articles; a picking motion generating section for generating a picking motion by using the position information, the robot picking up by the picking motion an article other than the reference article; an arraying motion generating section for generating an arraying motion, the robot placing by the arraying motion the picked-up article in a position juxtaposed to the reference article in accordance with the arrangement pattern; and a robot controlling section for controlling the picking motion and the arraying motion.

Abstract: An article conveying robot system capable of effectively containing an article in a container conveyed by a conveyor by using a robot. A container detecting part measures the distribution of shading of an image of each containing cell based on a detection result of the container, detects the containing state of each cell, and stores the detection result of each cell. An information managing part of a controller of an upstream side robot receives information from a container detecting part of a controller of a downstream side robot, and then generates containing cell information. An information managing part checks the cell information to be processed, and then transmits the cell information to a task executing part only when an article is not located in the corresponding cell. Task executing part controls the robot so as to locate an article in the selected cell based on the cell information.