Patents by Inventor Tetsuri Sonoda

Tetsuri Sonoda has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10800033
    Abstract: A robot control apparatus for controlling a robot manipulating a target object includes a measurement unit configured to measure a change of a gripping unit configured to grip the target object when the gripping unit contacts the target object, a first acquisition unit configured to acquire the change of the gripping unit measured by the measurement unit, a second acquisition unit configured to acquire a gripping state, which is a state of gripping of the target object by the gripping unit, based on the change of the gripping unit acquired by the first acquisition unit, and a control unit configured to control an action of the robot based on the gripping state acquired by the second acquisition unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Daisuke Yamada, Kazuhiko Kobayashi, Masahiro Suzuki, Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 10695905
    Abstract: A robot control apparatus that controls operation of a robot that grips a target object includes an acquisition unit that obtains information about a position and orientation of the target object, a selection unit that selects one of a plurality of gripping modes based on a captured image of the target object, and a generation unit that generates, based on the obtained position and orientation and the selected gripping mode, gripping operation data that defines a gripping operation of the robot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 10091469
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus can measure a three-dimensional shape of a subject with high accuracy when an image of a projection pattern is captured with a favorable contrast. The image processing apparatus includes a matching calculation unit that performs matching calculation between a projection pattern in an image being captured and an image of a projection pattern generated by a projection pattern generation unit. An image evaluation unit calculates a contrast as an evaluation standard in the captured image. A symbol position calculation unit highly accurately calculates a position of each of a group of points forming the projection pattern, for each area in the captured image determined to be a highly accurate shape measurable area based on the contrast, and thus obtains a peak luminance position. A three-dimensional shape calculation unit calculates the three-dimensional shape of the subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9902059
    Abstract: A robot teaching apparatus for teaching an operation of a robot measures a state of an action of a mechanism on a target object while the mechanism is acting on the target object. The mechanism has a shape or a function corresponding to a hand unit of the robot. The robot teaching apparatus generates an operation instruction for the robot based on the measured state, and records the generated operation instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9884424
    Abstract: A display control apparatus operable to display an operation of a robot comprising: an obtaining unit configured to obtain measurement information of a processing target that includes at least one of the robot and a target that the robot operates; an emphasizing unit configured to generate emphasized display information that emphasizes a feature of a portion of the processing target, based on the measurement information; a composition unit configured to generate composite display information in which the emphasized display information and non-emphasized display information other than the emphasized display information are composed; and an output unit configured to output the composite display information to a display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Publication number: 20170282363
    Abstract: A robot control apparatus for controlling a robot manipulating a target object includes a measurement unit configured to measure a change of a gripping unit configured to grip the target object when the gripping unit contacts the target object, a first acquisition unit configured to acquire the change of the gripping unit measured by the measurement unit, a second acquisition unit configured to acquire a gripping state, which is a state of gripping of the target object by the gripping unit, based on the change of the gripping unit acquired by the first acquisition unit, and a control unit configured to control an action of the robot based on the gripping state acquired by the second acquisition unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Daisuke Yamada, Kazuhiko Kobayashi, Masahiro Suzuki, Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9752870
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus for generating a projection pattern used in three-dimensional measurement of a target object, comprising: determination means for determining a projection code string for generating the projection pattern based on distance information of the target object which is obtained in advance; and generation means for generating a pattern image of the projection pattern based on a projection code string determined by the determination means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuya Suzuki, Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9733072
    Abstract: A three dimensional measurement apparatus comprising: a projection unit configured to project a pattern including a measurement pattern and a feature pattern onto an object; an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of the object onto which the pattern is projected; a grouping unit configured to divide the captured image into a plurality of regions using the measurement pattern in the pattern and a plurality of epipolar lines determined based on a positional relationship between the projection unit and the image capturing unit, thereby grouping predetermined regions among the plurality of divided regions; a feature recognition unit configured to recognize the feature pattern based on a difference in the feature pattern between the predetermined regions; and a three-dimensional shape calculation unit configured to calculate a three-dimensional shape of the object based on the feature pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuaki Kuwabara, Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9689668
    Abstract: A projection pattern as an image obtained by compositing the first two-dimensional pattern image and the second two-dimensional pattern image is projected onto an object, and the object onto which the projection pattern has been projected is captured. The three-dimensional shape information of the object is measured based on the projection pattern and the captured image. When a region formed from one or a plurality of pixels is set as the first unit area, and a region having a size larger than that of the first unit area is set as the second unit area, each first unit area of the first two-dimensional pattern image is assigned with one of a plurality of pixel values, and each second unit area of the second two-dimensional pattern image is assigned with one of the plurality of pixel values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Publication number: 20170129101
    Abstract: A robot control apparatus that controls operation of a robot that grips a target object includes an acquisition unit that obtains information about a position and orientation of the target object, a selection unit that selects one of a plurality of gripping modes based on a captured image of the target object, and a generation unit that generates, based on the obtained position and orientation and the selected gripping mode, gripping operation data that defines a gripping operation of the robot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9418291
    Abstract: A pattern light projection unit which stores information on pattern light including information on line patterns projects pattern light including line patterns having at least two lines and at least one reference line pattern serving as a reference of the line patterns on an object in accordance with the information on pattern light. An image pickup unit captures an image of the object to which the pattern light is projected. An information processing apparatus detects the reference line pattern and the line patterns from the captured image, and establishes correspondence between the information on the line patterns stored in the pattern light projection unit and the line patterns detected from the captured image in accordance with the topological positional relationship between the detected reference line pattern and the line patterns so as to identify the line patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuri Sonoda, Shiki Takabayashi
  • Publication number: 20160203799
    Abstract: A display control apparatus operable to display an operation of a robot comprising: an obtaining unit configured to obtain measurement information of a processing target that includes at least one of the robot and a target that the robot operates; an emphasizing unit configured to generate emphasized display information that emphasizes a feature of a portion of the processing target, based on the measurement information; a composition unit configured to generate composite display information in which the emphasized display information and non-emphasized display information other than the emphasized display information are composed; and an output unit configured to output the composite display information to a display unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2016
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9389067
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a projection unit configured to project a projection pattern onto an object, an imaging unit configured to capture an image of the object on which the projection pattern is projected, and a derivation unit configured to derive a three-dimensional shape of the object based on the image captured by the imaging unit. The projection pattern projected on the object by the projection unit includes a first pattern including a continuous luminance variation repetitively arranged at certain distances in a predetermined direction, and a second pattern having information for identifying the position of the measurement pattern in the captured image in an area between peaks in the measurement pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuri Sonoda, Kenji Saitoh
  • Publication number: 20160086335
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus can measure a three-dimensional shape of a subject with high accuracy when an image of a projection pattern is captured with a favorable contrast. The image processing apparatus includes a matching calculation unit that performs matching calculation between a projection pattern in an image being captured and an image of a projection pattern generated by a projection pattern generation unit. An image evaluation unit calculates a contrast as an evaluation standard in the captured image. A symbol position calculation unit highly accurately calculates a position of each of a group of points forming the projection pattern, for each area in the captured image determined to be a highly accurate shape measurable area based on the contrast, and thus obtains a peak luminance position. A three-dimensional shape calculation unit calculates the three-dimensional shape of the subject.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Publication number: 20160059407
    Abstract: A robot teaching apparatus for teaching an operation of a robot measures a state of an action of a mechanism on a target object while the mechanism is acting on the target object. The mechanism has a shape or a function corresponding to a hand unit of the robot. The robot teaching apparatus generates an operation instruction for the robot based on the measured state, and records the generated operation instruction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2015
    Publication date: March 3, 2016
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9217636
    Abstract: A pattern light projection unit which stores information on pattern light including information on line patterns projects pattern light including line patterns having at least two lines and at least one reference line pattern serving as a reference of the line patterns on an object in accordance with the information on pattern light. An image pickup unit captures an image of the object to which the pattern light is projected. An information processing apparatus detects the reference line pattern and the line patterns from the captured image, and establishes correspondence between the information on the line patterns stored in the pattern light projection unit and the line patterns detected from the captured image in accordance with the topological positional relationship between the detected reference line pattern and the line patterns so as to identify the line patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuri Sonoda, Shiki Takabayashi
  • Patent number: 9117103
    Abstract: An image information processing apparatus performs three-dimensional measurement of an object using a captured image obtained by projecting onto the object a projection pattern containing a two-dimensional symbol sequence that is obtained by assigning a predetermined symbol to each code in a projection code string in which a plurality of types of codes are arranged two-dimensionally and capturing an image of the object. The apparatus obtains an imaging pattern by extracting a symbol sequence from the captured image, and converts symbol dots in the imaging pattern into corresponding codes, thereby obtaining an imaging code string. The apparatus obtains a predetermined number of codes according to one sampling feature selected from a plurality of types of sampling features, generates an information code string by arranging the obtained codes, and determining the correspondence between the information code string and a part of the projection code string, thereby performing three-dimensional measurement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Publication number: 20150204661
    Abstract: A projection pattern as an image obtained by compositing the first two-dimensional pattern image and the second two-dimensional pattern image is projected onto an object, and the object onto which the projection pattern has been projected is captured. The three-dimensional shape information of the object is measured based on the projection pattern and the captured image. When a region formed from one or a plurality of pixels is set as the first unit area, and a region having a size larger than that of the first unit area is set as the second unit area, each first unit area of the first two-dimensional pattern image is assigned with one of a plurality of pixel values, and each second unit area of the second two-dimensional pattern image is assigned with one of the plurality of pixel values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9082185
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus generates pattern data including a plurality of measurement lines, and a reference line which has a plurality of intersection points with the plurality of measurement lines, respectively, and has a shape that is defined in an interval between the intersection points by a specific feature, captures an image of an object onto which projection pattern light, based on the generated pattern data, is projected, extracts the intersection points from the captured image, and obtains information, concerning the shape with a specific feature in the interval between the intersection points on the reference line in the captured image, as identification information used to identify the measurement lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tetsuri Sonoda
  • Patent number: 9074879
    Abstract: A projection pattern that includes a measurement pattern for measuring a distance to a target object, and a code pattern for identifying the measurement pattern is projected onto the target object. The target object onto which the projection pattern was projected is sensed. On the basis of a relationship between the measurement pattern and the code pattern in the sensed image, the projection pattern that is to be projected onto the target object after the projection pattern are changed, the code pattern is read out in the sensed image of the target object onto which the changed projection pattern was projected, and the measurement pattern is associated with it. Using the associated measurement pattern, a distance from the projection unit or the sensing unit to the target object is acquired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuya Suzuki, Tetsuri Sonoda