JPH03141408A - Back-up method for remote control of robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the remote control of a robot by coloring the subject included in a two-dimensional image projected on a monitor of a robot simulator and then varying the color of the subject in accordance with the distance between the subject set in the depth direction not shown in the two-dimensional image and a robot hand. CONSTITUTION:A subject A included in a two-dimensional image projected on a monitor of a robot simulator is colored as shown by the oblique lines. Then the color of the subject A is varied in accordance with the distance be tween the subject A set in the depth direction not shown in the two-dimensional image and a robot hand B. The colors of the subject A can use the green at first (long distance), the orage in the middle, and the red with approximately zero distance, respectively. Otherwise the original color density of the subject A can be easily varied and therefore the color can changed in an arithmetic processing of the picture element data. Thus, an operator can know the distance in the depth direction and can perform the safe and sure remote control operations.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary of the Invention] Regarding a support method that allows an operator to easily remotely control a robot, the present invention relates to a support method that allows an operator to easily remotely control a robot. The aim is to make it easier to operate the robot by coloring the target object in the two-dimensional image displayed on the robot simulator monitor.
The color is configured to change depending on the distance between the target object and the robot hand in the depth direction, which is not displayed in the two-dimensional image.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a support method that allows an operator to easily remotely control a robot.

For a working robot located in a remote location, a method is used in which the image is displayed on a monitor, and the operator operates the controller while looking at the monitor screen, and in turn operates the working robot.

[Prior Art] Remote control of a robot is used to operate a working robot from a distance, such as in a nuclear reactor, in a place where workers cannot or cannot enter.

When a working robot is in space, remote control of the robot is performed via wireless communication, and if the communication distance is long, data transmission takes time.The robot image on the monitor screen is controlled by the operator. After that, the movement has to be performed after a certain period of time, which makes the operation difficult.

Robot simulators are a solution to this problem. This displays a predicted simulator image calculated from the operator's operation amount on the monitor screen together with an image of the working robot at a remote point. Since there is no delay, the robot can easily operate the work object displayed on the monitor screen. After the transmission delay, the working robot's image moves and overlaps the prediction simulator image, creating a double image that is out of alignment.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

A robot's work space is three-dimensional, but a monitor screen such as a normal CRT screen is two-dimensional and does not have depth information.

This point applies regardless of whether the monitor screen displays the video output of a television camera or the output of a simulator. Stereoscopic technology is available for this purpose, but working for long periods of time with current stereoscopic viewing technology causes eyestrain. There is also a method in which multiple monitor screens are placed side by side, images taken from different directions are displayed on these screens, and the operator operates while viewing these monitor screens alternately. Unable to perform operations.

The purpose of the present invention is to improve the above points, to make it possible to obtain perspective information even though it is a two-dimensional screen, and to make it easier to operate the robot by concentrating on one monitor. be.

[Means to solve the problem]

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, a target object A in a two-dimensional image displayed on a monitor of a robot simulator is colored (indicated by diagonal lines). Then, the target object A and the robot hand B in the depth direction that are not displayed in this two-dimensional image
The color changes depending on the distance between the two.

[Effect]

In this way, if the object to be worked by the robot is colored on the monitor and the color is changed according to the distance between the robot hand and the object in the depth direction, which does not appear on the monitor, the operator can By knowing the distance in the depth direction, safe and reliable remote control can be performed. If the object to be colored is a simulator image, there will be no delay even when the work robot is located at an extremely remote point, so the sense of distance will be given, further improving operability.

The color applied to the target object can be green at first (at a large distance), orange at intermediate distances, and red at near zero distance, but it is better to simply change the density of the original color of the target object, and in this case, the pixel data The color can be changed using the calculation process.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a monitor screen, where A is a target object and B is a robot hand. Target object A is an object that a working robot at a remote point is attempting to operate, which is imaged by a television camera, a video signal is transmitted to the operator, and displayed on a monitor screen.

The robot hand B is a predicted simulator image, which is an image displaying the known shape and size data of the robot hand with operation data performed by the operator added thereto. (a) to (d) are all plan views, and when these are shown in perspective views, they become FIGS. 2(a) to (d). That is, (
a) is a state in which robot hand B and target object A are separated, c) is a state in which they are still separated but aligned in the vertical direction, and (C) is a grasping part of the target object (the part that the hand is trying to grasp) (d) shows a state in which the robot hands are aligned in the vertical direction, and (d) shows a state in which the fingers of the robot hand approach from the left and right to grip the gripping section.

As shown in FIG. 1, the monitor screen is a two-dimensional screen in this example, which is a plan view, so information in the depth (up and down) direction is not displayed. Therefore, it is easy to make the gripping part of the target object come between the fingers of the robot hand, but it is not easy to make the fingers coincide with the gripping part in the vertical direction.

Therefore, in the present invention, the surface A that appears on the monitor screen of the gripping part of the target object is colored, and this color is the finger part B1.

It changes depending on the degree of approach of B2. For example, at first (when the object is far away) it is dark, for example, the original color of the target object, and as it approaches, the color becomes lighter (to pure white).

The shade of color can be expressed by representing one pixel with a plurality of bits, and the process of making it lighter is possible by dividing/subtracting the pixel data. As shown in FIG. 2(a), the surface of the gripping portion (operated portion) displayed on the monitor screen is AI in a plan view, Az in a front view, and A in a side view.

For example, by coloring the surfaces A and ~A of the screen memory (also called VRAM, etc.) of a CRT display, and by calculating the read data according to the distance data,
It is possible to color the grip and fade it depending on the distance.

Figure 3 shows the work flow chart. When remotely controlling a robot, first the robot and its working environment are displayed on a monitor screen, and the worker operates the controller while viewing this.
■Perform remote control of the robot. From this remote control amount and the position data of the work robot, the simulator calculates the distance between the fingers of the robot hand and the grasping part of the target object (in the case of a plan view, the distance in the depth direction that does not appear in this figure). , if the distance is sufficient (if it is greater than or equal to the set value), the surface of the gripper displayed on the monitor is colored in a dark color.

Then, changes in the distance are monitored (1), and the color of the display surface is changed according to the change.In this example, as the distance approaches, the color becomes lighter in a gradation style.

Figure 4 shows an overview of the robot remote control system. 10
1 is a working robot located at a remote location, and 12 is its control device. The working robot and its working environment are captured by a television camera and transmitted to the operator along with robot position data detected by sensors attached to various parts of the robot.

On the operator side, there is a monitor 14 that displays camera images and a monitor 16 that displays simulator images. The sent robot position data is sent to the simulator control device 22.
The simulator control device 22 calculates the simulator image 16 using various data regarding the shape, structure, etc. of the working robot and the target object, and displays it on the monitor. The video signal sent from the television camera is displayed on the monitor and becomes a camera image. Although the camera image and the simulator image are displayed separately in this example, they may be displayed overlappingly.

The operator 20 operates the robot operating device (controller) 18 while viewing these images to remotely control the working robot. The simulator image changes immediately when the robot control device is operated, but the camera image changes with a delay.

The simulator has information on the position and size of the object, and by incorporating information such as the robot's position into it, it is possible to determine the distance between the object and the robot. The color of the object changes depending on this distance.

Hey.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the remote operation support method of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a flow chart of robot work, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an overview of the robot remote control system. be. In FIG. 1, A is a target object, A is a colored surface, and B is a robot hand.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Color the target object (A) in the two-dimensional image displayed on the monitor of the robot simulator, and change the color according to the distance between the target object and the robot hand (B) in the depth direction, which is not displayed in the two-dimensional image. A remote control support method for a robot characterized by changing the robot.