Robot Vision

Over the past five years robot vision has emerged as a subject area with its own identity. A text based on the proceedings of the Symposium on Computer Vision and Sensor-based Robots held at the General Motors Research Laboratories, Warren, Michigan in 1978, was published by Plenum Press in 1979. This book, edited by George G. Dodd and Lothar Rosso!, probably represented the first identifiable book covering some aspects of robot vision. The subject of robot vision and sensory controls (RoViSeC) occupied an entire international conference held in the Hilton Hotel in Stratford, England in May 1981. This was followed by a second RoViSeC held in Stuttgart, Germany in November 1982. The large attendance at the Stratford conference and the obvious interest in the subject of robot vision at international robot meetings, provides the stimulus for this current collection of papers. Users and researchers entering the field of robot vision for the first time will encounter a bewildering array of publications on all aspects of computer vision of which robot vision forms a part. It is the grey area dividing the different aspects of computer vision which is not easy to identify. Even those involved in research sometimes find difficulty in separating the essential differences between vision for automated inspection and vision for robot applications. Both of these are to some extent applications of pattern recognition with the underlying philosophy of each defining the techniques used. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Second Generation Robotics....Pages 3-10 Computer Vision in Industry....Pages 11-18 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Processing of Binary Images....Pages 21-42 Recognising and Locating Partially Visible Objects: The Local-Feature-Focus Method....Pages 43-82 The Coupling of a workpiece Recognition System with an Industrial Robot....Pages 83-96 Evaluating Vision System Performance....Pages 97-103 Front Matter....Pages 105-105 Adaptive Visual Servo Control of Robots....Pages 107-116 Use of a TV Camera System in Closed-Loop Position Control of Mechanisms....Pages 117-127 Towards a Flexible Vision System....Pages 129-142 The Use of Taper Light Beam for Object Recognition....Pages 143-153 Front Matter....Pages 155-155 Present Industrial Use of Vision Sensors for Robot Guidance....Pages 157-168 A Visual Sensor for Arc-Welding Robots....Pages 169-177 Vision Guided Robot System for Arc Welding....Pages 179-185 Progess in Visual Feedback for Robot Arc-Welding of Thin Sheet Steel....Pages 187-198 Front Matter....Pages 199-199 Intelligent Assembly Robot....Pages 201-208 Simple Assembly under Visual Control....Pages 209-223 A Robot System Which Acquires Cylindrical Workpieces from Bins....Pages 225-244 Flexible Assembly Module with Vision Controlled Placement Device....Pages 245-251 Front Matter....Pages 253-253 Vision System Sorts Castings at General Motors Canada....Pages 255-266 Pattern Recognition in the Factory: An Example....Pages 267-275 Front Matter....Pages 253-253 A CCTV Camera-Controlled Painter....Pages 277-284 Forging: Feasible Robotic Techniques....Pages 285-294 Automatic Chocolate Decoration by Robot Vision....Pages 295-301 Front Matter....Pages 303-303 OMS — Vision System....Pages 305-312 The PUMA/VS-100 Robot Vision System....Pages 313-323 S.A.M. Opto-Electronic Picture Sensor in a Flexible Manufacturing Assembly System....Pages 325-337 Vision System Separates Gathering from Processing....Pages 339-343 Westinghouse Grey Scale Vision System for Real-Time Control and Inspection....Pages 345-354 Back Matter....Pages 355-356 1: Reviews Second generation robotics Computer vision in industry-the next decade 2: Visual Processing Techniques Processing of binary images Recognising and locating partially visible objects: the local-feature-focus method The coupling of a workpiece recognition system with an industrial robot Evaluating vision system performance 3: Research Adaptive visual servo control or robots Use of a T-V camera system in closed-loop position control of mechanisms Towards a flexible vision system The use of taper light beam for object recognition 4: Developments-Weld Guidance Present industrial use of vision sensors for robot guidance A visual sensor for arc-welding robots Vision guided robot system for arc-welding Progress in visual feed-back for arc-welding of thin sheet steel 5: Developments-Assembly/Part Presentation Intelligent assembly robot Simple assembly under visual control A robot system which acquires cylindrical workpieces from bins Flexible assembly module with vision control robot 6: Applications Vision system sorts castings at General Motors Canada Pattern recognition in the factory: an example A C.C.T.V. camera controlled painter Forging: Feasible robotic techniques Automatic chocolate decoration by robot vision 7: Commercial Robot Vision Systems OMS-vision system The PUMA/ VS-100 robot vision system S.A.M. Opto-electronic picture sensor in a flexible manufacturing system Vision system separates gathering from processing Westinghouse grey scale vision system for real-time control and inspection Authors' organisations and addresses.