KR102733323B1 - High-altitude painting robot - Google Patents

Abstract

A high-altitude painting robot is disclosed which has a terminal trajectory pattern library in which terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to various painting shapes are stored, and performs painting work by automatically extracting and generating terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to recognized painting surface shapes.
The disclosed high-altitude robot is,
The robot terminal comprises a vision sensor unit that recognizes the shape of a painting surface to be painted; a terminal trajectory pattern generation unit that has a terminal trajectory pattern library in which a plurality of terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to a plurality of different painting shapes are stored, and generates a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to the painting surface shape recognized by the vision sensor unit.

Description

High-altitude painting robot

The present invention relates to a high-altitude painting robot that performs painting on interior and exterior walls or ceilings of a building, and more specifically, to a high-altitude painting robot that has a terminal trajectory pattern library in which terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to various painting shapes are stored, and automatically extracts and generates terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to recognized painting surface shapes to perform painting work.

The high-altitude painting robot performs painting on the interior and exterior walls or ceilings of a building in place of humans. The high-altitude painting robot can be composed of a painting robot arm, a height-adjustable lift, and a moving platform.

When the mobile platform moves the high-altitude painting robot to the painting location, the height-adjusting lift adjusts the height of the lift to match the wall or ceiling to be painted, and then the painting work is performed using the robot arm.

Meanwhile, the interior and exterior walls or ceilings of a building may have various shapes in addition to flat surfaces, such as beams and columns. It is difficult to actively respond to painting work of various shapes with uniform programming. In addition, uneven painting, paint clumping, and dripping may occur, resulting in poor painting quality.

One way to deal with existing painting shapes is to control the angle and speed of the spray nozzle mounted on the painting robot spray gun according to the painting surface. This method maintains a constant spray distance, moves at a constant speed, and paints by setting the rotational angular speed, approach speed, and departure speed of the spray in the corner section. This method enables uniform painting on flat surfaces and corner sections, but it has the problem that it is difficult to deal with various shapes because it is a method that only considers the movement of the spray nozzle of the spray gun.

In addition, since it does not take into account changes in concentration according to the spray range of the spray nozzle, changes in spray distance according to changes in paint, and overlapping sections, there is a problem that entails the hassle of having to take these parts into consideration and make corrections during painting work.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1991053

The present invention aims to provide a high-altitude painting robot that performs painting work by automatically extracting and generating a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to a recognized painting surface shape, and having a terminal trajectory pattern library in which terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to various painting shapes are stored.

A high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention,

The robot terminal comprises a vision sensor unit that recognizes the shape of a painting surface to be painted; a terminal trajectory pattern generation unit that has a terminal trajectory pattern library in which a plurality of terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to a plurality of different painting shapes are stored, and generates a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to the painting surface shape recognized by the vision sensor unit.

In the high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal trajectory pattern library has basic patterns corresponding to the plurality of different painting shapes, and the terminal trajectory pattern can be generated by combining the basic patterns.

In the high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the basic patterns may include at least one of a horizontal plane pattern, a pattern of a contact surface between a horizontal plane and a beam, a hemispherical pattern, and a trapezoidal pattern.

In the high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal trajectory pattern is such that the spraying angle of the spray gun mounted on the terminal of the robot is maintained in a posture that is perpendicular to the painting work surface.

In a high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, a terminal trajectory correction unit may be further included to determine whether a posture of the robot terminal has changed, and to correct a trajectory of the robot terminal if the posture is determined to have changed.

In the high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal trajectory correction unit compares depth values in images captured by a pair of vision sensor units to determine whether the posture of the terminal of the robot has changed, and if it is determined that the posture has changed, the trajectory of the terminal of the robot can be corrected so that the depth values become the same.

In a high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal trajectory correction unit can determine whether an obstacle exists in the painting work progress direction of the robot terminal when performing painting work along the terminal trajectory pattern, and if an obstacle exists, correct the trajectory of the robot terminal to avoid the obstacle.

In the high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal trajectory correction unit can compare depth values in images captured by a pair of vision sensor units, and determine that an obstacle exists if the difference in depth values in the two images is greater than a preset reference value.

Specific details of implementation examples according to various aspects of the present invention are included in the detailed description below.

According to an embodiment of the present invention,

A terminal trajectory pattern library is provided in which terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to various painting shapes are stored, and a painting work can be performed by automatically extracting and generating terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to recognized painting surface shapes.

In addition, even when the posture of the high-altitude painting robot or the painting robot arm changes due to movement of the moving platform or an unknown external impact, uniform painting work can be performed by correcting the posture of the robot end.

Additionally, if there is a risk of colliding with an unintended obstacle while performing a painting task, the posture of the robot's distal end can be modified to avoid the obstacle.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a drawing exemplifying a painting work state of a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a painting robot arm of a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a drawing exemplifying the types of paint surface shapes recognized by the paint surface recognition unit.
Figure 5 is a drawing showing the shapes of the painted surfaces.
Figure 6 is a drawing illustrating a process of generating a terminal trajectory pattern according to the shape of a painting surface.
Figure 7 is a drawing for explaining a process for determining whether the posture of a robot arm for painting has changed.
Figure 8 is a drawing for explaining the process of avoiding obstacles while performing painting work.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention can be modified in various ways and has various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the present invention is only used to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "comprise" or "have" and the like are intended to specify that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part or a combination thereof described in the specification exists, but do not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof. Hereinafter, a high-altitude painting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a painting operation state of a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a painting robot arm of a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, a high-altitude painting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a moving platform (100), a height-adjusting lift (200), and a painting robot arm (300).

The moving platform (100) moves the high-altitude painting robot to the painting location. The moving platform (100) is equipped with a platform base (110) and a moving means (120). A height-adjusting lift (200) is mounted on the upper surface of the platform base (110), and a moving means (120) is mounted on the lower surface. The moving means (120) may be a roller.

The height-adjustable lift (200) adjusts the height of the painting robot arm (300) so that the painting robot arm (300) can be positioned to paint a wall, ceiling, etc., which is a painting target. The height-adjustable lift (200) includes a lift support (210), a multi-stage lift member (220), and a lift top plate (230).

The lift support (210) can be fixed to the upper surface of the platform base (110) and is formed in a shape that extends upward by a predetermined length. A multi-stage lift member (220) can be inserted into the lift support (210).

The multi-stage lift member (220) is inserted and mounted within the lift support member (210) and may be composed of a plurality of lift members whose heights are adjusted by sliding up and down.

The lift top plate (230) is a plate member having a predetermined shape, for example, a rectangular/square shape, and is formed on the upper part of the multi-stage lift (220).

The painting robot arm (300) is formed on the upper surface of the lift top plate (230). The painting robot arm (300) includes a first-axis moving member (310), a second-axis moving member (320), a link joint part (330), an end effector (340), a vision sensor part (350), a terminal trajectory pattern generating part (360), and a terminal trajectory modifying part (370).

The first axis moving member (310) is formed on the upper surface of the lift upper plate (230) in the first axis direction (e.g., x-axis direction) to move the link joint part (330) and the end effector (340) in the first axis direction.

The second axis moving member (320) is formed on the upper surface of the first axis moving member (310) in the second axis direction (e.g., in the y-axis direction) to move the link joint part (330) and the end effector (340) in the second axis direction. The first axis moving member (310) and the second axis moving member (320) include moving means such as a linear actuator and a ball screw motor.

By operating in combination with the first-axis moving member (310) and the second-axis moving member (320), the link joint part (330) and the end effector (340) can be moved to a desired position on the xy plane. In addition, by operating in combination with the link joint part (330) and the end effector (340), the working tool can be moved in a desired z-axis direction.

The link joint part (330) includes a plurality of links and at least one joint connecting the links. A driving motor (not shown) for operation is arranged in the joint.

The end effector (340) is formed at the end of the painting robot arm (300) and can be equipped with a work tool. The work tool can be various tools depending on the work content, and for example, can be a spray gun for painting work. The trajectory of the robot end can be the trajectory of the end effector (340) or the trajectory of the work tool (for example, a spray gun) mounted on the end effector (340). In the present invention, the trajectory of the robot end is automatically extracted from a previously constructed end trajectory pattern library, and can perform painting work on interior and exterior walls or ceilings of a building.

The vision sensor unit (350) includes a vision camera and a machine vision algorithm that analyzes images captured by the vision camera in a deep learning manner. The vision sensor unit (350) captures and recognizes the shape of the painting surface that the robot end is to paint. The vision sensor units (350) may be provided as a pair, spaced apart from each other on the upper surface of the lift upper plate (230).

The terminal trajectory pattern generation unit (360) has a terminal trajectory pattern library in which a plurality of terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to a plurality of different painting shapes are stored, and extracts a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to a painting surface shape recognized by the vision sensor unit (350). The terminal trajectory pattern generation unit (360) may be implemented by being integrated into the interior of a high-altitude painting robot or a painting robot arm (300), or may be installed in a program format on a computing means provided separately externally.

First, the terminal trajectory pattern library pre-equipped in the terminal trajectory pattern generation unit (360) will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. 4 is a drawing exemplifying the types of painting surface shapes recognized by the painting surface recognition unit, and FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating painting surface shapes.

As shown in Fig. 4, the shape of the painting surface can be variously composed of a combination of walls, ceilings, beams, and columns. The terminal trajectory pattern generation unit extracts representative shapes of various painting surface shapes and generates basic patterns. Then, the terminal trajectory pattern generation unit generates a terminal trajectory pattern by combining the basic patterns to correspond to the painting surface shape recognized by the vision sensor unit (350).

The various shapes of the painting surface illustrated in Fig. 4 can be broadly represented by three shapes as illustrated in Fig. 5. That is, as in (a) of Fig. 5, the case in which the ceiling and the column (or beam) are vertical, as in (b) of Fig. 5, the case in which the beam is formed in a hemispherical shape on the ceiling surface, and as in (c) of Fig. 5, the case in which the beam is formed in a trapezoidal shape on the ceiling surface can be represented. Of course, the three shapes of Fig. 5 are merely examples, and the shapes of the painting surface are not limited to these three shapes. In addition, Fig. 5 only illustrates a cross-section of a three-dimensional shape for convenience of explanation, and actual basic patterns can be created as three-dimensional patterns.

In Fig. 5, the basic patterns are described as "case #1 to #5", and for example, the basic patterns "case #1 to #5" can be defined as follows.

Case #1: Pattern of the contact surface between the horizontal plane and the beam (or column), the pattern that contacts the left side of the beam.

case #2: horizontal plane pattern

Case #3: Pattern of the contact surface between the horizontal plane and the beam (or column), the pattern that contacts the right side of the beam.

case #4: hemispherical pattern

case #5: Trapezoidal shape pattern (3D square pyramidal shape pattern)

The five basic patterns illustrated in Figure 5 are merely examples, and the number of basic patterns is not limited to these.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process of generating a terminal trajectory pattern according to a shape of a painting surface. FIG. 6 (a) is a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to FIG. 5 (a), FIG. 6 (b) is a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to FIG. 5 (b), and FIG. 6 (c) is a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to FIG. 5 (c). The terminal trajectory patterns of FIG. 6 are terminal trajectory patterns that ensure that the spray angle of the spray gun mounted on the end effector (340) always maintains a vertical posture with respect to the working surface. Basically, the terminal trajectory patterns are repeated several times in the left-right direction (or up-down direction) to paint the painting surface.

The diagonal pattern shown in area A of Fig. 6 (a) is a pattern for painting the side surface of a beam (or column). For convenience of explanation, it is shown as one plane, but in reality, it is a pattern formed perpendicular to area B, which is a horizontal plane area.

Meanwhile, when painting the side surface of the beam in area A of Fig. 6 (a), the end portion of the side surface (the portion where the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the beam meet) is painted lightly as the paint liquid is dispersed during painting, resulting in uneven painting. Therefore, the painting of the end portion of the side surface of the beam is to overlap when painting the horizontal surface of the beam so that the painting can be uniform.

Fig. 6 (a) shows that a terminal trajectory pattern is generated by a combination of basic patterns case #1 to #3 and stored in a terminal trajectory pattern library as Job #1, Fig. 6 (b) shows that a terminal trajectory pattern is generated by a combination of basic patterns case #2 and case #4 and stored in a terminal trajectory pattern library as Job #2, and Fig. 6 (c) shows that a terminal trajectory pattern is generated by a combination of basic patterns case #2 and case #5 and stored in a terminal trajectory pattern library as Job #3.

Meanwhile, while performing a painting task along the terminal trajectory pattern generated by the terminal trajectory pattern generation unit, the posture of the high-altitude painting robot or the painting robot arm (300) may change due to movement of the moving platform (100) or an unknown external impact. In this case, if the painting task is continued along the existing terminal trajectory pattern, a painting defect may occur.

Accordingly, the terminal trajectory correction unit (370) corrects the terminal trajectory of the robot arm (300) so that uniform painting work can be performed even when the posture of the high-altitude painting robot or the painting robot arm (300) changes for various reasons.

The terminal trajectory correction unit (370) compares the depth values in the images captured by a pair of vision sensor units (350) to determine whether the posture of the painting robot arm (300) has changed, and if it is determined that the posture has changed, it corrects the trajectory of the robot terminal so that the depth values become the same. The terminal trajectory correction unit (370) includes a posture change determination module (371) and a posture correction module (372). The terminal trajectory correction unit (370) may be implemented by being integrated into the interior of the high-altitude painting robot or the painting robot arm (300), or may be installed in the form of a program on a computing means provided separately externally.

As illustrated in Fig. 7, a pair of spaced vision sensor units (350) capture images of a painting surface. The vision cameras forming the vision sensor units (350) may be stereo vision cameras capable of measuring three-dimensional depth. The posture change determination module (371) receives a pair of captured images from a pair of spaced vision sensor units (350) and calculates depth values for each of the pair of captured images.

The posture change judgment module (371) determines that the posture has not changed if the depth values of each of a pair of captured images are the same, and determines that the posture has changed if the depth values of each of a pair of captured images are different. At this time, the posture may be at least one of the posture of the high-altitude painting robot, the posture of the painting robot arm (300), or the posture of the robot end (end effector (340)). If the posture is determined to have changed, the posture change judgment module (371) transmits this to the posture correction module (372).

If it is determined that the posture has changed, the posture correction module (372) generates a control command to correct the trajectory of the robot end so that the depth values of each of the captured images captured by the pair of spaced vision sensor units (350) become the same. That is, it generates a control command for the first-axis moving member (310), the second-axis moving member (320), and the link joint member (330) that adjust the position of the robot end (end effector (340)).

In addition, as illustrated in Fig. 8, an unintended obstacle (such as a beam/column not reflected in the terminal trajectory pattern) may be encountered while performing a painting operation. If the painting operation is continued along the terminal trajectory pattern despite the obstacle, the painting robot arm (300) may collide with the obstacle and be damaged.

To prevent this, the posture change judgment module (371) can additionally judge whether an obstacle appears in addition to whether the posture has changed. The posture change judgment module (371) can compare the depth values in the images captured by a pair of vision sensor units (350), and if the difference in the depth values in the two images is greater than or equal to a preset reference value, it can judge that an obstacle has appeared. That is, if the difference in the depth values in the two images is less than the reference value, the posture change judgment module (371) can judge that the posture of the robot's extremities, etc. has changed, and if the difference in the depth values in the two images is greater than or equal to the reference value, it can judge that an obstacle has appeared. At this time, the reference value can be set by the user.

When an obstacle is determined to have appeared by the posture change judgment module (371), the terminal trajectory correction unit (370) can correct the posture of the robot terminal to avoid the obstacle by generating a control command for the first-axis moving member (310), the second-axis moving member (320), and the link joint unit (330).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a terminal trajectory pattern library in which terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to various painting shapes are stored is provided, and a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to a recognized painting surface shape can be automatically extracted and generated to perform a painting work. In addition, even when the posture of a high-altitude painting robot or a painting robot arm changes due to movement of a moving platform or an unknown external impact, the posture of the robot terminal can be modified to perform a uniform painting work. In addition, when there is a concern of collision with an unintended obstacle during the painting work, the posture of the robot terminal can be modified to avoid the obstacle.

FIG. 9 is a drawing showing a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computing device (TN100) of FIG. 9 may be a hardware configuration of the high-altitude painting robot described in this specification, particularly, a terminal trajectory pattern generation unit (360) and a terminal trajectory correction unit (370).

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the computing device (TN100) may include at least one processor (TN110), a transceiver (TN120), and a memory (TN130). In addition, the computing device (TN100) may further include a storage device (TN140), an input interface device (TN150), an output interface device (TN160), etc. The components included in the computing device (TN100) may be connected by a bus (TN170) to communicate with each other.

The processor (TN110) can execute a program command stored in at least one of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140). The processor (TN110) may mean a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to embodiments of the present invention are performed. The processor (TN110) may be configured to implement procedures, functions, methods, etc. described in relation to embodiments of the present invention. The processor (TN110) may control each component of the computing device (TN100).

Each of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140) can store various information related to the operation of the processor (TN110). Each of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140) can be configured with at least one of a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. For example, the memory (TN130) can be configured with at least one of a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

The transceiver (TN120) can transmit or receive wired or wireless signals. The transceiver (TN120) can be connected to a network and perform communications.

Meanwhile, the present invention may be implemented as a computer program. The present invention may be implemented as a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium, combined with hardware.

Methods according to embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a program readable by various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Here, the recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc., singly or in combination.

The program commands recorded on the recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software.

For example, recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CDROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROMs, RAMs, and flash memory.

Examples of program instructions may include machine language, such as that produced by a compiler, as well as high-level languages that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

Such hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

Above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but those skilled in the art will be able to modify and change the present invention in various ways by adding, changing, deleting or adding components, etc., within the scope that does not depart from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims, and this will also be considered to be included within the scope of the rights of the present invention.

100 : Moving Platform
200 : Height adjustable lift
210: Lift support 220: Multi-stage lift
230 : Lift top plate
300: Robot arm for painting
310: 1st axis moving member 320: 2nd axis moving member
330: Link joint 340: End effector
350: Vision sensor part 360: Terminal trajectory pattern generation part
370: Terminal trajectory correction unit

Claims (8)

A vision sensor unit that recognizes the shape of the surface to be painted by the robot terminal;
A terminal trajectory pattern generation unit having a terminal trajectory pattern library in which a plurality of terminal trajectory patterns corresponding to a plurality of different stamp shapes are stored, and generating a terminal trajectory pattern corresponding to a stamp surface shape recognized by the vision sensor unit; and,
It includes a terminal trajectory correction unit that determines whether the posture of the robot terminal has changed and corrects the trajectory of the robot terminal if the posture is determined to have changed;
The above terminal trajectory correction part is,
The depth values in the images captured by a pair of vision sensors are compared, and if the depth values of each of the pair of captured images are the same, it is determined that the posture has not changed, and if the depth values of each of the pair of captured images are different, it is determined that the posture has changed.
If it is determined that the posture has changed, the trajectory of the robot end is modified so that the depth value becomes the same.
A high-altitude robot featuring a paint job.
In claim 1,
A high-altitude painting robot, wherein the terminal trajectory pattern library comprises basic patterns corresponding to the plurality of different painting shapes, and the terminal trajectory pattern is generated by combining the basic patterns.
In claim 2,
A high-altitude painting robot, wherein the above basic patterns include at least one of a horizontal plane pattern, a horizontal plane and a beam contact surface pattern, a hemispherical shape pattern, and a trapezoidal shape pattern.
In claim 3,
The above terminal trajectory pattern is a high-altitude painting robot that maintains the spray angle of the spray gun mounted on the terminal of the robot in a vertical position with respect to the painting work surface.
delete delete In claim 1, the terminal trajectory correction unit,
A high-altitude painting robot that, when performing a painting operation along the above-mentioned terminal trajectory pattern, determines whether there is an obstacle in the direction in which the painting operation is performed at the terminal of the robot, and if an obstacle exists, modifies the trajectory of the terminal of the robot to avoid the obstacle.
In claim 7, the terminal trajectory correction part,
A high-altitude painting robot that compares depth values in images captured by a pair of vision sensors and determines that an obstacle exists if the difference in depth values between the two images exceeds a preset standard.

Images