ROBOT VISION SYSTEM

A method and an apparatus for detecting the position and posture of an object (5, 9, 10) are characterized by two planar light beams (3a, 3b) alternately projected on the object (5, 9, 10) to be handled and intersection lines (A, B) formed between the two planar light beams (3a, 3b) and the object (5, 9, 10) which are imaged by a single image pickup device (2) positioned between the two planar light beams (3a, 3b). A bright line occurring at a junction between an edge of the object and an intersection line is separated, extracted and transformed into an actual coordinate in a three dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z) by referring to corresponding relationships between the actual coordinate system (x, y, z) and a scanning coordinate system (i, j) so that the position and posture of the object (5, 9, 10) are detected in three dimensions.