CN111752229B

CN111752229B - Control system and control method for AGV cooperative transportation

Info

Publication number: CN111752229B
Application number: CN201910237648.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐炳炎
Original assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2019-03-27
Publication date: 2024-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-27
Also published as: CN111752229A

Abstract

The invention provides a control system for AGV cooperative transportation. Based on the control system provided by the invention, based on the embodiment, the first AGV and the second AGV can synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation triggered by the control device by utilizing the communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV, so that the cooperative conveying of the two AGVs can be realized. The invention further provides a control method for the AGV collaborative handling.

Description

Control system and control method for AGV cooperative transportation

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of industrial automation, in particular to a control system for AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle, automatic guided vehicle) cooperative transportation, a control method for AGV cooperative transportation and an AGV.

Background

An AGV is a transport that can travel automatically. Through the reasonable scheduling to AGV, can utilize the flexibility of AGV to accomplish all kinds of transport tasks effectively.

However, current handling tasks are limited to independent undertaking by a single AGV.

Disclosure of Invention

In one embodiment, a control system for cooperative transport of an AGV is provided, the control system comprising:

the control device is used for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to execute cooperative conveying operation;

The first AGV is used for initiating the cooperative carrying operation triggered by the control device;

a second AGV for performing a cooperative conveyance operation initiated by the first AGV in synchronization with the first AGV;

the first AGV and the second AGV are configured to realize synchronization constraint on each other by utilizing communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV and by checking synchronization of operation progress of the two AGVs during the period of executing cooperative transportation operation.

Optionally, the control device maps the first AGV and the second AGV which mutually determine the master-slave relationship into a virtual AGV, and issues an operation instruction for instructing the virtual AGV to execute the carrying operation on the target object to the first AGV with the identity of the master AGV, and the first AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction issued by the control device; or the control device pair-sends a cooperative operation instruction for respectively indicating the first AGV and the second AGV to cooperatively execute cooperative conveying operation on the target object to the first AGV and the second AGV of the group, the first AGV and the second AGV mutually confirm the cooperative relationship in response to the cooperative operation instruction sent by the control device, and the first AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object in response to the mutual confirmation of the cooperative relationship; or, the control device issues an operation instruction to the first AGV, which instructs the bridge integrated vehicle body of the first AGV and the second AGV to carry out the carrying operation on the target object, and the first AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously carry out the cooperative carrying operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction issued by the control device.

Optionally, the first AGV and the second AGV utilize a communication link therebetween to further notify each other of the progress of the operation during the performance of the coordinated handling operation.

Optionally, any one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the operation progress of the present invention when the advance amplitude of the operation progress of the present invention compared to the other party reaches a preset threshold, and stops the operation progress of the present invention when the advance amplitude of the operation progress of the present invention compared to the other party reaches a preset limit value, until the operation progress of the other party advances to a degree of compensating for the advance amplitude.

Optionally, the co-handling operation includes a co-lift operation, the first AGV and the second AGV utilizing a lift height difference between each other to achieve a synchronization check of the co-lift operation.

Optionally, the co-handling operation includes a co-movement operation, the first AGV and the second AGV implementing a synchronization check of the co-movement operation using integral values of a linear velocity difference and an angular velocity difference between each other.

Optionally, the first AGV and the second AGV further check each other for operational readiness prior to performing the synchronization check.

In another embodiment, a control method for cooperative transport of an AGV is provided, the control method comprising:

The first AGV initiates cooperative carrying operation triggered by the control device;

the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously execute cooperative conveying operation initiated by the first AGV;

wherein the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously perform a coordinated handling operation initiated by the first AGV including: the first AGV and the second AGV are connected by communication, and the synchronization constraint of the first AGV and the second AGV is realized by the synchronization verification of the operation progress of the two parties in the period of executing the cooperative transportation operation.

Optionally, the co-handling operation triggered by the first AGV initiation control includes: the method comprises the steps that a first AGV responds to an operation instruction which is issued by a control device and indicates a virtual AGV to execute carrying operation on a target object, the first AGV and a second AGV initiate cooperative carrying operation on the target object, and the virtual AGV has a mapping relation with the first AGV and the second AGV which mutually determine master-slave identities; or the first AGV responds to the cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device and confirms the cooperative relationship with the second AGV which receives the pairing instruction of the cooperative operation instruction, and the first AGV responds to the mutual confirmation of the cooperative relationship to initiate the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object; or, the first AGV responds to the operation instruction which is issued by the control device and indicates the bridging integrated vehicle body of the first AGV and the second AGV to execute the carrying operation on the target object, and the cooperative carrying operation of the first AGV and the second AGV on the target object is initiated.

Optionally, the first AGV performing the co-handling operation initiated by the first AGV in synchronization with the second AGV further comprises: the first AGV and the second AGV communicate with each other by means of a communication connection therebetween, and mutually notify each other of the operation progress during the execution of the cooperative conveyance operation.

Optionally, the first AGV and the second AGV utilize a communication connection therebetween, and implementing the synchronization constraint with the synchronization check of the two operation schedules during the performing of the cooperative conveyance operation includes: either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the operation progress of the user when the operation progress of the user reaches a preset threshold value compared with the advance amplitude of the user, and stops the operation progress of the user when the operation progress of the user reaches a preset limit value compared with the advance amplitude of the user until the operation progress of the user advances to the extent of compensating the advance amplitude.

Optionally, the handling operation includes a lifting operation, the first AGV and the second AGV utilizing a communication connection therebetween, and implementing the synchronization constraint with the synchronization check of the progress of both operations during the execution of the cooperative handling operation includes: either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset threshold value, and stops the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset limit value, until the lifting progress of the user is advanced to a degree of compensating the lifting height difference.

Optionally, the handling operation includes a mobile operation, the first AGV and the second AGV utilizing a communication connection therebetween, and implementing the synchronization constraint with the synchronization check of the progress of both operations during the execution of the cooperative handling operation includes: either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user leads the movement offset difference of the user to reach a preset threshold value, and stops the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user leads the movement offset difference of the user to reach a preset limit value until the movement progress of the user advances to the extent of compensating the movement offset difference; wherein the movement offset difference includes integral values of the linear velocity difference and the angular velocity difference of the first AGV and the second AGV with each other.

Optionally, the control method further comprises: the first AGV and the second AGV use a communication link therebetween to check each other for operational readiness prior to performing the synchronization check.

In another embodiment, an AGV is provided that includes a processor for causing the AGV to perform the steps of the control method described above performed by a first AGV.

Based on the above embodiment, the first AGV and the second AGV can synchronously execute the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device by using the communication connection between each other, so that the cooperative conveyance of the two AGVs can be realized.

Drawings

The following drawings are only illustrative of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a control system for AGV coordinated transport in one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a handling operation trigger mode in the control system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling principle in cooperation with the triggering mode of the handling operation shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a synchronous check interaction mechanism suitable for the handling operation triggering mode shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another handling operation triggering mode in the control system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a co-operation instruction as shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling principle in cooperation with the handling operation triggering mode shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization verification interaction mechanism suitable for use in the handling operation triggering mode shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization instruction used in the synchronization verification interaction mechanism shown in FIGS. 4 and 8;

FIGS. 10 a-10 d are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of the synchronization instruction shown in FIG. 9 in the synchronization verification interaction mechanism shown in FIGS. 4 and 8;

FIGS. 11 a-11 d are schematic diagrams of examples of co-handling operations based on the synchronization verification interaction mechanism shown in FIGS. 4 and 8;

FIGS. 12a and 12b are schematic electrical structures of an AGV in a control system for coordinated AGV transport;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary flow chart of a control method for AGV coordinated handling in one embodiment;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary flow chart diagram of performing a cooperative operation in the control method shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an exemplary flow diagram of a synchronization verification mechanism during the cooperative operation as shown in FIG. 14;

fig. 16a and 16b are schematic flow diagrams of an example of the control method shown in fig. 13.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be further described in detail below by referring to the accompanying drawings and examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a control system for coordinated handling of AGVs in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a control system for AGV co-transport includes a control 10, and a first AGV 21 and a second AGV 22.

The control device 10 is configured to trigger the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 to perform a cooperative conveyance operation. The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be two AGVs selected by the control device.

One way for the control device 10 to select the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 may be by the control device 10 grouping the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22. For example, the control device 10 may group the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 in response to an externally input transport task, and issue a group order to the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, respectively. That is, the grouping of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may occur immediately upon delivery of the transport task to the control device 10. Since the following description in this embodiment will be given by taking the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 as an example, only the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 are shown in FIG. 1, but this does not exclude that other AGVs are also present in the control system. The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be considered to be two AGVs that select a group from a plurality of AGVs. The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be selected by random selection, or may be selected in consideration of other factors, such as a vehicle distance, a remaining power, a vehicle configuration, a cooperation history, and the like.

For example, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the vehicle distance, that is, the control device 10 may calculate that the distance between the parking positions of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 does not exceed the preset vehicle distance threshold value, and select the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 on this condition.

For example, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the remaining power, that is, the control device 10 may estimate that the remaining power of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 exceeds the power consumption required by the transport task, and select the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 with the condition that the remaining power exceeds the power consumption required by the transport task, or the control device 10 may further estimate that the remaining power exceeds the power consumption required by the transport task, and select the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 with the adjacent remaining power.

For another example, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the vehicle configuration, i.e., the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 selected by the control device 10 may have the same or a close configuration, and the control device 10 may recognize the configuration matching degree between different AGVs by the vehicle model number of the AGVs.

For example, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the history of cooperation of the vehicles, that is, the same or similar AGVs may have different actual performances due to unknown factors such as assembly and wear, although the same or similar AGVs have known standardized performances, and thus the control device 10 may select the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 having a higher matching degree to group by evaluating the history of cooperation.

Another way for the control device 10 to select the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 may be for the control device 10 to select the vehicle body bridged by the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 as one AGV. Although physical connections between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 are not shown in FIG. 1, the illustration employed in FIG. 1 is intended to represent the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 as two AGVs each having independent load bearing capabilities, such illustration allowing for a non-physical connection between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 without excluding any physical connection that may exist between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22.

Regardless of the manner in which the control device 10 selects the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may use the communication link 200 therebetween to synchronously perform the coordinated conveyance operation triggered by the control device 10. Specifically, one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may initiate the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control apparatus 10, and the other may perform the cooperative conveyance operation in synchronization with the initiator.

In the following embodiments, the cooperative conveyance operation by the first AGV 21 will be described by taking as an example the cooperative conveyance operation by the first AGV 21 initiated by the control device 10, and the second AGV22 executing the cooperative conveyance operation by the first AGV 21 in synchronization with the first AGV 21.

Wherein, for the case that there is no physical connection between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22, there may be a master-slave relationship between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 (the master-slave relationship may be assigned by the control device 10 or may be self-negotiated by the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22), where the first AGV 21 as the initiator may be the one having the master AGV identity; for the case where there is a physical connection between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 may be the configuration relationship of the primary AGV and the secondary AGV, and at this time, the first AGV 21 as the initiator may be the one having the configuration of the primary AGV.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a handling operation triggering mode in the control system shown in fig. 1. In the transport operation triggering mode shown in fig. 2, the control device 10 may further determine the master-slave identities of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 in the group command issued to the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22, respectively, so that the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 may mutually confirm the master AGV identity of the first AGV 21 and the slave AGV identity of the second AGV22 after the communication connection between each other is established. The control device 10 may map the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 grouped in response to the externally input transport task into one virtual AGV so as to manage and control the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 in one virtual AGV. For the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 mapped as virtual AGVs, the first AGV 21 with the master AGV identity may be considered as the master AGV receiving control device 10 for the management and control of the virtual AGV 20, while the second AGV22 with the slave AGV identity may be considered as a slave AGV following the first AGV 21.

It will be appreciated that the control device 10 may also issue a group order only to the first AGV 21 designated as the master AGV, and the first AGV 21 having the identity of the master AGV initiates the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 in response to the group order issued by the control device 10.

Referring to fig. 2, the control device 10 may issue an operation instruction 131 to the primary AGV 21 having the primary AGV identity that instructs the virtual AGV to perform a transport operation on the target. Accordingly, the first AGV 10 may initiate the cooperative conveyance of the target object by the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 in response to the operation command 131 issued by the control device 10, and the second AGV 22 may perform the cooperative conveyance of the target object in synchronization with the first AGV 21 from the AGV identity. The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may check each other for the operation readiness before the synchronization check, and may notify each other of the operation progress during the cooperative conveyance operation, and may implement the synchronization constraint 130 on each other by the synchronization check of both operation progress.

In actual operation, the initial positions of the grouped first and second AGVs 21, 22 may not be the operating positions at which the handling operation is performed, and thus, the operation of the first and second AGVs 21, 22 may involve scheduling.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling principle in cooperation with the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 2. Referring to fig. 3, the control device 10 may issue a scheduling command 121 to the first AGV21 to schedule the virtual AGV to the position of the target object corresponding to the transport task. Accordingly, the first AGV21 may move to the target location in response to the dispatch instructions 121 issued by the control device 10 and initiate a relay dispatch to the second AGV 22 directed to the target location, e.g., the first AGV21 may issue a relay dispatch instruction 122 to the second AGV 22 that substantially coincides with the dispatch information in the dispatch instructions 121, whereby the second AGV 22 may move to the target location in response to the relay dispatch of the first AGV.

The scheduling instruction 121 may include coordinate information of the location of the target object, where the coordinate information may be a center coordinate of the target object. For the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22 each having the center coordinates of the target object as the scheduling destination coordinates, the center coordinates of the target object may be not the final moving targets of the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22, but the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22 determine the search ranges with the center coordinates of the target object and search for the respective operation positions for performing the subsequent operations within the search ranges, respectively. For example, taking a vehicle as an object, the scheduling command 121 uses the center coordinates of the vehicle as the scheduling destination coordinates, and the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22 relay-scheduled by the first AGV21 each move toward the center coordinates of the vehicle and each search for tires within a search range determined by the center coordinates of the vehicle, so that the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22 relay-scheduled by the first AGV21 can determine the positions between the pair of front wheels and the positions between the pair of rear wheels as the respective operation positions.

The above procedure may also be considered that the scheduling stage includes a scheduling movement procedure for scheduling the target object, and an operation position locating procedure for locating the target object. The first AGV 21 may report a response to the control device 10 that the scheduling of the virtual AGV is completed after the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 reach the target object.

Based on the schedule of the principle shown in fig. 3, and the triggering of the transport operation triggering mode shown in fig. 2, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 can synchronously perform the cooperative transport operation using the synchronism check. Of course, the timing of mapping the virtual AGV 20 may be delayed until the coordinated operation is performed, and accordingly, the control manner of scheduling the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 may be adjusted to be independent scheduling according to the delay of mapping the virtual AGV 20.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization verification interaction mechanism suitable for the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 4:

the first AGV 21 having the master AGV identity serves as a master of the system operation, first checks the readiness of the present at S410 and after S410 checks that the readiness of the present is acceptable, sends a synchronization request to the second AGV22 having the slave AGV identity through S420, i.e., the first AGV 21 initiates the first action of the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device 10; the second AGV22 checks the readiness of the present in S430 in response to the synchronization request of the first AGV 21, and returns a synchronization confirmation to the first AGV 21 through S440 after the readiness of the present is checked to be acceptable; after receiving the synchronization confirmation fed back from the second AGV22, the first AGV 21 initiates a synchronization start to the second AGV22 through S450, that is, the first AGV 21 initiates a secondary action of the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device 10, and then the first AGV 21 and the second AGV22 can start to synchronously execute the cooperative conveyance operation and mutually notify each other of the operation progress through S460 during the execution of the cooperative conveyance operation.

Based on the operation progress mutually announced in S460, either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can slow down the operation progress of the present recipe when the operation progress of the present recipe reaches a preset threshold value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party, and either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can further stop the operation progress of the present recipe when the operation progress of the present recipe reaches a preset limit value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party until the operation progress of the other party advances to a degree that compensates for the advance amplitude, and then both sides stop and return to S410 to restart the synchronization check.

The first AGV 21 may report a response to the completion of the operation of the target object by the virtual AGV to the control device 10 after the completion of the cooperative conveyance operation of the target object by the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another handling operation triggering mode in the control system shown in fig. 1. In another conveyance-operation triggering mode as shown in fig. 5, the master-slave relationship between the grouped first AGV 21 and second AGV 22 may not be set to be normal, and the first AGV 21 and second AGV 22 may remain independent of each other without a master-slave relationship other than during the synchronous execution of the cooperative conveyance operation.

Referring to fig. 5, the control device 10 may pair the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 with cooperative operation instructions 132a and 132b that instruct the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, respectively, to perform a transport operation on a target object. Accordingly, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may perform a pairing validity check in response to the cooperative operation instructions 132a and 132b issued by the control device to mutually confirm the cooperative relationship. Since the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 do not have a relationship of cooperation with each other with the other AGV until they receive the cooperative operation instructions 132a and 132b, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can synchronously perform the cooperative conveyance operation of the target object only after confirming the cooperation relationship with each other, that is, after the pair validity check is passed.

And, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may further confirm the master-slave identity with each other after confirming the cooperative relationship with each other by the pairing validity check, for example, the first AGV 21 may have the master AGV identity and the second AGV 22 may have the slave AGV identity, and thus, the synchronous execution of the cooperative conveyance operation may be initiated by the first AGV 21 having the master AGV identity. The master-slave identity confirmation between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be negotiated by the two, or may default that one of the first received cooperative instructions has a master AGV identity and the other of the second received cooperative instructions has a slave AGV identity, and the master-slave identity between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be revoked after the cooperative conveyance operation of the target object is performed synchronously.

The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may check each other for operation readiness before the synchronization check, and may notify each other of operation progress during the period of performing the cooperative conveyance operation, and may implement the synchronization constraint 130 on each other by the synchronization check of both operation progress.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a co-operation instruction as shown in fig. 5. As shown in fig. 6, each of the co-operation instructions 132a and 132b issued by the pairing may include an AGV identification field 61, a task identification field 62, a task attribute field 63, and an additional information field 64. Wherein, the AGV identification field 61 may be filled with the AGV identification of the first AGV 21 or the second AGV 22 that receives the cooperative operation instruction; the task identifier field 62 may be filled with a task identifier of a transport task corresponding to the cooperative operation currently executed by the first AGV 21 or the second AGV 22; the task attribute field 63 may contain a cooperating AGV identification 63a of the second AGV 22 or the first AGV 21 that receives another cooperating instruction of the pairing, and the synchronization content 63b involved in the cooperating process; the additional information field 64 may fill in extension information according to actual usage.

With the above-described cooperative operation instruction shown in fig. 6, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can recognize the corresponding cooperative operation contents and can realize the pairing validity verification. That is, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can recognize the cooperative operation content by the synchronized content 63b, for example, if the synchronized content 63b is high, the cooperative operation content can be recognized as a lift operation, and if the synchronized content 63b is displaced, the cooperative operation content can be recognized as a moving operation. For another example, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may identify the cooperating AGVs that cooperatively perform the same transport task through the task identification field 62 and the cooperating AGV identification 63a, thereby enabling pairing validity verification.

Alternatively, the synchronization content 63b may be replaced with an operation content, and parameters such as height and displacement, which indicate in the additional information field 44 that the operation content needs synchronization, are noted.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a scheduling principle in cooperation with the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 5. Referring to fig. 7, the control device 10 may issue scheduling instructions 121 and 122 to the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, respectively, that point to the location of the target object corresponding to the transport task. Accordingly, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may each move independently of each other toward the location of the target object in response to independent dispatch instructions 121 and 122 issued by the control device 10.

The independent scheduling instructions 121 and 122 may include coordinate information of the location of the target object, where the coordinate information may be a center coordinate of the target object. For the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 each having the center coordinates of the target object as the scheduling destination coordinates, the center coordinates of the target object may be not the final moving targets of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, but the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 determine the search ranges with the center coordinates of the target object and search for the respective operation positions for performing the subsequent operations within the search ranges, respectively. For example, taking a vehicle as an object, the independent dispatch instructions 121 and 122 take the center coordinates of the vehicle as dispatch destination coordinates, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 each move toward the center coordinates of the vehicle independently of each other, and each searches for a tire within a search range determined by the center coordinates of the vehicle, whereby the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can determine the position between the pair of front wheels and the position between the pair of rear wheels as the respective operation positions, respectively. Similar to the scheduling principle shown in fig. 3, the scheduling process shown in fig. 7 may also be considered to include a scheduling movement process for scheduling purposes with the location of the target object, and an operation bit locating process based on the location of the target object.

In addition, the first AGV 21 may report response responses of the completion of the independent scheduling to the control device 10 after the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 reach the target object.

Based on the schedule of the principle shown in fig. 7, and the triggering of the transport operation triggering mode shown in fig. 5, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can synchronously perform the cooperative transport operation using the synchronism check. It will be appreciated that the scheduling principles shown in fig. 7 may also be applied to the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization verification interaction mechanism suitable for the handling operation triggering mode shown in fig. 5. As shown in fig. 8, assume that the primary AGV 21 has a primary AGV identity:

the first AGV 21 may first initiate and pair validity verification with the second AGV 22 having the slave AGV identity at S810 to initiate mutual confirmation of the cooperative relationship between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, and after the pair validity verification, the second AGV 22 returns a pair validity verification confirmation to the first AGV 21 through S820 to indicate that mutual confirmation of the cooperative relationship between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 is completed; the first AGV 21 checks the readiness of the present after receiving the pairing validity verification confirmation returned from the second AGV 22, and sends a synchronization request to the second AGV 22 through S840 after checking that the readiness of the present is acceptable in S830, that is, the first action of the first AGV 21 initiating the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device 10; the second AGV 22 checks the readiness of the present in S850 in response to the synchronization request of the first AGV 21, and returns a synchronization confirmation to the first AGV 21 through S860 after checking that the readiness of the present is acceptable; after receiving the synchronization confirmation fed back from the second AGV 22, the first AGV 21 initiates a synchronization start to the second AGV 22 through S870, that is, the first AGV 21 initiates a secondary action of the cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device 10, and then the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can execute the cooperative conveyance operation and mutually notify each other of the operation progress through S880 during the execution of the cooperative conveyance operation.

Based on the operation progress mutually announced at S880, either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can slow down the operation progress of the present recipe when the operation progress of the present recipe reaches a preset threshold value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party, and either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can further stop the operation progress of the present recipe when the operation progress of the present recipe reaches a preset limit value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party until the operation progress of the other party advances to a degree that compensates for the advance amplitude, and then both sides stop and return to S830 to restart the synchronization check.

The first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may report response to completion of the conveyance operation of the target object to the control device 10 after completion of the cooperative conveyance operation of the target object.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization instruction used in the synchronization verification interaction mechanism as shown in fig. 4 and 8. Fig. 10a to 10d are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of the synchronization instruction shown in fig. 9 in the synchronization verification interaction mechanism shown in fig. 4 and 8. Referring to fig. 9 in combination with fig. 4 and 8 and fig. 10a to 10d, a synchronization message having a format as shown in fig. 9 may be used in the synchronization checking interaction mechanism as shown in fig. 4 and 8, where the synchronization message includes: an AGV identification field 91 in which the AGV identification of the first AGV 21 or the second AGV 22 may be filled; a task identification field 92 in which a task identification of a transport task corresponding to a coordinated transport operation currently performed by the first AGV 21 or the second AGV 22 can be filled; the message type field 93, in which the type of the synchronization message may be filled, is shown in fig. 10a, which shows the synchronization request message used in S420 of fig. 4 and S840 of fig. 8, fig. 10b, which shows the synchronization confirm message used in S440 of fig. 4 and S860 of fig. 8, fig. 10c, which shows the synchronization start message used in S450 of fig. 4 and S870 of fig. 8, and fig. 10d, which shows the synchronization status message used in S460 of fig. 4 and S880 of fig. 8.

Also, the message format shown in fig. 9 further includes an additional information field 94, which can selectively carry information according to the message type. For example, the synchronization request message shown in fig. 10a may carry the synchronization preparation maturity information of the first AGV 21 in the additional information field 94, the synchronization confirmation message shown in fig. 10b may carry the synchronization preparation maturity information of the second AGV 22 in the additional information field 94, and the maturity information shown in fig. 10a and 10b may indicate that the preparation of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 has reached the completion schedule; the synchronization start message shown in fig. 10c may carry synchronization target information (reference information for measuring whether the cooperative conveyance operation is completed) of the cooperative conveyance operation in the additional information field 94, and the synchronization status message shown in fig. 10d may carry status information such as the present operation progress of the first AGV 21 or the second AGV 22 in the additional information field 94.

In actual use, the coordinated conveyance operation that the control device 10 triggers the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 to synchronously perform may include a coordinated lifting operation of lifting the object, and a coordinated moving operation of moving the lifted object.

For example, fig. 2 and 5 show that the clamping teeth 211 of the first AGV 21 and the clamping teeth 221 of the second AGV 22 are closed to clamp the wheels 23 of the vehicle as the target object, that is, after the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 clamp the wheels 23 of the lifted vehicle by the clamping teeth 211 and 221, the lifting mechanism (not shown in fig. 2 and 5) of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 drives the clamping teeth 211 and 221 along the direction perpendicular to the paper surface to lift the vehicle so as to facilitate the subsequent movement of the lifted vehicle. For the handling operation triggering mode as shown in fig. 2 and 5, the operational bit finding involved in the scheduling principle shown in fig. 3 and 7 may be considered to be the clamping teeth 211 and 221 in a position where they can accurately clamp the wheel 23. Accordingly, for the transport operation triggering mode as shown in fig. 2, the operation instructions 131 issued by the control device 10 to the first AGV 21 may include a lift instruction issued after the completion of the dispatch, and a movement instruction issued after the completion of the cooperative lift; for the transport operation triggering mode as shown in fig. 5, the pairs of co-operation instructions 132a and 132b issued by the control device 10 to the first and second AGVs 21 and 22, respectively, may include a co-lift instruction issued after the dispatch is completed, and a co-movement instruction issued after the co-lift is completed.

Fig. 11a to 11d are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of the cooperative conveyance operation based on the synchronization verification interaction mechanism as shown in fig. 4 and 8.

Referring first to FIG. 11a, for coordinated lift operation, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may utilize the difference in lift height between each other to achieve a synchronization check for coordinated lift operation to form a synchronization constraint 130 with a virtual leveling action between the lift mechanism 212 of the first AGV 21 and the lift mechanism 222 of the second AGV 22. Accordingly, either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can slow down the lift speed of the present recipe when the lift height of the present recipe reaches a preset threshold value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party, and either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 can further stop the lift operation of the present recipe when the lift height of the present recipe reaches a preset limit value compared to the advance amplitude of the other party until the lift height of the other party advances to a degree that compensates for the advance amplitude, and then both parties stop and restart the synchronization check.

Referring to fig. 11b, for coordinated movement, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may utilize integral values of the linear velocity difference and the angular velocity difference between each other to achieve a synchronization check for coordinated movement to form a synchronization constraint 130 having a virtual bridging effect between the chassis mechanisms of the first AGV 21 and the chassis mechanisms of the second AGV 22. For example, the linear velocity v 1 of the first AGV 21 can be decomposed into components v 1X and v 1Y in both directions of the X axis and the Y axis of the reference coordinate system, the linear velocity v 2 of the second AGV 22 can be decomposed into components v 2X and v 2Y in both directions of the X axis and the Y axis of the reference coordinate system, and the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 each have angular velocities ω1 and ω2, and the integral values of the linear velocity differences ≡Δνx and ≡Δνy, and the integral values of the angular velocity differences ≡Δω can be obtained according to the following equations 1 to 3:

Type 1 = ∈Δνx (ν1x- ν2x)

Type 2 ∈ (v 1 y-v 2 y) = ≡Δv y

Type 3 where ζ (ω1- ω2) = ≡Δω

Since the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 move while holding the same target together, the positional deviation therebetween is not too large. Using the above-described integral values to characterize the positional offset between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, a synchronization constraint 130 having a rigid and inflexible virtual nature may be more accurately formed between the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22. Accordingly, either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may slow down the travel speed of the present invention when at least one integrated value calculated by the present invention is positive and reaches a preset threshold value, and either one of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may further stop the travel operation of the present invention when at least one integrated value calculated by the present invention is positive and reaches a preset limit value until the travel position of the other party advances to the extent of subtracting the integrated value, and then both ends stop and restart the synchronism check.

Referring again to fig. 11c and 11d, during the lift operation shown in fig. 11a and the move operation shown in fig. 11b, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may be further physically connected by the docking mechanism 80 to achieve physical integration of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22. The physical connection created by the docking structure 80 may create a constraint on the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 that is more conducive to synchronous performance of the coordinated operations. The docking mechanism 80 may dock after the first AGV 21 receives the lift instruction (the docking process of the docking mechanism 80 may be considered as part of the operational readiness), i.e., the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 may further utilize the docking mechanism 80 to physically dock with each other in response to the coordinated lift instruction issued by the control device 10. Also, the docking mechanism 80 may be disconnected after the movement operation is completed to release the flexibility of the independent movement of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22.

It will be appreciated that the physical connection provided by the docking mechanism 80 as shown in fig. 11c and 11d may be replaced with a normal physical connection, i.e., the docking mechanism 80 may be replaced with a bridging mechanism that enables the primary AGV 21 and the secondary AGV 22 to be integrated into a single vehicle body. At this time, the control device 10 issues an operation instruction to the first AGV 21 indicating that the bridging integrated vehicle body of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 performs the transport operation on the target object, and the first AGV 21 can initiate the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 to synchronously perform the cooperative transport operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction issued by the control device 10, thereby triggering the cooperative transport operation. Further, a synchronization verification interaction mechanism of a conveyance operation trigger mode as shown in fig. 4 may be applied to a case where the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 are integrated into one vehicle body.

Fig. 12a and 12b are schematic electrical structures of an AGV in a control system for coordinated conveyance of the AGV.

The electrical configuration shown in fig. 12a may be applied to both the transfer operation triggering modes shown in fig. 2 and 5 and the corresponding scheduling principles shown in fig. 3 and 7, and also to the case where the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 are bridge integrated into one vehicle body. Referring to fig. 12a, a first AGV 21 can have a first processor 1210, a first upstream communication module 1211 for establishing a communication connection with the control device 10, and a first group communication module 1212 for establishing a communication connection with a second AGV 22, and the second AGV 22 can have a second processor 1220, a second upstream communication module 1221 for establishing a communication connection with the control device 10, and a second group communication module 1222 for establishing a communication connection with the first AGV 21.

The electrical configuration shown in fig. 12b may be applied to a handling operation triggering mode as shown in fig. 2 and a corresponding scheduling principle as shown in fig. 3, and also to a case where the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 are bridged and integrated into one vehicle body. Referring to fig. 12b, the first AGV 21 may have a first processor 1210, a first upstream communication module 1211 for establishing a communication connection with the control device 10, and a first group communication module 1212 for establishing a communication connection with the second AGV 22, and the second AGV 22 may have a second processor 1220 and a multiplexed communication module 1221, the multiplexed communication module 1221 may establish a communication connection with the first group communication module 1212 of the first AGV 21 during a period in which the second AGV 22 is configured to group from the identity of the AGV 21 and establish a communication connection with the control device 10 before a successful group and after a group withdrawal.

As can also be seen from fig. 12a and 12b, the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 have respective first sensor module 1213 and second sensor module 1223, and the first sensor module 1213 and the second sensor module 1223 may each include an avoidance detection sensor for avoiding obstacles (including avoiding each other) of the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22, a target object detection sensor for the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 to realize the operation position finding, a lifting progress detection sensor for the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 to detect the lifting height, a speed detection sensor for the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22 to detect the traveling linear speed and the angular speed, and the like.

In addition, the control device 10 shown in fig. 12a and 12b may include a processor 11 and a communication module 12, wherein the processor 10 may be configured to implement the AGV group and the generation and delivery of the various instructions mentioned above, and the communication module 12 may be configured to establish a communication link with one or more AGVs (including the first AGV 21 and the second AGV 22).

FIG. 13 is an exemplary flow chart of a control method for AGV coordinated handling in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 13, in one embodiment, a control method for an AGV coordinated transport includes:

s1300: the control device triggers the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation.

S1310: the first AGV initiates the coordinated handling operation triggered by the control device.

S1320: the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously perform a coordinated transport operation initiated by the first AGV.

Fig. 14 is an exemplary flowchart of the control method shown in fig. 13 for performing the cooperative operation. Referring to fig. 14, S1320 in the control method shown in fig. 13 may specifically include the following steps:

s1410: the first AGV checks the operational readiness with the second AGV.

S1420: after the first AGV and the second AGV check each other to operate the ready state, the first AGV and the second AGV are started to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object.

S1430: the first AGV and the second AGV mutually announce the operation progress of each other and realize synchronous constraint by the synchronous verification of the operation progress of the two parties until the cooperative transportation operation is completed.

For the synchronization check in S1430, either the first AGV or the second AGV slows down the operation progress of the present recipe when the advance amplitude of the operation progress of the present recipe compared to the other party reaches a preset threshold value, and stops the operation progress of the present recipe when the advance amplitude of the operation progress of the present recipe compared to the other party reaches a preset limit value until the operation progress of the other party advances to a degree that compensates for the advance amplitude.

Fig. 15 is an exemplary flow diagram of a synchronization verification mechanism during the cooperative operation as shown in fig. 14. Referring to FIG. 15, S1430 in the cooperative operation shown in FIG. 14 may specifically include the following steps performed at each of the first AGV and the second AGV:

s1510: and judging whether the difference of the operation progress of the two parties reaches a preset threshold, if so, indicating that the synchronicity of the two parties is abnormal and jumping to S1520, otherwise, confirming that the synchronicity of the two parties reaches the standard and jumping to S1560.

S1520: and judging whether the operation progress of the method is advanced to the other party, if so, indicating that the synchronization abnormality of the two parties needs the method to be adjusted and jumping to S1530, otherwise, confirming that the method does not need to be adjusted and jumping to S1580.

S1530: judging whether the advance difference of the operation progress of the method reaches a limit, if so, confirming that the synchronization abnormality degree exceeds the adjustable range and jumping to S1540, otherwise, confirming that the synchronization abnormality of the method is adjustable and jumping to S1550.

S1540: the method stops the operation progress and informs the opposite side due to the fact that the degree of abnormality of the synchronism exceeds the adjustable range, and then waits for restarting the cooperative conveying operation synchronously executed by the two sides.

S1550: the method suspends the operation progress and then jumps to S1580.

S1560: judging whether the opposite side stops the operation progress due to the fact that the abnormal degree of the synchronicity exceeds the adjustable range, if so, confirming that the cooperative transportation operation currently executed close to the synchronicity is restarted and jumps to S1570, otherwise, confirming that the synchronicity is normal and jumps to S1580.

S1570: and judging whether the difference of the operation processes of the two parties is eliminated, if so, waiting for restarting the synchronous cooperative transportation operation of the two parties by jumping to S1540, otherwise, confirming that the method still needs to continue to advance the operation progress and jumping to S1580.

S1580: and judging whether the operation progress of the method is finished, if yes, ending the current flow, otherwise, returning to S1510.

In addition, for S1310 in the flow shown in fig. 13, the conveyance operation triggering mode shown in fig. 2 or fig. 5 may be employed. Also, S1320 in the flow shown in fig. 13 may be performed twice for the carrying operation and the moving operation in succession.

Referring to fig. 16a, for the case where the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 2 is adopted in S1310 in the flow shown in fig. 13, the control method shown in fig. 13 may be extended as follows:

s1611: the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input transport task, and issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, respectively. Wherein the control device may further designate a master AGV identity of the first AGV and a slave AGV identity of the second AGV in the group instruction, such that the group instruction further has an additional function of triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to determine master-slave identities with respect to each other on the basis of having a basic function for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to group.

S1612: the first AGV and the second AGV establish communication connection with each other in response to a grouping instruction issued by the control device, and mutually confirm the master AGV identity of the first AGV and the slave AGV identity of the second AGV.

Grouping stages for S1611 to S1612: as an alternative to S1611, the control device may also issue a grouping instruction to only the first AGV determined as the primary AGV identity after grouping the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input transport task; accordingly, as an alternative to S1612, the first AGV may initiate establishment of a communicative connection between the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the consist command issued by the control device and mutually confirm the master AGV identity of the first AGV and the slave AGV identity of the second AGV. It will be appreciated that for such an alternative, if the control device chooses to issue a group order to the second AGV, it is equally possible to establish a communication link between the first AGV and the second AGV and to mutually identify the master and slave.

S1613: the control device maps the first AGV and the second AGV which mutually confirm the master-slave identity after grouping into a virtual AGV.

S1614: the control device issues a scheduling instruction for scheduling the virtual AGV to the position of the target object corresponding to the carrying task to the first AGV with the main AGV identity.

S1615: the first AGV responds to the dispatching instruction issued by the control device to move to the position of the target object, and initiates relay dispatching which points to the position of the target object from the second AGV with the identity of the AGV.

Through S1615, after the first AGV and the second AGV reach the target object, the first AGV reports the completion of the virtual AGV scheduling to the control device.

Scheduling stage for S1614 to S1615: as an alternative to S1614, the control device may issue, to the first AGV and the second AGV, independent scheduling instructions directed to the location of the target object, respectively, and accordingly, as an alternative to S1615, the first AGV and the second AGV may each independently move to the location of the target object in response to the independent scheduling instructions issued by the control device, and report, to the control device, that scheduling is completed after reaching the location of the target object, respectively.

S1616: the control device issues a lift instruction to a first AGV having a primary AGV identity that instructs the virtual AGV to perform a lift operation on a target object.

S1617: the first AGV initiates a coordinated lift of the target in synchronization with a second AGV having a slave AGV identity in response to a lift command issued by the control device.

The collaborative lifting in S1617 may be performed by the first AGV and the second AGV notifying each other of the operation progress, and performing synchronization constraint on each other by using synchronization verification of the operation progress of both the first AGV and the second AGV until the collaborative lifting operation is completed.

For the lifting operation, the difference in operation progress may be a lifting height difference between both sides. Accordingly, the synchronization check of the progress of the operations of the first AGV and the second AGV in S1617 may include: any one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset threshold value and stops the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset limit value, until the lifting progress of the user is advanced to a degree of compensating the lifting height difference. The specific synchronization verification process may refer to the flow shown in fig. 15.

Through S1617, after the first AGV and the second AGV complete the collaborative lifting, the first AGV reports to the control device that the virtual AGV completes the lifting of the target object.

S1618: the control device issues a movement instruction to the first AGV having the main AGV identity, which instructs the virtual AGV to perform a movement operation on the lifted target object.

S1619: the first AGV initiates cooperative movement of the lifted object in synchronization with a second AGV having a slave AGV identity in response to a movement command issued by the control device.

The cooperative movement in S1619 may be implemented by the first AGV and the second AGV notifying each other of the operation progress of each other and checking the synchronicity of the operation progress of both sides to restrict the synchronization of each other until the cooperative movement operation is completed.

For the moving operation, the difference in the operation progress may be the aforementioned integral values of the linear velocity differences ≡Δνx and ≡Δνy, and the integral value of the angular velocity difference ≡Δω. Accordingly, the synchronization check of the progress of the operations of the first AGV and the second AGV in S1617 may include: any one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user is advanced by a preset threshold value before the movement offset difference of the user reaches the preset threshold value, and stops the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user is advanced by the preset threshold value before the movement offset difference of the user reaches the preset limit value until the movement progress of the user is advanced to the extent of compensating the movement offset difference. The specific synchronization verification process may also refer to the flow shown in fig. 15.

That is, when at least one of the integrated values ≡Δνx and ≡Δνy and ≡Δω reaches the threshold value or the advance degree reaches the limit, the condition of yes is satisfied at S1510 and S1530, whereas the condition of no is satisfied at S1510 and S1530 only when all of the integrated values ≡Δνx and ≡Δνy and ≡Δω do not reach the threshold value or the advance degree does not reach the limit.

After the flow is finished, the first AGV can report the completion of the carrying operation of the virtual AGV on the target object to the control device after the first AGV and the second AGV finish the cooperative movement of the target object.

Referring to fig. 16b, for the case where the handling operation trigger mode shown in fig. 5 is adopted in S1310 in the flow shown in fig. 13, the control method shown in fig. 13 may be extended as follows:

s1621: the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input transport task, and issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, respectively.

S1622: the first AGV and the second AGV establish communication connection with each other in response to a grouping instruction issued by the control device.

For the grouping stage of S1621 to S1622: as an alternative to S1621, the control device may issue a grouping instruction to only either one of the first AGV and the second AGV after grouping the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input transfer task; accordingly, as an alternative to S1622, the one of the first and second AGVs that received the group order may initiate establishment of a communication connection between the first and second AGVs in response to the group order.

S1623: the control device respectively gives independent dispatching instructions to the first AGV and the second AGV, wherein the independent dispatching instructions point to the position of the target object.

S1624: the first AGV and the second AGV move independently of each other to the position of the target object in response to independent scheduling instructions issued by the control device.

After the first AGV and the second AGV reach the position of the target object, the independent dispatch of the host vehicle is reported to the control device by S1624.

S1625: the control device transmits a cooperative lifting instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV of the group, wherein the cooperative lifting instruction instructs the first AGV and the second AGV to cooperatively execute lifting operation on the target object.

S1626: the first AGV and the second AGV mutually confirm the cooperative relationship through the pairing validity check in response to the cooperative lifting instruction issued by the control device, and mutually confirm the master-slave identity after the cooperative relationship is confirmed. For example, a first AGV has a master AGV identity and a second AGV has a slave AGV identity.

S1627: a first AGV having a primary AGV identity initiates the first AGV and a second AGV to synchronously perform a coordinated lift of the target object. Wherein the collaborative lift in S1627 may be substantially the same as S1617 as in fig. 16 a.

After the first AGV and the second AGV complete the collaborative lifting of the target object, the first AGV and the second AGV report the completion of the collaborative lifting of the host vehicle to the control device and release the master-slave relationship.

S1628: the control device issues a cooperative movement instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV of the consist, respectively, indicating that the first AGV and the second AGV cooperatively move the lifted object.

S1629: the first AGV and the second AGV mutually confirm the cooperative relationship through the pairing validity check in response to the cooperative movement instruction issued by the control device, and mutually confirm the master-slave identity after the cooperative relationship is confirmed. For example, a first AGV has a master AGV identity and a second AGV has a slave AGV identity.

S1630: a first AGV having a primary AGV identity initiates the first AGV and a second AGV to synchronously perform coordinated movement of the lifted object. Wherein the coordinated movement in S1630 may be substantially the same as S1619 as in fig. 16 a.

After the above process, the first AGV and the second AGV can report the completion of the carrying operation to the control device and release the master-slave relationship after the cooperative movement of the target object is completed.

16a and 16b described above are examples of simultaneous coordinated transport operations performed by a first AGV and a second AGV selected by a group. For the case where the first AGV and the second AGV are selected to be bridged as one vehicle body, the process of triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to perform the cooperative conveyance operation by the control device may include: the control device issues an operation instruction to the first AGV, which instructs the bridge integrated vehicle body of the first AGV and the second AGV to carry out the transport operation on the target object. Accordingly, the coordinated handling operation triggered by the first AGV initiation control may include: the first AGV initiates the first AGV with the primary AGV configuration and the second AGV with the secondary AGV configuration to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction issued by the control device. The process by which the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously perform the co-transport operation initiated by the first AGV may then be the same or substantially the same as in the case where the first AGV and the second AGV are selected by the consist to synchronously perform the co-transport operation.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is not intended to be limiting, but rather to enable any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement or the like to be made within the spirit and principles of the invention.

Claims

1. A control system for coordinated handling of an AGV, the control system comprising:

the control device is used for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to execute cooperative conveying operation, and the cooperative conveying operation comprises at least one of cooperative lifting operation and cooperative moving operation;

the first AGV and the second AGV are configured to mutually announce operation progress of each other in a period of executing cooperative carrying operation by using communication connection therebetween, realize synchronous constraint on each other by synchronous verification of operation progress of both sides, and either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the operation progress of the user when the operation progress of the user reaches a preset threshold value compared with the advance amplitude of the other party and stops the operation progress of the user when the operation progress of the user reaches a preset limit value compared with the advance amplitude of the other party until the operation progress of the other party advances to a degree of compensating the advance amplitude, and:

If the collaborative handling operation comprises a collaborative lifting operation, the synchronism check promotes a first synchronous constraint with a virtual leveling function to be formed between a lifting mechanism of the first AGV and a lifting mechanism of the second AGV;

if the co-handling operation includes a co-movement operation, the synchronization check causes a second synchronization constraint having a virtual bridging effect to be established between the chassis mechanisms of the first AGV and the chassis mechanisms of the second AGV.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

the control device maps the first AGV and the second AGV which mutually determine the master-slave relationship into a virtual AGV, and gives an operation instruction for indicating the virtual AGV to carry out the carrying operation on the target object to the first AGV with the identity of the master AGV, and the first AGV starts the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction given by the control device; or alternatively

The control device pairs the first AGV and the second AGV of the group to give out a cooperative operation instruction for respectively indicating the first AGV and the second AGV to cooperatively execute cooperative conveying operation on the target object, the first AGV and the second AGV mutually confirm a cooperative relationship in response to the cooperative operation instruction given by the control device, and the first AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object in response to the mutual confirmation of the cooperative relationship; or alternatively

The control device issues to the first AGV an operation instruction indicating that the bridge-connected integrated vehicle body of the first AGV and the second AGV carries out carrying operation on the target object, and the first AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute cooperative carrying operation on the target object in response to the operation instruction issued by the control device.

3. The control system of claim 2, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

the control device further gives a scheduling instruction for scheduling the virtual AGVs to the positions of the targets corresponding to the carrying tasks to the first AGVs, and the first AGVs respond to the scheduling instruction given by the control device to move to the positions of the targets and initiate relay scheduling pointing to the positions of the targets to the second AGVs;

the scheduling instruction moves to the position of the target object independently, the scheduling instruction comprises the center coordinate of the target object, the first AGV and the second AGV determine a searching range according to the center coordinate of the target object, and the first AGV and the second AGV search operation positions for executing subsequent operations respectively in the searching range.

4. The control system of claim 2, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

the control device further respectively gives scheduling instructions to the first AGVs and the second AGVs of the group, wherein the scheduling instructions point to the positions of the targets corresponding to the carrying tasks, and the first AGVs and the second AGVs further respectively respond to the scheduling instructions respectively given by the control device and move the central coordinates of the targets to the positions of the targets independently;

Wherein the first AGV and the second AGV determine a search range with the center coordinates of the target object, and search for each operation position for performing the subsequent operation within the search range, respectively.

5. The control system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

if the co-handling operation includes a co-lift operation, the first AGV and the second AGV utilize a lift height difference between each other to achieve a synchronization check for forming a first synchronization constraint upon the co-lift operation, wherein:

any one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the lifting speed of the user when the lifting height of the user reaches a preset threshold value compared with the advance amplitude of the other user;

and stopping the lifting operation of the first AGV and the second AGV when the lifting height of the first AGV reaches a preset limit value compared with the advance amplitude of the other AGV until the lifting height of the other AGV advances to the extent of compensating the advance amplitude, and stopping and restarting the synchronization verification by the first AGV and the second AGV.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

if the co-handling operation includes a co-movement operation, the first AGV and the second AGV implement a synchronism check for forming a second synchronism constraint at the time of the co-movement operation using integral values of a linear velocity difference and an angular velocity difference between each other, wherein the integral values are used for characterizing a positional deviation between the first AGV and the second AGV, and:

Either the first AGV or the second AGV slows down the traveling speed of the user when at least one integral value calculated by the user is positive and reaches a preset threshold;

and stopping the running operation of the first AGV and the second AGV when at least one integral value calculated by the first AGV is positive and reaches a preset limit value until the running position of the other party is advanced to the degree of reducing the integral value, and stopping and restarting the synchronism checking.

7. The control system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to control the control system,

the first AGV and the second AGV further check each other for operational readiness prior to performing the synchronization check, wherein:

the first AGV checks the preparation state of the AGV before executing the synchronism check, and sends a synchronous request to the second AGV after checking that the preparation state of the AGV is qualified;

the second AGV responds to the synchronous request of the first AGV to check the preparation state of the first AGV, and returns synchronous confirmation to the first AGV after the preparation state of the first AGV is checked to be qualified;

after receiving the synchronization confirmation fed back by the second AGV, the first AGV initiates synchronous starting to the second AGV so as to trigger the first AGV and the second AGV to mutually announce the operation progress of each other and realize synchronous constraint between the two AGVs by the synchronization verification of the operation progress of the two AGVs;

The synchronization request message for synchronization request carries synchronization preparation maturity information of the first AGV, the synchronization confirmation message for synchronization confirmation carries synchronization preparation maturity information of the second AGV, the synchronization preparation maturity information carried in the synchronization request message indicates that the preparation work of the first AGV reaches the completion progress up to standard, and the synchronization preparation maturity information carried in the synchronization confirmation message indicates that the preparation work of the second AGV reaches the completion progress up to standard.

8. A control method for coordinated handling of an AGV, the control method comprising:

the first AGV initiates a cooperative conveyance operation triggered by the control device, and the cooperative conveyance operation includes at least one of a cooperative lifting operation and a cooperative moving operation;

wherein the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously perform a coordinated handling operation initiated by the first AGV including: the first AGV and the second AGV utilize communication connection between each other, mutually announce each other's operation progress in the period of carrying out collaborative handling operation, and realize the synchronous constraint to each other with the synchronism check of both sides operation progress, any one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down this operation progress when this operation progress compares the advance range of another party and reaches the threshold value of predetermineeing, and stops this operation progress when this operation progress compares the advance range of another party and reaches the limit value of predetermineeing, until the operation progress of another party advances to the degree of compensating this advance range, and:

9. The control method of claim 8 wherein the coordinated handling operation triggered by the first AGV initiation control device comprises:

the method comprises the steps that a first AGV responds to an operation instruction which is issued by a control device and indicates a virtual AGV to execute carrying operation on a target object, the first AGV and a second AGV initiate cooperative carrying operation on the target object, and the virtual AGV has a mapping relation with the first AGV and the second AGV which mutually determine master-slave identities; or alternatively

The first AGV responds to the cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device and confirms the cooperative relation with the second AGV which receives the pairing instruction of the cooperative operation instruction, and the first AGV responds to the mutual confirmation of the cooperative relation to initiate the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative conveying operation on the target object; or alternatively

The first AGV responds to an operation instruction which is issued by the control device and indicates that the bridging integrated vehicle body of the first AGV and the second AGV carries out carrying operation on the target object, and the first AGV and the second AGV initiate cooperative carrying operation on the target object.

10. The control method of claim 9 wherein the control method further comprises, prior to the first AGV performing the co-transport operation initiated by the first AGV in synchronization with the second AGV:

the first AGV responds to a scheduling instruction issued by the control device to move to the position of the target object, and initiates relay scheduling pointing to the position of the target object to the second AGV, wherein the scheduling instruction is used for indicating a scheduling instruction for scheduling the virtual AGV to the position of the target object corresponding to the transport task;

the scheduling instruction comprises the center coordinates of the target object, and the control method further comprises the following steps: the first AGV and the second AGV determine a search range with the center coordinates of the target object, and search for operation bits each for performing a subsequent operation within the search range, respectively.

11. The control method according to claim 10, characterized in that,

the first AGV and the second AGV respectively give out a scheduling instruction pointing to the position of the target object, and the first AGV and the second AGV further respectively respond to the scheduling instruction respectively given by the control device and independently move to the position of the target object corresponding to the carrying task;

12. The control method according to claim 8, wherein,

if the transport operation includes a lift operation, the first AGV and the second AGV, using a communication connection between them, mutually notifying each other of operation progress during execution of the cooperative transport operation, and implementing synchronization constraint by checking synchronization of both operation progress includes:

either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset threshold value, and stops the lifting progress of the user when the lifting progress of the user is advanced by a preset limit value, until the lifting progress of the user is advanced to a degree of compensating the lifting height difference.

13. The control method according to claim 10, characterized in that,

if the transport operation includes a movement operation, the first AGV and the second AGV, using a communication connection between them, mutually notifying each other of operation progress during execution of the cooperative transport operation, and implementing synchronization constraint by a synchronization check of both operation progress includes:

Either one of the first AGV and the second AGV slows down the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user leads the movement offset difference of the user to reach a preset threshold value, and stops the movement progress of the user when the movement progress of the user leads the movement offset difference of the user to reach a preset limit value until the movement progress of the user advances to the extent of compensating the movement offset difference;

wherein the movement offset difference includes integral values of the linear velocity difference and the angular velocity difference of the first AGV and the second AGV with each other.

14. The control method according to claim 8, characterized in that the control method further comprises: the first AGV and the second AGV utilize a communication connection therebetween to check each other for operational readiness prior to performing a synchronization check, wherein:

15. An AGV comprising a processor for causing the AGV to perform the steps performed by the first AGV or the second AGV in the control method of any of claims 8 to 14.