JPH08110229A - Automatic marker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce manpower required for measuring a position of a specified point and for marking to easily perform operation. CONSTITUTION: CCD cameras 141a to 141c pick up an image of a target for outputting target information to image processing boards 14a to 14c. The image processing boards 14a to 14c perform predetermined processing such as character recognition based on the target information and send the results to an arithmetic processing part 10. The arithmetic processing part 10 calculates a current position of a marking robot 1 from the received results. At this time, distance information and angle information is obtained, and a driving part 131 and a steering part 132 are controlled so that the marking robot 1 moves to a target marking position. When the robot 1 reaches the target marking position, the controlling part 10 uses a marker 133 for marking.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic marking device applied when marking a floor surface and a ceiling surface of a building structure for marking out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a construction site or the like, when mounting ceiling lighting and generally performing interior work, it is necessary to draw a drawing for performing the interior work on the floor or ceiling. Such a drawing is drawn by marking. Generally, when performing marking, a surveying instrument such as Transid is used to actually measure each designated point designated in advance. Further, a designated point is marked, and marking is performed along the marked point.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional marking-out method, since the position measurement and the marking work of each designated point are all carried out manually, a lot of work is required before the marking-out work. Personnel and time are required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an automatic marking apparatus capable of automatically performing marking work by a small number of workers and easily performing marking out work. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic marking device according to the present invention is a marking robot that travels in a specified marking area and targets that are respectively installed at a plurality of predetermined positions in a specified marking area. And at least three cameras equipped with the marking robot for locating the target, and image processing means for processing target information obtained from the cameras,
An arithmetic processing unit that calculates the current position of the marking robot from the information obtained by the image processing unit and obtains the difference between the calculated present position of the marking robot and the target marking position; When the current position of the marking robot and the driving / steering means for positioning the marking robot based on the difference between the current position of the marking robot and the target marking position and the current position of the marking robot match the target marking position, And a marking means for performing a marking process on the marking area.

Further, the automatic marking device is characterized in that it is provided with a remote control means for wirelessly issuing a traveling command to the marking robot and remotely controlling the marking robot. Further, the remote control means inputs the target marking position from the operator and sets the target marking position in the computing means.

Further, the target is provided with a predetermined scale.

[0008]

[Operation] Prespecified (executes marking processing)
In the marking area, a plurality of targets are installed at predetermined positions such as wall surfaces surrounding the marking area. For example, if the marking area is a rectangular parallelepiped, these targets are provided on at least three wall surfaces corresponding to this area. Moreover, at least three cameras, such as CCDs, are installed in the marking robot that runs in this marking area.
A (charge coupled device) camera is installed and images each of the previously installed targets. This allows
From each of the cameras, information on the target installed in advance can be obtained.

The information captured by each of the cameras is sent to the image processing means. The image processing means performs a predetermined process on the sent target information. The image processing means performs, for example, character recognition processing or position measurement in millimeters based on the target information. These processes are executed for each camera. The information subjected to the predetermined processing by the image processing means is sent to the arithmetic processing means. The arithmetic processing means calculates the current position of the marking robot from the information obtained by the image processing means.
At this time, the arithmetic processing means obtains distance information and position information of the marking robot.

For example, in a rectangular marking area,
Three cameras of the marking robot are installed so as to have an angle of 90 ° or 180 ° with each other on a plane, and are installed so as to capture images of targets provided on three different wall surfaces. In this case, the present position of the marking robot is calculated by finding an intersection of two circles each having two short sides having a diameter in a triangle formed by connecting points on the target captured by each camera. .

The arithmetic processing means further compares the calculated present position of the marking robot with a target marking position designated in advance by an operator or the like to obtain a difference. The driving / steering means controls the positioning of the marking robot so that the difference becomes zero. The marking means performs the marking process on the marking area when the marking robot matches the target marking position (when the difference becomes zero) under the control of the driving / steering means. By this marking processing, mark points are marked on the floor surface or the like of the marking area. The marking-out process performed later is executed based on this mark point. As a result, only the target is installed in the marking work in the designated area, the manpower required for the marking work is reduced, and the marking process can be easily performed. Therefore, the marking process including these marking processes can be executed quickly and accurately.

Further, the control means for remotely controlling the marking robot enables the operator to manually position the marking robot in the vicinity of the target marking position.

Further, since the target is provided with a predetermined scale, image processing by the image processing means is facilitated, and the current position of the marking robot can be quickly calculated.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an automatic marking device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an external view of a marking robot in this marking device.

As shown in FIG. 1, this automatic marking device comprises a marking robot 1, a target 2 and a remote operation unit 3. The marking robot 1 has an arithmetic processing unit 10 that controls the entire marking robot 1. The arithmetic processing unit 10 includes a memory 11, an input interface 12, an output interface 13, and image processing boards 14a to 14c.
Is connected. The memory 11 stores a program for executing a predetermined calculation, and temporarily stores various data such as information sent from the image processing board.
The arithmetic processing unit 10 executes processing such as calculation of a current position of the marking robot 1 described later according to a program stored in the memory 11.

The input interface 12 transmits the data sent or instructed from the outside of the marking robot 1 to the arithmetic processing unit 10. An operation unit 121 and a reception unit 122 are connected to the input interface 12. The operation unit 121 includes a keyboard and the like,
The data instructed by the operator is input, and this data is sent to the arithmetic processing unit 10 via the input interface 12. The receiving unit 122 receives a signal transmitted from the remote operation unit via an antenna, converts the signal into a predetermined data format, and then, similarly to the operation unit 121, via the input interface 12, the arithmetic processing unit 10 receives.
Send data to.

The output interface 13 includes a drive unit 1
31, the steering unit 132, and the marker 133 are connected,
The output interface 13 transfers various commands or data sent from the arithmetic processing unit 10 to the connected elements. Based on the control of the arithmetic processing unit 10, the drive unit 131 rotates the wheels or the like provided on the marking robot 1 and moves the marking robot 1 by a predetermined distance. The steering unit 132, based on the control of the arithmetic processing unit 10,
The moving direction of the marking robot 1 moved by the driving unit 131 is steered. The marker 133 executes the marking process according to the instruction of the arithmetic processing unit 10 when the marking robot 1 reaches the target marking position designated in advance. As a result, the mark points are marked on the floor surface or the ceiling surface. The marking robot 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is configured to run on the floor.

The image processing boards 14a-14c have CCD (charge coupled device) cameras 141a-1.
41c is connected and performs image processing, such as character recognition and position measurement in millimeters, based on the target information obtained by each CCD camera, and sends the processing result to the arithmetic processing unit 10.

The target 2 is provided with a predetermined scale, and in this embodiment, it is attached to three wall surfaces among the wall surfaces surrounding the rectangular marking area.

The remote operation unit 3 is composed of a remote operation section 31 and a transmission section 32. The remote operation unit 31 has an input device such as a keyboard, inputs various instructions such as commands or data instructed by an operator, and sends them to the transmission unit 32. The transmission unit 32 converts the command or data transmitted from the remote operation unit 31 into a radio signal having a predetermined format and outputs the signal from the antenna. As a result, even when the operator and the marking robot 1 are located apart from each other, it is possible to send a command or data from the remote operation unit 3 to the marking robot 1.

Next, an example of the above-mentioned marking robot 1 will be described with reference to FIG. This external view shows the side surface and the lower surface of the marking robot 1. The marking robot 1 shown in FIG. 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped casing, and two pairs of wheels (15a and 15b, 15c and 1) are provided under the casing.
5d) is provided and has a configuration capable of moving on a flat surface such as a floor surface. Of the wheels provided at the bottom, a pair (15a,
15b) is used to move the marking robot 1 by a predetermined distance under the control of the drive unit 131, and the other pair (1
Under the control of the steering unit 132, 5c and 15d) determine the moving direction of the marking robot 1. Also, marker 1
33 is provided at the center of the lower part of the housing, and can mark the low surface on which the marking robot 1 travels.

Further, a protrusion 16 is provided on the upper surface of the casing. The CCD cameras 141a to 141c are installed on the protrusion 16. The CCD cameras 141a to 141c are arranged in a direction parallel to the floor surface on which the marking robot 1 is arranged, and each of them is located in another CC.
It is installed so as to hold an angle of either 90 degrees or 180 degrees with respect to the D camera. That is, the CCD camera 141
The a to 141c are installed in a plane parallel to the floor so as to face three directions out of four directions having an angle of 90 ° with respect to the adjacent direction.

Next, the target 2 will be described. FIG. 3 shows an example of the target 2 applied to the embodiment. The target 2 is divided into three stages, an upper stage, a middle stage, and a lower stage, as shown in FIG. 3, and each stage is further divided into right and left units in centimeters. The numbers in the upper and middle boxes indicate the distance from the left edge of the target 2. The numbers in the upper frame are in meters (m).
The numbers in the middle boxes are in centimeters (cm)
Indicates. For example, the position 2-A shown in FIG. 3 indicates that the position is 7 m32 cm from the left end of the target.
Also, no numbers are entered in the lower frame, and the blanks are used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, it is assumed here that the marking area in which the marking process is executed is rectangular and the wall surface is provided perpendicularly to this marking area. Then, the targets 2a to 2c described above are attached to the three wall surfaces surrounding the marking area. Further, the marking robot 1 described above is arranged at an arbitrary position in this marking area. At this time, the marking robot 1 is arranged so that each of the CCD cameras 141a to 141c provided in the marking robot 1 can image the target attached to the wall surface. A view of such a state seen from above is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 4 indicates a marking area, and the position of the marking robot 1 is indicated by R.

In the image processing boards 14a to 14c of the marking robot 1 installed in such a state, the absolute position (point) with respect to each target is determined based on the target information obtained from the targets 2a to 2c attached to each wall surface. ). That is, for example, the image processing board 14a
Receives the target information of the target 2a captured by the CCD camera 141a, and recognizes the absolute position (point A) with respect to the target 2a from this target information. Such recognition processing is performed as follows.

For example, when the image picked up by the CCD camera 141a is within the image frame shown in FIG. 4, first, it is described in the upper and middle blocks through which the vertical image center line passes. Read characters using the character recognition feature. That is, when the image shown in FIG. 4 is captured by the CCD camera 141a, "1" and "4" are first recognized. Then, the ratio of the intervals between the vertical image center line and the left and right vertical lines of the lower frame through which the image center line passes is obtained. That is, the ratio between a and b shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. Since the left and right line intervals of the lower frame are set to a predetermined value (10 mm in the embodiment), the value in millimeters can be obtained from the ratio of a and b.

The above-described processing is performed by the CCD cameras 141a to 141a.
The image processing boards 14a to 14c for the respective target information for the respective targets 2a to 2c sent from
By performing 14c, the absolute positions with respect to the targets 2a to 2c attached to the three wall surfaces can be obtained. The obtained result is sent to the arithmetic processing unit 10.

The arithmetic processing section 10 includes image processing boards 14a ...
Data of absolute positions (points) of the targets 2a to 2c are received from 14b, and the following processing is executed based on the data. As shown in FIG. 5A, when the points recognized for each target are A, B, and C, the CCD camera 141a and 141b image pickup directions and the CCD camera 1 are taken.
The imaging directions of 41b and 141c each have an angle of 90 °. Therefore, the position R of the marking robot 1 is
It can be calculated as an intersection of arcs having AB and BC as diameters. The arithmetic processing unit 10 calculates the position R (X1, Y1) of the marking robot 1 by the method described above.
Furthermore, the target marking position given in advance is (X2, Y2)
Then, the drive unit 131 and the steering unit 132 are controlled by the amount of (X2-X1, Y2-Y1) to correct the position of the marking robot 1.

The arithmetic processing unit 10 includes the marking robot 1.
Difference between the current position and the target marking position, that is, (X2-X
When 1, Y2-Y1) becomes zero, the marker 133 is used to execute the marking process.

The marking operation is automatically performed by repeatedly executing the above-described processing for all target marking positions.

Now, the process of calculating the current position of the marking robot 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 (b) and 5 (c).

First, only two cameras, CCD cameras 141a and 141b, are installed in the marking robot 1.
The CCD cameras 141a and 141b are the targets 2 respectively.
Consider a case where the a and 2b are positioned so that they can be imaged. When the CCD cameras 141a and 141b respectively image the targets 2a and 2b from the front, that is,
When the axes of the CCD cameras 141a and 141b and the horizontal lines of the targets 2a and 2b are orthogonal to each other, R1 in FIG.
The marking robot 1 is located at. CCD camera 14
1a and 141b image points A and B, respectively.

However, while the marking robot 1 is traveling, due to the traveling characteristics of the marking robot 1 and the like,
Alternatively, by operating the remote operation unit 3, C
The axes of the CD cameras 141a and 141b and the target 2
The horizontal axes of a and 2b are not always orthogonal. Therefore, when an inclination occurs between the marking robot 1 and the targets 2a, 2b, the CCD cameras 141a, 141
Even if b is in the state of imaging the points A and B, R2
May be located in. In such a state, the arithmetic processing unit 10 uniquely determines the position and orientation of the marking robot 1 because the distance information and the angle information between the CCD cameras 141a and 141b and the targets 2a and 2b are missing. I can't. That is, the arithmetic processing unit 10 cannot calculate the accurate current position of the marking robot 1.

In order to determine the accurate current position of the marking robot 1, the target 2c is installed on another wall surface,
As described above, it is necessary to calculate the current position from the intersection of arcs.

Marking robot 1 at the intersection of two arcs
It will be described with reference to FIG. 5 (C) that the position and orientation of the marking robot 1 can be geometrically determined by determining the position. As shown in FIG. 5C, CCD cameras 141 a and 141 provided in the marking robot 1
An angle of 90 ° is provided between b, 141b and 141c. Therefore,

[Equation 1]

Then, the position R3 of the marking robot 1
Exists on the straight line AC. So any camera
For example, when the imaging direction of the CCD camera 141c and the advancing direction of the marking robot 1 are made to coincide with each other, the advancing direction is most easily obtained, and the angle formed by AC and OY deviates from the advancing direction (Y direction). Angle α.

When correcting the position of the marking robot 1, first, the deviation angle α is calculated, the advancing direction is changed by −α in the direction opposite to this deviation, and the advancing direction and the Y direction are aligned. , The absolute positions (points A and B) of the targets 2a and 2b are recognized again. After this, as mentioned above,
The difference between the current position and the target target position may be calculated.

For the reasons described above, it is optimal to find the current position of the marking robot 1 from the intersection of two circular arcs.

By providing the above-mentioned automatic marking device with a device for measuring the illuminance of illumination, it becomes possible to automatically perform the illuminance measurement on the floor after the illumination is attached in the building structure. .

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a predetermined target is set on the wall surface of the designated marking area, the target is imaged, and the distance information between the target marking position and the current position is obtained. By providing an automatic marking device having a function of calculating the angle information and moving to the target target position and executing the marking process, the marking operation can be automatically performed only by designating the target target position. Therefore, the manpower required for the marking out work including the marking work can be reduced, and the work can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic marking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of a marking robot used in the automatic marking device in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a target used in the automatic marking device in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a process of obtaining an absolute position (point) with respect to a target from target information in the same embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining a process of calculating the current position of the marking robot in the embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the current position of the marking robot when there are two targets and CCD cameras. It is a figure for demonstrating calculation processing, (c) is a figure for demonstrating the process which calculates distance information and angle information from target information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Marking robot, 2, 2a-2c ... Target, 3 ... Remote operation unit, 10 ... Arithmetic processing unit, 1
1 ... Memory, 12 ... Input interface, 13 ... Output interface, 14a-14c ... Image processing board,
15a to 15d ... Wheels, 16 ... Projection part, 31 ... Remote operation part, 32 ... Transmitting part, 121 ... Operation part, 122 ... Receiving part, 131 ... Driving part, 132 ... Steering part, 133 ... Markers, 141a-141c ... CCD camera.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A target installed at each of a plurality of predetermined positions within a predesignated marking area, a marking robot that travels within the designated marking area, and a marking robot equipped on the marking robot to locate the target. At least three cameras, image processing means for processing target information obtained from the cameras, current position of the marking robot is calculated from information obtained by the image processing means, and the calculated current position of the marking robot is calculated. Arithmetic processing means for obtaining the difference between the position and the target marking position; drive for performing positioning of the marking robot based on the difference between the current position of the marking robot obtained by the arithmetic processing means and the target marking position. Steering means and the current position of the marking robot And a marking unit that performs a marking process on the marking area when the marking position coincides with the target marking position.