1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a robot arm, especially relates to a robot arm with an image capturing function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In factories, robot arms are usually used for increasing the efficiency of production. Smart robot arms can be installed with visual devices to detect the external environment or features of objects for avoiding obstacles or planning the moving paths automatically, thereby improving the production efficiency of the automatic production process.
For the image file of the object 6 stored in the memory 4, the prior art uses an external camera 7 to capture the image of object 6, and processes the image by an external image processor 8 to generate its image file including the characteristic information relating to the shape and the size of the object 6. The external image processor is connected to the interface 9 of the robot arm 1, thereby transmitting the image file from the external image processor 8 to the robot arm 1. After the controller 2 receives the image file, the file is stored to the memory 4 temporarily, and is shown on the display 10. The image file of the object 6 is classified manually and stored to the memory 4 for the use of future identification.
In the prior art, the robot arm 1 uses the external camera 7 and the external image processor 8 to generate and process the image file of the object 6. However, the external image processor may require higher processing ability. Also, to transfer the image file of the object 6 and to store the image file to the robot arm 1 may need professional techniques. The complicate processes may become obstacles for a general user and may lower the production efficiency. Therefore, there are still issues to be solved for the image capturing and processing on the robot arm.
One embodiment of the present invention discloses a robot arm with an image capturing function. The robot arm includes a body, a capture control device, a controller, and a display.
The body has a first terminal fixed at a base, and a second terminal being a movable portion. The movable portion has an eye in hand device disposed thereon. The capture control device is disposed next to the eye in hand device and activates the eye in hand device to capture images. The controller is coupled to the body and controls the body to move the movable portion. The display is controlled by the controller and is used for displaying images captured by the eye in hand device.
When the robot arm is in an operation mode, the controller controls the eye in hand device to capture images. When the robot arm is in a manual mode, the capture control device activates the eye in hand device to capture images.
Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for using a robot arm to capture images. The method includes switching the robot arm to a manual mode, moving the robot arm manually to bring an eye in hand device close to a target object, a display displaying an image captured by the eye in hand device, a capture control device activating the eye in hand device to capture an image of the target object when the target object shows up in the display, storing the image of the target object temporarily, processing the image of the target object to generate an image file of a predetermined object, storing the image file in a memory, switching the robot arm to an operation mode, the robot arm controlling the eye in hand device to capture an image of an object, and identifying the object according to the image file of the predetermined object.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
The controller 22 of the robot arm 20 is connected to the body 21. The controller 22 includes the memory 29 and the image processor 30. The memory 29 is controlled by the controller 22 for storing image files of predetermined objects beforehand and storing images captured by the eye in hand device 26 temporarily. The image processor 30 is controlled by the controller 22 for processing the images temporarily stored in the memory 29. Also, the display 23 is controlled by the controller 22 for displaying the images captured by the eye in hand device 26 on the robot arm 20 and the user interface.
When the robot arm 20 is in an operation mode, the controller 22 controls the body 21 to move the eye in hand device 26 and the clamp claw 27 on the movable portion 25. The controller 22 controls the eye in hand device 26 to capture images of the working environment surrounding the robot arm 20, and controls the display 23 to display the captured images for searching a target object 32 on a machine 31 in the working environment. When the object 32 is captured by the eye in hand device 26, the image containing the object 32 captured by the eye in hand device 26 is stored to the memory 29 temporarily. The controller 22 controls the image processor 30 to process the image temporarily stored in the memory 29, and compares the image with the image files of the predetermined objects stored in the memory 29 previously to identify if the object 32 is the targeted object. If the object 32 is the target object, then the controller 22 drives the movable portion 25 of the robot arm 20 to approach the object 32, and clamps the object 32 by the clamp claw 27 for processing the following assembling or transferring process.
Since the capture control device is disposed on the robot arm directly, the user can use the capture control device to activate the eye in hand device to capture images when moving the robot arm. Therefore, the robot arm with an image capturing function and the method for using a robot arm to capture images provided by the embodiments of the present invention can help the users to operate the robot arm in a much easier way. Furthermore, in the operation mode, the robot arm can control the eye in hand device to capture images automatically. In the manual mode, the operator can control the capture control device disposed on the robot arm to activate the eye in hand device to capture the image of a predetermined object and the captured image can be processed to generate the image file of the predetermined object. The image file of the predetermined object is stored directly as the comparing basis for the future identification so the external image processing operations can be reduced, thereby simplifying the process of operating the robot arm and increasing the usage flexibility of the eye in hand device.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201510700701.0 | Oct 2015 | CN | national |