Patent ID: 7406362

Claim:
A workpiece regrasping system for a robot, comprising: a manipulator capable of gripping a workpiece; a deck member having a deck surface on which a workpiece is able to be placed; a support mechanism supporting said deck member in a rotatable manner about an axis parallel to said deck surface; a workpiece-orientation control section for controlling said manipulator so as to grip a workpiece at a first point of the workpiece and to bring the workpiece gripped by said manipulator into abutment with said deck surface of said deck member, said workpiece-orientation control section being configured to displace the workpiece together with said deck member about said axis, while maintaining a mutually abutted condition, until the workpiece occupies a desired orientation, with at least a part of a weight of the workpiece being carried on said deck surface; and a regrasping control section for controlling said manipulator so as to temporarily release the workpiece placed on said deck surface in said desired orientation and thereafter to regrasp the workpiece at a second point different from the first point.