CN109969674B

CN109969674B - Robot control system and method, computing device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN109969674B
Application number: CN201910258694.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘凯; 王梦迪; 白易欣
Original assignee: Beijing Geekplus Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-01
Filing date: 2019-04-01
Publication date: 2020-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-01
Also published as: CN109969674A

Abstract

The application provides a robot control system and method, a computing device and a storage medium, wherein the robot control system comprises: the storage area comprises at least two layers of attics and is configured as a storage container, a channel for the self-driven robot to run is arranged on the ground of each layer of attics, and each layer of attics is at least provided with one self-driven robot and at least one cache mechanism; the control device is configured to distribute a carrying task to the self-driven robot, plan a running route of the self-driven robot on the attic floor according to the carrying task, and control the self-driven robot to run on the attic floor according to the running route and execute the carrying task; a buffer mechanism configured to carry the target container, transfer the target container to the container elevator and/or transfer the target container out of the container elevator.

Description

Robot control system and method, computing device and storage medium

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of warehousing, in particular to a robot control system and method, computing equipment and a storage medium.

Background

A robot-based scheme for automatically picking containers to people is a multi-layer picking scheme for solving the utilization of three-dimensional space, and generally adopts a common loft type shelf, the robot runs on a shelf of the loft without arranging a special shelf rail, a box picking mechanism of the robot can be lifted and lowered for holding and picking containers on shelf layers with different heights on the same shelf, the robot can pick one or more boxes at a time and return the material boxes to the shelf after the stations are picked, the loft where the operating stations are located is an operating layer, other loft layers are storage layers, and when the containers in the storage layers need to be sent to the operating layer for operation, or the containers in one operating layer need to be sent to another operating layer for operation, cross-layer transmission of the containers is required. At present, a common multilayer picking scheme adopts a three-dimensional shuttle car, and a container cross-layer transmission scheme adopted by the three-dimensional shuttle car is used for matching a lifting machine with a conveying line to operate at an operation station, but the three-dimensional shuttle car has higher transportation difficulty and is difficult to flexibly allocate, so that the cost of the automatic picking scheme is higher.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present specification provide a robot control system and method, a computing device, and a storage medium, so as to solve technical defects in the prior art.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is provided a robot control system including:

the storage area comprises at least two layers of attics and is configured as a storage container, a channel for the self-driven robot to run is arranged on the ground of each layer of attics, and each layer of attics is at least provided with one self-driven robot and at least one cache mechanism;

the control device is configured to distribute a carrying task to the self-driven robot, plan a running route of the self-driven robot on the attic floor according to the carrying task, and control the self-driven robot to run on the attic floor according to the running route and execute the carrying task; the carrying task comprises that the self-driven robot obtains a target container at a first target position of the attic floor and carries the target container to the cache mechanism; and/or the self-driven robot acquires the target container from the cache mechanism and carries the target container to a second target position of the attic floor;

a buffer mechanism configured to carry the target container, transfer the target container to the container elevator and/or transfer the target container out of the container elevator;

a container elevator configured to transport the target container to a target attic corresponding to a transport task;

the control device is in communication connection with the container lifter, the caching mechanism and the self-driven robot.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism is a roller table mechanism.

Optionally, at least one cache mechanism on each attic is an n-level structure;

the control device is further configured to control the container elevator to transport the target container to an idle level in the buffer mechanism, where n is a natural number and is greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism is disposed on one side or both sides of the container lifter, and the container lifter is disposed corresponding to the buffer mechanism respectively.

Optionally, the container lifter comprises: a transfer mechanism and a container position;

the transferring mechanism is configured to load the target container from the caching mechanism onto the container position, and/or load the target container on the container position onto the caching mechanism.

Optionally, the transfer mechanism includes:

a roller mechanism or a robot arm configured to allow the container to have degrees of freedom in four directions of front, rear, left, and right of a horizontal plane.

Optionally, the transport task carries a coded identifier of the target container;

the control device is further configured to control at least one self-driven robot to travel to the position of the target container at the loft floor according to the running route, and control the self-driven robot to acquire the target container by identifying the coded identifier of the target container.

Optionally, the storage area comprises at least one storage level and one sorting level, on which an operating station is arranged, the operating station being configured to perform a work operation on the target container.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to control the self-driven robot to wait for a job operation in a queue at the operation station after the self-driven robot carries the target container to the operation station;

the control device is further configured to control the self-driven robot to transport the target container which completes the work operation to the next work station or return to the container carrier of the attic after the work operation is completed.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to control the self-driven robot to transport the target container to the storage position of the operation station after running to the operation station, and to obtain one or more other operable containers by controlling a box taking telescopic mechanism provided on the self-driven robot.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to receive a coded identifier of a target container recognized by the self-propelled robot, and perform heat evaluation on the target container according to the heat and the quantity of goods stored in the target container;

the control device is further configured to control the self-driven robot to convey the target container with the heat degree exceeding a preset threshold value to a container carrier of a preset area, and record the binding relationship between the target container and the container carrier; or controlling the self-driven robot to convey the target containers to the container carriers of the attics from near to far away from the operating stations of the attics according to the sequence of the heat degree of the target containers from high to low, and recording the binding relationship between the target containers and the container carriers.

Optionally, the self-propelled robot comprises:

a bin retrieving telescopic mechanism configured to retrieve one or more of the target containers;

the lifting mechanism is configured to realize that the box taking telescopic mechanism is adjustable up and down, so that the box taking telescopic mechanism realizes the acquisition of target containers on container carriers with different heights on the target loft;

a robot motion chassis configured to enable travel of the at least one self-propelled robot on the destination attic travel corridor.

Optionally, the channel for the self-propelled robot to run is also used for emergency manual work.

Optionally, the system further comprises:

and the robot elevator is configured to allocate the self-driven robot to the corresponding target loft floor according to a control instruction under the condition that the traffic of different target loft floors changes.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is provided a robot control method including:

distributing a carrying task to the self-driven robot;

planning a running route of the self-driven robot on the attic floor according to the carrying task, and controlling the self-driven robot to obtain a location of a target container at a first target position of the attic floor according to the running route to obtain the target container and carry the target container to the cache mechanism;

controlling the cache mechanism to convey the target container to a container lifter;

and controlling the container elevator to convey the target container to a target loft where the conveying task destination is located.

controlling the self-driven robot to obtain the target container at the position of the target container on the loft floor according to the running route comprises the following steps:

and controlling the at least one self-driven robot to drive to the position of the target container at the loft floor according to the running route, and controlling the self-driven robot to acquire the target container by identifying the coded identifier of the target container.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism is a roller table mechanism.

Optionally, the roller mechanism includes a first cache roller path line and a transfer location, the transport task includes a first transport task, and a destination of the first transport task includes the transfer location corresponding to the first cache roller path line;

the control of the self-driven robot to obtain the target container at the first target position of the loft floor according to the running route comprises the following steps:

and controlling a first self-driven robot in the at least one self-driven robot to obtain the target container at the target position of the target loft corresponding to the first carrying task according to a first running route corresponding to the first carrying task.

Optionally, the moving to the buffer mechanism comprises:

and controlling the first self-driven robot to convey the target container to a transfer position corresponding to the first cache roller path line.

Optionally, controlling the buffer mechanism to transfer the target container to a container elevator comprises:

receiving a state signal that the first self-driven robot is ready;

and controlling the first cache roller path line to convey the target container to the container lifter.

Optionally, the handling task further comprises a second handling task, and the destination of the second handling task comprises a destination loft of the second handling task;

controlling the container elevator to transport the target container to a target attic where the transport task destination is located includes:

and controlling the container elevator to convey the target container to the target loft of the second conveying task.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is provided a robot control method including:

a buffer mechanism for controlling a target loft where the carrying task destination is located to receive and temporarily store the target container from the container lift;

and controlling the self-driven robot to convey the target container to the conveying task destination from the cache mechanism of the attic floor.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism is a roller table mechanism.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism includes a second buffer roller line and a transfer location; the carrying tasks further comprise second carrying tasks, and destinations of the second carrying tasks comprise transfer positions corresponding to the second cache roller path lines;

the control of the buffer mechanism of the destination loft where the transfer task destination is located to receive and temporarily store the target container from the container lift includes:

and controlling the container elevator to convey the target container to a transfer position corresponding to the second cache roller path line.

Optionally, the handling tasks further comprise a third handling task, the destination of which comprises an operating station or a container carrier of the destination attic of the second handling task;

the control of the self-driven robot to transport the target container to the transport task destination from the cache mechanism of the loft comprises the following steps:

receiving the status signal waiting for receiving goods;

controlling a second self-driven robot in the at least one self-driven robot to run on the attic floor according to a third running route corresponding to the third carrying task;

controlling the second self-driven robot to convey the target container from the transfer position corresponding to the second cache roller path line to an operation station of a target loft floor of the second conveying task or a container carrier;

the first self-driven robot is different from the second self-driven robot.

Optionally, after controlling the self-propelled robot to transport the target container from the buffer mechanism on the attic floor to the transport task destination, the method further includes:

controlling the self-driven robot to carry the target container to an operation station and then queuing to wait for operation at the operation station;

and after the operation is finished, controlling the self-driven robot to carry the target container which finishes the operation, and carrying the target container to the next operation station or returning the target container to the container carrier of the attic.

Optionally, after controlling the self-propelled robot to transport the target container from the buffer mechanism of the target attic where the transport task destination is located to the transport task destination, the method further includes:

and controlling the self-driven robot to operate to the operating station, then carrying the target container to the storage position of the operating station, and obtaining one or more other operable containers by controlling a box taking telescopic mechanism arranged on the self-driven robot.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism further includes a third buffer roller path line, and the third buffer roller path line and the second buffer roller path line are respectively disposed on two sides of the container lifter; the transport tasks further comprise a fourth transport task, and the destination of the fourth transport task comprises a destination attic of the fourth transport task;

after controlling the container elevator to transport the target container to the transfer location corresponding to the second cache roller path line, the method further includes:

controlling the third cache roller path line to convey the container on the transfer position of the third cache roller path line to the container lifter;

and controlling the container elevator to convey the container to the destination loft of the fourth conveying task.

Optionally, the transfer task destination comprises a container carrier of an attic;

receiving codes of target containers which are sent by the self-driven robot and finished picking;

performing heat evaluation on the target container according to the heat and the quantity of the goods stored in the containers which are finished to be sorted;

controlling the self-driven robot to convey the target container with the heat degree exceeding a preset threshold value to a container carrier in a preset area, and recording the binding relationship between the target container and the container carrier; or controlling the self-driven robot to convey the target container to a container carrier which is far away from the operation station of the attic from near according to the sequence of the heat degree of the container from high to low, and recording the binding relationship between the target container and the container carrier.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, there is provided a computing device comprising a memory, a processor and computer instructions stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the steps of the method when executing the instructions.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the above-described method.

The robot control system and method, the computing device and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the application solve the problem that three-dimensional stored goods are selected to people by adopting the self-driven robot and combining with the loft type goods shelf, the self-driven robot can run on each loft floor by arranging the self-driven robot on the ground of each loft floor and combining with the container elevator, the efficiency of cross-floor logistics transmission and storage is improved, the caching mechanism which is in butt joint with the self-driven robot is arranged at the position of the container elevator, so that the self-driven robot is temporarily absent under the condition that the self-driven robot is idle, the container elevator can also run normally, cross-floor transmission is realized on containers on different loft floors in a flexible and efficient mode, the efficiency and flexibility of the whole robot selecting system are improved, and the cost of a container cross-floor transmission scheme is reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural diagram of a robot control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a self-propelled robot in a robot control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a plan view of a storage area attic floor of a robotic control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a robot control method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a robot control method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a robot control method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a block diagram of a robot control system according to another embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. This application is capable of implementation in many different ways than those herein set forth and of similar import by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this application and is therefore not limited to the specific implementations disclosed below.

The terminology used in the description of the one or more embodiments is for the purpose of describing the particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the description of the one or more embodiments. As used in one or more embodiments of the present specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in one or more embodiments of the present specification refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein in one or more embodiments to describe various information, these information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, a first can also be referred to as a second and, similarly, a second can also be referred to as a first without departing from the scope of one or more embodiments of the present description. The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "when … …" or "in response to a determination", depending on the context.

In the present application, a robot control system and method, a computing device, and a storage medium are provided, which are described in detail one by one in the following embodiments.

Fig. 1 and 8 show a robot control system according to an embodiment of the present application, including a storage area, a container 101, a self-propelled robot 103, a container elevator 104, a control device 105, and a buffer mechanism 106.

The storage area comprises at least two levels of attics 102 configured to store containers 101, a channel for the self-driven robot 103 to run is arranged on the ground of each level of attics 102, and at least one self-driven robot 103 and at least one cache mechanism 106 are arranged on each level of attics 102.

In the embodiment of the present application, the container 101 may be a bin or a container 101 on a container carrier, or may be a tray on a container carrier, or may be another container that can be used to hold articles, through a channel for the self-driven robot 103 to travel, the self-driven robot 103 travels at an attic floor where the self-driven robot 103 is located and obtains one or more containers 101, and meanwhile, a worker can perform work on the channel of the attic 102, that is, an operation station 107 can be provided on each attic 102 for performing a picking operation, a checking operation, a picking operation, or a sorting operation on the container 101.

The control device 105 is configured to assign a transfer task to the self-driven robot 103, plan a running route of the self-driven robot 103 on the attic floor according to the transfer task, and schedule the self-driven robot 103 to run according to the running route and execute the transfer task.

The control device 105 is further configured to assign a carrying task to the self-driven robot 103, plan a running route of the self-driven robot 103 on the attic floor according to the carrying task, and control the self-driven robot 103 to run on the attic floor according to the running route and execute the carrying task; the carrying task comprises that the self-driven robot 103 obtains a target container at a first target position of the attic floor and carries the target container to the cache mechanism 106; and/or the self-driven robot 103 acquires a target container at the buffer mechanism 106 and carries the target container to a second target position at the attic floor. Wherein the first target position is a position where the self-propelled robot 103 is located when acquiring the target container according to the transport task; the second target position is a position where the target container is located when the self-propelled robot 103 places the target container according to the transfer task, and the first target position and the second target position may be the same or different.

In this embodiment, the control device 105 may store a correspondence relationship between the containers 101 and the storage spaces of the container carriers of the attic 102 and inventory information of the container carriers of the attic 102, so as to generate the transportation tasks according to documents to be operated, and allocate the self-propelled robot 103 to execute the transportation tasks, meanwhile, the control device 105 may also plan a path and schedule the path of the self-propelled robot 103 to execute to avoid collision, the control device 105 is in communication connection with the container lifter 104, the buffer mechanism 106 and the self-propelled robot 103, so that the self-propelled robot 103 is in butt joint with the buffer mechanism 106, and the buffer mechanism 106 is in butt joint with the container lifter 104.

The buffer mechanism 106 is configured to carry the target container, transfer the target container onto the container lift 104 and/or, transfer the target container out of the container lift 104;

the container elevator 104 is configured to transport the target container to a destination attic corresponding to a transport task;

in one embodiment of the application, a self-driven robot B and a caching mechanism C are arranged on a certain loft A. The control device can control the self-driven robot B to obtain a target container at a first target position of the attic floor A, and the target container is conveyed to the cache mechanism C for storage, and then the control device can control the cache mechanism C to convey the target container to the container lifter. When another container is delivered to the attic floor a by the container elevator, the controller may further control the buffer mechanism C to deliver the target container from the container elevator to the buffer mechanism C, and control the self-propelled robot a to take the container in the buffer mechanism C and transport the container to a second target position of the container.

In this embodiment, the container 101 is transferred across floors by the container elevator 104, the container elevator 104 cooperates with the cache mechanism 106 to dock with the self-driven robot 103, specifically, after the self-driven robot 103 takes a target container, the control device 105 dispatches the self-driven robot 103 to transfer the target container to the cache mechanism 106, the cache mechanism 106 sends the target container to the container elevator 104, and after the container elevator 104 sends the target container to a target shelf, the target container is transferred to the corresponding cache mechanism 106 to wait for being taken away by the corresponding self-driven robot 103.

Optionally, the buffer mechanism 106 may be a roller mechanism, such as a track line or a conveyor belt, and at least one buffer mechanism 106 on each attic 102 is an n-level structure, and the control device 105 is further configured to control the container elevator 104 to transport the target container to an idle level in the buffer mechanism 106, where n is a natural number and is greater than or equal to 2, and the number of levels of the buffer mechanism 106 may be designed and adjusted according to a user service condition.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 1 and 8, the buffer mechanisms are disposed on one side or multiple sides of the container lifter 104, the container lifter 104 is disposed corresponding to the buffer mechanisms, when the buffer mechanisms are disposed on two sides of the container lifter, the buffer mechanism on one side of the container lifter 104 is configured to feed the container 101 into the container lifter 104, the buffer mechanism on the other side of the container lifter 104 is configured to feed the container 101 out of the container lifter 104, and the feeding action may be completed sequentially or synchronously.

Optionally, the container elevator 104 includes a transfer mechanism and a container position, and the transfer mechanism is configured to load the target container from the buffer mechanism onto the container position, and/or load the target container on the container position onto the buffer mechanism.

Optionally, the transfer mechanism includes a roller mechanism or a mechanical arm, and the roller mechanism or the mechanical arm enables the container to have freedom degrees in four directions, namely, front, back, left, and right directions of a horizontal plane, so that the container lifter 104 can be in butt joint with the buffer mechanism 106 in multiple directions.

The working process of the embodiment of the application is that the self-propelled robot 103 acquires the containers 101 to be transported to another floor across floors under the control of the control device 105, the control device 105 allocates the self-propelled robot 103 to the buffer mechanism 106 butted with the corresponding container hoister 104 according to the floor where the containers 101 are going, the optimal path from the self-propelled robot 103 to the container hoister 104, the queuing condition of the self-propelled robot 103 before the container hoister 104 and other factors, so that at least one container 101 sequentially enters the corresponding container hoister 104, when at least one container 101 is hoisted to a target floor, the buffer mechanism 106 moves the container 101 out of the container hoister 104 and temporarily stores the container 101, the control device 105 allocates the self-propelled robot 103 to the buffer mechanism 106 again to take out the container 101, and conveys the container 101 to the operating station 107 of the storage area for picking, and after picking is completed, the container 101 is returned to the cross-layer transport in the manner described above.

The robot control system that this application embodiment provided adopts confession to drive robot 103 and combines loft formula goods shelves and has solved the problem that three-dimensional storage goods were selected to the people, has supplied the passageway that supplies to drive the robot operation through setting up confession on every floor loft 102's ground, and combine container lifting machine 104 to transport the target container to each floor of target, has improved the efficiency of cross-floor logistics transmission storage, sets up the buffer memory mechanism 106 with driving the robot 103 butt joint through the position department at container lifting machine 104, makes temporarily not under the idle condition of driving the robot 103, container lifting machine 104 also can normal operating for the container 101 of different loft floors realizes the cross-floor transmission through a nimble efficient form, has improved the efficiency and the flexibility of whole robot selection system, has reduced the cost of container cross-floor transmission scheme.

Fig. 2 shows a communication framework schematic of a robot control system according to an embodiment of the application.

The components of the control device 105 include, but are not limited to, a memory 210 and a processor 220. The processor 220 is coupled to the memory 210 via the bus 230 and the database 250 is used to store the handling tasks.

The control device 105 also includes an access device 240, the access device 240 enabling the control device 105 to communicate via one or more networks 260. Examples of such networks include the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), or a combination of communication networks such as the internet. Access device 240 may include one or more of any type of network interface (e.g., a Network Interface Card (NIC)) whether wired or wireless, such as an IEEE802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) wireless interface, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Wi-MAX) interface, an ethernet interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a cellular network interface, a bluetooth interface, a Near Field Communication (NFC) interface, and so forth.

In an embodiment of the application, the other components of the control device 105 described above and not shown in fig. 2 may also be connected to each other, for example by a bus.

The control apparatus 105 may be any type of stationary or mobile computing device, including a mobile computer or mobile computing device (e.g., tablet, personal digital assistant, laptop, notebook, netbook, etc.), a mobile phone (e.g., smartphone), a wearable computing device (e.g., smartwatch, smartglasses, etc.), or other type of mobile device, or a stationary computing device such as a desktop computer or PC. The control device 105 may also be a mobile or stationary server.

The control device 105 is in communication connection with the self-propelled robot 103 and the hoist through a network 260, and controls the robot control system by transmitting a control command or receiving a message returned by the self-propelled robot or the hoist.

In another embodiment of the present application, the transport task carries a coded identifier of the target container, and the control device 105 is further configured to control at least one of the self-driven robots 103 to travel to a location of the target container according to the operation route at the attic floor where the self-driven robot is located, and obtain the target container by checking the coded identifier of the target container.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the self-driven robot is not limited to the structure, and any structure in the related art may be used to realize the functions of taking out the container from the shelf and putting the container into the shelf. For example, a robot arm may be provided on a self-driven robot, and a container may be taken out and put in by a robot; a clamping structure can be arranged on the self-driven robot, and the container can be taken out and put into the self-driven robot in a clamping mode; other configurations may also be used. For example, referring to fig. 3, in an embodiment of the present application, the at least one self-propelled robot 103 includes:

a container retrieving telescopic mechanism 301 configured to retrieve one or more target containers;

and the lifting mechanism 302 is configured to realize the up-and-down adjustment of the box taking telescopic mechanism 301, so that the box taking telescopic mechanism realizes the taking of target containers on shelves at different heights on the loft floor.

And the robot motion chassis 303 is configured to realize the running of the at least one self-driven robot on the channel running on the attic floor according to the running route planned by the control system.

The target container is a container 101 to be transported in the transport task.

The self-driven robot 103 provided by the embodiment of the application runs on a channel running on the ground of the attic 102, so that the flexibility of container carrying is greatly improved, various services can be completed according to actual requirements, a shuttle track does not need to be installed, and the construction cost is greatly reduced.

In another embodiment of the present application, the buffer mechanism 106 includes a first buffer roller path line, a second buffer roller path line, and a transfer location, the transportation task includes a first transportation task, and the destination of the first transportation task includes the transfer location corresponding to the first buffer roller path line; the control device 105 is further configured to control a first self-driven robot of the at least one self-driven robot 103 to take the target container at the target container location of the attic floor according to a first travel route corresponding to the first transfer task; the control device 105 is further configured to control the first self-driven robot to transport the target container to a transfer position corresponding to the first cache roller path line; the first self-propelled robot is configured to send a ready status signal to the control device 105; the control device 105 is further configured to receive the ready status signal and control the first buffer roller line to transfer the target container onto the container elevator 104.

The carrying tasks further comprise second carrying tasks, and destinations of the second carrying tasks comprise transfer positions corresponding to the second cache roller path lines; the control device 105 is further configured to control the container elevator 104 to transport the target container to the target loft of the second transport task; the control device 105 is further configured to control the container elevator 104 to transport the target container to the transfer location corresponding to the second cache roller path line; the container lifter 104 is also configured to send a status signal to the control device 105 awaiting receipt.

The handling tasks further comprise a third handling task, the destination of which comprises the operating station 107 of the destination attic of the second handling task or the container carrier; the control device 105 is further configured to receive the status signal of waiting for receiving goods and control a second self-driven robot in the at least one self-driven robot 103 to operate according to a third operation route corresponding to the third carrying task at the attic floor; the control device 105 is further configured to control the second self-driven robot to transfer the target container from the transfer location corresponding to the second buffer roller line to the operation station 107 or the container carrier of the destination attic of the second transfer task, wherein the first self-driven robot is different from the second self-driven robot.

In this application embodiment, the transport task comprises first transport task, second transport task and third transport task, first buffer memory roller way line and second buffer memory roller way line correspond respectively to be used for getting putting case buffer memory roller way line and being used for keeping in of container 101 get case buffer memory roller way line with put case buffer memory roller way line on be equipped with from moving the position of moving that drives the robot butt joint, then this embodiment the operation process of transport task is: the self-driven robot 103 conveys the taken container 101 to a transfer position corresponding to a box placing cache roller path line, and the box placing cache roller path line feeds the container 101 to the container lifter 104; after the container 101 reaches a destination loft floor, the container 101 is transferred to a box taking cache roller line by the container lifter 104, wherein the box taking cache roller line is set to be in a multi-layer form, and the control module 105 can move the container 101 into an idle level according to the empty condition of the box taking cache roller line; the control module 105 controls the self-driven robot 103 of the target loft floor to move to the box taking cache roller path line to take out one or more containers 101; the control module 105 again dispatches the self-propelled robot 103, which has completed the box-pick operation, to deliver the container 101 to the operating station 107 at the destination attic.

In this embodiment of the application, the buffer mechanism further includes a third buffer roller path line, and the third buffer roller path line and the second buffer roller path line are respectively disposed on two sides of the container lifter 104; the transport tasks further comprise a fourth transport task, and the destination of the fourth transport task comprises a destination attic of the fourth transport task;

the control device 105 is further configured to control the third buffer roller path line to transfer the container 101 located at the transfer position of the third buffer roller path line onto the container lift 104;

the control device 105 is further configured to control the container lift 104 to transport the container 101 to the destination loft of the fourth transport task.

The third cache roller path line is corresponding to a box placing cache roller path line of the container 101, and the feeding action of the box placing cache roller path line and the feeding action of the box taking cache roller path line are completed synchronously.

In another embodiment of the present application, the storage area comprises at least one storage layer and one sorting layer, and an operation station 107 is disposed on the sorting layer, and the operation station 107 is configured to perform a work operation on the target container.

Optionally, the control device 105 is further configured to control the self-driven robot 103 to carry the target container to the operation station 107 and then queue for a job operation at the operation station 107; the control device 105 is further configured to control the self-driven robot 103 to carry the target container with which the working operation is completed and to transport the target container to the next working station 107 or return the target container to the container carrier of the attic 102 after the working operation is completed.

Optionally, in order to improve the working efficiency of the self-driven robot 103, the control device 105 is further configured to control the self-driven robot 103 to move to the operation station 107, and then transport the target container to the container carrier of the operation station 107, and obtain one or more other operable containers 101 by controlling a box-taking telescopic mechanism disposed on the self-driven robot 103.

The operational container may be the container 101 that has completed the work operation.

In another embodiment of the present application, the control device 105 is further configured to receive a target container code identified by the self-propelled robot 103, and perform a heat evaluation on the target container according to the heat and the quantity of goods stored in the target container;

the control device 105 is further configured to control the self-driven robot 103 to transport the target container with the heat degree exceeding a preset threshold value into a container carrier of a preset area, and record the binding relationship between the target container and the container carrier; or controlling the self-driven robot 103 to convey the target containers to the container carriers of the attic 102 from near to far away from the operating stations 107 of the attic 102 according to the sequence of the heat degree of the target containers from high to low, and recording the binding relationship between the target containers and the container carriers.

The predetermined area may be the area in which the storage unit is located closer to the operating station 107, for example, a container carrier located at a distance of 3 meters or 5 meters from the operating station 107. In this way, the container 101 with the frequently taken goods is stored in the closer container carrier, so that the time required for carrying is reduced, and the business processing efficiency is improved.

The container carriers are shelves disposed on each attic 102 of the storage area, each container carrier having a plurality of storage units, each storage unit capable of holding a container.

Optionally, the container carriers include, but are not limited to, storage shelves disposed on each attic 102 of the storage area. Each container carrier has a plurality of storage cells, each of which can store one container.

The storage position of the operation station comprises a storage shelf or a temporary storage roller way for storing the containers of the operation station.

In another embodiment of the present application, the channel for the self-driven robot 103 to operate may be used for emergency manual work.

In another embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, the robot system further includes a robot hoist 108, and the robot hoist 108 is configured to allocate the self-propelled robot 103 to the corresponding target loft floor according to a control instruction of the control module 105 when the traffic volume of different target loft floors changes.

In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, the operation flow of the container cross-layer transmission scheme includes the following steps:

s1101, the control module 105 allocates the self-driving robot 103 of the target attic floor to acquire one or more target containers in the storage area, and the control module 105 allocates the self-driving robot 103 to a designated container elevator 104 for a cache operation according to the positions of the self-driving robot 103 and the container elevator 104 and the queuing of the self-driving robot 103.

S1102, when the self-driven robot 103 reaches the docking position of the container elevator 104, if the transfer location of the unpacking buffer roller line is idle, the control module 105 controls the self-driven robot 103 to place the target container on the transfer location of the unpacking buffer roller line, and the unpacking buffer roller line sends the target container to the container elevator 104; if the transfer location of the unpacking cache roller line is not idle, the self-driven robot 103 waits for an unpacking instruction at the transfer location of the unpacking cache roller line.

S1103, when the container elevator 104 delivers the target container to the destination attic floor, the control module 105 controls the transfer apparatus to transfer the target container from the container elevator 104 to the container taking cache roller line, and simultaneously allocates the self-propelled robot 103 to a corresponding docking point of the container elevator 104 to take the target container.

S1104, after the self-propelled robot 103 fetches the target container at the transfer position of the box fetching cache roller lane line, it operates to a designated location of the control module 105 to perform a designated operation.

S1105, after the formulation operation is finished, the control module 105 allocates the target container to return to the original place, and the target container is sent back to the original place according to the steps 101 to 104.

And S1106, when the traffic of different target attic floors changes, the control module 105 redistributes the number of the self-driving robots 103 of each floor, and allocates the self-driving robots 103 to the specified target attic floors through the robot hoists 108.

In addition, a walking ladder or an elevator may be installed for the storage area.

When the system is in failure, such as power failure or the system cannot work normally, workers carry out carrying tasks on running channels of all attics through the walking ladder or the elevator, and emergency manual operation is completed.

In order to accurately determine the position of the container 101, a coded mark, which may be a two-dimensional code, an RFID tag, or the like, is provided on the container 101 for identification.

Based on the robot operating system introduced above, various business processes can be completed. The following description will be made by taking the whole box warehousing process, and operation process of the operation station 107 as examples.

The replenishment process means that the goods are put into the existing container 101 without being put into storage together with the container 101. The operation of the operated station 107 includes a warehouse-out, an inventory, or a tally operation.

In the embodiment of the application, the whole-box warehousing process comprises the following steps:

s1201, the control device 105 receives the container number, the commodity number and the quantity of the goods and records the binding relation with the container 101, wherein multiple goods can be bound in one container 101.

S1202, if the control device 105 determines that there is an empty container 101 on the container carrier of the storage area or the buffer mechanism 106, the control device 105 allocates a self-driven robot 103 to acquire the empty container 101, conveys the empty container 101 to the operation station 107, and controls the self-driven robot 103 to queue up at the operation station 107; if there is no empty container 101 on the container carrier in the storage area or on the buffer mechanism 106, the control device 105 directly controls the drive robot 103 to queue up the container 101 to the operation station 107, and the container 101 is transferred by the container elevator 104 and the buffer mechanism 106 across the floor in the transfer path.

S1203, the self-driving robot 103 obtains the container 101, detects the coded identifier of the container 101, and submits the detected coded identifier to the control device 105, where the control device 105 records the container number carried by the self-driving robot 103.

S1204, the control device 105 distributes the containers 101 to the storage units of the corresponding container carriers according to the commodity heat and quantity of the containers 101.

And S1205, after all container temporary storage positions of the self-driven robot 103 are placed into the containers 101, or when no containers 101 to be warehoused remain in the operation station 107, the control device 105 schedules the self-driven robot 103 to leave the operation station 107, plans an optimal return path sequence for the self-driven robot 103, sequentially moves the self-driven robot 103 to the positions of the allocated storage units, places the containers 101 into the storage units, and realizes cross-layer transmission of the containers 101 in the return path through the container elevator 104 and the cache mechanism 106.

In an embodiment of the present application, the replenishment process includes:

s1301, the control device 105 selects a plurality of containers 101 capable of storing commodities according to commodities required to be stored in a warehouse, wherein the containers 101 can be vacant containers 101 or containers 101 with commodities but storage spaces, the control device 105 allocates the self-driven robot 103 to take down the containers 101, conveys the containers 101 to the operation stations 107 and queues the containers 101, and cross-layer conveying of the containers 101 is achieved through the container lifter 104 and the cache mechanism 106 in a conveying path.

And S1302, the control device 105 receives the commodity code and the container code, records the binding relationship between the container 101 and the commodity, and controls the self-driven robot 103 to receive the commodity through the container 101.

S1303, completing replenishment operation at the current station or ensuring that the container 101 carried by the current self-driven robot 103 has no storage space, feeding back by a worker through an interactive interface of the control device 105, and distributing the container 101 to a storage unit of a corresponding container carrier by the control device 105 according to the commodity heat and quantity of the container 101.

And S1304, the control device 105 schedules the self-driving robot 103 to leave the operation station 107, and plans an optimal returning path sequence for the self-driving robot 103, the self-driving robot 103 sequentially reaches the positions of the storage units of the container carriers distributed by the control device 105, the containers 101 are placed into the storage units of the container carriers, and the cross-layer transmission of the containers 101 is realized in the returning path through the container elevator 104 and the cache mechanism 106.

In an embodiment of the present application, the operation station 107 work flow includes:

s1401, starting operation at an operation station 107, hitting a plurality of containers 101 by a control device 105 according to operation receipts, distributing the hit containers 101 by the self-driven robot 103 by the control device 105, conveying the hit containers 101 to the operation station 107 along a planned conveying path, queuing the containers 101 in the operation station, and realizing cross-layer conveying of the containers 101 in the conveying path through the container elevator 104 and the cache mechanism 106.

And S1402, after the operation of the operation station 107 is completed, feeding back to the control device 105 through the interactive interface of the control device 105 that the operation of the container 101 carried by the self-driven robot 103 is completed.

S1403, the control device 105 allocates the containers 101 to the storage units of the corresponding container carriers according to the heat and quantity of the commodities in the containers 101.

S1404, the control device 105 schedules the self-driving robot 103 to leave the operation station 107, and plans an optimal returning path sequence for the self-driving robot 103, where the self-driving robot 103 sequentially reaches the positions of the storage units of the container carriers allocated by the control device 105, places the containers 101 in the storage units of the container carriers, and the container elevator 104 and the cache mechanism 106 realize the cross-layer transportation of the containers 101 in the returning path.

The robot control system that this application embodiment provided, through set up the passageway that supplies from driving robot 103 operation on every layer loft ground, combine the lifting machine for from driving robot 103 can be operated at every loft floor, improved from driving robot 103's flexibility, can accomplish various businesses according to actual demand, need not to install the track that shuttles back and forth, greatly reduced construction cost.

Wherein processor 220 may perform the steps of the method of fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present application, including steps 501 to 505.

Step 501: and distributing the conveying task to the self-driven robot.

Step 502: planning a running route of the self-driven robot on the attic floor according to the carrying task, and controlling the self-driven robot to obtain a target container at a first target position of the attic floor and carry the target container to the cache mechanism 106.

In the embodiment of the present application, the transport task carries a coded identifier of the target container;

the control of the self-driven robot to obtain the target container at the first target position of the loft floor comprises the following steps:

and controlling the at least one self-driven robot to drive to the place where the target container is located according to the running route at the loft floor, and acquiring the target container by checking the coded identifier of the target container.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transfer task includes a first transfer task, and controlling the self-propelled robot to acquire a target container at a first target position on the attic floor includes:

and controlling a first self-driven robot in the at least one self-driven robot to obtain the target container at the position of the target container at the loft floor according to a first running route corresponding to the first carrying task.

In an embodiment of the application, the buffer mechanism is a roller mechanism, the buffer mechanism includes a first buffer roller path line and a transfer position, and the destination of the first transport task includes the transfer position corresponding to the first buffer roller path line;

the transportation to the buffer mechanism comprises:

Step 503: and controlling the caching mechanism 106 to convey the target container to a container lifter.

The step of controlling the buffer mechanism to convey the target container to the container lifter comprises the following steps:

receiving a ready status signal of the first self-driven robot.

Step 504: and controlling the container elevator to convey the target container to a target loft where the conveying task destination is located.

In an embodiment of the application, the handling tasks further comprise a second handling task, the destination of the second handling task comprising a destination loft of the second handling task;

Wherein processor 220 may perform the steps of the method of fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present application, including steps 601 to 602.

Step 601: the buffer mechanism for controlling the destination loft where the transfer task is located receives and temporarily stores the containers from the container lift.

In an embodiment of the application, the cache mechanism is a roller way mechanism, and the cache mechanism includes a second cache roller way line and a transfer position; the carrying tasks further comprise second carrying tasks, and destinations of the second carrying tasks comprise transfer positions corresponding to the second cache roller path lines;

the control of the buffer mechanism of the destination loft where the transfer task destination is located to receive and temporarily store the container from the container lift includes:

Step 602: and controlling the self-driven robot to convey the target container to the conveying task destination from the cache mechanism of the attic floor.

In an embodiment of the application, the handling tasks further comprise a third handling task, the destination of which comprises an operating station or a container carrier of the destination attic of the second handling task;

the method for controlling the self-driven robot to transport the target container to the transport task destination from the cache mechanism of the attic floor comprises the following steps:

receiving the status signal waiting for receiving goods;

and controlling the second self-driven robot to convey the target container from the transfer position corresponding to the second cache roller path line to an operation station or a container carrier of a target loft of the second conveying task, wherein the first self-driven robot is different from the second self-driven robot.

In an embodiment of the present application, the buffer mechanism further includes a third buffer roller path line, and the third buffer roller path line and the second buffer roller path line are respectively disposed on two sides of the container lifter; the transport tasks further comprise a fourth transport task, and the destination of the fourth transport task comprises a destination attic of the fourth transport task;

In an embodiment of the present application, the transfer task destination comprises a container carrier of an attic;

In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, after controlling the self-propelled robot to transport the target container from the buffer mechanism on the attic floor to the transport task destination, the method further includes steps 701 to 702:

step 701: controlling the self-driven robot to carry the target container to an operation station and then queuing to wait for operation at the operation station;

step 702: and after the operation is finished, controlling the self-driven robot to carry the target container which finishes the operation, and carrying the target container to the next operation station or returning the target container to the container carrier of the attic.

In an embodiment of the present application, after controlling the self-propelled robot to transport the target container from the buffer mechanism on the attic floor to the transport task destination, the method further includes:

The robot control method provided by the embodiment of the application can be matched with the self-driven robot 103 to operate in different floors by combining the container elevator, so that the flexibility of the self-driven robot 103 is greatly improved, various services can be completed according to actual requirements, a shuttle track is not required to be installed, and the construction cost is greatly reduced.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computing device, which includes a memory, a processor, and computer instructions stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the instructions according to the steps of the robot control method.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions, which when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the robot control method as described above.

The above is an illustrative scheme of a computer-readable storage medium of the present embodiment. It should be noted that the technical solution of the storage medium belongs to the same concept as the technical solution of the robot control method, and for details that are not described in detail in the technical solution of the storage medium, reference may be made to the description of the technical solution of the robot control method.

The foregoing description has been directed to specific embodiments of this disclosure. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than in the embodiments and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing may also be possible or may be advantageous.

The computer instructions comprise computer program code which may be in the form of source code, object code, an executable file or some intermediate form, or the like. The computer-readable medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording medium, usb disk, removable hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer Memory, Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), electrical carrier wave signals, telecommunications signals, software distribution medium, and the like. It should be noted that the computer readable medium may contain content that is subject to appropriate increase or decrease as required by legislation and patent practice in jurisdictions, for example, in some jurisdictions, computer readable media does not include electrical carrier signals and telecommunications signals as is required by legislation and patent practice.

It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, the above-mentioned method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combinations, but those skilled in the art should understand that the present application is not limited by the described order of acts, as some steps may be performed in other orders or simultaneously according to the present application. Further, those skilled in the art should also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments and that the acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required in this application.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

The preferred embodiments of the present application disclosed above are intended only to aid in the explanation of the application. Alternative embodiments are not exhaustive and do not limit the invention to the precise embodiments described. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the application and the practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best understand and utilize the application. The application is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A robotic control system, comprising:

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the caching mechanism is a roller mechanism.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one caching mechanism on each attic is an n-tiered structure;

4. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the buffer mechanism is disposed on one side or both sides of the container lifter, and the container lifter is disposed corresponding to the buffer mechanism, respectively.

5. The system of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the container lifter comprises: a transfer mechanism and a container position;

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the transfer mechanism comprises:

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a coded identification of the target container is carried in the transfer task;

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage area includes at least one storage level and one sorting level, and wherein an operation station is disposed on the sorting level, the operation station configured to perform work operations on the target containers.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the control device is further configured to control the self-propelled robot to wait in line for a work operation at the operation station after the target container is transported to the operation station;

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the control device is further configured to control the self-driven robot to transport the target container to the storage position of the operation station after running to the operation station, and to obtain one or more other operable containers by controlling a box-taking telescopic mechanism arranged on the self-driven robot.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the control device is further configured to receive a coded identification of a target container identified by the autonomous robot, the target container being assessed for heat based on the heat and quantity of goods stored within the target container;

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the self-propelled robot comprises:

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the channel for operation of the self-propelled robot is also used for emergency manual work.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

15. A robot control method is applied to a robot control system, the system comprises at least two attics, a channel for a self-driven robot to run is arranged on the ground of each attic, and at least one self-driven robot and at least one cache mechanism are arranged on each attic, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

distributing a carrying task to the self-driven robot;

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a coded identification of the target container is carried in the transfer task;

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the buffer mechanism is a roller table mechanism.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the roller mechanism comprises a first buffer roller lane line and a transfer location, the transport task comprises a first transport task, and the destination of the first transport task comprises the transfer location corresponding to the first buffer roller lane line;

19. The method of claim 18, wherein transporting to the buffer mechanism comprises:

20. The method of claim 19, wherein controlling the buffer mechanism to transfer the target container onto a container lift comprises:

receiving a state signal that the first self-driven robot is ready;

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the handling task further comprises a second handling task, the destination of the second handling task comprising a destination attic of the second handling task;

22. A robot control method is applied to a robot control system, the system comprises at least two attics and a container elevator, a channel for a self-driven robot to run is arranged on the ground of each attic, at least one self-driven robot and at least one cache mechanism are arranged on each attic, and the container elevator is configured to convey a target container to a target attic corresponding to a conveying task, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the buffer mechanism is a roller table mechanism.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the buffer mechanism comprises a second buffer roller line and a transfer location; the carrying tasks further comprise second carrying tasks, and destinations of the second carrying tasks comprise transfer positions corresponding to the second cache roller path lines;

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the transfer tasks further comprise a third transfer task, the destination of the third transfer task comprising an operating station or container carrier of a destination attic of the second transfer task;

receiving the status signal waiting for receiving goods;

the first self-driven robot is different from the second self-driven robot.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein after controlling the self-propelled robot to transport the target container from the buffer mechanism at the attic floor to the transport task destination, further comprising:

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising, after controlling a self-propelled robot to transport the target container from a buffer mechanism at a destination attic at which the transport task destination is located to the transport task destination:

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the buffer mechanism further comprises a third buffer roller line, the third buffer roller line and the second buffer roller line being disposed on opposite sides of the container elevator, respectively; the transport tasks further comprise a fourth transport task, and the destination of the fourth transport task comprises a destination attic of the fourth transport task;

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the transfer job destination comprises a container carrier of an attic;

30. A computing device comprising a memory, a processor and computer instructions stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the steps of the method of any one of claims 15-21 or 22-29 when executing the instructions.

31. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, which when executed by a processor, perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 15-21 or 22-29.