Getting Started

This section will introduce how to easily load the neatly arranged cylindrical shafts from a beginner’s perspective. The overall process is shown in the figure below.

Acquire the Solution

Run Mech-Vision.
In the Welcome interface of Mech-Vision, click Create from Solution Library to open the Solution Library.
Enter Workpiece loading in the Solution Library, then click on More at the bottom, and click Yes in the pop-up window.
After acquiring the solution resources, select Neatly Arranged Cylindrical Shafts. Then, fill in the Solution name and Path at the bottom, and finally click Create to download the neatly arranged cylindrical shaft loading solution.

Once the solution is downloaded, it will be automatically opened in Mech-Vision.

Set up Communication

When deploying a Mech-Mind vision solution, you need to set up the communication between the Mech-Mind Vision System and the robot side (robot, PLC or host computer).

The neatly arranged cylindrical shaft loading solution uses Standard Interface communication. For specific operations, please refer to Standard Interface Communication Configuration.

Hand-Eye Calibration

Hand-eye calibration establishes the transformation relationship between the camera and robot reference frames. With this relationship, the object pose determined by the vision system can be transformed into that in the robot reference frame, which guides the robot to perform its tasks.

Please refer to Hand-Eye Calibration Guide to complete hand-eye calibration.

Every time the camera is mounted, or the relative position of the camera and the robot changes after calibration, it is necessary to perform hand-eye calibration again.

Locate Shafts

After completing the communication configuration and hand-eye calibration, you can use Mech-Vision to recognize the shafts. The process for shaft recognition is shown in the figure below.

neatly arranged cylindrical shafts getting started vision overall

Connect to the Camera and Capture Images

Connect to the camera.

Open Mech-Eye Viewer. Find the camera to be connected and click Connect.
Set parameter group.

Click the dropdown arrow next to the Parameter Group on the right-hand side and select the Typical neatly arranged cylindrical shaft loading.

In addition to the default parameter group, Mech-Eye Viewer will also display parameter groups of other typical solutions.
Capture images.

After the camera is successfully connected and the parameter group is set, you can start capturing the shaft images. Click the button on the top to capture a single image. At this time, you can view the captured 2D image and point cloud of the shaft. Ensure that the 2D image is clear, the shaft point cloud is intact, and the edges are clear. The qualified 2D image and point cloud of the shaft are shown on the left and right in the figure below respectively.
Add a camera in Mech-Vision.

Select the Capture Images from Camera Step, disable the Virtual Mode option, and click Select camera in the Step Parameters panel.

In the pop-up window, click the button on the right of the Camera ID.When the button turns into , the camera is connected successfully.

After the camera is connected successfully, you can click Select from and select the corresponding camera calibration parameter group, as shown below.

Once the above settings are complete, you can connect to a real camera. Other parameters can remain at their default values. Click the button on the right of the “Capture Images from Camera” Step to run this Step. If no error message occurs, the camera is connected successfully and images can be captured normally.

Segment Individual Shafts

Select the Segment Mask of Single Workobject with Deep Learning Procedure, then click the Open the editor button in Deep Learning ROI in the Step Parameters panel to open the Set ROI window.
Set 2D ROI in the Set ROI window. The 2D ROI needs to cover the highest-layer shafts, leaving an appropriate margin of about one-third, as shown in the figure below.

Calculate Shaft Poses Using 3D Matching

Set 3D Region of Interest (ROI)

Select the Point Cloud Preprocessing Procedure, then click the Open the editor button in the Step Parameters panel to open the Set 3D ROI window.
In the Set 3D ROI window, drag the default generated 3D ROI in the point cloud display area to a proper position. Make sure that the green box encompasses the whole bin with a certain margin at the same time, and that the green box does not contain other interfering point clouds, as shown in the following figure.

Make the Shaft Point Cloud Model

The Vis_Auto-Generate_Matching_Model Project in the neatly arranged cylindrical shaft loading solution is used to make shaft point cloud models and save them. Please follow the steps below to make them.

Run Vis_Auto-Generate_MatchingVis_Auto-Generate_Matching_Model project, and then automatically make the shaft point cloud models.
Check model folder in the Vis_Auto-Generate_Matching_Model project folder. After this running, the created shaft point cloud models (.ply files) will be automatically saved in the model folder.

Select Point Cloud Model

Select the Locate Workobject by 3D Matching Procedure, and then select the shaft point cloud model in the drop-down menu of Model in the Step Parameters panel.

neatly arranged cylindrical shafts getting started vision set model

Bin Recognition

Select the Recognize Bin Procedure, and then enter the actual bin name and height in the Model Name and Bin Height parameters (Unit: m).

neatly arranged cylindrical shafts getting started vision set bin hight

Adjust Shaft Poses

The Procedure is used to transform shaft poses from the camera reference frame to the robot reference frame, adjust pose orientations, sort poses, and filter unqualified poses. There is no need to set parameters for this Procedure.

Output Shaft Poses

The Procedure Out Step is used to output the poses of shafts and bins. Click the data stream to view the relevant data.

neatly arranged cylindrical shafts getting started vision output pose

So far, you have learned how to get started with shaft locating.

Path Planning

After the shaft recognition is complete, you can use Mech-Viz for path planning. The process of path planning is shown in the figure below.

neatly arranged cylindrical shafts getting started viz overall

The Standard Interface communication is used for path planning in the neatly arranged cylindrical shaft loading solution. For more information on the path planning under the Master-Control communication, please download the Viz_Shaft_Picking.zip.

Configure Scene Objects

Scene objects are introduced to make the scene in the software closer to the real scenario, which facilitates the robot path planning. For specific operations, please refer to Configure Scene Objects.

Configure the Tool

The end tool should be imported and configured so that its model can be displayed in the 3D simulation area and used for collision detection. For specific operations, please refer to Configure the Tool.

Adjust the Workflow

The workflow refers to the robot motion control program created in Mech-Viz in the form of a flowchart. After the scene objects and end tools are configured, you can adjust the workflow.

In the introductory stage, you only need to adjust the Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint before Picking and Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint after Picking Steps in the workflow, and there is no need to set parameters for other Steps.

Adjust “Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint before Picking”

Select the Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint before Picking Step in the Workflow panel, and then set the Waypoint type to TCP on the right-hand side.
Enter the tool pose when the robot arrives above the bin before picking according to actual situation.

Adjust “Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint after Picking”

Select the Above-Bin Fixed Waypoint after Picking Step in the Workflow panel, and then set the Waypoint type to TCP on the right-hand side.
Enter the tool pose when the robot arrives above the bin after picking according to actual situation.

Simulate and Run the Project

Click the Simulate button on the toolbar to simulate the Mech-Viz project.
If the simulation performance meets expectations, a Standard Interface program can be used to run the real robot.

Please refer to the picking example program and interface commands in Standard Interface communication to learn how to write the robot program.

It is recommended that the robot should move at a low speed and that you pay attention to the robot motion trajectory. In an emergency, press the emergency stop key on the teach pendant.

So far, you have learned how to get started with the path planning.