Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 November 1997
We constructed a high reliability parts-picking device with an active and multi-sensor visual system, that picks up a part from randomly stacked parts. The system determines the orders in which to pick up the parts. To determine the order, we introduce concepts of risks of collapsing a stack by picking, and the ease of manipulator operations. The system examines if the risks exist and estimates the ease. We show that the parts-picking system can achieve high reliability by determining the orders, using the effects of the examination and the estimation. We also give some experimental results.