No abstract

This study proposed the new method of discerning the assembled parts and presuming the position of central point in a Cowl Cross Bar (CCB) using a Charge-Couple Device (CCD) camera attached to a robot in the auto assembly line. Three control points of an ellipse were decided by three reference points, which were equally distanced. The radii of these reference points were determined by the size of the object, and the repeated presumption secured the precise determination. The comparison of the central point of ellipse presumed by Randomized Hough Transform (RHT) with the part information stored in a database was used for determining the faulty part in an assembly. The method proposed in this study was applied for the real-time inspection of elliptical parts, such as bolt, nut hole and so on, connected to a CCB using a CCD camera. The findings of this study showed that the precise decision on whether the parts are inferior or not can be made irrespective of the lighting condition of industrial site and the noises of the surface of the part. In addition, the defect decision on the individual elliptic parts assembled in a CCB showed more than 98% accuracy within a 500-millisecond period at most.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a minimum time algorithm to intercept an object on a conveyor belt by a robotic manipulator. The goal is that the robot is able to intercept objects on a conveyor line moving at a given speed in minimum time. Design/methodology/approach -In order to formulate the problem, the robot and object-arrival time functions were introduced, and conclude that the optimal point occurs at the intersection of these two functions. The search algorithm for finding the intersection point between the robot and object arrival time functions are also presented to find the optimal point in real-time. Findings -Simulation results show that the presented algorithm is well established for various initial robot positions. Practical implications -A trapezoidal velocity profile was employed which is used in many industrial robots currently in use. Thus, it is believed that robot travel time algorithm is readily implemented for any commercially available robots. Originality/value -The paper considers exhaustive cases where robot travel time functions are dependent upon initial positions of robotic end-effectors. Also presented is a fast converging search algorithm so that real time application is more feasible in many cases.