JP5100525B2 - Article management system, article management method, and article management program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article management system, an article management method, and an article management program for managing the arrangement of articles to be handled when a person and a robot (for example, a robot arm) work in cooperation.

  As a conventional system for managing the arrangement of articles, there is a system for managing luggage in a warehouse as shown in Patent Document 1. This means that for articles with a short residence time until delivery, the availability status is searched and stored from the storage shelf near the delivery exit, and for products with a long residence time until delivery, the availability status is searched from the entry shelf far from the delivery entrance. Storage time, calculating the residence time of the received goods for each predetermined period, searching for a vacancy from the storage shelf near the exit, and rearranging the received goods for a predetermined time or less. . As a result, articles close to the exit are concentrated in the vicinity of the exit, and the arrangement of the articles for efficiently proceeding the exit operation is controlled. Moreover, in patent document 2, it is made to ship by the first-in first-out from the articles | goods with manufacture date and warehousing date.

JP 61-229705 A JP 2001-48316 A

  However, since the conventional technique controls the arrangement according to a given delivery order in a controlled space called a warehouse, it is impossible to cope with ambiguity in work involving humans.

  In other words, since the person works in a procedure different from the procedure given first, or moves the article to a different place each time, this has a problem of adversely affecting the execution of the subsequent work. . Here, the adverse effect is that a robot places an article (hereinbelow, referred to as an “obstacle article”) at an arbitrary location, so that the robot tries to take the article behind the obstacle article. When this happens, the obstacle article becomes an obstacle, and first, it means that a wasteful time of moving the obstacle article is generated. Or, if the person places the obstacle article outside the range of movement of the robot, the robot cannot handle the obstacle article, and the person may have to go to get the obstacle article. is there.

  FIG. 31 shows a specific situation as a problem. This is a scene where people and robots work together to cook.

(1) First, a person cuts onions and puts the onions into a bowl.
(2) Next, the person puts the bowl aside for the person to do other work. At this time, if the person is not conscious of anything, the place where the bowl is placed is not constant due to the mood and whim of the person at that time. Here, it is assumed that it is placed in front of an oil-filled container (oil tank) placed on the right side of the person. Then, this bowl becomes the obstacle article described above.
(3) The work proceeds and the person is instructed to have the oil pan removed in order to fry in front of the stove.
(4) Then, the bowl placed earlier becomes an obstacle, and the robot cannot take out the oil. Therefore, in order to proceed with the work, the following (5) or (5 ′) must be performed.
(5) The robot moves the disturbing bowl to a place where it does not get in the way.
(5 ′) A person moves a disturbing bowl to a place where it does not get in the way.
(6) As a result of performing the above (5) or (5 ′), the robot can remove the oil, and the robot can remove the oil and deliver it to the person.
As described above, when a person puts the bowl in an inappropriate place in the scene (2), the following wasted work time (5) or (5 ′) occurs. Conversely, this can be prevented by providing information to the person so that the person does not place the bowl in an inappropriate place (before filling the oil).

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and in order to prevent generation of useless time, a place where the movement of the article adversely affects the subsequent work (for example, a place where the article is not desired to be placed, the article It is an object of the present invention to provide an article management system, an article management method, and an article management program capable of efficiently performing work by presenting information on a place where movement is to be avoided.

  In order to solve the conventional problem, the article management system of the present invention is configured as follows.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment where the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and A sensing device for detecting the position information of the person;
A detection history database that records information detected by the sensing device;
An attribute database in which position information and moving speed information of the base of the main body of the robot arm are recorded;
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step A work procedure database for recording handling articles of
Based on the information detected by the sensing device, work progress management means for managing information on the progress of work procedures recorded in the work procedure database;
Article gripping determination means for referring to the detection history database to determine that the person grips the handling article;
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person Access determination means for determining whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on position information of the article evacuation place when it is assumed that the handled article is gripped and placed at the article evacuation place in the environment When,
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation On the basis of the position information and the moving speed information of the base part of the main body of the robot arm recorded in the attribute database,
An information output device that provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means when the article gripping determination means determines that the person has gripped the handling article;
An article management system is provided.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment in which the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and Detecting the position information of the person with a sensing device;
Record the information detected by the sensing device in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handling article, the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit.
An article management method is provided.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment where the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and Record the information detected by the sensing device with the position information of the person in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handling article, a procedure is provided in which the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means. An article management program for causing a computer to execute is provided.

  With this configuration, when a person grips an article, an estimated obstacle removal time can be calculated for the place where the article is placed, and information can be provided based on the calculation result.

  According to the present invention, when a person grips an article, the estimated obstacle removal time is calculated for the place where the article is placed, and the person is provided by providing information based on the calculation result. Efficient work can be done by selecting the place to place the article according to the information (for example, avoiding the place where you do not want to place the article, avoiding the place where you want to avoid moving the article) with minimal effort. Can be executed.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described before detailed description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment where the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and A sensing device for detecting the position information of the person;
A detection history database that records information detected by the sensing device;
An attribute database in which position information and moving speed information of the base of the main body of the robot arm are recorded;
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step A work procedure database for recording handling articles of
Based on the information detected by the sensing device, work progress management means for managing information on the progress of work procedures recorded in the work procedure database;
Article gripping determination means for referring to the detection history database to determine that the person grips the handling article;
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person Access determination means for determining whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on position information of the article evacuation place when it is assumed that the handled article is gripped and placed at the article evacuation place in the environment When,
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation On the basis of the position information and the moving speed information of the base part of the main body of the robot arm recorded in the attribute database,
An information output device that provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means when the article gripping determination means determines that the person has gripped the handling article;
An article management system is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the length of the robot arm is recorded in the attribute database in advance,
The access determination means is configured such that the tip of the robot arm is the article based on the position information and length information of the robot arm main body recorded in the attribute database and the position information of the article retreat location. Determine whether it becomes difficult to access the evacuation location.
An article management system according to the first aspect is provided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the work procedure database, based on the information detected by the sensing device, the location information of the destination of the handling article used for each step is recorded,
The access determination means refers to the information of the detection history database and the information of the work procedure database, respectively, and the place where the handled article is placed is the destination of the other handled article in a step after the current work. Whether or not it becomes difficult to access depending on whether or not
An article management system according to the first or second aspect is provided.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the work procedure database records position information of work places in each process,
Recording the length of the person's hand and the length of the robot arm in the attribute database;
The difficulty elimination time calculation unit calculates the difficulty elimination time from the time required to move, grasp and carry the person and the robot arm for moving the handling article in order to eliminate the difficult access situation.
An article management system according to any one of the first to third aspects is provided.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the work procedure database records the time required for each step and whether each step can be interrupted,
In the calculation of the difficulty resolution time in the difficulty resolution time calculation unit, if the corresponding process is not interruptable, calculate by adding the time required until the process is completed,
An article management system according to a fourth aspect is provided.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the work procedure database, the work order and the probabilities of a plurality of steps are recorded,
In the calculation of the difficulty elimination time in the difficulty elimination time calculation unit, weighting is performed using the probability of the work order.
An article management system according to any one of the second to fifth aspects is provided.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, an environment map database in which a sketch of the environment is recorded;
The area where the handling article is placed in the environment map database is divided into a plurality of places, position information of each place is given to the difficulty solving time calculating means, and the difficulty solving time calculated by the time calculating means is acquired. Map management means for associating the calculated difficulty resolution time with a place in the environment map;
The article management system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is further provided.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the map management means is capable of adjusting the size of each place when the area where the handling article is placed is divided into a plurality of places.
An article management system according to a seventh aspect is provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the information output device is configured to determine the length of the robot arm and the position information of the article retreat location when the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handled article. By displaying the information on the difficulty elimination time in a distinction between the movable range and the movable range of the robot arm,
An article management system according to any one of the first to eighth aspects is provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the information output device, when the article gripping determination means determines that the person grips the handling article, the length of the person's hand and the position of the article retreat location By the information, the information of the difficulty solving time only within the reach of the person is displayed.
An article management system according to any one of the first to ninth aspects is provided.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment in which the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and Detecting the position information of the person with a sensing device;
Record the information detected by the sensing device in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handling article, the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit.
An article management method is provided.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the position information of the article existing in the environment where the robot arm and the person perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and Record the information detected by the sensing device with the position information of the person in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handling article, a procedure is provided in which the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means. An article management program for causing a computer to execute is provided.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  An article management system according to one embodiment of the present invention, an article management method executed by the article management system, and an article management program capable of executing the article management system will be described below.

《Example of use scene of article management system》
FIG. 1A shows an example of a usage scene of the article management system according to the one embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example in which the article management system is used for cooking work in the kitchen room 100 will be described as an example in which the robot arm 102 and the person 106 work in cooperation. The kitchen room 100 includes a system kitchen 101, a robot arm 102 that functions as an example of a robot, an information output device 103, a sensor 104, a gas table 107, a cooking table 108, a sink 109, and a microwave oven 110. The dishwasher 111 and the storage shelf 112 disposed above the system kitchen 101 are disposed, and in addition, there are an article 105 used for the cooking operation and a person 106 who performs the cooking operation. .

  Under the control of the control means 302, the robot arm 102 opens and closes the drive motors for each joint (specifically, the elbow joint drive motor 131 and the shoulder joint drive motor 132 in FIG. 1B) and the hand portion 102a at the tip. It is driven by the hand drive motor 130 to be used, and supports the cooking operation performed by the person 106 in cooperation with the person 106. For example, a function of attaching a ladle to the tip of the robot arm 102 and automatically stirring the contents of the pan with the ladle, a function of attaching a sponge to the tip of the robot arm 102, and wiping and cleaning with the sponge, A function in which the person and the robot arm 102 carry the pan together, a function in which the robot arm 102 takes the cooking utensil and hands it to the person, and a place where the robot arm 102 uses the cooking utensil used by the person 106 next. It may be possible to perform a function to prepare in the vicinity.

  As an example of the information output device 103, in this example, a liquid crystal projector is installed.

  As an example of the sensor 104, in this example, an image sensor (camera) that captures an image of the kitchen room 100 is installed.

  In FIG. 1A, the robot arm 102 has a base portion 102b of the main body fixed to the back side of the system kitchen 101 (the front wall side with respect to the person 106), but as shown in FIG. The rail 201 is installed on the upper back side (the front wall side with respect to the person 106). You may enable it to move with the traveling apparatus 102A. Moreover, instead of FIG. 1A and FIG. 2A, as shown to FIG. 2B, you may arrange | position to the storage shelf 112 of the upper side of the system kitchen 101. FIG. Or as shown to FIG. 2C, you may arrange | position at the wall 101A side of the system kitchen 101. FIG. Or as shown to FIG. 2D, you may arrange | position on the near side of the cooking table 108 on the system kitchen 101, for example. If the robot arm 102 is arranged on the upper side or the wall side of the system kitchen 101, the article placed on the system kitchen 101 does not get in the way. Moreover, if it is installed on the front side of the system kitchen 101, the robot arm 102 can reach the microwave oven 110, and the robot arm 102 can also use the microwave oven 110.

《Working procedure》
In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the work procedure performed in cooperation between the person 106 and the robot (for example, the robot arm 102) is prepared by recording the work procedure in the work procedure database 306 in advance. In the assistance of the cooking operation in the kitchen room 100 by the robot, a recipe for cooking is a work procedure. In the work procedure, what items (cooking utensils and food materials) are used in each process, where to operate, and the like are recorded in the work procedure database 306 according to the work order. Details will be described later.

"Use scene"
The article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention is particularly effective in the following scenes, for example.

  In the work of making elaborate dishes using a large number of ingredients and having many cooking processes, transportation of ingredients, cooking utensils and the like, and the process of cooking support operation of the robot arm 102 are repeated.

  At this time, as a function of the robot arm 102 that works in cooperation with the person 106, the robot arm 102 performs a monotonous work such as stirring the pot, and the robot arm 102 performs the cooperative conveyance of heavy objects, and the robot arm 102 performs the human work. It is conceivable that the cooking utensil is handed to 106, or the cooking utensil is prepared in advance by the robot arm 102 in a place that is easy to use for the next operation. In order to realize such a function, it is a necessary operation that the robot arm 102 grasps the cooking utensil at a minimum.

  FIG. 1B shows a specific robot arm 102. The robot arm 102 has a shoulder joint of the main body root portion 102b and an elbow joint between the main body root portion 102b and the hand portion 102a at the distal end. The robot arm 102 also includes an encoder 133 that acquires the current position of the hand portion 102a and the joint (shoulder joint and elbow joint) at the tip of the robot arm.

  Such an operation of the robot arm 102 is performed under the control of the control means 302 to open and close the drive motors of the joints (specifically, the elbow joint drive motor 131 and the shoulder joint drive motor 132) and the hand portion 102b at the distal end. This is performed by being driven by a hand drive motor 130 used for the above.

  On the other hand, after using the cooking utensil, the person 106 often puts the cooking utensil in a nearby place without care. Next, when the robot arm 102 tries to hand over the cooking utensil, if the cooking utensil has been placed outside the movable range of the robot arm 102, the robot arm 102 can grip the cooking utensil. In the end, useless work (time) in which a person has to go to get the cooking utensil occurs. Therefore, in the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the person 106 moves an article, information on a place (moving inappropriate place) that adversely affects subsequent work is presented. A person can prevent the generation of useless work (time) in advance with the minimum effort of selecting the place of the article to be moved according to the information.

  It is difficult to prepare and place the items to be used in advance according to the work procedure, especially in an environment where people move the items arbitrarily, especially in a kitchen room that is not so large. Depending on the situation (for example, the progress of the work), the situation is determined from the position information of the article, the progress of the work, etc., and information is provided to the person 106 so that unnecessary work does not occur when the subsequent work is performed. The article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention is effective.

《Configuration of article management system》
FIG. 3A shows a functional block diagram of the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, which can be used in an environment where the person 106 and the robot arm 102 can perform a work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation. ing. The article management system includes a time acquisition unit (time acquisition unit) 301, a control unit (control unit) 302, a sensing device 303, a detection history database 304, an article gripping determination unit (article gripping determination unit) 305, a work Procedure database 306, work progress management means (work progress management section) 307, work procedure database update means 308, access determination means (access determination section) 310, and difficulty resolution time calculation section (difficult resolution time calculation section) Obstacle article removal time calculation means (obstacle article removal time calculation section) 311, environment map database 312, map management means (map management section) 313, information output device 314, attribute database 315, and recording function as an example And an information database 316.

  Hereinafter, each component will be described.

<< Time acquisition means >>
The time acquisition unit 301 acquires the current time and outputs it to the control unit 302, the sensing device 303, and the work progress management unit 307. Note that the time recording in the detection history database 304 is performed by recording the time output from the sensing device 303.

<Control means>
The control unit 302 is connected to all the units or apparatuses, controls their operations with respect to those units or apparatuses, and operates the article management system under the control of the control unit 302. The overall processing flow of the article management system under the control of the control means 302 will be described later.

<Recording information database>
The recording information database 316 holds information such as image information recorded in advance and ID information (identification information) recorded in advance in order to detect people and articles in the sensing device 303. For example, a recorded information database includes a background image in which there is no person or article to be detected in the kitchen room 100, a face image of a person for using face recognition technology, a template image of an article for template matching processing, and the like. 316 is recorded and held in advance. Furthermore, the face image and the template image are recorded and held in the recording information database 316 in association with the name of the person or the article, the ID recorded on the wireless IC tag, and the like. These pieces of information may be recorded in advance in the recording information database 316 by input / output means 317 such as a keyboard, mouse, voice input device, touch panel, or display.

《Sensing device》
The sensing device 303 detects a person ID and position information (for example, position coordinates) and an article ID and position information (for example, position coordinates), and records the detection result (detection information) in the detection history database 304. At this time, the detected time is acquired from the time acquisition unit 301, and the time information is recorded in the detection history database 304 in association with the detection result detected here. Further, the current position information (the tip position of the robot arm 102) (Hand position) and root part position information of the robot arm 102 are acquired from the control means 302 and recorded together with the time information in the detection history database 304. That is, the position coordinates during operation of the main body base portion 102 b of the robot arm 102 are managed by the detection history database 304. Note that the current position information of the tip of the robot arm 102 is acquired from the encoder 133 through the control unit 302 as an example.

  As a sensor used for the sensing device 303, for example, an image sensor, an ultrasonic tag sensor, a floor pressure sensor, a wireless IC tag sensor, a weight sensor, or the like can be considered. Hereinafter, an example of specific operation of each sensor will be described. In FIG. 1A, the sensor 104 functions as an example of the sensing device 303.

  When an image sensor is used, as shown in FIG. 4, a camera 402 (for example, the sensor 104 in FIG. 1A) is used so that a region 401 (for example, the kitchen room 100 in FIG. 1A) where the person 106 or the article 404 is desired to be captured can be photographed. Is installed. An image in which there is no person 106 or an article 404 to be detected in the area 401 is held in advance as a background image 501 as shown in FIG. 5A (system kitchen 101). A difference image 503 (see FIG. 5C) is obtained by obtaining the difference between the human detection image 502 (see FIG. 5B) and the background image 501 when the person 106 enters the region 401 by the image processing means 403 (see FIG. 3B). ) Is obtained. FIG. 3B shows an example of the configuration of the sensing device 303. The sensing device 303 is configured by a camera 402 and image processing means 403 that is connected to the camera 402 and processes image information captured by the camera 402. ing.

  The lower end of the shaded area 504 extracted from the difference image 503 is the detected position on the floor of the person 106. 5A to 5C show examples of processed images, that is, background images, human detection images, and difference images, respectively, in order.

  Further, the face image of the person 106 associated with the ID or name of the person 106 is recorded in advance in the recording information database 316, and the pre-recorded image and the photographed image are imaged using face recognition technology. By comparing with the processing means 403, it is possible to identify who the person is (see, for example, JP-A-2005-316888 and JP-A-2006-178651).

  This identification processing is performed when the face of the person 106 can be photographed from the front, such as when the person 106 enters the kitchen room 100, and thereafter, the person 106 can track the movement of the person 106 so that the person 106 can move inside the kitchen room 100. It is possible to identify the person 106 anywhere.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, a template image 601 of the article 600 to be handled is recorded in advance, and it is possible to identify what the article is by matching processing with an area extracted from the difference image. FIG. 6 shows an example of a template image. It is preferable to record images viewed from various angles as much as possible from the viewpoint of improving the matching processing accuracy.

  When the ultrasonic tag sensor is used, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of ultrasonic receivers 702 are installed on the ceiling 701 c of an area 701 where the person 106 is to be detected, and the person 106 carries the ultrasonic transmitter 703. A plurality of ultrasonic receivers 702 receive ultrasonic waves transmitted from an ultrasonic transmitter 703 carried by a person 106, and obtain a three-dimensional position of the ultrasonic transmitter 703 based on a difference in arrival times of the ultrasonic waves. The two-dimensional coordinates obtained by projecting this position onto the floor surface are the positions of the person 106. Further, by recording the ID of the person 106 in the ultrasonic transmitter 703 (or the record information database 316) in advance, the ultrasonic receiver 702 can identify who the detected person 106 is.

  When the floor pressure sensor is used, as shown in FIG. 8A, a pressure sensing element 802 that functions as an example of the floor pressure sensor is spread on the floor surface 801c of the region 801 where the person 106 is to be detected. The position of the person 106 can be obtained from the pressure sensing element 802 where the pressure when the person 106 walks is detected. Also, a walking pattern can be obtained from the trajectory of the person 106 by the pressure data processing means 803 (see FIG. 8B), and the person 106 can be identified (for example, “identification of person by sensing floor / Tracking ”, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Robotics Mechatronics Lecture '03 Lecture Proceedings 1A1-1F-A2). FIG. 8B shows an example of the configuration of the sensing device 303. By the pressure sensing element 802 and the pressure data processing means 803 that is connected to the pressure sensing element 802 and processes information sensed by the pressure sensing element 802, A sensing device 303 is configured.

  In the case of using a wireless IC tag sensor, as shown in FIG. 9A, a reading antenna 902 is installed so that a region 901 where an article is to be detected becomes a detection range, and a wireless IC tag 903 is attached to the article 904. When the article 904 with the wireless IC tag 903 attached is placed in the detection range of the reading antenna 902, the position of the article 904 can be detected by reading the article 904 with the reading antenna 902. However, since the position within the detection range of the reading antenna 902 is unknown, the accuracy of the detection position depends on the size of the detection range of the reading antenna 902. Further, by recording the ID of the article handled by the wireless IC tag 903 in the recording information database 316 in advance, it is possible to identify what the detected article is by the wireless IC tag data processing means 904 (see FIG. 9B). it can. FIG. 9B shows an example of the configuration of the sensing device 303, which includes a reading antenna 902 and a wireless IC tag data processing unit 904 that is connected to the reading antenna 902 and processes information read by the reading antenna 902. A sensing device 303 is configured.

  In addition, since the durability of a normal wireless IC tag sensor is about 50 to 60 ° C., the installation position of the reading antenna 902 and the attachment position of the wireless IC tag 903 need to be places where the temperature does not reach 50 to 60 ° C. or higher. is there.

  When using a weight sensor, as shown in FIG. 10A, weight detection sensors 1002 are installed at three locations in a region 1001 where an article 1003 is desired to be detected. When the article 1003 is placed in the area 1001, each weight detection sensor 1002 calculates the difference between the current weight value and the weight value before the article 1003 is placed by the weight data processing means 1004 (see FIG. 10B). The position of the center of gravity is the position of the article 1003. However, when a plurality of articles are placed at the same time, the position cannot be determined by distinguishing each article. FIG. 10B shows an example of the configuration of the sensing device 303, a weight detection sensor 1002, and weight data processing means 1004 that is connected to the weight detection sensor 1002 and processes weight information read by the weight detection sensor 1002. Thus, the sensing device 303 is configured.

  Further, the weight value of the article 1003 to be handled is recorded in the recording information database 316 in advance, and the weight value of the detected article 1003 is compared with the total weight change value of all the weight detection sensors 1002 by the weight data processing unit 1004. Thus, it is possible to identify what the article 1003 is. However, if the difference between the weight values of the articles is less than the detection accuracy of the weight sensor, the distinction cannot be made, but the information of the article operated immediately before (the article ID information) and the total value of these weights. Can be estimated from the above.

  In addition, among ingredients such as onions and carrots, by cutting them with a knife, it is no longer possible to keep the wireless IC tag attached to the ingredients themselves, and the appearance and weight of the ingredients will change. Even with an image sensor or a weight sensor, it becomes difficult to detect foodstuffs. Then, you may make it detect the processed foodstuff by the method as shown in international publication gazette WO / 2006/035714 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-280873). Since the international publication discloses a method for managing processed foods in association with the container containing the foods, the processed foods can be detected as long as such operations are performed. It becomes.

《Detection history database》
The detection history database 304 records the time information detected by the sensing device 303, the ID and position information of the person 106, and the ID and position information of the article. The recording timing in the detection history database 304 is performed at regular time intervals (for example, 1 second). Further, the recording timing in the detection history database 304 may be performed every time it changes by a certain distance (for example, 10 centimeters). That is, when the position of the person 106 or the article changes by a certain distance (for example, 10 centimeters) from the current position (that is, the sensing device 303 indicates that the position has changed by a certain distance (for example, 10 centimeters) from the current position. (When detected), the information of the ID or position of the person 106 and the information of the ID or position of the article is recorded in the detection history database 304 in association with the time information acquired from the time acquisition means 301, and when the information is further recorded. When the position of the person 106 or the article is changed by a certain distance again (that is, when the sensing device 303 detects that the position has changed by a certain distance (for example, 10 centimeters) from the position at the time of recording), The time history information, the ID or position information of the person 106, and the ID or position of the article are recorded in the detection history database 304. To, as such, may be recorded the information repeatedly.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of information recorded.

  In FIG. 11, the human detection history information 1101 includes at least ID information 1102 of the person 106 (hereinafter simply referred to as “ID1102”), human position information 1103 (two-dimensional coordinates) (hereinafter simply referred to as “position 1103”). And time information 1104 (hereinafter simply referred to as “time 1104”).

  In the person detection history information 1101, for example, ID 1102 records information on the ID of the person 106. If the information of the ID of the person 106 is not identified by the sensing device 303, it is left blank (no information). The position 1103 records the position coordinates detected by the sensing device 303 according to a predetermined XY coordinate system (two-dimensional coordinate system by two orthogonal XY axes on the floor surface) as shown in FIG. . The time 1104 is a time output from the sensing device 303, and the time when the ID 1102 is detected by the sensing device 303 is stored (recorded) in the detection history database 304 as the human detection history information 1101.

  Information of the same ID may be arranged in order of time so that the movement trajectory of the person 106 can be understood. When arranging the information of the same ID in order of time, it is necessary to decide whether the data with blank ID should be stored in, for example, “Taro” or “Hanako” in FIG. At that time, for example, in the data before and after the time when the ID is not detected, the data may be stored in a table closer to the position of the detected ID. Further, when the person 106 moves from the kitchen room 100 to the outside of the kitchen room 100 and the sensing device 303 cannot detect the person 106, the person detection history information 1101 indicates that the person 106 enters the kitchen room 100. Record information indicating that it does not exist. For example, by recording the position coordinates outside the monitoring area (for example, position coordinates (−1 [cm], −1 [cm]) indicating the position coordinates outside the monitoring area) in the item of the position 1103, this ( (Information indicating that the person 106 does not exist in the kitchen room 100).

  Similarly, the article detection history information 1105 includes at least items of an article ID 1106, an article position 1107 (coordinates), and a time 1108. As the ID 1106, information on the ID of the article is recorded. As the position 1107, the position coordinates detected by the sensing device 303 are recorded in accordance with a predetermined XY coordinate system (two-dimensional coordinate system by two orthogonal XY axes on the floor surface) as shown in FIG. To do. In the case of an article, even with the same two-dimensional coordinates, there may be different places such as the top of the cooking table 108 and the storage shelf 112, so that the three-dimensional coordinate system (floor surface) can be distinguished. The above two orthogonal XY axes and the three-dimensional coordinate system with the Z axis orthogonal to the XY axes are preferred. As the time 1108, the time detected by the sensing device 303 is recorded.

  Similar to the human detection history information 1101, information of the same ID may be arranged in order of time so that the movement trajectory of the article can be understood. Further, when an article is taken out from the kitchen room 100 to the outside of the kitchen room 100 and the sensing device 303 can no longer detect the article, the article is not present in the kitchen room 100 in the article detection history information 1105. The information indicating is recorded. For example, position coordinates outside the monitoring area (for example, position coordinates (−1 [cm], −1 [cm], −1 [cm]) indicating the position coordinates outside the monitoring area) are recorded in the item of position 1107). By doing this, this (information indicating that the article does not exist in the kitchen room 100) is expressed.

  Further, the current position information (hand position) of the tip of the robot arm 102 and the root position information of the robot arm 102 acquired from the control unit 302 are, for example, the position information and the time as shown in 1109 of FIG. Record information.

<< Article gripping judgment means >>
The article gripping determination unit 305 determines that the person 106 grips the article placed on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101 based on information detected by the sensing device 303 and recorded in the detection history database 304. is there. Based on the determination result, the information output device 314 determines the timing for outputting information. That is, after the person 106 holds the article on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101, the person 106 performs some operation, and after the operation is completed, the person 106 generally places the article on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101 or the like. Therefore, in the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the article is gripped and lifted from the upper surface of the system kitchen 101, information is output from the information output device 314 to the person 106, and the article is moved. Inappropriate place information (information on an inappropriate place for moving the article) is presented to the person 106.

  When an ultrasonic tag sensor is used as the sensing device 303 to detect an article, the article ID information and the three-dimensional position are obtained from the detection result of the ultrasonic tag sensor, so that the article moves upward in the vertical direction. If the ultrasonic tag sensor detects this, it can be determined by the article gripping determination means 305 that the person 106 has gripped the article and the ID information of the article.

  Further, in the case where a weight sensor is used as the sensing device 303 to detect the article, the weight value detected by the weight sensor decreases when the article is lifted by the person 106, so that the person 106 grips the article. Can be determined by the article gripping determination means 305. However, in this case, since the ID information of the article cannot be detected by the weight sensor, it is used in combination with another sensor that can detect the ID information of the article.

《Work procedure database》
The work procedure database 306 records in advance the contents of each step of the collaborative work performed by the person 106 and the robot arm 102 in cooperation and information on the order thereof. 12A to 12C show examples of information recorded in the work procedure database 306. FIG.

  In FIG. 12A, the work procedure data 1201 recorded in the work procedure database 306 is recorded in the order in which each step is executed, and the work of the person 106 and the cooperative work of the robot arm 102 are executed in any order. In addition, the timing at which the cooperative work is performed is described in association with each other. Detailed contents of each process are recorded, for example, as process data 1202 in FIG. 12B or process data 1212 in FIG. 12C. The time when no work is performed is the standby time. The cooperative work between the person 106 and the robot arm 102 is described side by side at the same time.

  More specifically, in the work procedure data 1201 of FIG. 12A, the person 106 works in the order of “process A” → “process B” → “process C” → “process D”, and the robot arm 102 performs “process i”. "→" Step ii "in this order. Further, the robot arm 102 stands by without performing any work while the person 106 is performing the “process A” and “process B”, and does nothing while the person 106 is performing the process “process C”. Waiting without doing. Similarly, the person 106 stands by without performing any work while the robot arm 102 is performing the process “step i”. “Step D” and “Step ii” represent the cooperative work of the person 106 and the robot arm 102 and work at the same time, so they are connected (information indicating that both steps are connected is recorded. Have been).

  If there is a replaceable process in the work of the person 106 in the work procedure data 1201 or the work of the robot arm 102, for example, work procedure data 1301 of the work of the person 106 shown in FIG. Describe so that it can branch into multiple work procedures that may be executed. For example, in the process of the person 106, in the work procedure data 1301 of FIG. 13A, “process E” and “process F” can be interchanged, and “process D” → “process E” → “process F” → “process G”. ”Or“ step D ”→“ step F ”→“ step E ”→“ step G ”. Specific examples of the process E and the process F include a process of cutting onion with a kitchen knife and a process of cutting carrot with a kitchen knife (see FIG. 13B).

As shown in FIG. 12B, the process data 1202 of the process A of the work procedure data 1201 includes process ID information 1203, type information 1204, operation article information 1205, destination information 1206, and necessary information. It shows that at least items of time information 1207 and work place information 1208 are included. In the ID information 1203, an ID for identifying a process is recorded. In FIG. 12B, “A” is recorded as the ID. In the type information 1204, type information indicating whether this process is performed by the person 106 or the robot arm 102 is recorded. In FIG. 12B, “person” is recorded as the type information. In the operation article information 1205, ID information of an article handled (operation target) in this process is recorded. In FIG. 12B, “fry pan” (ID information) is recorded as information on the operation article. The movement destination information 1206 records where the article related to the operation article information 1205 is moved by this process, that is, information of a place where the process is performed (for example, position coordinates). Keep it. In FIG. 12B, “stove” (ID information) is recorded as information of the movement destination. In the item of required time information 1207, the time taken to perform this process is recorded. In FIG. 12B, “40 seconds” is recorded as information on the required time. The work location information 1208 records the position coordinates of the location where this step is performed. When the person 106 is moved during this process, the position coordinates of the representative point, for example, the position coordinates of the center position of the moving range may be recorded as the work place information 1208. In FIG. 12B, “(X ₁ , Y ₁ )” is recorded as work place information.

  The process data 1202 illustrated in FIG. 12B may further include items of work order information 1209, cooperative work information 1210, and interruption information 1211. The work order information 1209 records the order and probability in the work procedure database 306 when there are interchangeable processes as shown in FIG. 13A. FIG. 13B shows an example 1302 of process data, the order information refers to FIG. 13C, the probability of the work order from process E to process F is 70%, and the work order from process F to process E. This means that the probability is 30%. In the cooperative work information 1210, the correspondence is recorded in the cooperative work process performed by the person 106 and the robot arm 102 in cooperation. For example, like the example of the process data 1212 of the process ii of the work procedure data 1201 illustrated in FIG. 12C, the item of the cooperative work information 1210 of the “process ii” of the robot arm 102 includes “ Step D "is recorded. The interruption information 1211 records whether or not the interruption is possible during the process. The process that cannot be interrupted is a process in which hands cannot be released in the middle such as frying tempura (see process ii in FIG. 12C). Moreover, the process which can be interrupted is a process which cuts vegetables with a kitchen knife, for example, stops a hand on the way, puts a kitchen knife, and is a process which can convey articles | goods (refer the process E and process F of FIG. 13C) ).

《Work progress management means》
The work progress management unit 307 refers to the result of the article gripping determination unit 305 and the work procedure database 306, and based on the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 301, the current work is stored in the work procedure data 1201. It is determined which process in the process is progressing (in other words, information on the progress of work procedures such as work completion items of process data). Also, based on the time acquired from the time acquisition means 301, the work progress management means 307 calculates the time required for the work of each process, and the work performed by the person 106 and the robot arm 102 is handled in the subsequent work. It is managed by the progress management means 307 (in other words, information on the progress of the work process or work procedure is managed). That is, in the work progress management means 307, when the process is completed and when the actual time taken for each process greatly varies from the scheduled time, as described below with reference to FIG. The start time of the process (particularly the process performed by the person 106 and the robot arm 102 in cooperation) is adjusted.

  As in the process data example 1401 shown in FIG. 14A, the work completion information 1402 is added to the process data by the work progress management unit 307 and recorded in the work procedure database 306. In the item of the work completion information 1402, “0” is first recorded by the work progress management unit 307, and when the process is completed, “1” instead of “0” is recorded by the work progress management unit 307. Record in work procedure database 306. Completion of the process is based on the detection information detected by the sensing device 303 and recorded in the detection history database 304, and all items used in the process are placed on the system kitchen 101 leaving the hand of the person 106. When the work progress management unit 307 determines that the process has been completed, the work progress management unit 307 determines that the process has been completed. The determination by the work progress management means 307 that all articles have been placed on the system kitchen 101 is made in the same manner as the article gripping determination means 305.

  That is, when an ultrasonic tag sensor is used as the sensing device 303 to detect an article, the three-dimensional position of the article can be obtained, so that the position coordinate value in the height direction matches the upper surface of the system kitchen 101. Is detected by the work progress management means 307, it is determined by the work progress management means 307 that the process is completed by placing the article by the person 106 and is recorded in the work procedure database 306.

  In addition, when a weight sensor is used as the sensing device 303 to detect an article, the weight value detected by the weight sensor increases when the article is placed on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101. If detected by the means 307, the work progress management means 307 determines that the process has been completed by the person 106 placing the article on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101, and records it in the work procedure database 306.

  The work progress management unit 307 obtains the current process from the work procedure data 1201 of the work procedure database 306 based on the ID information of the gripped article obtained by the article gripping determination unit 305. This is because the work progress management means 307 converts the process data whose work completion information 1402 item is “0” out of the work procedure data in the work procedure database 306 into the earlier time order (the process data 1201 in FIG. 12A). For example, the search is performed from left to right (in order from left to right), and the process in which the information on the operation article (that is, the ID information of the article operated in the process) 1205 matches the ID information of the grasped article is the current process. It is what.

The work progress management means 307 calculates the time from when the grasped article according to the operation article information 1205 is grasped until it is placed, and this is used as the required time for the current process. The work progress management means 307 determines whether or not the required time for the required time information 1207 recorded in the current process data 1201 is different from the required time for the current process obtained this time. If it is determined by the means 307, the deviation is corrected by the work progress management means 307 as necessary, and the work progress management means 307 indicates at which timing the processes performed by the person 106 and the robot arm 102 are performed in parallel. Can be correctly associated. In other words, as described above, the work progress management means 307 creates a waiting time when correcting the deviation as described below, and the subsequent steps (particularly, the person 106 and the robot arm 102 cooperate with each other). Adjusting the start time of the step). If the work progress management unit 307 determines that the process is not within a short time period (eg, a time of 1 second or less), the result of calculating the time for removing the obstacle article in the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 is obtained. Since there is no influence, it is not necessary to correct the shift by the work progress management means 307.
However, since the process that is the cooperative work of the person 106 and the robot arm 102 must be performed at the same time, it cannot be corrected by the work progress management means 307 and shifted so as to be performed at different times.

  A specific method for correcting the deviation by the work progress management unit 307 will be described. FIGS. 15A to 15D show examples of information recorded in the work procedure database 306. In the work procedure database 306, it is assumed that the process data 1502 in FIG. 15B is recorded for the work procedure data 1501 in FIG. 15A. The person 106 works in the order of “process A” → “process B” → “process C” →... → “process D” → “process E”, and the robot arm 102 performs “process i” → “process ii”. Work in order. Since “process E” and “process ii” are cooperative work of the person 106 and the robot arm 102, the work is performed at the same time.

  At this time, assuming that the actual required time of “process A” is 150 seconds, an increase in the required time of “process A” (in this example, the preset required time is 120 seconds, 150−120 = 30 seconds), the work time of the person 106 after “process B” and the work time of the robot arm 102 will be shifted. Here, since “step E” and “step ii” are cooperative works, these steps must be performed simultaneously. Therefore, in order to match the start times of “process E” and “process ii”, the work progress management means 307 obtains an increase in the required time of “process A” as shown in the work procedure data 1503 of FIG. 15C. The work progress management means 307 increases the time of “standby 1” for the work of the robot arm 102 by 30 seconds by this increase.

  In addition, if there is no problem even if the process before the collaborative work ("process C", "process i", etc.) is out of time between the work of the person 106 and the work of the robot arm 102 (in the process before the collaborative work, If information indicating that there is no problem even if the time between the work of the robot 106 and the work of the robot arm 102 does not have a problem is recorded in the work procedure database 306 in advance), as in the work procedure data 1504 of FIG. The time of “standby 3” may be increased by 30 seconds by the work progress management means 307 by the increase in the required time.

  Further, as described above, when the increase in the required time of “Process A” is 30 seconds, the work progress management means 307 increases the time of “Standby 1” by 15 seconds and the time of “Standby 3”. May be divided into a plurality of standby times such that the increase time is equal to 15 seconds, so that the total increase time becomes equal. When there is no standby process in the original work procedure data, the work progress management unit 307 may add a standby process for the increased time between the processes.

《Work procedure database update means》
The work procedure database update unit 308 updates information on items of the process data 1202 recorded in the work procedure database 306 based on the sensing information detected by the sensing device 303.

  For example, as in the process data example 1401 shown in FIG. 14A, the item of the execution frequency information 1403 is added to the process data by the work procedure database update unit 307 and recorded in the work procedure database 306 (see FIG. 14B). More specifically, the number of times the process has been executed is recorded by the work procedure database update unit 307 in the item of the execution frequency information 1403. When the process is executed, the work procedure database update unit 307 adds “1” to the numerical value of the information 1403 of the number of execution times of the executed process. The number of executions is totaled for each person ID. The number of executions is used to calculate the “work order probability”. For example, it is used when recalculating the work order probabilities of FIG. 14A. That is, whether a person works in the order of “Process E” → “Process F” or “Work F” → “Process E” is different for each person. The work order probability is calculated according to the following procedure. That is, the number of executions of process ID E (“process E”) = 10, probability of order of “process E” → “process F” = 70%, probability of order of “process F” → “process E” = 30 If the order is “process E” → “process F”, then the probabilities are 8/11 and 3/11. For data that does not have a plurality of processes, management of the number of executions is not necessary.

  Further, the work procedure database update unit 308 calculates a time from when the article according to the operation article information 1205 recorded in the process data 1202 is held until it is placed, and sets this as the time required for the process. The work procedure database updating means 308 calculates the average required time by adding the required time for the required time information 1207 already recorded and the required time calculated this time and dividing by two. Is recorded in the work procedure database 306 by the work procedure database update means 308 as new required time information 1207.

  Here, the work procedure database update unit 308 can determine that the article has been placed by the same processing as the article gripping determination unit 305. For example, when a weight sensor is used as the sensing device 303 to detect an article, the weight value detected by the weight sensor increases when the article is placed in a region where the weight sensor is arranged. The work procedure database update means 308 can determine that the person 106 has placed an article based on the weight value increase information.

  Further, the position of the person 106 when the work of the process is executed is obtained by the work procedure database update means 308, and the coordinates of the obtained position are set as the work place of the process. When the person 106 is moved during this process, the coordinates of the representative point (for example, the center position of the moving range) are set as the work place. The work procedure database update unit 308 obtains the average coordinates by adding the position coordinates of the work place information 1208 already recorded and the position coordinates of the work place obtained this time and dividing by two, and obtaining the average The coordinates are recorded in the work procedure database 306 by the work procedure database update means 308 as new work place information 1208.

  Further, when there are interchangeable processes E and F as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the number of executions of the process in which the process is actually performed is stored in the work procedure database 306 as shown in FIG. 14B. Record. The work procedure database update means 308 recalculates the work order probability using this execution count and records it in the work procedure database 306. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14B, the number of executions of ID E → F (“process E” → “process F”) = 10, probability of order E → F (“process E” → “process F”) = If 70%, order F → E (“process F” → “process E”) probability = 30%, then if order E → F (“process E” → “process F”), then the probability is 8 / 11 and 3/11, and the work procedure database update means 308 records the work order shown in FIG. 14B.

《Attribute database》
The attribute database 315 includes various data (information) in the environment (articles, robots, and people existing in the environment) in which the person 106 and the robot arm 102 can perform work including a plurality of work steps in cooperation. 16A to 16C, the attribute database 315 includes, as an example, article data 2301, robot data 2302, and the like, as shown in FIG. Human data 2303.

  The article data 2301 includes at least size data of each article. The size data is information represented by dimension values of the vertical, horizontal, and height of the circumscribed rectangular parallelepiped of the article. For example, in FIG. 16A, the salad oil container is recorded as article data 2301 having size data of 7 cm in length, 7 cm in width, and 20 cm in height.

  The robot data 2302 includes at least the initial position coordinates (0, 0, 0) of the main body root portion 102b, the movement speed data of the main body root portion 102b of each robot arm 102 (the main body root portion 102b of the robot arm 102 moves). Required), and the arm length data, the operation speed data of the arm hand portion 102a, and the grip time data required for the hand portion 102a of the robot arm 102 to grip the article. Yes. Further, in order to determine the interference between the robot arm 102 and the article, which will be described later, the number of joints of the robot arm 102 and the size (length, thickness) of the link of the robot arm 102 are also included (not shown). For example, in FIG. 16B, the robot arm 102 with the ID number 00001 has a main body moving speed of 35 cm / s, an arm total length size of 60 cm, an arm hand operating speed of 25 cm / s, and a required grip time of 3 s. Recorded as robot data 2302.

  Person data 2303 includes at least hand length data of each person, movement speed data of each person, and movement speed data of each person for a plurality of persons 106 who may enter the environment. is doing. For example, in FIG. 16C, “Mr. Hanako” as an example of the person 106 is recorded as human data 2303 having a hand length of 68 cm, a movement speed of 60 cm / s, and a hand movement speed of 30 cm / s.

  These data are recorded in advance in the attribute database 315 by the input / output means 317 according to each article, the robot arm 102, and the person 106.

<Environment Map>
In the environment map database 312, a sketch is recorded as map information for an area in the environment where an article used for work is placed. Further, the map management means 313 acquires the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 to be described later from the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, and uses the acquired obstacle article removal time for each place (article is placed). In the environment map database 312 in association with the location designated as assumed to be taken). That is, the obstacle article removal time is calculated for all the divided locations. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 17B, the obstacle article removal time for all the divided places is calculated and managed by the environment map database 312 in FIG. 17C. FIG. 17A shows an example of map information recorded in the environment map database 312 in the kitchen room 100. The environment map database 312 in FIG. 17C shows an example in which it is understood how the obstacle article removal time and each location are associated with each other. In the environment map database 312 of FIG. 17C, the obstruction article removal time is managed for each ID for identifying a place divided into rectangles. As an example, the location information in the environment map database 312 stores information on the diagonal positions of the divided rectangles. These pieces of information may be recorded in advance in the environment map database 312 by the input / output means 317.

《Map management means》
The map management means 313 divides the area recorded in the environment map database 312 and assumed to place the article into a plurality of places, and position information (for example, two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions) of the divided places. (Coordinate information) is given to the access determination means 310 (to be described later) as a position to place the article gripped by the robot arm 102 based on the process data in the work procedure database 306. For example, the coordinates of the center point of each divided area are given from the map management unit 313 to the access determination unit 310 as position information of each location. Furthermore, after the map management means 313 acquires the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 described later, the map management means 313 gives the environment map database 312 with the obstacle article removal time for each location. The information can be recorded in association with the position information. This process is performed when the article gripping determination unit 305 determines that the person 106 grips the article.

  The map management means 313 can adjust the size of each of the plurality of divided locations. By roughly dividing (in other words, increasing the size of each location), only a rough situation can be grasped, but since the number of divided locations is reduced, processing can be performed at high speed. Further, since the number of divided locations increases by finely dividing (that is, reducing the size of each location), the processing takes time, but a detailed situation can be grasped. The map management means 313 may determine the size of the place according to the size of the article. For example, if the size of the article is small, the size of the place can be reduced, while if the size of the article is large, the size of the place can be increased.

<< Access judgment means >>
When the access determination unit 310 assumes that the person 106 has placed the gripped article in one of a plurality of locations divided by the map management unit 313 and given position information, the situation is difficult to access. It is determined whether or not.

  Here, the situation where it is difficult to access is that the person 106 removes the article in the position where the robot arm 102 is behind the obstacle article by placing the article (that is, the obstacle article) in an arbitrary place. This means that the obstacle article gets in the way when trying to move, or that the position where the person 106 put the obstacle article is outside the movable range of the robot arm 102. As a result, in the former case, first, a wasteful time of moving an obstacle article (that is, an obstacle article) by the robot arm 102 is generated, and in the latter case, the obstacle article is placed in the robot arm 102. Since it cannot be handled, the person 106 must go to pick up the obstacle, and wasteful time occurs.

  By the access determination means 310, the position coordinates of the fixed position of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 (specifically, the position of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 in the detection history database 304 of FIG. 11) and the attribute database 315 Referring to the full length size data of the robot arm 102 recorded in the above, it is determined whether or not the position where the person 106 puts the obstacle article is within the movable range of the robot arm 102. For example, the article 1701 shown in FIG. 18A is out of the movable range. That is, in FIG. 18A, the movable range of the robot arm 102 is indicated by a hatched semicircle region, and the position where the article 1701 is placed is outside the hatched semicircle region. Determines that the position where the obstacle article is placed is outside the movable range of the robot arm 102. An example of the robot arm position detection history information of the position coordinates of the fixed position of the main body of the robot arm 102 when the movable range of the robot arm 102 is assumed is shown in 1109 of FIG. Here, as the robot arm position detection history information 1109, in addition to the position of the hand portion 102a at the tip of the robot arm 102, the position coordinates of the fixed position of the main body of the robot arm 102 (the position of the base portion 102b of the main body of the robot arm 102). ) For each time.

  Further, when the person 106 places the article at a certain location by the access determination means 310 with reference to the work procedure database 306, the location is the destination of the article to be moved by the robot arm 102 in the subsequent process. It is determined whether or not the position information of the place where the article is placed and the position information of the destination of the article match. For example, as shown in FIG. 18B, when an article 1704 gripped by the hand portion 102a of the robot arm 102 is moved to a place 1705, the article 1706 becomes an obstacle. This is because the access determination means 310 acquires the position information of the movement destination of the article to be moved by the robot arm 102 in the subsequent steps by referring to the work procedure database 306, and the acquired position information of the movement destination of the article, The location information of the place when the person 106 puts the article in a certain place is acquired by referring to the detection history database 304 by the access determination means 310, and the position information and the article of the movement destination of each acquired article are placed in the certain place. The access determination means 310 determines whether or not the position information of the place when it is placed matches. As a result, it is determined by the access determination means 310 that it is determined that the positional information of the two matches, and the article 1704 grasped by the hand unit 102a of the robot arm 102 is moved to the place 1705, the article 1706 becomes an obstacle. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 18C, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 so that the robot arm 102 can grasp an article to be grasped by the robot arm 102 in a subsequent process. Whether or not the article interferes with the robot arm 102 when the arm 102 is operated is recorded in the article data 2301, the robot data 2302 and the detection history database 304 recorded in the attribute database 315 by the access determination unit 310. It can also be obtained by referring to the position coordinates of the article to be gripped by the robot arm 102 and the position coordinates of the robot arm 102. This will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 19 shows a flow of interference determination by the access determination means 310.

  FIG. 20 shows a state where the robot arm 102 tries to move an article. Assume that the robot arm 102 has a main body base portion 102b at coordinates (0, 0, 0), the number of indirect portions 102c is 2, and the length of the link 102d is 20 cm. These pieces of information are recorded in advance as robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315. Also, as an example, the target article 3002 to be grasped and moved by the robot arm 102 is an article that is extremely smaller than the size of the following obstacle article 3003 (for example, a cube having a size of 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm). It is assumed that it is placed at the position of coordinates (0, 32, 0). Further, it is assumed that the obstacle article 3003 is a cubic article having a size of 16 cm × 16 cm × 16 cm and is placed at the position of coordinates (0, 16, 0) (the position of the average coordinate of the obstacle article 3003). The position information of each of the target article 3002 and the obstacle article 3003 is detected by the sensing device 303 and recorded in the detection history database 304. The sizes of each of the target article 3002 and the obstacle article 3003 are stored in the attribute database 315 in the article data 2301. Are recorded in advance. Then, with reference to the work procedure database 306, when the access determination unit 310 determines that the robot arm 102 is scheduled to hold an article in the subsequent process, the article data 2301 recorded in the attribute database 315 in advance. The access determination unit 310 refers to and acquires the position information of the target article 3002 and the obstacle article 3003 recorded in advance in the robot data 2302 and the detection history database 304.

  First, in step S2901, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 and the detection history database 304 to obtain the coordinates of the target position (the coordinates of the gripping object) of the tip (hand) of the robot arm 102. . Specifically, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to acquire the ID information of the target article 3002 to be gripped, and the access determination unit 310 determines the current position of the target article 3002 related to the acquired ID information. Obtained by referring to the detection history database 304. Here, it is assumed that the access determination unit 310 obtains (0, 32, 0) as the coordinates of the position of the target article 3002 to be grasped from the detection history database 304.

  Next, in step S2902, the access determination unit 310 refers to the detection history database 304, and obtains the coordinates of the current position of the tip of the robot arm 102 detected by the sensing device 303 and recorded in advance in the detection history database 304. To do. Next, the access determination unit 310 calculates a deviation vector between the coordinates of the position of the target article 3002 to be gripped and the coordinates of the acquired current position of the tip of the robot arm 102. Specifically, if the coordinates of the current position of the tip of the robot arm 102 are (0, 0, 40), the deviation vector = (coordinates of the position of the target article 3002 to be gripped) − (the tip of the robot arm 102). The coordinates of the current position) = (0, 32, 0) − (0, 0, 40) = (0−0, 32−0, 0−40) = (0, 32, −40) are obtained by the access determination unit 310. can get. Note that the sensing device 303 acquires the coordinates of the current position of the distal end portion 1102 a of the robot arm 102 from the control unit 302.

  Next, in step S2903, the access determination means 310 determines the trajectory q (t) from the deviation vector obtained above by inverse kinematics (see FIG. 21B). The trajectory q (t) represents each joint angle of the robot arm 102 at each time as a vector. FIG. 21B is a diagram showing a trajectory that connects a straight line from the current position to the target position of the tip 102a of the robot arm 102. Inverse kinematics is to obtain the angle of each joint for realizing the position of the tip of the robot arm 102 given the position. The trajectory q (t) can be obtained, for example, by connecting a straight line from the current position of the tip of the robot arm 102 to the target position.

For example, FIG. 21A shows the state of the trajectory of the distal end portion (hand portion) 102a when the distal end portion (hand portion) 102a of the robot arm 102 just holds the target article 3002. FIG. 21A shows a cross section (yz plane) at x = 0, and α = arccos (16/20) = 36.9 ° is obtained from this. Therefore, the angle θ ₁ = 90−α = 53.1 ° of the first indirect (joint between the main body base portion 102b and the proximal end portion of the proximal end side link 102d), the second joint ( The angle θ ₂ = 2 * α = 73.8 ° of the joint between the distal end portion of the proximal end side link 102d and the proximal end portion of the distal end side link 102d adjacent to the proximal end side link 102d.

  In step S2904, the access determination unit 310 advances the time by a minute time Δt.

  In step S2905, the access determination means 310 obtains the current posture of the robot arm 102 by forward kinematics from each joint angle of the robot arm 102 obtained based on the trajectory q (t). The forward kinematics is to obtain the position of the tip of the robot arm 102 from the angle of each joint.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 21A, the position of the tip of the robot arm 102 is obtained from the access determination means 310 from θ ₁ = 53.1 ° and θ ₂ = 73.8 °. First, determined by the coordinate access determining means 310 the position P ₁ shown in FIG. 21A, then obtains the access determining unit 310 in the order of the coordinates of the position P of the tip portion. The coordinates of the position P ₁ are (0, L ₁ * sin θ ₁ , L ₁ * cos θ ₁ ) = (0, 16, 12), and the coordinates of the position P are (0, 16 + L ₂ * sin (θ ₁ + θ ₂ ), 12 + cos (θ ₁ + θ ₂ )) = (0, 32, 0).

  In step S2906, the access determination unit 310 performs collision detection calculation. For example, the collision detection function of the open dynamics engine (ODE) which is an open source physical calculation simulator is used for the three-dimensional shape of the robot arm 102 and the three-dimensional shape of the obstacle article 3003 respectively stored in the attribute database 315. Can be obtained by determining whether or not the three-dimensional shapes interfere with each other.

  The three-dimensional shape of the robot arm 102 is expressed by a combination of a link and a joint. Each link is represented by, for example, a cylinder, and can be defined by specifying the radius of the cylinder and the length in the longitudinal axis direction (the height of the cylinder).

  Similarly, the three-dimensional shape of the obstacle article 3003 is expressed by a rectangular parallelepiped, for example, and can be defined by specifying the vertical, horizontal, and height.

  The collision detection function generates contact information between two objects. If the robot arm 102 and the obstacle article 3003 are specified as the two objects, and the contact number = 0 is returned as the contact information, no collision is detected, and a value other than 0 is returned as the contact number. If so, a collision has been detected.

  In step S2907, the access determination unit 310 determines whether a collision is detected between the robot arm 102 and the obstacle article 3003 using the collision detection function, and the access determination unit 310 detects the collision. Then, the access determination unit 310 determines that the robot arm 102 interferes with the article, and the interference determination flow ends. If no collision is detected by the access determination unit 310, the process proceeds to the next step S2908.

  In step S2908, whether or not the tip of the robot arm 102 has reached the target position (the current position coordinates of the tip of the robot arm 102 recorded in the detection history database 304 and the target position obtained in step S2901). Whether the position coordinates coincide with each other) is determined by the access determination unit 310, and if the access determination unit 310 determines that the target position has not been reached, the processing is repeated from step S2904. If the access determination unit 310 determines that the target position has been reached, the access determination unit 310 determines that the robot arm 102 does not interfere with the article, and the interference determination flow ends.

  Here, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the position of the base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is fixed. However, when the robot arm 102 is movable, it is necessary to make a determination at each location.

  FIG. 22 shows a processing flow by the access determination means 310 as to whether or not it becomes difficult to access.

  The designated place is designated as “place a”, and the article that is gripped by the robot arm 102 and is about to be placed is designated as “article A”. The designated place is a place given by the map management means 313.

  First, in step S1601, the place specified by the map management unit 313 as the position to place the article gripped by the robot arm 102 based on the process data in the work procedure database 306 and the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315 (all the positions in FIG. 17C). The access determination means 310 determines whether or not the place where the places are specified in order is within the movable range of the robot arm 102. If it is determined by the access determination means 310 that it is within the movable range, the process proceeds to step S1603, and if the access determination means 310 determines that it is outside the movable range, the process proceeds to step S1602.

  In step S1602, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to determine whether or not the “article A” gripped by the robot arm 102 is gripped by the robot arm 102 in the subsequent steps. It is determined by 310. If there is no subsequent gripping process, the access determination unit 310 determines that there is no difficult access situation, and the process flow ends. If there is a process to be gripped thereafter, the access determination means 310 determines that there is a situation where it is difficult to access due to being placed out of the movable range, and this processing flow ends.

  In step S1603, the work procedure database 306 is referred to by the access determination unit 310, and in a subsequent process, an article held by the robot arm 102 is extracted by the access determination unit 310 (this process is referred to as “process K”). , The article is referred to as “article B”), and the robot arm 102 is driven by the drive motors of the joints and the open / close motor of the hand at the tip under the control of the control means 302 in order to grasp the “article B”. When this is done, the access determination means 310 determines whether the previously placed “article A” interferes with the robot arm 102 using the previous interference determination flow. If the access determination unit 310 determines that there is interference, the process advances to step S1604. If the access determination unit 310 determines that there is no interference, the process advances to step S1605.

  In step S1604, referring to the work procedure database 306 by the access determination unit 310, there is a step of using the “article A” gripped by the robot arm 102 before the “step K” where the interference occurs. The access determination unit 310 determines whether or not to do so. If it is determined by the access determination unit 310 that such a process to be used again exists, the process proceeds to step S1605. If it is determined by the access determination unit 310 that such a process does not exist, the access determination unit 310 determines that there is a situation where it is difficult to access by an obstructing article, and the processing flow ends.

  In step S 1605, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306, and in the subsequent steps, the access determination unit 310 searches for a process in which the movement destination of the article gripped by the robot arm 102 is “place a”. If it is determined by the access determination means 310 that such a process exists (this process is referred to as “process L” and the article is referred to as “article C”), the process proceeds to step S1606. If the access determination unit 310 determines that such a process does not exist, the access determination unit 310 determines that there is no difficult access situation, and the process flow ends.

  In step S1606, referring to the work procedure database 306 by the access determination unit 310, the step of using the “article A” gripped by the robot arm 102 before the step L where the destination is “place a” is used again. The access determination means 310 determines whether or not it exists. If it is determined by the access determination means 310 that such a process exists, the access determination means 310 determines that there is no difficult access situation, and the process flow is terminated. If it is determined by the access determination unit 310 that such a process does not exist, the access determination unit 310 determines that there is a situation where it is difficult to access by an obstructing article, and the processing flow ends.

<< Measurement means for removing obstacles >>
The obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 calculates the obstacle article removal time required to resolve the difficult access situation when the access judgment means 310 determines that a difficult access situation occurs. Here, the obstacle article removal time is the time required for the person 106 to move the disturbing article after taking the article in the case where it is difficult to access due to the robot arm 102 being out of the movable range. In the case of a situation where it is difficult to access due to a disturbing article (obstacle article), it means the time required for the person 106 or the robot arm 102 to move the disturbing article.

In the former case, the person 106 goes to pick up the obstacle article, puts the obstacle article out of the way, and obtains the time required for returning to the original position. More specifically, the distance when the person 106 moves between the current position (starting position), a position where the person 106 can take the obstacle article, and a position where the obstacle article is placed in an unobstructed place. Is divided by the moving speed of the person 106 to calculate the time t ₁ for moving these positions. Further, when the person 106 puts the obstacle article in a place where it does not get in the way and puts the obstacle article by extending his hand, the distance of reaching the hand is divided by the movement speed of the hand to calculate the movement time t _{2 of the} hand. The total of these times (t ₁ + t ₂ ) is the obstacle article removal time.

  In the latter case, the total distance between the distance that the person 106 or the robot arm 102 takes the obstacle article and the distance that places the obstacle article in an unobstructed position is determined by the movement speed of the hand of the person 106 or the robot arm 102. If it is divided, the obstruction article removal time can be calculated.

  Here, in order to calculate the obstacle article removal time by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the destination where the person 106 or the robot arm 102 moves the obstacle article is set as a evacuation space (an example of an article evacuation place). Secure in advance. For example, a location that is unlikely to interfere with other work, such as an area 2801 in FIG. 23, is set as a save space, and the coordinates of the center of the save space are recorded in the environment map database 312 by the map management means 313.

  Then, the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 outputs information on the obstacle article removal time calculated at each location to the map management unit 313.

  Hereinafter, specific examples will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 24 is an example of work procedure data showing a part of the cooking work as an example of this embodiment, and the process data at this time is shown in FIG. For the process that does not involve the movement of the article (in this example, the process D, the process H, the process J, and the process K), the operation article and the item of the movement destination are unnecessary, and the work content is described here instead. Yes.

  The contents of the work will be briefly described below.

  In “Step A”, the person 106 takes the meat out of the refrigerator (not shown) and places it on the cooking table 108.

  Following “Step A”, the person 106 takes the onion from the vegetable storage (not shown) and places it on the cooking table 108 in “Step B”.

  Following “Step B”, the person 106 takes the potato out of the vegetable storage area and places it on the cooking table 108 in “Step C”. Here, “process A”, “process B”, and “process C” are actually processes that do not matter even if the work order is changed, but only one order is shown for simplicity. Also in the following procedure, only one order is shown except for the portions necessary for the description.

  The robot arm 102 takes out the kitchen knife from the storage shelf (not shown) and puts it on the cooking table 108 at “step i” that starts at the same time as “step A” of the person 106 or before or after “step A”. .

  Following “Step i”, the robot arm 102 takes the cutting board out of the storage shelf and places it on the cooking table 108 in “Step ii”.

  Following “Step ii”, the robot arm 102 takes the pan from the storage shelf and places it on the stove 107 in “Step iii”. After the “process iii” is completed, the robot arm 102 waits in the “standby process 1” until the “process D” of the person 106 is completed.

  On the other hand, the person 106 cuts the ingredients (meat, onions, potatoes) taken out to the cooking table 108 using a knife and a cutting board in “Process D” following “Process C”. The robot arm 102 waits until this process is completed.

  After “Process D”, the person 106 takes the salt bottle from the seasoning storage area, cuts it, and sprinkles it on the ingredients on the cutting board to add the seasoning. Return the salt bottle to the condiment storage (not shown).

  After “Process E”, the person 106 takes the pepper jar from the seasoning storage area and sprinkles the ingredients on the cutting board in “Process F”, and then returns the pepper jar to the seasoning storage area.

  Next to “Process F”, in “Process G”, the person 106 takes the food on the cutting board, moves the whole cutting board to the front of the stove 107, and is placed on the stove 107 from the top of the cutting board. Add ingredients to the pan.

  The robot arm 102 is used in the “step iv” of the person 106 after the “waiting step 1” after the “step iii” (in other words, after the “step D” of the person 106 is completed). The finished kitchen knife is carried to the sink 109, and the robot arm 102 waits in “standby step 2” until the person 106 completes “step G”.

  After completing the “process G”, the person 106 ignites the stove 107 in the “process H” and starts heating the pan on the stove 107. After the “process H” is completed, the person 106 waits in the “standby process 3” until the “process vi” of the robot arm 102 is completed.

  The robot arm 102 is used in the “process v” in the “process v” after the “standby process 2” after the “process iv” (in other words, after the “process G” of the person 106 is completed). The finished cutting board is carried to the sink 109.

  The robot arm 102 carries the salt bottle from the seasoning yard to the stove 107 in preparation for the next operation “Step I” of the person 106 in “Step vi” after “Step v”. After the robot arm 102 completes “process vi”, it waits in “standby process 4” until “process I” of the person 106 is completed.

  For seasoning, the person 106 follows the “waiting step 3” after the “step H” (in other words, after the “step vi” of the robot arm 102 is completed) at the “step I” and the robot arm 102 After taking the salt bottle carried to the side of the stove 107 in “process vi” and sprinkling the salt in the pan, the person 106 moves to the front of the cooking table 108 and returns to the seasoning storage.

  The person 106 mixes the ingredients in the pot in “Step J” after “Step I”.

  In “process K” after “process J”, the person 106 cleans the cooking utensils (knives and cutting boards) carried to the sink 109 in “process iv” and “process v” of the robot arm 102. At this time, “process J” and “process K” are shown as processes that do not cause a problem even if the work order is changed. The probability of the work order is “process J” → “process K” is 70%, “ “Process K” → “Process J” is 30%. Further, it is assumed that “process K” is a process that cannot be interrupted because the detergent adheres to the hand during the work.

  The robot arm 102 follows the “waiting step 4” after the “step vi” (in other words, after the “step I” of the person 106 has been completed), and the “operation vii”, For preparation of “L”, the soy sauce container is carried from the seasoning storage area to the side of the stove 107 and waits in “waiting step 5” until the next work.

  For the purpose of seasoning, the person 106 takes the stove at “process vii” of the robot arm 102 after “process J” → “process K” or “process K” → “process J” followed by “process L”. After taking the soy sauce container carried to the side of 107 and sprinkling the soy sauce in the pot, the person 106 moves to the front of the cooking table and returns the soy sauce container to the seasoning storage.

  Description of the subsequent steps is omitted. In this example, an example of a process not including cooperative work is shown.

  The processing contents of the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 when working according to the above work procedure data will be described.

  FIG. 25 shows a state immediately before the person 106A starts “Process E”.

  As shown in FIG. 25, there is a person 106 (here, specifically, it is assumed that the person named “Hanako” 106A described above) is in front of the cooking table 108, and the robot arm 102 is the cooking table 108. Is installed. A pan 2003 is placed on the stove 107. A kitchen knife 2004 and a cutting board 2005 used for the work are placed in front of the cooking table 108 (an area close to the person 106A). It is. A soy sauce container 2006, a salt bottle 2007, and a pepper bottle 2008 are placed in a rectangular seasoning storage area 108A at the right back of the cooking table 108. The position “next to the stove 107” shown in the process data of FIG. 26 is a place indicated by a rectangular area 2009. In addition, a rectangular area 2010 at the back left of the cooking table 108 is used as a retreat space for moving a disturbing article (obstacle article). The position coordinates of the evacuation space area 2010 are recorded in the environment map database 312, and the map management means 313 acquires the position coordinates of the evacuation space area 2010 from the environment map database 312, and removes the obstacle article removal time. The calculation means 311 is provided.

  Here, in “Process E” of the person 106, the person 106A takes the salt bottle 2007 from the seasoning storage 108A. Then, based on the information detected by the sensing device 303 and recorded in the detection history database 304, the article gripping determination unit 305 is configured to store the article (salt bottle) placed in the seasoning storage area 108A on the upper surface of the system kitchen 101. 2007) is determined to be held by the person 106A.

  Next, the work progress management unit 307 determines that the current process is “process E” based on the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 301.

  Further, the map management means 313 provides the access determination means 310 with position information of a plurality (or a number) of locations in the environment map database 312 that are assumed to contain articles (salt bottles 2007). . The access determination unit 310 determines whether or not the given location is difficult to access. When the access determination unit 310 determines that the situation is difficult to access, the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 calculates the obstacle article removal time required to resolve the difficult access situation.

  The map management means 313 may be a plurality of locations in the environmental map database 312 that are assumed to contain articles (salt bottles 2007), for example, in front of the cooking table 108 shown in FIG. The access determination means 310 is provided with the position information of the area 2501 on the right side of the cutting board 2005 and the position information of the area 2502 on the left side of the soy sauce container 2006 in the seasoning storage place 108A. Here, the position coordinates of the representative point of the area 2501 are (120, 75), and the position coordinates of the representative point of the area 2502 are (110, 15). Further, the position coordinates of the representative point of the area 2010 secured as the retreat space is (80, 15). The position coordinates of the evacuation space area 2010 are recorded in advance in the environment map database 312, and the map management unit 313 acquires the position coordinates of the evacuation space area 2010 from the environment map database 312 to remove the obstacle article. The time calculation means 311 is provided.

  Hereinafter, the obstacle article removal time calculation examples 1 and 2 when the respective pieces of position information are given will be described.

<< Example 1 for calculating obstacle removal time >>
First, the processing of the access determination unit 310 when the location information of the area 2501 is given to the access determination unit 310 from the map management unit 313 will be described.

In step S1601 shown in FIG. 22, the access determination unit 310 refers to the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315 to determine whether or not the given position is outside the movable range of the robot arm 102. Judgment by That is, the position of the base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is (100, 5), and the distance to the position (120, 75) of the region 2501 is calculated by the access determination means 310, and {(120-100) ² + (75-5) ² } ^1/2 = 72.8 [cm] is obtained. Next, the access determination means 310 compares this distance 72.8 [cm] with the arm size (arm length) of the robot arm 102 by 60 [cm]. As a result of the comparison, the access determination means 310 determines that the distance 72.8 [cm] is larger than the arm size (arm length) of 60 [cm]. The access determination unit 310 determines that the position (120, 75) is outside the movable range of the robot arm 102.

  Next, in step S1602, the access determination means 310 refers to the work procedure data, and the robot arm 102 uses the salt bottle 2007 in the subsequent “step vi” of the robot arm 102. Is judged by the access judging means 310 when it is difficult to access the salt bottle 2007.

  When it is difficult for the robot arm 102 to access the salt bottle 2007, it is determined by the access determination means 310, so that the next obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 is processed.

  That is, in the “process vi” of the robot arm 102, a situation occurs in which it is difficult for the robot arm 102 to access the salt bottle 2007. At this time, the start of “process v” before “process vi” is started. The “process H” of the person 106 performed at the timing is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. In this “process H”, when the work place of the process data is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, it can be seen that the person 106A is working at the position (40, 90). If the salt bottle 2007 is placed in the area 2501, the person 106A takes the salt bottle 2007, moves the salt bottle 2007 to the retreat space 2010, and the person 106A returns to the original position. The required time for the round trip up to is the obstacle article removal time required to resolve the difficult situation.

Here, if the person 106A goes to the front position (120, 90) of the salt bottle 2007 in order to take the salt bottle 2007, the person 106A moves from the position (40, 90) to the position (120, 90). By going to the position and moving from the position (120, 90) to the position (40, 90), we will reciprocate between these two positions. With reference to the human data 2303 in the attribute database 315 by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 acquires that the moving speed of Hanako 106 A is 60 [cm / s]. Therefore, the time t _{1 at} which Hanako 106A reciprocates between the two positions is t ₁ = (distance between the two positions * 2) / (moving speed of Hanako 106A) = ((120−40) * 2). The obstruction article removal time calculating means 311 obtains that /60=2.7 [s]. Further, the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 obtains the time for Hanako 106A to move the salt bottle 2007 to the retreat space 2010. The distance from the area 2501 to the retreat space 2010 is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. That is, the distance from the area 2501 to the retreat space 2010 from the coordinates (120, 75) and (80, 15) of both is {(120-80) ² + (75-15) ² } ^1/2 = 72. 1 [cm] is obtained. The obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 refers to the attribute data 2303 of the person 106A and acquires the hand moving speed 30 [cm / s] of Hanako 106A. Therefore, the time t ₂ when the salt bottle 2007 is placed from the region 2501 to the retreat space 2010 by the hand of Hanako 106A is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 by t ₂ = (distance from the region 2501 to the retreat space 2010) / ( When the hand movement speed of Hanako 106A is obtained, t ₂ = 72.1 / 30 = 2.4 [s]. These are summed by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, and t ₁ + t ₂ = 2.7 + 2.4 = 5.1 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

  In this way, by referring to the work procedure data by the access determination unit 310, the access determination unit 310 estimates the situation at the time when the difficult access situation occurs, and the obstacle article removal time information based on the situation is obstructed. It can be obtained by the article removal time calculation means 311.

<< Example 2 for calculating obstacle removal time >>
The processing of the access determination unit 310 when the location information of the area 2502 is given to the access determination unit 310 from the map management unit 313 will be described. The position coordinates of this area 2502 are recorded in advance in the environment map database 312, and the map management means 313 acquires the position coordinates of the area 2502 from the environment map database 312 and gives it to the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. I am doing so.

In step S1601 shown in FIG. 22, the access determination unit 310 determines whether or not the given position is within the movable range of the robot arm 102 with reference to the robot data 2302 of the attribute database 315. That is, the position of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is (100, 5), and the distance to the position (110, 15) of the region 2502 is calculated by the access determination means 310, and {(110-100) ² + (15-5) ² } ^1/2 = 14.1 [cm] is obtained. Next, the access determination means 310 compares the distance 14.1 [cm] with the arm size (arm length) of the robot arm 102 by 60 [cm]. As a result of the comparison, the access determination means 310 determines that the distance 14.1 [cm] is smaller than 60 [cm] which is the arm size (arm length). The access determination unit 310 determines that the position (110, 15) is within the movable range of the robot arm 102.

  In step S1603, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to determine whether the salt bottle 2007 placed in the area 2502 is an obstacle to other articles. Then, since the access determination unit 310 determines that the salt bottle 2007 becomes an obstacle to the soy sauce container 2006 used in the subsequent “process vii”, the process proceeds to step S1604.

  In step S 1604, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 and uses the bottle of salt 2007 that causes an obstacle before “process vii” where a situation where access is difficult may occur. If the access determination unit 310 determines whether or not the salt bottle 02007 is used in the “step vi”, the process proceeds to step S1605.

  In step S1605, when the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to determine whether another article is placed in the area 2502 in the subsequent process, the subsequent process of the robot arm 102 is performed. The access determination means 310 can determine that there is no article whose destination is the location of the area 2502. As a result, it is determined by the access determination means 310 that it will not be difficult to access.

  Therefore, the processing of the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 is not performed, and the obstacle article removal time is 0 [s].

  As described above, the work procedure data in the work procedure database 306 is referred to by the access determination unit 310, and the access determination unit 310 determines the relevance to the article used in the subsequent steps, so that it is difficult to access only by judgment at the present time. Although it is determined by the access determination unit 310 that the situation is the situation, the access determination unit 310 can correctly determine whether or not the situation is difficult to access when the corresponding article is used in the subsequent steps. Thus, it is possible to obtain more accurate information on the obstruction article removal time.

  Next, from the state immediately before the start of “Process E” shown in FIG. 25, the map management is performed when the person 106A takes the pepper jar 2008 from the seasoning storage area 108A in “Process F”. For example, a case where the means 313 gives the position information of the area 2601 and the position information of the area 2602 shown in FIG. The position coordinates of the representative point in the area 2601 are (80, 55), and the position coordinates of the representative point in the area 2602 are (110, 15). The position coordinates of the representative point of the area 2010 secured as the retreat space is (80, 15).

  Hereinafter, the obstacle article removal time calculation examples 3 and 4 in the case where the respective pieces of position information are given will be described.

<< Example 3 of calculating obstacle removal time >>
First, the processing of the access determination unit 310 when the location information of the area 2601 is given from the map management unit 313 to the access determination unit 310 will be described. The position coordinates of this area 2601 are recorded in advance in the environment map database 312, and the map management means 313 acquires the position coordinates of the area 2601 from the environment map database 312 and gives it to the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. I am doing so.

In step S1601 shown in FIG. 22, the access determination unit 310 refers to the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315 to determine whether or not the given position is within the movable range of the robot arm 102. Judgment by That is, the position of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is (100, 5), and the distance to the position (80, 55) of the area 2601 is calculated by the access determination means 310, and {(100-80) ² + (55-5) ² } ^1/2 = 53.9 [cm] is compared with 60 [cm], which is the arm size of the robot arm 102, by the access determination means 310. As a result of the comparison, since the distance 53.9 [cm] is smaller than 60 [cm] which is the arm size (arm length), the position (110, 15) of the region 2502 which is the given position is The access determination means 310 determines that the robot arm 102 is within the movable range.

  In step S1603, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to determine whether the pepper bottle 2008 placed in the area 2601 is an obstacle to other articles. In this case, the access determination unit 310 determines that the pepper bottle 2008 does not interfere with the articles used in all subsequent processes, and the process advances to step S1605.

  In step S1605, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 and determines whether or not another article is placed in the area 2601 in the subsequent steps. In step vi ”, the access determination unit 310 determines that the destination of the salt bottle is the location of the area 2601. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S1606.

  In step S 1606, the work procedure database 306 is referred to by the access determination means 310, and the pepper bottle 2008 that causes a disturbance is used before “process vi” in which a situation where access is difficult may occur. It is determined by the access determination means 310 whether or not. Then, since the pepper bottle 2008 is not used in any of the steps, the access determination unit 310 determines that access is difficult.

  Since it is determined by the access determination unit 310 when it is difficult to access, the obstacle article removal time calculation process by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 is performed as follows.

Since it is determined by the access determining means 310 that the robot arm 102 is difficult to access the salt bottle 2007 at “process vi”, at this time, the “process v” of “process v” before “process vi” is determined. The “process H” of the person 106 performed at the start timing is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.
In this “process H”, when the work place of the process data is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, it can be seen that the person 106A is working at the position (40, 90). Assuming that the pepper jar 2008 is placed in the area 2601, the person 106A goes to pick up the pepper jar 2008, the person 106A moves the pepper jar 2008 to the retreat space 2010, and the person 106A returns to the original position. The time required for the round trip to come is the obstacle article removal time required to resolve a difficult situation.

In this case, if the person 106A goes to the front position (80, 90) of the pepper jar 2008 in order for the person 106A to take the pepper jar 2008, the person 106A will be (40, 90) By going from the position to the position (80, 90) and moving from the position (80, 90) to the position (40, 90), the user will reciprocate between these two positions. With reference to the human data 2303 in the attribute database 315 by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 acquires that the moving speed of Hanako 106 A is 60 [cm / s]. Therefore, the time t _{1 at} which Hanako 106A reciprocates between the two positions is t ₁ = (distance between the two positions * 2) / (moving speed of Hanako 106A) = ((80-40) * 2) The obstruction article removal time calculation means 311 obtains that /60=1.3 [s]. Further, the obstruction article removal time calculating means 311 obtains the time for the Hanako 106A to move the pepper bottle 2008 to the retreat space 2010. The distance from the area 2601 to the evacuation space 2010 is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. That is, from the coordinates (80, 55) and (80, 15) of both, the distance from the area 2601 to the retreat space 2010 is {(80-80) ² + (55-15) ² } ^1/2 = 40 [ cm]. The obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 refers to the attribute data 2303 of the person 106A and acquires the hand moving speed 30 [cm / s] of Hanako 106A. Therefore, the time t ₂ when the pepper bottle 2008 is placed from the area 2601 to the retreat space 2010 by the hand of Hanako 106A is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 by t ₂ = (distance from the area 2601 to the retreat space 2010) / ( When the movement speed of the hand of Hanako 106A is obtained, t ₂ = 40/30 = 1.3 [s]. These are summed by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, and t ₁ + t ₂ = 1.3 + 1.3 = 2.6 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

  On the other hand, since the pepper jar 2008 that causes a difficult access situation is within the movable range of the robot arm 102, the robot arm 102 itself can remove the pepper jar 2008. When the robot arm 102 always returns the tip of the arm 102 to the position (100, 5) of the main body base portion 102b after the work is finished, it is in such a state immediately before the “step vi”. The tip of the arm is moved to the position of the pepper jar 2008, the pepper jar 2008 is taken, the pepper jar 2008 is held at the tip of the arm, and the pepper jar 2008 is moved to the retreat space 2010 at the tip of the arm. Then, the time required for the pepper bottle 2008 to be placed at the tip of the arm and the tip of the arm to return to the original position is defined as the obstruction article removal time required to resolve the difficult situation.

The distal end portion of the robot arm 102 is moved from the position (100, 5) of the main body base portion 102b to the original position (100, via the position (80, 55) of the area 2601 and the position (80, 15) of the retreat space 2010. , 5). Referring to the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315, the operation speed of the hand portion of the arm 102 is 25 [cm / s]. Therefore, the calculated distance from the position (100, 5) of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 to the position (80, 55) of the area 2601 is 53.9 [cm], and the position of the area 2601 (80, 55) ) To the position (80, 15) of the evacuation space 2010 is 40 [cm], and the distance from the position (80, 15) of the evacuation space 2010 to the position (100, 5) of the main body root portion 102b. Is calculated as {(100−80) ² + (15−5) ² } ^1/2 = 22.4 [cm] by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 (the sum of all these distances) / (Operation speed of the hand portion of the arm) = (53.9 + 40 + 22.4) /25=4.7 [s] is obtained by the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311. Since the time required for gripping the robot arm 102 is spent when gripping and placing an article, 3 [s] * 2 = 6 [s]. Together, 4.7 [s] +6 [s] = 10.7 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311.

  As described above, 2.6 [s] is necessary to eliminate the situation in which the person 106A has difficulty in accessing, and 10.7 [s] is necessary in order to eliminate the situation in which the robot arm 102 has difficulty in accessing. Is obtained by the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311. In order to proceed the work with as little obstacle article removal time as possible, a small value of the obstacle article removal time is selected by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 and 2.6 [s for eliminating the situation where the person 106A is difficult to access. ] Is the obstruction article removal time in the region 2601. Actually, if this situation occurs in the “process vi”, by eliminating the situation in which the person 106A has difficulty in accessing, the robot arm 102 can reduce wasted time less than in the situation in which the robot arm 102 has difficulty in accessing. be able to.

  If the person 106A does not want to perform extra work as much as possible throughout the work, for example, from the viewpoint of fatigue level, when determining the obstacle article removal time, the person 106A has time to eliminate the difficult access situation. What is necessary is just to set so that the preset value may be multiplied by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. For example, if the value is set to “10” in the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311, in the above example, 2.6 × 10 = 26 [s] is required to eliminate the situation in which the person 106 </ b> A has difficulty accessing. On the other hand, 10.7 [s] is required to solve the situation where the robot arm 102 is difficult to access. As a result, of the 26 [s] and 10.7 [s], 10.7 [s] for eliminating the situation in which the robot arm 102 is difficult to access, which is a shorter time, removes the obstacle article. It is selected by the time calculation means 311 and becomes the obstacle article removal time in the area 2601.

  Similarly, for example, from the viewpoint of energy saving, when it is desired not to cause the robot arm 102 to perform extra work as much as possible, the robot arm 102 accesses the obstacle article removal time calculating means 311 when determining the obstacle article removal time. What is necessary is just to make it multiply by the preset value (for example, "10") by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 for the time for eliminating a difficult situation. In this case, for example, in the above example, the time for solving the situation in which the person 106A has difficulty in accessing is 2.6 [s], whereas the situation in which the robot arm 102 has difficulty in accessing is eliminated. Is 10.7 [s] × 10 = 100.7 [s], and the time 2.6 [s] is selected by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 to eliminate the situation where the person 106A has difficulty accessing. Thus, the obstruction article removal time in the area 2601 is reached.

  In this way, by referring to the work procedure data by the access determination unit 310, the access determination unit 310 estimates the situation at the time when the difficult access situation occurs, and is based on the situation of the person 106A or the robot arm 102. By calculating the obstacle article removal time by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, more accurate information on the obstacle article removal time can be obtained by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

<< Example 4 for calculating obstacle removal time >>
The processing of the access determination unit 310 when the location information of the area 2602 is given from the map management unit 313 to the access determination unit 310 will be described. The position coordinates of this area 2602 are recorded in advance in the environment map database 312, and the map management means 313 acquires the position coordinates of the area 2602 from the environment map database 312 and gives it to the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. I am doing so.

In step S1601 shown in FIG. 22, the access determination unit 310 refers to the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315 to determine whether or not the given position is within the movable range of the robot arm 102. Judgment by That is, the position of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is (100, 5), and the distance to the position (110, 15) of the region 2602 is calculated by the access determination means 310, and {(110-100) ² + (15-5) ² } ^1/2 = 14.1 [cm] is obtained. Next, this distance 14.1 [cm] is compared with the arm size of the robot arm 102 by 60 [cm] by the access determination means 310. As a result of the comparison, the access determining means 310 determines that the distance 14.1 [cm] is smaller than the arm size (arm length) of 60 [cm]. The access determination unit 310 determines that the position (110, 15) is within the movable range of the robot arm 102.

  In step S1603, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 to determine whether the pepper bottle 2008 placed in the area 2602 interferes with other articles. Then, since the access determination unit 310 determines that the pepper bottle 2008 is in the way of the soy sauce container 2006 used in the subsequent “process vii”, the process proceeds to step S1604.

  In step S 1604, the access determination unit 310 refers to the work procedure database 306 and uses the pepper bottle 2008 that causes an obstacle before “process vii” where a situation where access is difficult may occur. If the access determination unit 310 determines whether or not the pepper bottle 2008 is not used in any step, the access determination unit 310 determines that access is difficult.

  When the soy sauce bowl 2006 is difficult to access, the access determination unit 310 determines that the soy sauce container 2006 is difficult to access, and the following obstacle article removal time calculation process is performed by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311.

  In the “process vii”, the access determination unit 310 determines that the robot arm 102 has difficulty accessing the soy sauce bowl 2006. At this time, the process of the person 106A performed at the same timing is removed. Reference is made by the time calculation means 311. When the work procedure data is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the process of the person 106 </ b> A performed at the same timing as “process vii” is “process J” or “process K” that can replace the work procedure. I understand. First, the obstacle article removal time is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 for each process.

  First, in the “process J”, referring to the work location of the process data by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, it can be seen that the person 106A is working at the position (40, 90). If the pepper jar 2008 is placed in the area 2602, the person 106A takes the pepper jar 2008 and the person 106A moves the pepper jar 2008 to the retreat space 2010, and the person 106A returns to the original position. The time required for the round trip to come is the obstacle article removal time required to resolve a difficult situation.

Here, if the person 106A goes to the front position (110, 90) of the pepper jar 2008 in order for the person 106A to take the pepper jar 2008, the person 106A will be (40, 90) By going from the position to the position (110, 90) and moving from the position (110, 90) to the position (40, 90), the user will reciprocate between these two positions. With reference to the human data 2303 in the attribute database 315 by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 acquires that the moving speed of Hanako 106 A is 60 [cm / s]. Therefore, the time t _{1 at} which Hanako 106A reciprocates between the two positions is t ₁ = (distance between the two positions * 2) / (moving speed of Hanako 106A) = ((110-40) * 2) /60=2.3 [s] is obtained by the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311. Further, the obstruction article removal time calculating means 311 obtains the time for the Hanako 106A to move the pepper bottle 2008 to the retreat space 2010. The distance from the area 2602 to the evacuation space 2010 is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. That is, the distance from the area 2602 to the retreat space 2010 from the coordinates (110, 90) and (40, 90) of both is {(110-80) ² + (15-15) ² } ^1/2 = 30 [ cm]. The obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 refers to the attribute data 2303 of the person 106A and acquires the hand moving speed 30 [cm / s] of Hanako 106A. Therefore, the time t ₂ for placing the pepper bottle 2008 from the region 2602 to the retreat space 2010 by the hand of Hanako 106A is t ₂ = (distance from the region 2602 to the retreat space 2010) / by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. When (the moving speed of the hand of Hanako 106A) is obtained, t ₂ = 30/30 = 1 [s]. These are summed by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, and t ₁ + t ₂ = 2.3 + 1 = 3.3 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

  Similarly, when the work location of the process data is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 in “process K”, it can be seen that the person 106A is working at the position (160, 90). If the pepper jar 2008 is placed in the area 2602, the person 106A takes the pepper jar 2008, the person 106A moves the pepper jar 2008 to the retreat space 2010, and the person 106A returns to the original position. The time required for the round trip to come is the obstacle article removal time required to resolve a difficult situation.

Here, if the person 106A goes to the front position (110, 90) of the pepper jar 2008 in order for the person 106A to take the pepper jar 2008, the person 106A will be (160, 90) By going from the position to the position (110, 90) and moving from the position (110, 90) to the position (160, 90), the user will reciprocate between these two positions. With reference to the human data 2303 in the attribute database 315 by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 acquires that the moving speed of Hanako 106 A is 60 [cm / s]. Therefore, the time t _{1 at} which Hanako 106A reciprocates between the two positions is t ₁ = (distance between the two positions * 2) / (moving speed of Hanako 106A) = ((160−110) * 2). The obstruction article removal time calculation means 311 obtains that /60=1.7 [s]. Further, the obstruction article removal time calculating means 311 obtains the time for the Hanako 106A to move the pepper bottle 2008 to the retreat space 2010. The distance from the area 2602 to the evacuation space 2010 is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. That is, from the coordinates (110, 15) and (80, 15) of both, the distance from the area 2602 to the retreat space 2010 is {(110-80) ² + (15-15) ² } ^1/2 = 30 [ cm]. The obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 refers to the attribute data 2303 of the person 106A and acquires the hand moving speed 30 [cm / s] of Hanako 106A. Therefore, the time t ₂ for placing the pepper bottle 2008 from the region 2602 to the retreat space 2010 by the hand of Hanako 106A is t ₂ = (distance from the region 2602 to the retreat space 2010) / by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. When (the moving speed of the hand of Hanako 106A) is obtained, t ₂ = 30/30 = 1 [s]. These are summed by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, and t ₁ + t ₂ = 1.7 + 1 = 2.7 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

  Here, “process J” and “process K” are processes in which work procedures can be interchanged. When the process data is referred to by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, “process J” → “process K” is 70%, “Step K” → “Step J” is 30%. That is, it is understood that “Step J” is 70% and “Step K” is 30% that is performed at the same timing as “Step vii”.

  The obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 weights (3.3 * 70 + 2.7 * 30) /100=3.1 [s] based on this probability, but this eliminates the situation where the person 106A has difficulty in accessing. The obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 can obtain the obstacle article removal time.

  Thus, by considering the probability of the order in which the work is performed, the expected value of the obstacle article removal time corresponding to the case in which the work is performed can be obtained by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. That is, since the obstacle article removal time is weighted by probability, the obstacle article removal time can be calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 according to which order is performed. Here, the expected value means a numerical value obtained by weighting the obstruction article removal time with a probability.

  On the other hand, since the pepper jar 2008 that causes a difficult access situation is within the movable range of the robot arm 102, the robot arm 102 itself can remove the pepper jar 2008. Immediately before “Step vii”, the tip of the arm 102 is in the position of the base portion 102b of the main body, and the tip of the arm is moved to the position of the pepper jar 2008 to remove the pepper jar 2008. Go to, hold the pepper jar 2008 at the arm tip, move the pepper jar 2008 to the retreat space 2010 at the arm tip, place the pepper jar 2008 at the arm tip, and return the arm tip to its original position The time required for the item to return is defined as the obstruction article removal time required to resolve the difficult situation.

The distal end portion of the robot arm 102 is moved from the position (100, 5) of the main body base portion 102b to the original position (100, 15) via the position (110, 15) of the area 2502 and the position (80, 15) of the retreat space 2010. , 5). Referring to the robot data 2302 in the attribute database 315, the operation speed of the hand portion of the arm 102 is 25 [cm / s]. Therefore, the calculated distance from the position (100, 5) of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 to the position (110, 15) of the area 2502 is 14.1 [cm], and the position (110, 15) of the area 2502 ) To the position (80, 15) of the retreat space 2010 is 30 [cm], and the distance from the position (80, 15) of the retreat space 2010 to the position (100, 5) of the main body root portion 102b Is calculated as {(100−80) ² + (15−5) ² } ^1/2 = 22.4 [cm] by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 (the sum of all these distances) / (Operation speed of the hand portion of the arm) = (14.1 + 30 + 22.4) /25=2.7 [s] is obtained by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311. Since the time required for gripping the robot arm 102 is spent when gripping and placing an article, 3 [s] * 2 = 6 [s]. Together, 2.7 [s] +6 [s] = 8.7 [s] is the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311.

  As described above, in order to eliminate the situation in which it is difficult for the person 106A to access, considering the replacement of the work procedure, 3.1 [s], and in order to eliminate the situation in which the robot arm 102 is difficult to access, 8.7. The necessity of [s] is obtained by the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311. In order to proceed with the obstruction article removal time as small as possible, the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311 sets a small value of the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311. 3.1 [s] for eliminating the situation that the person 106A has difficulty in accessing is selected as the obstruction article removal time in the area 2602.

  Further, in the “process K”, the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 can also consider that the process cannot be interrupted.

  That is, as described above, the obstacle article removal time in “Step K” is calculated to be 2.7 [s] by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. However, this time is when the person 106, 106A can freely perform other work. When interruption is not possible in the middle of the work as in “Process K”, it is necessary to wait for the required time 80 [s] of the process data at the maximum. Therefore, in “Step K”, 2.7 + 80 = 82.7 [s] is set as the obstacle article removal time calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311.

  As described above, it is assumed that the situation in which the person 106 is difficult to access can be solved in a short time by considering the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 in a process that cannot be interrupted in the middle of the work. It is possible to prevent unnecessary time from being spent without being interrupted, and more accurate information on the obstacle article removal time can be obtained by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311.

<Information output device>
The information output device 314 is a device that refers to the environment map database 312 and outputs the status of the obstacle removal time in the environment. For example, a liquid crystal projector is installed as an example of the information output device 314, and the output information is projected onto an actual place (for example, the upper surface of the cooking table 108 or the like). Further, as an example of the information output device 314, a monitor may be installed in the kitchen environment, and the output information may be displayed on the monitor.

  As the content of the output information, a threshold value of the obstacle article removal time is set in advance, and the color is changed between the area where the obstacle article removal time is equal to or more than the threshold and the area where the obstacle article is less than the threshold value, It can be output by the output device 314. For example, by outputting in red the area where the obstacle article removal time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is possible to warn a person not to place the article in a place where the obstacle article removal time is long. An example is shown at 2201 in FIG. 29A. In FIG. 29A, an area 2201A means an area where the obstruction article removal time is equal to or greater than a threshold and the obstruction article removal time is long.

  Further, in the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311, not only the calculated obstacle article removal time but also the reason for the difficult access situation, that is, the situation where the access is difficult due to out of the movable range, or the access by the disturbing article is difficult. In addition to the situation, the information output device 314 can output the output information. By using this information, for example, the area where the obstacle removal time is equal to or greater than the threshold is output in yellow, and the area that is difficult to access due to out of the movable range is output in red, thereby expressing the information step by step. It is possible to judge more detailed situation. An example is shown at 2202 in FIG. 29B. In 2202 of FIG. 29B, the upper right portion 2202U represents yellow, and the lower portion 2202L represents red.

  Further, the information output device 314 refers to the detection history database 304 to acquire the current position of the person 106 by the information output device 314, and further records the hand length data of the person 106 recorded in the attribute database 315. With reference to the output device 314, the reachable range is obtained. Of the output area, only the area within reach can be output by the information output device 314. An example is shown at 2203 in FIG. 29C. The area within the reachable range is 2203A.

<Overall processing flow>
FIG. 30 shows the entire processing flow. The control unit 302 controls the entire process.

  First, in step S2401, the sensing device 303 performs sensing of the person 106, the robot arm 102, and the article in the environment. When the sensing information is recorded in the detection history database 304 by the sensing device 303, the process proceeds to the next step S2402.

  In step S2402, the article gripping determination unit 305 determines whether or not the article is gripped by the person 106 with reference to the detection history database 304. The article gripping determination unit 305 performs this determination, and when the article gripping determination unit 305 determines that the article is gripped by the person 106, the process proceeds to step S2403, and if the article 106 is not gripped by the person 106, the article gripping determination is performed. If it is determined by the means 305, the process proceeds to step S2401, and sensing is performed by the sensing device 303 repeatedly.

  In step S2403, based on the information detected by the sensing device 3, information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database 306 (that is, information on which process the current work has progressed to) is obtained. It is managed by the work progress management means 307. The work progress management means 307 performs this management, and the work progress management means 307 updates information on the progress of work procedures such as work completion items of the process data in the work procedure database 306, whereby the progress information is updated. Managed by the management means 307, and then proceeds to the next step S2404.

  In step S2404, the map management unit 313 designates a place for calculating the obstacle article removal time when the article determined to be gripped in step S2402 is placed. The map management means 313 makes this designation, divides the area in the environment map database 312 and sequentially outputs the position information of each place by the map management means 313, and then proceeds to the next step S2405.

  In step S2405, the obstruction article removal time calculation means 311 calculates the obstruction article removal time at the location designated by the map management means 313. The obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 performs this calculation, and outputs the obtained result from the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 to the map management means 313. The map management means 313 acquires this (obstacle article removal time) from the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 and associates it with the location specified in step S2404 in the environment map database 312. Thereafter, the process proceeds to next Step S2406.

  In step S2406, it is determined whether the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311 has finished calculating the obstacle article removal time in all the divided regions in the environment map database 312. If calculation of the obstruction article removal time is not completed in all the divided areas, the process proceeds to step S2404 and is repeated. If the calculation of the obstruction article removal time has been completed in all the divided regions, the process proceeds to step S2407.

  In step S <b> 2407, the information output device 314 outputs information on the obstacle article removal time obtained by the obstacle article removal time calculation unit 311. For example, the information output device 314 refers to the environment map database 312 and outputs from the information output device 314 in red a region where the obstacle article removal time is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2408.

  In step S2408, the sensing device 303 senses the person 106, the robot arm 102, and the article in the environment. When the sensing device 303 performs this sensing and records the sensing information in the detection history database 304, the process proceeds to the next step S2409.

  Subsequently, in step S2409, the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database 304, and the work recorded in the work procedure database 306 and managed by the work progress management means 307. With reference to the procedure, the work progress management means 307 determines whether or not an article held by the person 106 has been placed. When the work progress management unit 307 determines that the article held by the person 106 has been placed, the provision of information from the information output device 314 is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S2410. If the work progress management unit 307 determines that the article held by the person 106 is not placed, the process proceeds to step S2407, and information provision from the information output device 314 is continued.

  In step S2410, the work procedure database 306 is updated by the work procedure database update unit 308. The work procedure database update means 308 performs this update, and when the article held by the person 106 is placed, the work procedure database update means 308 determines the end of the process, and determines the number of times the process has been executed and the required time. The work procedure database update unit 308 updates the program, and the process advances to step S2401 to repeat the processes from step S2401 again.

  These series of steps may be executed by a computer as an article management program. As an example, the article management program can be configured as follows.

That is, the position information of the article existing in the environment where the robot arm 102 and the person 106 cooperate to perform work including a plurality of work steps, the position information of the tip of the robot arm 102, and the position of the person 106 Information detected by the sensing device 3 is recorded in the detection history database 304 (see steps S2401 and S2408),
The person 106 and the robot arm 102 cooperate with each other in the order of the work processes of the person 106 and the robot arm 102 in the work including a plurality of work processes, and exist in the environment at least in each process. The work progress management means 307 manages the information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database 306 in which the handling article of the articles to be recorded is recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device 3. (Refer to step S2403),
Referring to the detection history database 304, the article gripping determination unit 305 determines that the person 106 grips the handled article (see step S2402),
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database 304 and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database 306 and managed by the work progress management means 307, When it is assumed that a person 106 grips the handled article and places it in the article retreat location area 2010 in the environment, the robot arm 102 becomes difficult to access based on the position information of the article retreat location. Is determined by the access determination means 310 (see step S2409),
When it is determined by the access determination means 310 that it is difficult to access, it is necessary to remove the handling article that the person 106 assumed to hold and place in order to eliminate the difficult access situation. The solution time is calculated by the difficulty solution time calculation unit 311 based on the information recorded in the attribute database 315 in which the position information and movement speed information of the main body base portion 102b of the robot arm 102 is recorded (steps S2404 to S2404). S2406),
When the article gripping determination unit 305 determines that the person 106 has gripped the handling article, the information output device 314 provides the person 106 with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit 311. It can be configured as an article management program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of providing (see step S2407).

《Action and effect》
By the above processing, when the person 106 grips the article, the estimated obstacle article removal time is calculated by the obstacle article removal time calculation means 311 for the place where the article is placed, and information is provided to the person based on the calculation result. Can be performed by the information output device 314. As a result, in accordance with this information, it is possible to prevent generation of useless time in subsequent operations with the minimum effort that the person 106 has only to select the place where the article is placed.

  It is to be noted that, by appropriately combining any of the various embodiments, the effects possessed by them can be produced.

  The article management system, the article management method, and the article management program according to the present invention provide an obstacle removal time that is assumed for a place where an article held by a person is placed in a scene where a person and a robot arm perform cooperative work. And a function of providing information based on the calculation result. Thus, the housework support robot arm at home is useful as an article management system or the like that can prevent unnecessary time from being generated in the subsequent work and can perform the work efficiently with minimal effort. In business use, it can also be applied to uses such as in-hospital transport robot systems and cell production support robot systems.

The figure which shows an example of the articles | goods management system structure concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the robot arm of the article | item management system of FIG. 1A. Sectional drawing which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the robot arm of the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the robot arm of the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the robot arm of the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the robot arm of the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Functional block diagram in the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. A more detailed functional block diagram of the sensing device in the functional block of the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 3A. Explanatory drawing of the image sensor in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the process image (background image) in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the process image (human detection image) in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the process image (difference image) in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the template image in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing of the ultrasonic sensor in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing of the floor pressure sensor in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. FIG. 8A is a more detailed functional block diagram of the sensing device in the functional block of the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing of the radio | wireless IC tag sensor in the sensing detection means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. FIG. 9A is a more detailed functional block diagram of the sensing device in the functional block of the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing of the weight sensor in the sensing apparatus in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10A is a more detailed functional block diagram of the sensing device in the functional block of the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the detection history database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the order information among the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention of FIG. 13B. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. FIG. 14A is a diagram showing an example of the work order and the number of executions of information recorded in the work procedure database in the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention of FIG. 14A. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the work procedure database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the attribute database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the attribute database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the information recorded on the attribute database in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the environment map in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example which divided | segmented the gas stand into nine in the environment map in the goods management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention of FIG. 17A. The figure which shows the example of the environment map database regarding the example which divided | segmented the gas stand into nine in the environment map in the goods management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention of FIG. 17B. The figure which shows the specific example for demonstrating the access determination in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example for demonstrating the access determination in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example for demonstrating the access determination in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. Flow of interference determination by access determination means in the article management system according to the embodiment of the present invention The figure which shows a mode when the robot arm in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention tries to move an article | item. The figure which shows the mode of the track | orbit of a front-end | tip part (hand part) when the front-end | tip part (hand part) of a robot arm in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention just hold | grips a target article. The figure which shows the track | orbit which connected from the current position of the front-end | tip part of a robot arm to the target position with the straight line in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the processing flow of the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the processing content of the obstruction article removal time calculation means in the article management system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the specific example in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example in the access determination means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the processing content of the obstruction article removal time calculation means in the article management system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the processing content of the obstruction article removal time calculation means in the article management system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the specific example of the output by the information output device in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example of the output by the information output device in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the specific example of the output by the information output device in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the flow of the whole process which the control means in the article | item management system concerning the said embodiment of this invention performs. The figure which shows the specific situation used as the subject of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Kitchen room 101 System kitchen 102 Housework support robot arm 102a Hand part of robot arm tip part 102b Robot arm main body base part 103 Liquid crystal projector 104 Sensor 105 Article 106 Person 107 Gas stand 108 Cooking table 109 Sink 110 Microwave oven 111 Dishwashing Device 130 Hand drive motor 131 Elbow joint drive motor 132 Shoulder joint drive motor 133 Encoder 201 Rail 301 Time acquisition means 302 Control means 303 Sensing device 304 Detection history database 305 Article gripping judgment means 306 Work procedure database 307 Work progress management means 308 Work procedure Database update means 310 Access determination means 311 Obstacle article removal time calculation means 312 Environmental map database 313 Map management means 314 Information output device 315 Attribute database 316 Recording information database 317 Input / output means 402 Camera 403 Image processing means 802 Pressure sensing element 803 Pressure data processing means 902 Reading antenna 904 Wireless IC tag data processing means 1002 Weight detection sensor 1004 Weight data Processing means 1101 Person detection history information 1105 Article detection history information 1109 Robot arm position detection history information 1201 Work procedure data 1202 Process data 2301 Article data 2302 Robot data 2303 Person data

Claims (12)

Sensing device that detects position information of an article existing in an environment where a robot arm and a person cooperate to perform work including a plurality of work steps, position information of a tip portion of the robot arm, and position information of the person When,
A detection history database that records information detected by the sensing device;
An attribute database in which position information and moving speed information of the base of the main body of the robot arm are recorded;
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step A work procedure database for recording handling articles of
Based on the information detected by the sensing device, work progress management means for managing information on the progress of work procedures recorded in the work procedure database;
Article gripping determination means for referring to the detection history database to determine that the person grips the handling article;
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person Access determination means for determining whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on position information of the article evacuation place when it is assumed that the handled article is gripped and placed at the article evacuation place in the environment When,
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation On the basis of the position information and the moving speed information of the base part of the main body of the robot arm recorded in the attribute database,
An information output device that provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means when the article gripping determination means determines that the person has gripped the handling article;
An article management system comprising: While pre-recording the length of the robot arm in the attribute database,
The access determination means is configured such that the tip of the robot arm is the article based on the position information and length information of the robot arm main body recorded in the attribute database and the position information of the article retreat location. Determine whether it becomes difficult to access the evacuation location.
The article management system according to claim 1. In the work procedure database, based on the information detected by the sensing device, record the location information of the destination of the handling article used for each step,
The access determination means refers to the information of the detection history database and the information of the work procedure database, respectively, and the place where the handled article is placed is the destination of the other handled article in a step after the current work. Whether or not it becomes difficult to access depending on whether or not
The article management system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above. In the work procedure database, the location information of the work place in each process is recorded,
Recording the length of the person's hand and the length of the robot arm in the attribute database;
The difficulty elimination time calculation unit calculates the difficulty elimination time from the time required to move, grasp and carry the person and the robot arm for moving the handling article in order to eliminate the difficult access situation.
The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. In the work procedure database, record the time required for each process and whether each process can be interrupted,
In the calculation of the difficulty resolution time in the difficulty resolution time calculation unit, if the corresponding process is not interruptable, calculate by adding the time required until the process is completed,
The article management system according to claim 4. In the work procedure database, record the work order and probabilities of a plurality of processes,
In the calculation of the difficulty elimination time in the difficulty elimination time calculation unit, weighting is performed using the probability of the work order.
The article management system according to any one of claims 2 to 5. An environment map database in which a sketch of the environment is recorded;
The area where the handling article is placed in the environment map database is divided into a plurality of places, position information of each place is given to the difficulty solving time calculating means, and the difficulty solving time calculated by the time calculating means is acquired. Map management means for associating the calculated difficulty resolution time with a place in the environment map;
The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: The map management means is capable of adjusting the size of each location when the area where the handling article is placed is divided into a plurality of locations.
The article management system according to claim 7. When the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handling article, the information output device is configured to move within the movable range of the robot arm based on the length of the robot arm and the position information of the article retreat location. And displaying the information of the difficulty resolution time in distinction between and out of the movable range,
The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. When the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handling article, the information output device reaches the person's hand according to the length of the person's hand and the position information of the article retreat location. Display the information of the difficulty resolution time only in range,
The article management system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A sensing device detects the position information of an article existing in an environment where a robot arm and a person cooperate to perform work including a plurality of work processes, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and the position information of the person. And
Record the information detected by the sensing device in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When the article gripping determination unit determines that the person has gripped the handling article, the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit.
An article management method characterized by the above. A sensing device detects the position information of an article existing in an environment where a robot arm and a person cooperate to perform work including a plurality of work processes, the position information of the tip of the robot arm, and the position information of the person. Recorded information in the detection history database,
Of the work including a plurality of work steps performed in cooperation between the person and the robot arm, the order of the work steps of the person and the robot arm, and the article existing in the environment at least in each step Information on the progress of the work procedure acquired from the work procedure database in which the handled articles are recorded, based on the information detected by the sensing device, and managed by the work progress management means,
With reference to the detection history database, it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handled article,
With reference to the current position information of the article existing in the environment obtained from the detection history database and the work procedure recorded in the work procedure database and managed by the work progress management means, the person When it is assumed that the handling article is gripped and placed at an article evacuation place in the environment, the access determination means determines whether or not the robot arm is difficult to access based on the position information of the article evacuation place. And
When it is determined by the access determination means that it is difficult to access, the difficulty solving time required to remove the handling article assumed to be held by the person in order to eliminate the difficult access situation Is calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation unit based on the information recorded in the attribute database in which the position information of the main body of the robot arm and the moving speed information are recorded,
When it is determined by the article gripping determination means that the person has gripped the handling article, a procedure is provided in which the information output device provides the person with information on the difficulty resolution time calculated by the difficulty resolution time calculation means. An article management program to be executed by a computer.

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