1. A parcel unloading system comprising:
a robotic arm system including a plurality of robotic arms having gripping mechanisms;
a conveyor system;
an image recognition system; and
a control system configured to receive image information from the image recognition system and to control operation of the robotic arm system and the conveyor system.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein each robotic arm of the plurality of robotic arms is operationally independent of the other robotic arms of the plurality and configured to be used independently and cooperatively with the other robotic arms.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the robotic arms are configured to operate in multiple degrees of freedom.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of robotic arms is of a size different from at least one of the other of the plurality of robotic arms.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to provide real time layered planning for the robotic arm system, and the real time layered planning includes motion (servo level) control, a motion planner, and a task planner, and wherein the motion (servo level) control is configured to control movement of the robotic arms, the motion planner is configured to generate plans to control the movement of the robotic arms of the robotic arm system by the motion control, and the task planner is configured to generate task plans to determine an order of parcel movement using the image information received from the image recognition system.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the gripping mechanisms of the robotic arms are vacuum grippers.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the object recognition system performs repeated object recognition operations to update the information of the parcels in the container.
8. The system of claim 1 further including a detail (fine feature) camera system, wherein cameras of the detail (fine feature) camera system are positioned at an end portion of the robotic arms.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the detail camera system is configured to provide information to motion (servo-level) control for fine control of the movement of the robotic arms.
10. A method of unloading parcels from a container holding a plurality of parcels, the method:
acquiring information related to parcels in a container by a image recognition system;
generating a parcel pile model of some but not all of the parcels in the container;
using the parcel pile model to generate a task plan, by a task planner, the task plan assigning robotic arms of a robotic arm system to specific parcels in the container;
supplying the task plan to a motion planner to generate a motion plan, wherein the motion plan defines the movement of the robotic arms to accomplish the objectives of the task plan;
supplying the motion plan to a motion (servo-level) control system to operate and control the robotic arms; and
unloading the parcels by the robotic arms.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the parcel pile model is updated by the object recognition system as parcels are unloaded.
12. The method according to claim 10 wherein the unloading includes placing the parcels onto a conveyor belt system.
13. The method according to claim 10 further including operating at least two of the plurality of robotic arms in a cooperative manner to move the same parcel.
14. The method according to claim 10 further including operating at least some of the plurality of robotic arms in parallel.
15. The method according to claim 10 further including using feedback information in at least one of the task planner or the motion planner to adjust at least one of the task plan or the motion plan while parcels are being unloaded.
16. The method according to claim 10 wherein the unloading of the parcels by the robotic arms include moving the parcels by use of vacuum grippers.
17. The method according to claim 10 further including applying detail (fine feature) image recognition information to the motion control to provide detailed information regarding a particular parcel.
18. The system of claim 10 wherein the robotic arms are configured to operate in multiple degrees of freedom.
19. The system of claim 10 wherein at least one of the plurality of robotic arms is of a size different from at least one of the other of the plurality of robotic arms.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A combo system provided having a play unit to play a signal recorded on a first recording medium and a recording unit to record the signal played by the play unit on a second recording medium, comprising:
a detector to detect whether a predetermined copy preventing signal exists within the signal played by the play unit; and
a controller to control the recording unit to stop a recording operation of the recording unit when the copy preventing signal is detected by the detector.
2. The combo system according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
3. The combo system according to claim 2, wherein the play unit comprises a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
4. The combo system according to claim 1, further comprising a display block to externally display a signal indicative of whether the copy preventing signal has been detected.
5. The combo system according to claim 4, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
6. The combo system according to claim 5, wherein the play unit comprises a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
7. The combo system according to claim 1, wherein the copy preventing signal comprises a macrovision signal.
8. A copy error preventing method of a combo system provided with a play unit and a recording unit, comprising:
playing a signal recorded on a first recording medium using the play unit;
recording the signal onto a second recording medium using the recording unit;
detecting whether a predetermined copy preventing signal exists within the signal played by the play unit; and
stopping a recording operation of the recording unit when the copy preventing signal is detected within the played signal.
9. The copy error preventing method according to claim 8, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
10. The copy error preventing method according to claim 9, wherein the play unit comprises a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
11. The copy error preventing method according to claim 8, further comprising externally displaying a signal indicative of whether there is the copy preventing signal within the played signal.
12. The copy error preventing method according to claim 11, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
13. The copy error preventing method according to claim 12, wherein the play unit comprises a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
14. The copy error preventing method according to claim 8, wherein the copy preventing signal comprises a macrovision signal.
15. A copy error preventing method between a play unit and a recording unit, comprising:
playing a signal recorded on a first recording medium using the play unit;
recording the signal onto a second recording medium using the recording unit;
detecting whether a predetermined copy preventing signal exists within the signal played by the play unit; and
stopping a recording operation of the recording unit when the copy preventing signal is detected within the played signal.
16. The copy error preventing method according to claim 15, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
17. The copy error preventing method according to claim 16, wherein the play unit comprises a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
18. The copy error preventing method according to claim 15, further comprising externally displaying a signal indicative of whether the copy preventing signal exists within the played signal.
19. The copy error preventing method according to claim 18, wherein the recording unit comprises a VCR to record the signal on a magnetic tape.
20. The copy error preventing method according to claim 19, wherein the play unit is a DVD player to play the signal recorded on a DVD.
21. The copy error preventing method according to claim 15, wherein the copy preventing signal comprises a macrovision signal.
22. A combo system, comprising:
a play unit playing video andor audio signals recorded on a first recording medium;
a recording unit recording the video andor audio signals on a second recording medium;
a detector detecting a copy preventing signal from the video andor audio signals played by the play unit, wherein the detector outputs the detected copy preventing signal to the recording unit to stop the recording unit from recording the video andor audio signals on the second recording medium; and
an OSD block adding an OSD function to the video signals of the recording unit and a detected copy preventing error message.
23. The combo system as recited in claim 22, wherein the recording unit comprises:
video and audio blocks transmitting and receiving video and audio signals to be recorded or played to and from the recording unit,
a display block displaying a status of the recording unit, and
a recording unit controller controlling an operation of the recording unit.
24. The combo system as recited in claim 23, wherein the play unit comprises:
a deck reading data recorded on the first recording medium to perform a play mode,
a servo receiving the data read by the deck and outputting the video andor audio signals, and
a play unit controller controlling an operation of the play unit.
25. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the play unit controller and the recording unit controller are linked to generate signals to control the play unit and the recording unit, respectively.
26. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the recording unit controller and the play unit controller are separately provided and the recording unit controller is used as a main controller of the combo system.
27. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the play unit controller comprises a main controller of the combo system or a menu controller comprising both functions of the recording unit controller and the play unit controller.
28. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the play unit comprises a DVDP and the recording unit comprises a VCR.
29. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the detector is directly connected between the recording unit controller and the play unit, where one of the controllers exclusively controls the playing and recording of the video andor audio signals.
30. The combo system as recited in claim 29, wherein the copy preventing signal from the detector is directly transmitted to the recording controller.
31. The combo system as recited in claim 24, wherein the play unit comprises the detector, where the play unit controller controls the playing of the video andor audio signals and the recording controller controls the recording operation of the video andor audio signals.
32. The combo system as recited in claim 24, further comprising a protocol established between the play unit and the recording unit using a cable to perform communication, so that a copy error between the play unit and the recording unit is prevented from occurring.
33. The combo system as recited in claim 32, wherein the copy preventing signal is output from audio output terminals.
34. The combo system as recited in claim 33, wherein the copy preventing signal is output as characters, signs, or video signals and displayed on a TV screen.
35. A copy error preventing method of a combo system having a play unit and a recording unit, comprising:
detecting a copy command by the recording unit;
outputting a copy mode setting signal from the recording unit to the play unit;
playing data recorded on a first recording medium using the play unit in response to the copy mode setting signal;
recording the data onto a second recording medium using the recording unit;
determining whether a copy preventing signal exists in the data recorded on the first recording medium;
outputting the copy preventing signal to the recording unit; and
stopping the recording unit from recording in response to the copy preventing signal without discontinuing playing the data recorded on the first recording medium.
36. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein the copy preventing detector is enabled when the data recorded on the second recording medium is played.