There is provided an information processing apparatus to estimate a position of a distal end of a movable unit with a reduced processing load, the information processing including a position computer that computes, on the basis of first positional information obtained from reading of a projected marker by a first visual sensor and second positional information including positional information obtained from reading of the marker by a second visual sensor that moves relative to the first visual sensor, a position of a movable unit in which the second visual sensor is disposed. This makes it possible to estimate the position of the distal end of the movable unit with a reduced processing load.

A device capable of acquiring a deviation of a working position of a tool with respect to a target position of a workpiece with higher accuracy in accordance with actual work. A device for acquiring a deviation amount of a working position of a tool with respect to a target position when a work is performed on a workpiece with respect to the target position by the tool, the tool being moved by a movement machine, the device including: a camera arranged in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the tool and configured to image the target position at a first time point when the tool performs an operation for the work; and a deviation amount acquisition section configured to acquire a deviation amount between the working position and the target position at the first time point, based on a position of the target position in image data imaged by the camera and information indicating a position of the working position in the image data.

An information projecting method projects information concerning a cut piece onto the cut piece, which is cut and separated from a plate-like work and is on a placement table, or onto a position adjacent to the cut piece. To adjust to an aspect ratio of a projector, the method assigns a long side of the work to an X-axis direction of the aspect ratio and a short side of the work to a Y-axis direction of the aspect ratio, finds a positional relationship d between a top face of the work and the projector according to plate thickness information of the work on the placement table and positioned corresponding to the projector arranged at a predetermined Y-axis-direction position, and with a zoom ratio based on the found positional relationship, projects the information concerning the cut piece onto the cut piece or onto a position adjacent to the cut piece.

An automated control system including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and an input device. The UAV includes: a sensor, a receiver; and memory. The memory includes a task association data including one or more tasks for execution by the UAV. The input device includes a tagging block. The tagging block allows an operator to tag an object of interest and send a tag regarding the object of interest to the UAV, via the receiver, wherein the object of interest is located within a visual field of the UAV. The sensor processes data within the visual field and the input device is configured to communicate the object of interest from the visual field tagged by the operator. The task is selected from the task association data and the UAV executes the task with respect to the object of interest from the visual field.

A manufacturing assistance apparatus includes a display, an imaging device, a completion determining unit, and a display controller. The display is configured to display operation information that is related to any of operation processes of a workpiece. The imaging device is configured to perform imaging of the workpiece, and output image data obtained by the imaging. The completion determining unit is configured to determine whether current one of the operation processes is completed, on a basis of the image data outputted from the imaging device. The display controller is configured to cause, when the current one of the operation processes is determined by the completion determining unit as being completed, the display to display the operation information that is related to subsequent one of the operation processes.

A programmable device (D) arranged in a production environment, to assist an operator (O) in performing manual assembly operations carried out by the operator (O), particularly during assembly operations performed on pieces (P) transported by pallets (5) in a production line (1). The device (D) comprises an assembly means usable by the operator (O), a lighting device (4) for lighting a work area in which the operator (O) works, a sensor (6) configured to detect the position of the assembly means, an input device (10) usable by the operator, and an electronic control system (8) configured to memorize a learning sequence including a sequence of manual assembly operations.

A laser machining apparatus includes: a laser beam emission device; a visible laser beam emission device; a scanner; and a controller. The controller is configured to perform: generating machining data including coordinate data representing a machining pattern to be machined on a workpiece; machining the workpiece with a laser beam according to the machining data by controlling the laser beam emission device and the scanner; generating, in response to receiving a resuming command after the machining has been halted at a stopping position, a guide pattern based on a stopping point coordinate and the machining data, the guide pattern being used for resuming the machining from the stopping position, the stopping point coordinate indicating the stopping position and being determined by the coordinate data; and projecting the guide pattern onto the workpiece with a visible laser beam by controlling the visible laser beam emission device and the scanner.

A method includes receiving, from an imaging device associated with a robotic apparatus, an image signal including an object of interest represented in the image signal; receiving, by the robotic apparatus from an external agent, a task indication related to the object of interest, the task indication representative of a task to be performed by the robotic apparatus with respect to the object of interest; and responsive to receipt of the task indication: detecting salient features of the object of interest within the image; storing, by the robotic apparatus, a task context, the task context comprising data pertaining to the salient features and data pertaining to the task indication; and commencing, by the robotic apparatus, the task with respect to the object of interest.

A light spot indication robot and a light spot indication method thereof are arranged. The light spot indication robot comprises a robot body which is arranged with a control module, a camera module and a laser indication module (100), wherein the laser indication module (100) emits a laser beam, the imaging module shoots to-be-indicated objects to form an image plane, the laser beam and the to-be-indicated object are projected onto the image plane to form a laser spot projection position and to-be-indicated object projection positions, respectively. The light spot indication robot is also arranged with a signal input module. According to content shown on the image plane of the to-be-indicated objects shot by the imaging module and input information of the signal input module, a target object among the to-be-indicated objects is determined. The control module controls the laser indication module to move, so as to cause the laser spot projection position to coincide with a projection position of the target object in the image plane. The present invention converts the location in a three-dimensional space into the location in a two-dimensional space, and has a small computation amount and a quick and accurate position indication.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a preview presentation program to control a visible-light source of a processor to cause the visible-light source to make a preview presentation of a contour of a desired drawing by selectively projecting a beam of visible light to a site where the contour of the desired drawing is to be drawn, before controlling the processor to cause the processor to perform a drawing processing to draw the desired drawing on a surface of a workpiece.