JP2920788B2 - Monitoring method and device for remote operation - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring device for a master-slave manipulator which is remotely operated by a master device while a driver looks at a monitor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an environment where human beings cannot directly work, such as a nuclear power plant, a high place, the deep sea, and space, an operator works remotely by using a manipulator.
At this time, a camera device is used for work monitoring. As the manipulator moves, the monitoring point of the camera device must also be changed, for which the head that drives the camera device is used. In the prior art, the control of the pan head is manually performed by an operator using a joystick, or, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-205494, the working point of the slave manipulator is used as a monitoring point, and the three-dimensional point indicated by the monitoring point is used. The information is converted into two-dimensional information on the direction of the axis of the TV camera, and control is performed to move the camera platform and automatically track the axis of the TV so as to coincide with the monitoring point.

[0003]

However, a master-slave manipulator for remote operation often uses a plurality of slave manipulators such as two or more in order to improve workability. In the prior art, a plurality of sets of devices are used. This cannot be handled unless a plurality of slave manipulators are individually monitored. Therefore, as to which slave manipulator is to be monitored, the operator has to select from a plurality of monitors, which is complicated and significantly impairs workability. Also, when monitoring a plurality of manipulators simultaneously, the size of the field of view on each monitor will be different. In order to solve this, a zoom lens is usually used, and the adjustment is performed by an operator in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to automatically select a monitoring point of a slave manipulator to be monitored in a camera monitoring apparatus for remotely controlling a plurality of slave manipulators, such as two or more slave manipulators, without moving a driver's hand. The present invention provides a method and a method and apparatus for adjusting the size of the field of view on a TV monitor accordingly.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a plurality of slave manipulators, two TV cameras for monitoring the working points of the plurality of slave manipulators, and a TV camera.
The operator monitors the monitor that displays the image of the TV camera and the camera head that can move more than the degree of freedom. The operator monitors the work point of the slave manipulator, which is operated by the master device, for remote operation, and the operation of multiple slave manipulators. Select the middle slave manipulator by the operation command signal of the master device, calculate the distance between the selected slave manipulator and the camera with the pan head control device that performs tracking control using the working point of the selected slave manipulator as the monitoring point, and calculate the zoom ratio. It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control monitoring device for automatically monitoring a monitoring point to be monitored by an operator, comprising a zoom control device for controlling a value within a preset value.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned camera device driving method and zoom ratio adjusting method, when a plurality of slave manipulators are operated by the master device, the working point of the slave manipulator to which the operator tries to move becomes a monitoring point and automatically follows. Is done. In the case where a plurality of slave manipulators are operated at the same time, the middle point of the working point becomes the monitoring point, and furthermore, the monitoring can be performed with a visual field such that each of the working points fits on the monitor.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 by taking an example in which there are two slave manipulators. As shown in FIG. 1, the arrangement of the devices is such that the slave section (a) comprises two slave manipulators, a right slave manipulator 1 and a left slave manipulator 2. 2 with a zoom function to monitor them
A pan head 4 having a servo mechanism with one or more degrees of freedom and having two TV cameras 3 mounted side by side is rotatably mounted between the left and right slave manipulators 1 and 2. Master part (b)
Is a master device including a monitor 5 for outputting an image signal of the TV camera 3, a right joystick 6 for operating the right slave manipulator 1, and a left joystick 7 for operating the left slave manipulator 2, and an operation console for performing other operations. Consists of eight.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control block is roughly divided into a slave section (a), a master section (b) and a control section (c) corresponding to FIG. The input device 10 sends a command to the manipulator control device 11 based on signals from the right joystick 6, left joystick 7, and console 8. The manipulator control device 11 performs coordinate conversion based on the command, and drives the right slave manipulator 1 and the left slave manipulator 2. The TV camera 3 includes two CCD cameras therein, and the image signals thereof are sent to the double-speed scanner 15, where they are converted into image signals to be displayed on the monitor 5. A zoom device 9 is attached to the TV camera 3, and a zoom control device 13 controls the zoom device 9. The camera platform 4 is a driving device of the TV camera 3 and the zoom device 9 attached thereto, and the camera platform controller 1
4 and rotated by a servo mechanism.

The camera controller 12 issues commands to the zoom controller 13 and the camera platform controller 14. The camera control device 12 is supplied with a signal relating to the use state of the right joystick 6 and the left joystick 7 and the joystick selection signal 17 from the input device 10, and the manipulator control device 11 determines the working points of the right slave manipulator 1 and the left slave manipulator 2. Position signal 1
6 is given. The position signal 16 of these working points and the joystick selection signal 17 allow the camera controller 12
Calculates the monitoring point of the TV camera 3 and the optimum zoom ratio, and supplies a focal length signal 18 to the zoom control device 13 and a monitoring point position signal 19 to the camera platform control device 14. In accordance with these commands, the zoom control device 13 controls the zoom device 9 and the camera platform control device 14 controls the camera platform 4.

Hereinafter, the processing in the camera control device 12 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The processing consists of determining the monitoring point of the stereoscopic camera 3 (A) and determining the focal length of the zoom device 9 (B). First, it is determined which joystick is being operated by looking at the joystick selection signal 17. When the right joystick 6 is used, the monitoring point is the working point of the right slave manipulator 1. In the case of the left joystick 7, the monitoring point is the working point of the left slave manipulator 2. When the left and right joysticks are operated at the same time, the monitoring point is the middle point of the working points of the right slave manipulator 1 and the left slave manipulator 2,
At this time, the field of view W is increased by a predetermined ratio such as a distance obtained by adding a distance between both working points of the two manipulators to a distance at which both ends of the wrist enter. To determine the focal length, first, the field of view W at the monitoring point is determined. When monitoring only one of the slave manipulators, a value predetermined according to the size of a tool attached to the slave manipulator or the like is used as the field of view W. On the other hand, when monitoring both slave manipulators, a value having a margin for the distance between the respective working points, that is, a field of view W that allows both working points to sufficiently enter the screen of the monitor 5 is given. Next, when the distance R from the TV camera 3 to the previously obtained monitoring point is obtained, the focal length Fc is given by the following equation. Fc = ω · R / W Here, ω is the size of the field of view of the CCD element of the TV camera 3. The focal length and the monitoring point obtained as described above are given to the zoom controller 13 and the camera platform controller 14 as a focal length signal 18 and a monitoring point position signal 19, respectively.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a monitoring apparatus for a remotely operated master / slave manipulator having two slave manipulators, adjustment of the direction of the camera and adjustment of the zoom are bothered by the operator. The operation can be performed automatically without the need for the operation, and there is an effect that the working state of the operating slave manipulator can always be monitored on the monitor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device arrangement showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a right slave manipulator, 2 is a left slave manipulator, 3 is a TV camera, 4 is a pan head, 5 is a monitor, 6 is a right joystick, 7 is a left joystick, 8 is a console, 9 is a zoom device, and 10 is an input device. , 11 is a manipulator control device, 12 is a camera control device, 13 is a zoom control device, 14 is a pan head control device, 15 is a double-speed scanner,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a work point position signal, reference numeral 17 denotes a joystick selection signal, reference numeral 18 denotes a focal length signal, and reference numeral 19 denotes a monitoring point position signal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B25J 19/04 B25J 3/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A for remotely controlling a plurality of slave manipulator, the working point of the slave manipulator, the remote control monitoring method for automatically tracking by moving the pan head and the axis of the TV camera provided near the working point, the plural
Multiple slave manipulators operating simultaneously
The middle point of the working point of the slave manipulator as the monitoring point
Select and automatically track the monitoring point with the TV camera.
And a monitoring method for remote operation. 2. The distance from the TV camera to the monitoring point.
A plurality of said slave manipulators which calculate the separation and operate simultaneously
All wrists on the monitor to be displayed on the monitor screen.
The remote control according to claim 1, wherein
Operation monitoring method. 3. A TV camera and a movement of one or more degrees of freedom are possible.
Consider a pan head and a monitor that displays video from a TV camera.
Multiple slaves operated by the master using the master device
In the monitoring device for remote control of the working point of the manipulator,
Of the multiple slave manipulators, multiple operating threads
Select the robot manipulator by the operation command signal of the master device.
Select multiple slave manipulator working points
Equipped with a pan head controller that performs tracking control using the midpoint as a monitoring point
A monitoring device for remote operation characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The distance from the TV camera to the monitoring point.
A plurality of said slave manipulators which calculate the separation and operate simultaneously
All wrists on the monitor to be displayed on the monitor screen.
A zoom control device for zooming up.
The monitoring device for remote operation according to claim 3.