Method and robot system for searching a moving object,

Abstract: A method of automatically milking an animal includes ultrasonic sensor means to be used for finding and/or following the teat of the animal, a terminal apparatus for easily controlling the milking operation, and means for accurately positioning an animal.

Description: The present invention relates to a method for automatically searching for, finding and/or following a moving object forming part of a large entity, for instance a teat on an udder of a cow or other female animal, comprising the following steps: sensing the position of said object relative to a sensor system; converting said position into sensed position information of the object relative to a reference position; modeling the expected position of the object with respect to the reference position; and controlling an arm of a robot to move to a desired position relative to the object. Such method is known from EP-A-0209202 which method is incapable of meeting the requirements in respect to reliability, speed, and/or possibilities for error correction. It is an object of the present invention to improve upon the above mentioned prior art method and to provide a method which is more reliable, faster and/or provides for possibilities for error correction. The present invention provides a method for automatically searching for, finding and/or following a moving object forming part of a large entity, for instance a teat on a udder of a cow or other female animal, comprising the following steps: sensing the position (ΔX, ΔY) of said object relative to a sensor system; converting said position into sensed position information (X M , Y M ) of the object relative to a reference position; modeling the expected position of the object with respect to the reference position; and controlling an arm of a robot to move to a desired position relative to the object, characterized in that either the sensed position information or expected position information on basis of valid earlier position information is chosen as valid, which choice is made upon selective criteria and in that the arm of the robot is moved to the desired position in response to the chosen valid position information. Further, the present invention provides a robot system for performing the above mentioned method in searching, finding and/or following a moving object forming part of a larger entity, for instance a teat on an udder of a cow or other female animal, said robot system comprising : a sensor system for sensing the position (ΔX, ΔY) of said object relative to the sensor system which position is converted into sensed position information (X M , Y M ) of the object relative to a neutral position of the robot; and a control system causing a robot to move on to a desired position relative to the object, characterized by prediction means for predicting an expected position of the object with respect to said neutral position, on the basis of valid earlier position information; so that either the sensed position information or the expected position information can be chosen as valid, which choice is made upon selective criteria, and a control system causing the robot arm to move to a desired position relative to the object, using the chosen valid position information. Further advantages, features and details of the present invention will be clarified with reference to the drawings in which: fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a robot system according to the invention; fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the operation of the robot system from fig. 1; fig. 3 shows a block diagram of another preferred operation of the robot system from fig. 1; fig. 4 shows a perspective, partly broken away and partly schematic view of another embodiment of the robot system according to the present invention; fig. 5 shows an ultrasonic sensor unit, in more detail, beneath the udder of a cow; fig. 6 shows another ultrasonic sensor unit; fig. 7 shows a section along the line VII-VII from fig. 6. fig. 8 shows a perspective view of an arrangement for automatically applying teat cups to cows; fig. 9 shows a perspective view of detail IX of fig. 8; showing another embodiment of the robot system according to the present invention and fig. 10A and 10B show respective perspective views of the detection arrangement of fig. 9 for automatically applying teat cups into respective positions. In fig 1 is shown a preferred embodiment relating to a method and robot system for the milking of a cow. A robot system 41 comprising a number of arms pivotable relative to each other is movable along rails 47, 48 so as to be capable of performing search, find and/or following operations in different locations for the arranging of milking cups 45 of a milking rack 42 on a cow. The cow is directed with its head in the direction of a feed bin 61 so that its udder will be situated in the vicinity of a rest or start position of milking rack 42; a feed bin 61 can be moved in accordance with arrow A so that the udder of the cow will usually be located in roughly the same or normal position relative to the milking rack 42, independently of the length of the cow. The cow will usually be recognised automatically and information concerning its udder and teats will be available for instance in a central control means (not shown) provided with electronic hardware having software stored therein; from an energising member in cabinet 62 a mechanism 51 is driven (in a manner not shown) along upright rails 65, 66 so that the rest position of mechanism 51, and therefore of milking set 42, is pre-adjusted as far as possible subject to the size of the cow and the position of its udder. Further, movement in upward direction is limited. Irrespective of the cow the mechanism 51 is set along the lying rails 63, 64 in a standard or fixed lengthwise rest position. Also driven from the electronics cabinet 62 is an actuator 46 which controls via a lever 45 two Bowden cables which pull an arm to which the milking rack 42 is attached into a predetermined rest or zero position. Fixed to milking rack 42 and to the side of it is a sensor unit or assembly 52 for the purpose of detecting, with the aid of two sensor units 53 and 54, a moving object, in the preferred embodiment shown a teat of a cow, in three dimensions in a lying plane and passing on information related thereto to a central control means (not shown). Additional sensor units 69, 71 can be disposed above each milking cup 55 of the milking set 42 in order to keep a teat centred relative to a milking cup as the milking cups move upward; for the sake of clarity such fine sensor units 69, 71 are only shown disposed on one milking cup 55. Like the sensor unit 52 these fine sensor units can be of an ultrasonic type. A gripper member 50 of the robot 41 grips onto an opening of the milking rack 42 arranged for that purpose. The robot mechanism 41 is capable of moving the milking rack 42 in three dimensions, while the mechanism 51 can block changes of direction in vertical direction; the electrical and program controls of the robot mechanism 41 and mechanism 51 are coupled to one another in a manner not shown. The operation of the robot system from fig. 1 is explained on the basis of the diagram from fig. 2 (and later on the basis of the diagram from fig. 3); the (moving) object, which in the shown preferred embodiment is the position of a teat of a cow, for example the teat at the front right-hand side of the cow, with respect to the relevant sensor, forms the input I for the sensors 52, 59, 71. The reflections measured by the ultrasonic sensors 52, 69, 71 are converted in generally known manner into sampled digital values in a lying plane, in fig. 2 indicated with Δx and Δy, these being relative position coordinates with respect to the sensors. Coming from the robot mechanism 41 are determined values x p and y p , these being coordinates of the robot with respect to the neutral position of the robot, whereby Δx and Δy - allowing for correction - must be added to them so that, as is indicated schematically in the figure, the value x m and y m result, these being the coordinates of the teat with respect to the neutral position of the robot. These values are corrected in a manner described later so that the values x c and y c - the so-called target coordinates - result, which can be fed to a block designated schematically with SC to give to the robot 41 a new position towards which the latter must move the milking set 42. The values x p and y p on the one hand and Δx, Δy on the other are incorporated in a MODEL - which in the simplest case does not subject these said values to any processing whatever, i.e. it is transparent - whereby after statistical analysis, comprising for instance the determining of the mean or the standard deviation, a number of M values are filtered out from a series of N values (M < N). On the basis of the (modulated) values a prediction (PRE) can be made which is added to the controlling of the sensors in order to allow this PRE value to take the place of clearly erroneous values from the series of digitalized measurement values, in accordance with a predetermined criterion. In the MODEL a Z-transformation takes place of the digitalized samplings in the case of the described embodiment, but such a MODEL can likewise be implemented with a so-called Kallman filter or in other manner. In FPC filter coefficients are determined in order to attribute a new value to the value x m and y m in PF on the basis of the MODEL as well as to the value v xm - after differentiation in D of the values x m and y m - in order to add this filtered value (v xf , v yf ) after integration in (I) to the corrected filter value x f and y f . The described control loop of Δx, Δy via X F , Y F to X C , Y C is either closed or not on the basis of the data from the MODEL, as passed on to a block CONTROL; only when predetermined criteria have been fulfilled with respect to the mean value of Δx over a determined time, the mean value of Δy over a determined time, standard deviations therein in addition to particular velocity values (v x , v y ), is the control loop at S closed by a block designated FTL. In the first instance the control loop at S remains opened since from a block F, in a manner generally known in robot control, a global positional control is performed of the robot mechanism 41 to a teat of a cow using information stored in a memory. If the sensor unit 52 - sensor units 69, 71 are not used in these so-called find-modes - detects a moving object and predetermined criteria with respect to Δx, Δy, vx, vy and standard deviations there of are satisfied, the control is taken over in a block T and the above criteria, which the above information must satisfy at an increased sampling speed, are made more stringent. If the more stringent criteria are satisfied for a predetermined time, the control loop at S is closed and the values x c and y c are fed directly to the servo-control (SC). If required the filter coefficients computed from the MODEL can be replaced by filter coefficients provided from the control means (CONTROL), these coefficients having a fixed value for a determined time duration, after which the coefficient computation from the MODEL will determine the position to which the robot arm is sent. Computations in CONTROL are dependent on the mode of the system. If for a predetermined time duration the criteria from block T are satisfied, the described control loop remains closed and block L takes over the controlling, whereby, as is indicated via line FS, it is possible to switch over to fine sensor units 69, 71 so that the position of the milking cup relative to the teat can be determined (still) more accurately using any required correction by the fine sensor units, and the relevant milking cup 55 can be arranged if for a predetermined time the teat remains centred with respect to the milking cup and therefore the sensor units. After arrangement of the milking cup, a switch back is made to the T-mode until another teat of the cow is centred, following which this milking cup can also be arranged in the L-mode. It will be apparent that in the case of unexpected movements of the (moving) object the described robot system will change over instantly from L-mode control to T-mode control or even to F-mode control. A diagram of another preferred embodiment of the operation of the robot system from fig. 1 (fig. 3) requires no velocity filter and only the values Δx and Δy are hereby analyzed, while the MODEL forming is omitted. Prediction values are fed via block CONTROL to the sensor block 52, 69, 71. It is further noted that the Z coordinate or height coordinate of the teat of the cow will usually be constant and in the embodiment shown will have a value that is fixed or determined by the CONTROL block. In the case of the embodiment shown in fig. 3 the filter coefficients are constant in a particular situation of the system (F-, T- or L-mode), but they have a different value for each situation. Extensive analyzes and evaluation of tests have shown that with sampling at 20 Hz of the signals from the sensor assembly 52 and sensor units 69, 71 an accurate model of the movements of a teat of a cow can be built up; the controlling of the robot arm via the servo-control takes place in the preferred embodiment shown every 5 msec. In view of the possibility of switching between different movement modes, this has been found in practice to be amply sufficient to be able to follow a teat of a cow and arrange or attach the milking cups in a precise manner. A robot installation 101 (fig. 4) or similar installation for automatic arrangement of milking cups 102 on the udder of a cow and the subsequent removal of milk is described in EP-A-232568, of the present applicant. The pivotable robot arm 103 is automatically controllable using an ultrasonic sensor unit 106 which is disposed centrally on a milking set 107. Ultrasonic sensor assembly 106 (fig. 5) comprises an ultrasonic sensor unit 108 which transmits and receives ultrasonic waves in accordance with arrows A. Disposed above the ultrasonic transducer 108 is an ultrasonic mirror 109. This ultrasonic mirro 109 is arranged in a hollow tube 111 which can be driven using a gear transmission 112 by a schematically indicated electro-motor 113. A post or support 114 is in fixed connection to the milking set 107 and provided with terminals 116 and 117 for electrical connection of the transducer 108. The tube 111 is rotatable about post 114 via schematically indicated bearings 118, 119. The electro-motor can be driven electrically such that the tube 111 and therefore the mirror 109 turn completely round and therefore a circular or control area around the transducer is scanned. This will be the case if the mutual positions of teats 121 of the udder 122 of a cow (not shown) have to be determined. If an udder or teat of a cow has to be traced from a position as shown in fig. 4, the tube 111 can for example only be turned by the electro-motor 113 back and forth through a limited angle, so that a limited control or circle segment is scanned, in which circle segment the udder or teat can be expected to be because of the known, determined position of the cow. In the position shown in fig. 5 - a view from the hind side of the cow - the milking cup on the front righthand side of the milking set 107 is carried or pushed upward and the tube 111 will become virtually stationary relative to transducer 108 so that the teat 121 on the front righthand side of the udder 122 is continually detected by the ultrasonic transducer 108. If a deviation is detected in the correct position of the teat 121 relative to the cup 102 the milking rack 107 can usually be adjusted instantly as according to arrows B, this substantially two-dimensionally. Another ultrasonic sensor unit 126 (shown in fig. 6) is attached using a one-piece spring 127 to a supporting construction 128 of a rack 129 for four milking cups which are omitted for the sake of clarity. Only the points of attachment 131 for the milking cups to a tray 132 are shown. The tray 132 is fixed for limited movement to the supporting construction 128 with springs 133 and screw bolts 140. The sensor unit 126 protrudes from the side between the milking cups (not shown). Using socket head screws 134 and slots 135 a housing 136, and with it an ultrasonic mirror 137, can be adjustably fixed in position relative to a connecting piece 138 and therefore the supporting construction 128. In addition an electro-motor 139 is fixed in position in the housing 136 with a screw bolt 141; a gear ring 143 connecting onto a driving gear wheel 142 and firmly joined to the ultrasonic mirror 137 is thus coupled in housing 136 to the electro-motor 139. Further disposed in the housing is an upward facing transducer 144 with a schematically indicated connection 146. The ultrasonic waves are transmitted as according to the dashed and dotted line C. As can be seen in fig. 7 the ultrasonic mirror may take a form that is slightly concave in the standing direction, and in the lying direction (fig. 6) so that in addition to being reflected by the mirror the ultrasonic waves are also focused. If the ultrasonic bundle has to diverge, the ultrasonic mirror face can take a slightly convex form. The electro-motors 113 and 139 preferably take the form of so-called step motors so that the position and the angular rotation of the ultrasonic mirror face are not measured or computed from the time of revolution, but the position is available directly at the output of the step motor. In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention the position of a (moving) object relative to the fixed transducer are measured in simple manner. In an automatic milking system (fig. 8) a moveable robot arm 201 is used to service milking locations 202 where the cow is retained in exact positions by means of positioning elements 203 and moveable feeding containers 204. In more detail (fig. 9) it is to be seen that on the center of the milking rack 207 a rotating scanner 208 is installed and a detector unit 209 is disposed besides the milking rack. In the arrangement of fig. 8, using a positioning element 203 and a feeding container adjustable relative to the length of the cow, the position of the udder and teat to be found are within a 'window' of approximately 30 x 40 cm 2 . Tests in this respect were done and even in the situation that teat positions of cows were unknown to a computer before entering a milking location, the detection unit 209 (fig. 9, 10A, 10B) was able to pick up the position of a teat inside that 'window'. Preferably the detector unit 209 consists of transducer 231, 232 resp. provided above conial surfaces 235, 234 resp., such that no dirt will fall on the transducing surfaces. The robot arm will move the milk rack 236 to the 'window' or area in which the udder will be detected. Firstly the right teat T at the front will be searched, by moving the milk rack and detector unit 209 up and down. At analyzing the sample data from the detector unit 209 it can be established that this right front teat T has been found. The size of the 'window' through which a sensor can 'look' can be changed dependent on the information received. Information from outside the 'window' can be disregarded. Afterwards a rotating scanner 237 will take over controlling the position of the milking rack. This rotating scanner will then be under the udder in between the teats. Under control of this rotating scanner 237 the teat cups are connected to the teat one at the time, as described in the prior art. When a teat cup is connected in the right way, this fact will be sensed by a sensor in a vacuum line of the milking system. Teat cups 238 are preferably provided with flexible skirts 239 such as to prevent the sucking of air from the environment, which would disturb the ultrasonic detector unit 209 and scanner 237. The scanner 237 is disposed to the milking rack through legs 241 connected to bearings 242, 243 resp., and can be moved up and down by means of a hydropneumatics cilinder 244. A milking platform 246 as well as a connecting arm 247 are connected to the frame 248 of the milking rack by means of springs 249, 251 resp. In the unlikely event that the cow will put her right hindleg on the milking rack, this milking rack will give away and will be disconnected automatically. In the preferred embodiment of fig. 10A and 10B a reflecting surface of the unit 237 can be rotated with approximately 167 rpm. The sensor unit 237 further comprises encoding means 252 connected - not shown - to a computer, a electromotor 253, a gearing 254, pigeon wheel 256 and a crown wheel 257. Under the rotating mirror a transducing surface 258 is disposed, from which also detected reflections are transmitted to data processing equipment of a computerized controlling unit (not shown). The transducer uses a frequency of approx. 400 kH, such that it is not disturbed by noise from the environment. Through the high revolution speed of the mirror a focussing effect for the mirror is achieved.

Claims: A method for automatically searching for, finding and/or following a moving object forming part of a large entity, for instance a teat on an udder of a cow or other female animal, comprising the following steps: sensing the position (ΔX, ΔY) of said object relative to a sensor system; converting said position into sensed position information (X M , Y M ) of the object relative to a reference position; modeling the expected position of the object with respect to the reference position; and controlling an arm of a robot to move to a desired position relative to the object, characterized in that either the sensed position information or expected position information on basis of valid earlier position information is chosen as valid, which choice is made upon selective criteria and in that the arm of the robot is moved to the desired position in response to the chosen valid position information. A method according to claim 1, wherein the criteria for choosing either sensed position information or expected position information are dependent on the acceptance rate of sensed position information. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein standard deviations are defined of both digital position and speed information. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein data for feeding to the robot are either supplied in a closed control loop from the recorded position information or determined from a path stored in memory. A method according to anyone of claims 1-4, wherein the object will substantially move in two dimensions, where the height dimension has a substantially constant value, and wherein speed and position information is sampled and digitalized for two dimensions. A method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the modeling uses Z-transformation. A method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the position and speed information is sampled with a frequency of approximately 20 Hz. A robot system for performing the method of any of claims 1-7 in searching, finding and/or following a moving object forming part of a larger entity, for instance a teat on an udder of a cow or other female animal, said robot system comprising : a sensor system (52, 69, 71) for sensing the position (ΔX, ΔY) of said object relative to the sensor system which position is converted into sensed position information (X M , Y M ) of the object relative to a neutral position of the robot; and a control system (SC) causing a robot to move on to a desired position relative to the object, characterized by prediction means for predicting an expected position of the object with respect to said neutral position, on the basis of valid earlier position information; so that either the sensed position information or the expected position information can be chosen as valid, which choice is made upon selective criteria, and a control system (SC) causing the robot arm to move to a desired position relative to the object, using the chosen valid position information.

Inventors: AURIK ERIK ARNOLDUS, BORGMAN FOKKO PIETER, DESSING JACOBUS PETRUS MARIA, ROODENBURG PIETER JACOB, AURIK, ERIK ARNOLDUS, BORGMAN, FOKKO PIETER, DESSING, JACOBUS PETRUS MARIA, ROODENBURG, PIETER JACOB
Applicants: PROLION BV, PROLION B.V.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B25J9
IPC codes: A01J5, B25J19, B25J9, G10K11, G01S15