IP Library Granted Patent US 12678967
Granted Patent B2
US 12678967 · App. 18/703,538 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Work assistance device and work assistance method

Inventor: Satoshi Inagaki (Minamitsuru-gun, JP)
Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
B25J9/1697B25J9/1671
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12678967
App. No.
18/703,538
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided are a work assistance device and a work assistance method that automatically create a projected drawing suitable for designating a work region on a target, regardless of the skill level of a worker. The work assistance device has: a projected drawing creation function for projecting a work target, which has a work target surface that includes a work target region on which work is performed by a robot, in a direction perpendicular to the work target surface, thereby creating in a virtual space a projected drawing parallel to the work target surface; a work region designation function for designating a work target region in the projected drawing; and a work region conversion function for converting the location of the work target region designated in the projected drawing to a location in the virtual space.

Claims (17)

1 . A work assistance device comprising:

a projection view generating function for projecting an object, which has a work target surface including a work target region on which work is performed by a robot, in a direction perpendicular to the work target surface, and generating a projection view parallel to the work target surface in a virtual space;

a work region designating function for designating the work target region on the projection view; and

a work region converting function for converting a position of the work target region designated on the projection view to a position in the virtual space,

wherein the work assistance device generates an oriented bounding box encompassing the object in the virtual space based on a robot coordinate system, and the projection view is generated by generating a virtual plane having a normal vector extending in a direction along a shortest side of the oriented bounding box and by projecting a coordinate group of representative points of the object onto the generated virtual plane in a direction of the normal vector, and

wherein the robot is controlled to perform a work in accordance with the designated work target on the generated projection view.

2 . The work assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the work is a bending process of the object, and the work target region is a bending line with respect to the bending process.

3 . The work assistance device according to claim 2 , wherein the work target region on the projection view is displayed so that the work target region can be visually identified, based on a distance between the work target region on the projection view and the corresponding work target region on the object.

4 . The work assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the work is a picking motion of the object, and the work target region is a part of the object to be held by the robot.

5 . A work assistance method comprising the steps of:

projecting an object, which has a work target surface including a work target region on which work is performed by a robot, in a direction perpendicular to the work target surface, and generating a projection view parallel to the work target surface in a virtual space;

designating the work target region on the projection view;

converting a position of the work target region designated on the projection view to a position in the virtual space;

generating an oriented bounding box encompassing the object in the virtual space based on a robot coordinate system;

generating a virtual plane having a normal vector extending in a direction along a shortest side of the oriented bounding box;

projecting a coordinate group of representative points of the object onto the generated virtual plane in a direction of the normal vector; and

controlling the robot to perform a work in accordance with the designated work target on the generated projection view.