An industrial intelligent grasping system based on convolutional neural network

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to save time spent on manufacturing the data set and make the intelligent grasping system easy to deploy into a practical industrial environment. Due to the accuracy and robustness of the convolutional neural network, the success rate of the gripping operation reached a high level. Design/Methodology/Approach The proposed system comprises two diverse kinds of convolutional neuron network (CNN) algorithms used in different stages and a binocular eye-in-hand system on the end effector, which detects the position and orientation of workpiece. Both algorithms are trained by the data sets containing images and annotations, which are generated automatically by the proposed method. Findings The approach can be successfully applied to standard position-controlled robots common in the industry. The algorithm performs excellently in terms of elapsed time. Procession of a 256 × 256 image spends less than 0.1 s without relying on high-performance GPUs. The approach is validated in a series of grasping experiments. This method frees workers from monotonous work and improves factory productivity. Originality/Value The authors propose a novel neural network whose performance is tested to be excellent. Moreover, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed second level is extraordinary robust subject to environmental variations. The data sets are generated automatically which saves time spent on manufacturing the data set and makes the intelligent grasping system easy to deploy into a practical industrial environment. Due to the accuracy and robustness of the convolutional neural network, the success rate of the gripping operation reached a high level.