Researchers in AIST developed a new measurement device, the 3DS Marker System, for position and orientation measurement of workpieces and other objects at manufacturing sites. This system is capable of high-precision position and orientation measurement with positional accuracy of 3 µm and orientation accuracy of 0.02°, and has features such as low cost, simplicity, robustness for easy introduction to factories compared to conventional systems.
This system uses arbitrarily shaped 3D markers with known steps and measures the position and orientation of the markers by imaging the shadow produced by the upper surface edges and lighting with a camera. A feature of the system is that shadows are used to measure position and orientation, so measurement is less affected by the surface roughness, color, and other characteristics of the marker material. Use of this marker system will enable to easily and quickly set the position and orientation of workpieces, jigs, tools, end effectors, and other objects in the coordinate systems of manufacturing equipment such as machine tools and robots as well as conveyance equipment. This system will contribute to automation of the conveyance and workpiece positioning processes in variable-type, variable volume production systems, etc.
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