CN114348516B

CN114348516B - Material box checking method, device, scheduling equipment, warehousing system and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114348516B
Application number: CN202210111548.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈锐东; 钟馨
Original assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-01-29
Filing date: 2022-01-29
Publication date: 2023-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 2042-01-29
Also published as: CN114348516A

Abstract

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a bin checking method, a device, a scheduling device, a warehouse system and a storage medium, wherein the bin checking method comprises the following steps: generating an inventory command of an inventory area, and sending the inventory command to at least one inventory robot, wherein the inventory command is used for controlling the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area so as to obtain at least two groups of inventory data of the inventory area, and the inventory area comprises a plurality of library positions; receiving at least two sets of inventory data, wherein each set of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue; intersection sets are taken from the bin identification code queues to obtain cross inventory queues; according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area, whether the checking area has a to-be-checked library position is judged, batch checking in a cross mode is realized, abnormal judgment of the checking area is carried out based on the checking result, and checking efficiency is improved.

Description

Material box checking method, device, scheduling equipment, warehousing system and storage medium

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of warehousing systems, and in particular relates to a bin inventory method, a bin inventory device, scheduling equipment, a warehousing system and a storage medium.

Background

The warehousing system based on the robot adopts an intelligent operation system, realizes automatic taking out and storage of articles through system instructions, can continuously run for 24 hours, replaces manual management and operation, improves the warehousing efficiency, and is widely applied and favored.

In the daily operation of the warehouse system, the materials stored in each warehouse position of the storage shelf need to be checked, such as regular checking or random checking, so as to recheck the conditions of the materials stored in each warehouse position.

Most of traditional checking modes are single-point checking, based on checking by taking a bin as a unit, a robot carries a bin stored on the bin to an operation table, so that the carried bin and materials stored in the bin are checked at the operation table. The checking mode has lower checking efficiency and cannot be suitable for warehouses with larger storage body quantity.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a bin counting method, a device, scheduling equipment, a storage system and a storage medium, which realize a cross counting mode taking a counting area as a unit and greatly improve the bin counting efficiency.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for checking a bin, where the method is applied to a scheduling device, and the method includes: generating an inventory command of an inventory area, and sending the inventory command to at least one inventory robot, wherein the inventory command is used for controlling the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area so as to obtain at least two groups of inventory data of the inventory area, and the inventory area comprises a plurality of library positions; receiving at least two sets of inventory data, wherein each set of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue; intersection sets are taken from the bin identification code queues to obtain cross inventory queues; and judging whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area.

Optionally, the step of sending the inventory instruction to at least one inventory robot to control the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area includes: and sending the checking instruction to a checking robot so as to control the checking robot to check the checking area at least twice.

Optionally, the counting instruction includes a first counting instruction and a second counting instruction, and the sending of the counting instruction to at least one counting robot, so as to control the at least one counting robot to count the counting area, includes:

and respectively sending the first inventory instruction and the second inventory instruction to a first inventory robot and a second inventory robot so as to control the first inventory robot and the second inventory robot to inventory the inventory areas respectively.

Optionally, the first inventory robot and the second inventory robot are different from each other in at least one of inventory sequence and inventory path for inventory of the inventory area.

Optionally, the bin identification code queue is obtained after the inventory robot performs one-time inventory on all bin identification codes acquired by the inventory area.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the cross checking queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: if the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data have missing bin identification codes, determining that the checking areas have the library positions to be checked; wherein the missing bin identification code does not exist in the cross inventory queue.

Optionally, the library bits to be checked include: and in the stock data, library bits corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

Optionally, the to-be-inspected library bit includes: and in the stock data, the stock positions in a preset range are nearby the stock positions corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: if the cross checking queue has the misplaced bin identification code, determining that the checking area has the bin to be checked; the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

Optionally, the checking instruction is configured to control the checking robot to check the checking area with a checking unit as a unit, where the checking unit includes one or more library positions; the bin identification code queue consists of a plurality of bin identification code sets, and the bin identification code sets are in one-to-one correspondence with the checking units; intersection sets are taken from the bin identification code queues to obtain cross inventory queues, and the method comprises the following steps: respectively taking intersection sets of corresponding bin identification code sets in each bin identification code queue to obtain each crossed bin identification code set; and combining all the crossed bin identification code sets to obtain the crossed inventory queue.

Optionally, when the checking robot performs checking on the checking area based on the checking instruction, the bin identification device of the checking robot is intermittently opened; the bin identification device is opened when moving to a preset position of the corresponding checking unit, and the bin identification code set consists of bin identification codes acquired during each opening.

Optionally, when the checking robot performs checking on the checking area based on the checking instruction, the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously opened, and if a difference value between collection time points corresponding to two bin identification codes collected adjacently is smaller than a preset value, the two bin identification codes are classified into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, when the checking robot performs checking on the checking area based on the checking instruction, the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously opened, and if the distance between the positions of the bin identification devices when two bin identification codes collected adjacently are collected is smaller than a preset distance, the two bin identification codes are classified into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, the position of the bin recognition device includes at least one of a height of the bin recognition device and a position coordinate of the inventory robot.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: for each checking unit in the checking area, when the corresponding bin identification code of the checking unit in the inventory data is in the bin identification code set corresponding to the checking unit, determining that the checking unit does not have the to-be-checked library position; and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: judging whether a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area; the first unit is an inventory unit with a third bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the third bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the to-be-checked bin positions comprise all bin positions corresponding to the first unit.

Optionally, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: judging whether a second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

Optionally, the bin recognition device comprises an electronic tag recognition device or an image recognition device.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a bin inventory device, the device comprising: the system comprises an instruction generation module, a counting module and at least one counting robot, wherein the instruction generation module is used for generating a counting instruction of a counting area and sending the counting instruction to the at least one counting robot, and the counting instruction is used for controlling the at least one counting robot to count the counting area so as to obtain at least two groups of counting data of the counting area, wherein the counting area comprises a plurality of library positions; the inventory data receiving module is used for receiving at least two groups of inventory data, wherein each group of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue; the cross queue acquisition module is used for acquiring intersections of the bin identification code queues to obtain cross checking queues; and the abnormality judging module is used for judging whether the inventory area has the inventory position to be checked according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a scheduling apparatus, including: a memory and at least one processor; the memory stores computer-executable instructions; at least one processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the at least one processor executes the bin inventory method provided by any embodiment corresponding to the first aspect of the disclosure.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a warehousing system, including a storage shelf, an inventory robot, and a scheduling device provided by an embodiment corresponding to the third aspect of the present disclosure.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement a bin inventory method as provided in any embodiment of the present disclosure.

In a sixth aspect, the disclosed embodiments also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements a bin inventory method as provided by any of the embodiments of the disclosure.

According to the bin counting method, the bin counting device, the scheduling equipment, the storage system and the storage medium, one or more counting robots are controlled to count the counting area based on counting instructions of the counting area comprising a plurality of storage positions, at least two groups of counting data of the counting area are obtained, and each group of counting data comprises a bin identification code queue; and taking intersection sets of all bin identification code queues corresponding to the checking areas to obtain crossed checking queues of the checking areas, judging whether the checking areas have to be checked bin positions to be checked further or not based on the crossed checking queues of the checking areas and the pre-stored bin position data of the checking areas, so that the crossed batch checking with the checking areas as units is realized, the checking efficiency is improved, and meanwhile, checking of the checking areas with misplaced bins is realized through checking, so that the successful and error-free performance of bin discharging tasks is ensured, and the operating efficiency of the discharging tasks is improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is an application scenario diagram of a bin inventory method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a bin inventory method provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a schematic illustration of the beam of the bin identification device of the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the inventory robot employing a single-library mode for inventory according to the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of the inventory robot employing a multi-inventory approach in the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram of two inventory robots in the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3E is a schematic illustration of a storage shelf inventory in the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3F is a schematic diagram of the determination of the range to be inspected in the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3G is a schematic diagram of batch inventory of multiple deep shelves provided in one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3H is a schematic illustration of a cross inventory of a multi-deep shelf according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart providing steps for determining a unit to be inspected in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart providing a step of determining a unit to be inspected according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart providing a step of determining a unit to be inspected according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a bin inventory method provided by another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a bin inventory method provided by another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a bin inventory method provided by another embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a scheduling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of an inventory robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown by way of the above drawings and will be described in more detail below. These drawings and the written description are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts in any way, but rather to illustrate the disclosed concepts to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples are not representative of all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure as detailed in the accompanying claims.

The following describes the technical solutions of the present disclosure and how the technical solutions of the present disclosure solve the above technical problems in detail with specific embodiments. The following embodiments may be combined with each other in one embodiment, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments. Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The application scenario of the embodiments of the present disclosure is explained below:

fig. 1 is an application scenario diagram of a bin checking method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, a bin system often has a situation that bins stored on storage shelves are wrong, for example, bin positions corresponding to bins are disordered, especially for a bin system of a man-machine mixed field (i.e., a bin system in which an operator and a robot work together), because of manual intervention, bins stored on storage shelves 110 of the bin system are wrong, for example, bin positions corresponding to bins are disordered, so that a bin stored on each storage shelf 110 of the bin system needs to be checked in a gap of picking and placing operations.

In one embodiment, storage shelf 110 includes a plurality of tiers of columns of storage bits, in FIG. 1 where storage shelf 110 includes 2 tiers of 6 columns, one or more storage bins may be stored on each storage bit.

In one embodiment, the operator may sequentially inventory bins stored on various bins of the storage rack 110 based on inventory data stored in the scheduling device or the warehouse system 120, and the manual inventory is inefficient and cannot be ensured with accuracy.

In one embodiment, inventory of bins stored on the bins may be performed by the robot 130. The method comprises the following steps: the robot 130 sequentially walks to each bin, recognizes the bin identification code of the bin stored on the bin, and sends the bin identification code to the dispatching device or the warehousing system 120, the dispatching device or the warehousing system 120 judges whether the received bin identification code is consistent with the bin identification code of the bin recorded in the pre-stored inventory data, if not, the bin stored on the bin is wrong, and the bin needs to be adjusted to avoid the error of the subsequent bin delivery task.

The robot-based inventory mode performs inventory by taking the inventory position as a unit, and for a warehouse system with larger inventory quantity, such as a warehouse system for storing building block toys and automobile part objects, the inventory efficiency is lower, the time consumption is longer and the requirements cannot be met by adopting a single inventory position inventory mode by taking the inventory position as a unit. And the long-time checking task can influence other tasks of the warehousing system, so that the working efficiency of the other tasks is reduced.

In order to improve efficiency of bin inventory, the disclosed embodiments provide a bin inventory method, which has the main concept that: and after the counting is finished, the checking device judges whether the counting area has the library position to be checked or not through the comparison condition of the counting data and the library position data, so that the time for the counting robot to execute the counting task is reduced, the counting efficiency is improved, and the influence of the counting task on the operation efficiency of other tasks is reduced.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a bin inventory method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2, where the bin inventory method may be executed by a dispatching device or a warehouse system, where the dispatching device is mainly used to dispatch or control a robot, for example, to allocate inventory tasks, pick-and-place tasks, etc. to the robot, and the bin inventory method according to the embodiment includes the following steps:

step S201, generating an inventory command of an inventory area, and sending the inventory command to an inventory robot, where the inventory command is used to control the inventory robot to inventory the inventory area, so as to obtain inventory data corresponding to the inventory area.

The inventory area comprises a plurality of library bits, and the inventory data comprises a bin identification code queue. When the checking robot checks the corresponding checking area, the checking unit can be used as a checking unit, and the checking unit can be one library position or a plurality of library positions. The bin id queue may be comprised of bin ids for bins stored on a plurality of inventory bins or a plurality of inventory units. When the inventory storage positions or the inventory units of the inventory robot are not stored with the bins, the bin identification code queue in the inventory data of the inventory robot is an empty queue. The inventory positions are the inventory positions which need to be checked in the check area, and the check units are the units which need to be checked in the check area.

In one embodiment, a bin id queue may be generated for a corresponding inventory area of an inventory robot. Or a plurality of inventory areas corresponding to the inventory robot can generate a bin identification code queue.

The bin identification code queue is a collection of bin identification codes acquired by the inventory robot at the inventory area based on the inventory instructions.

Step S202, receiving the inventory data.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot uploads the generated inventory data to the warehousing system or the scheduling device or the warehousing system after performing the corresponding inventory task.

In one embodiment, the inventory data may further include a robot identifier of the inventory robot or an area identifier of the inventory area, so as to determine the inventory area corresponding to each inventory data based on the robot identifier or the area identifier of the inventory area.

Step S203, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area according to the checking data and the inventory data of the checking area.

Wherein, the library to be checked is a library in which the bin may be stored abnormally in the inventory area.

In one embodiment, each inventory area may include a plurality of inventory bits. The inventory data may include bin identifiers for the respective bins collected or identified or read by the inventory robot. The bin identification code is an identification code for identifying the bin and can be a two-dimensional code, a bar code, a code, an electronic tag and the like.

In one embodiment, the bin id may be provided on one or more set sides of the bin, such as opposite sides, and one or more bin ids may be provided on each set side to facilitate collection of bin ids by the inventory robot. The inventory robot can be a movable device such as an unmanned plane, an automatic guided vehicle and the like.

In one embodiment, the inventory area may include at least one warehouse rack, each of which may include a plurality of rows and columns of bins, each of which may house a bin.

In one embodiment, the inventory area may include one or more rows, columns, or columns of a warehouse rack, and may include a portion of a warehouse rack.

In one embodiment, the physical space corresponding to the inventory area may be a continuous or discontinuous space.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot performs inventory on an inventory area in units of inventory units. The inventory unit is determined according to an identification range of a bin identification device provided on the inventory robot, and one inventory unit may include one or more bins. It should be understood that "inventory is performed in units of inventory units" does not mean that the inventory area must be divided into a plurality of inventory units, but rather that the bin identification device is performed in units of inventory units at the time of inventory, i.e., the bin identification device or inventory robot is able to identify each inventory unit as collecting the corresponding bin identification code (in other embodiments, for example, the inventory robot walks at a fast speed and the bin identification device is constantly on, collecting bin identification codes for the bins through which the bin identification device passes, in which case the bin identification codes may be continuously collected, i.e., the bin identification device and inventory robot may not be able to identify each inventory unit as collecting the corresponding bin identification code). When the inventory unit is a plurality of inventory units, the inventory units may overlap with each other, for example, a certain inventory unit may belong to the inventory unit a and the inventory unit B at the same time, as long as the bin identification device, the inventory robot, or an information system (such as a scheduling device) for managing inventory can identify such overlapping.

In one embodiment, when an inventory area is checked, a single inventory bit mode may be adopted to identify, in the single inventory bit mode, the inventory unit is a single inventory bit, that is, the inventory robot performs inventory on each inventory bit in the inventory area by taking the inventory bit as a unit, and the inventory bit is the inventory bit in the inventory area to be checked. As described in detail in connection with the following fig. 3B, in the single bin mode, if the situation of misreading and serial reading is eliminated during bin identification code collection, the bin identification code corresponding to one bin can be read only at one time by the bin identification device arranged on the checking robot or the checking robot, or even if more than one bin identification code corresponding to one bin is read at one time, the bin identification code of the checking bin, namely the bin identification code of the bin to be checked, can be determined from the bin identification codes.

In one embodiment, when an inventory area is checked, a multi-bin mode may be used for identification, where the inventory units are a plurality of bins, that is, the inventory robot performs inventory on each inventory unit in the inventory area by using the plurality of bins or the inventory units as units. As described in detail in connection with the following fig. 3C, when collecting bin identifiers, even if the situation of misreading and serial reading is eliminated, the bin identifiers corresponding to more than one bin can be read at one time by the counting robot or the bin identifier device arranged on the counting robot.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot performs inventory on the storage shelf in the inventory area, the inventory robot may perform the inventory on a fixed point, that is, travel to each set position of the storage shelf to be checked, so as to complete the inventory on all the storage shelves. The bin identification device of the counting robot can be started when the counting robot is located in a preset range of the set position point or is located in the set position point, so that bin identification codes can be collected. The set position points may be determined by a warehouse system or a scheduling device, for example, each set position may be determined according to a distribution condition of each inventory unit in the inventory area, and one set position may correspond to one or more inventory units.

Taking an example of a storage shelf as an inventory area, the storage shelf comprises 5 rows and 5 columns of stock positions, the working range of a bin identification device of the inventory robot is 1 row and 3 columns, the number of set position points can be 2, one of the set position points is positioned at the position point corresponding to the 2 th column of stock position, the other set position point is positioned at the position point corresponding to the 4 th column of stock position, the inventory robot can reciprocate at the two set position points, and the height of the bin identification device is controlled, so that the scanning of all the stock positions of the storage shelf is realized.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may perform inventory in a continuous walking manner, i.e., at a constant or non-constant speed, across the inventory levels in the inventory area and inventory the inventory levels using the bin identification device while inventory is being performed on the storage shelves in the inventory area.

It should be appreciated that either fixed-point inventory or continuous walking inventory may use single-or multi-bin inventory modes.

In one embodiment, when the counting robot counts the counting area, a faster walking speed can be used, and the bin identification device is continuously started. In this case, the bin identification device will continuously collect a number of bin identification codes. In one embodiment, due to the collection mode of the bin identifier device, the collected bin identifiers are not in strict sequence, i.e., it cannot be determined that the bin identifier a collected first must correspond to the bin position through which the bin identifier device passes first, and then the bin identifier B collected second must correspond to the bin position through which the bin identifier device passes second. At this time, all the collected bin identifiers can be regarded as a whole, the bin identifiers are de-duplicated to form a bin identifier queue, the bin identifiers are directly reported to an information system for managing inventory, and the information system uses the identification method of the invention to determine whether the inventory is successful. For example, for a shelf, forming a bin identification code queue by the method, sending the bin identification code queue to an information system, and determining that inventory is successful if the information system determines that bin identifications of bins required to be in the shelf are all in the bin identification code queue; if the information system finds that the bin identification code of the bin needed in the goods shelf is not in the bin identification code queue, the inventory is considered to be unsuccessful, and if the bin is not on the bin, the bin or the bin and the bin beside the bin need to be checked. In this case, bin identifiers other than the bin identifier of the bin in the shelf (hereinafter simply referred to as "multi-read bin identifiers") are also included in the bin identifier queue, but the presence of these bin identifiers does not constitute a failure to inventory because they are likely bin identifiers from other bin strings. In one embodiment, if the information system finds that a read-many bin id, the corresponding bin in the inventory data, is very far from the bin being checked (e.g., exceeds a threshold distance that may be the range that the bin id may be acquired by or a margin superimposed on) it may be determined that the read-many bin id is unlikely to be read in series, and thus it may be determined that the read-many bin id is from a bin misplaced in or near the bin, and this read-many bin id is recorded, because in the subsequent inventory, the bin is found to be absent from the bin at which the bin id is checked, and this recorded bin id may be used to locate directly to the bin in which it may be located, and to find the bin in or near the bin. The above-described inventory robot walks at a relatively high speed and performs inventory on the entire pallet or on an entire row, column, or other portion of the pallet as a whole, which is particularly advantageous for large warehouses where inventory efficiency is sought, and for warehouses that use double deep pallets (inventory of double deep pallets will be described in connection with fig. 3G). This way of inventory is typically combined with a multi-library inventory mode, which can achieve higher efficiency.

In one embodiment, each inventory area may be divided by taking the storage shelf or other physical range as a unit according to one or more of the location of the storage shelf, the type of the material stored in the storage shelf, and the like, and an area identifier of each inventory area may be set, so as to identify the inventory area corresponding to each inventory data based on the area identifier.

In one embodiment, for each storage shelf to be checked, according to the type of materials stored in the storage shelf and the position of the storage shelf, the storage shelves to be checked are divided into one or more checking areas, so that the walking distance of the checking robot when executing the checking task of the corresponding checking area is reduced.

In one embodiment, the type of material may be determined by one or more of the size, characteristics, price, etc. of the material.

In one embodiment, the material type may be related to inventory mode, such as including batch inventory type and non-batch inventory type, which may be subdivided into single-bin and multi-bin patterns. The types of materials stored in the material box are all batch inventory types. When a bin filled with non-batch counting materials is used for counting, the quantity of the materials stored in the bin is required to be counted, and the bin counting method is not applicable.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may generate the inventory instructions of each inventory area according to the inventory requirements of each inventory area. The inventory requirement of the inventory area may include each inventory position of the inventory area, and the inventory position may be part or all of the inventory positions of the storage shelf of the inventory area. The inventory command may include the location of the inventory area, such as the inventory start point and the inventory end point, or may include the location of each storage shelf corresponding to the inventory area.

In one embodiment, the inventory instructions may further include locations of the respective inventory nodes to cause the inventory robot to perform path planning based on the locations of the respective inventory nodes.

In one embodiment, the inventory of individual units or bins of individual storage shelves within the inventory area may be performed by default.

In one embodiment, the inventory data of each inventory area includes a bin identifier queue, where the bin identifier queue is a collection of bin identifiers collected by the inventory robot at a plurality of bins corresponding to the corresponding inventory area based on the inventory instructions. The bin identifiers in the bin identifier queue may be ordered in the order of collection. In one embodiment, an inventory area corresponds to a bin identifier queue.

In one embodiment, after the inventory data is received, the bin identification queue in the inventory data may be deduplicated.

In one embodiment, if two adjacent bin identifiers in the bin identification queue are the same, then one of the two bin identifiers needs to be removed.

In one embodiment, the checking robot may perform duplication removal processing on the checking data, and the bin identification code queue is obtained after the checking robot performs duplication removal on all bin identification codes acquired by checking the checking area. For example, the duplicate removal processing is performed on a plurality of identical bin identifiers which are sequentially consecutive in the bin identifier queue, so as to reduce the data volume of inventory data.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot performs inventory in units of inventory units. For example, the inventory robot walks at a faster speed and the bin identification device is continuously turned on to continuously collect bin identification codes for each bin in the inventory area. At this time, the bin id queue may be a combination of bin ids obtained by performing de-duplication on all the bin ids acquired after the bin ids are acquired for the entire inventory area or a part of the inventory area (e.g., a row on a shelf). At this time, the whole bin identification code queue corresponds to the whole inventory area or a part of the inventory area, and the bin identification code inside the bin identification code queue cannot accurately correspond to a certain bin or inventory unit.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot performs inventory in units of inventory units. The checking robot can recognize that checking is performed on a certain checking unit at present, and then the acquired bin identification code corresponds to the checking unit. The bin identifiers corresponding to a certain inventory unit are regarded as a bin identifier set, and the bin identifier sets are combined to form a bin identifier queue.

In one embodiment, the bin identification device is intermittently opened, and each opening is performed for one acquisition unit, so that all bin identifications acquired in a single opening are classified into the same bin identification set. In one embodiment, the bin id device is intermittently or continuously turned on, and when the difference between the collection time points corresponding to two bin ids collected successively is smaller than a preset value, the two bin ids can be considered to come from the same inventory unit, so that the two bin ids are classified into the same bin id set. For example, it may be provided that two bin identifiers acquired successively, whose difference in acquisition times is less than 1 millisecond, come from the same inventory unit. In one embodiment, when the checking robot performs checking on the checking area, the bin identification device is opened intermittently or continuously, and when two bin identifications collected successively are collected, the difference between the geographic positions corresponding to the bin identification device is smaller than a preset value, the two bin identifications can be considered to be from the same checking unit, so that the two bin identifications are classified into the same bin identification set. For example, it may be provided that, when two bin identifiers acquired successively are acquired, the inventory robot corresponds to the same geographical coordinates in the warehouse plane, and the robotic arms mounting the bin identifiers are at the same height, then the two bin identifiers are considered to be from the same inventory unit.

In one embodiment, in order to improve the checking efficiency, the checking robot only needs to identify the bin identification code of the bin during checking, and does not need to identify the bin identification code of the bin stored in the bin, i.e. the checked bin or the checked bin identification code of the checked bin may not be included in the checking data.

In one embodiment, if there is an empty bin in the inventory area, i.e., a bin in which no bin is stored, the bin identification code corresponding to the bin is empty or is an empty code.

In one embodiment, if no bin is placed in each bin in the checking area, the bin identifier queue corresponding to the checking area is an empty queue or a null code queue, i.e. the number of bin identifiers in the bin identifier queue is 0.

In one embodiment, the collection of bin identifiers may be obtained for the inventory robot to identify the bins of different storage shelves, may be obtained for identifying multiple bins of different layers or columns of the same storage shelf, or may be obtained for identifying multiple bins that are physically discontinuous or discrete.

In one embodiment, each counting robot may combine the acquired or identified bin identifiers of the bins into a bin identifier queue and report the bin identifier queue to the scheduling device or the warehousing system when executing the counting task corresponding to the counting command.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot reports the inventory data including the bin identifier queue to the scheduling device or the warehousing system after executing the corresponding inventory task based on the corresponding inventory instruction.

In one embodiment, after the inventory robot finishes the inventory of the multiple areas, the inventory robot reports the bin identification code queues corresponding to the multiple areas to an information system for managing the inventory, such as a dispatching device or a warehouse system.

In one embodiment, one inventory area may correspond to one inventory robot, or an inventory of one inventory area may be performed by one inventory robot.

In one embodiment, one inventory area may correspond to a plurality of inventory robots, or inventory of the same inventory area may be performed by a plurality of inventory robots.

In one embodiment, the checking robot can be any free robot or a robot specially used for checking a bin.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may determine, according to the location of each inventory robot, an inventory robot corresponding to each inventory area based on the proximity principle, and then issue an inventory instruction of each inventory area to the corresponding inventory robot.

In one embodiment, after receiving the inventory command, the inventory robot moves to an inventory starting point of a corresponding inventory area based on the inventory command, and starts a bin identification device, such as a code reader, an image sensor, and the like, wherein the code reader can read an electronic tag code reader, a two-dimensional code or a bar code reader, and the like, and sequentially identifies bin identification codes of bins stored in various bins in the inventory area, so as to obtain a bin identification code queue of the inventory area. In one embodiment, when the counting area finishes counting, for example, when the user walks to the end point of counting, the bin identification code queue of the counting area is uploaded to the dispatching equipment or the warehousing system.

Further, after the inventory robot receives the inventory command, path planning can be performed according to the position of the inventory region in the inventory command, or the position of each storage shelf required to be inventory in the inventory region, or the position of each inventory node, and the inventory of the feed boxes stored in each storage position in the inventory region can be performed by walking to the inventory region based on the planned path.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot performs inventory of the corresponding inventory area based on the inventory instruction, the inventory robot can walk at a constant speed along the planned route, and the bin identification device is started during the walking process so as to collect bin identification codes of all bins stored in the inventory area.

In one embodiment, as described in detail below in connection with fig. 3B and 3C, the identification range (or working range, scanning range, or inventory accuracy) of the bin identification device of the inventory robot may be selected or adjusted as desired.

In one embodiment, the identification range of the bin identification device of the inventory robot may be a range corresponding to only one bin, and the corresponding identification mode is a single bin mode.

In one embodiment, the identification range of the bin identification device of the inventory robot may be a range corresponding to a plurality of library bits, and the corresponding identification mode is a multi-library bit mode.

By way of example, taking the bin recognition device as an electronic tag code reader, the working range of the electronic tag code reader can be adjusted by controlling the power of the electronic tag code reader.

Further, the type of the bin identification device of the inventory robot executing the inventory area can be determined according to the number of rows and the number of columns of the bins included in the storage shelf corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory time of the inventory area, wherein the type of the bin identification device comprises a single bin type and a multi bin type. The single bin type bin identification device can only identify the bin identification code of the bin stored on one bin by one scanning, namely the identification range of the bin identification device is a single bin; the bin identification device with multiple bin types can identify bin identification codes of bins stored on multiple bins by one-time scanning, namely the identification range of the bin identification device is multiple bins.

Further, the multi-bin type bin identifier may be further divided into a first type, a second type and a third type, where the bin identifier of the first type may identify the bin identifier of the bin stored in the bin of one row and a plurality of rows by one scan, the bin identifier of the second type may identify the bin identifier of the bin stored in the bin of one row and a plurality of rows by one scan, and the bin identifier of the third type may identify the bin identifier of the bin stored in the bin of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns by one scan.

Referring to fig. 3A, different types of bin identification devices output different beams or fields of view. FIG. 3A is a schematic view of a beam of a bin identifier according to the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present disclosure, where, as shown in FIG. 3A, a projection of a beam r1 on a vertical plane is elliptical, and a corresponding bin identifier is of a first type to identify a row of a plurality of bins; the projection of the beam r2 on the vertical plane is elliptical, the corresponding bin identification device is of a second type to identify a plurality of rows and one line of bins, the projection of the beam r3 on the vertical plane is of a circular shape, the corresponding bin identification device is of a third type to identify a plurality of rows and a plurality of bins, the projection of the beam r4 on the vertical plane is of a circular or elliptical shape, and the corresponding bin identification device is of a single bin type to identify a single bin. It should be appreciated that the beam r3 corresponding to the third type may also be elliptical.

In one embodiment, a bin identification device having an appropriate beam (or field of view) may be selected to achieve the various types of bin identification devices described above.

In one embodiment, the various types of bin identification devices described above may be implemented by adjusting the shape of the beam (or field of view) of the bin identification device by adjusting a peripheral device of the bin identification device.

In one embodiment, the peripheral device may include a baffle to change the shape of the beam (or field of view) of the bin identification device.

For example, the peripheral device may limit the identification range of the bin identification device. For example, when the bin recognition device is a camera, the peripheral device may be a baffle that limits the field of view. For another example, such as when the bin identification device is an electronic tag reader, the peripheral device may be a means of blocking and/or absorbing the beam in a certain direction.

In one embodiment, the shape of the beam of the electronic tag reader may be adjusted by adjusting the internal structure of the antenna of the electronic tag reader.

In one embodiment, the recognition range of the beam of the electronic tag reader can be adjusted by adjusting the power of the electronic tag reader to realize a corresponding recognition mode.

In one embodiment, the identification range of the electronic tag reader on the plane of the bin identification code arranged on the bin where the storage shelf is placed can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the bin identification device and the storage shelf.

In one embodiment, the bin identifiers disposed on bins disposed on the storage shelves are substantially in the same vertical plane, i.e., if the bin identifiers disposed on bins are not entirely in the same vertical plane, the vertical planes are also located closer to each other. In this case, the identification range of the bin identification device on the vertical plane can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the bin identification device and the storage rack. The distance between the bin recognition device and the storage shelf when the inventory robot inventory the storage shelf is recorded as a first distance. When the first distance is increased within a certain range, the recognition range of the bin recognition device of the inventory robot is increased. When the first distance is increased within a certain range, the recognition range of the bin recognition device of the inventory robot is reduced.

In one embodiment, if the identification range of the bin identification device of the inventory robot is small, so that the bin identification device can only identify the bin identification code of the bin stored on one bin position in one scan, that is, the identification range of the bin identification device is a single bin position, the first distance may be any value greater than or equal to the safety distance, such as 0.1m, 0.2m, 0.3m, or other value. The safety distance is the distance that the inventory robot needs to keep with a storage shelf or an inventory object during inventory.

In one embodiment, if the recognition range of the bin recognition device of the inventory robot is large, so that the bin recognition device can recognize the bin recognition codes of bins stored on a plurality of bins by one scan, that is, the recognition range of the bin recognition device is a plurality of bins, such as a row of a plurality of bins, or a plurality of rows of a plurality of bins, the first distance may be a larger distance, such as 0.5m, 0.8m.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may adjust the distance between the bin identification device and the inventory storage shelf (i.e., the first distance described above) by adjusting the position and/or attitude of the inventory robot, or adjusting the position of the bin identification device disposed thereon.

Referring to fig. 3B, fig. 3B is a schematic diagram of an inventory robot employing a single inventory mode in the embodiment of fig. 2 of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 3B, the scanning range of the inventory robot 320 is a single inventory. The height of the storage shelves is 5m, the number of layers of the included storage positions is 15, the width of a roadway between two adjacent storage shelves is 1m, and the width cannot allow two inventory robots to pass through in parallel. The bin recognition device 321 of the inventory robot 320 may be located at a relatively short distance, such as 0.1m, from the storage rack 310, so as to avoid recognition failure caused by a relatively long distance. The dotted line in fig. 3B is used to indicate the scanning range of the bin recognition device 321. Inventory robot 320 may first align bin identification device 321 with the first row and first column bin of storage shelf 310, walk in the row direction, and thereby identify each bin of the first row of storage shelf 310. When the identification of a row of bins is complete, inventory robot 320 may raise bin identification device 321 to align with the last column of bins of the second row of storage shelves 310, walk in the direction of the row, and thereby identify each bin of the second row of storage shelves 310. Similarly, by walking back and forth and changing the height of the bin identifier 321, all bins of the storage shelf 310 are traversed to effect inventory of the storage shelf 310, resulting in inventory data for the storage shelf 310.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 320 is in a continuous walking state when scanning a certain row of shelves, the inventory robot 320 starts the bin recognition device 321 when walking within a set range of the inventory levels required for inventory, and closes the bin recognition device 321 after leaving the set range, until walking within the set range of the inventory levels required for inventory, and starts the bin recognition device 321 again.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 320 may first identify or determine the current location of itself, and then determine whether to walk within the set range of inventory locations for the desired inventory based on the current location.

In one embodiment, the checking robot 320 can automatically turn on and off the bin recognition device 321 according to the walking speed and the bin size for a certain period of time, so that the bin recognition device 321 is turned on only when walking within the set range of the bin to be checked.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 320 scans a row of shelves and stops walking when walking to the inventory position in need of inventory, i.e. stops before the inventory position in need of inventory, reads or identifies the bin identification code of the bin stored in the inventory position, starts walking again until reaching the inventory position in need of inventory next, and so on, and performs identification or reading of the bin identification code of each inventory position in need of inventory or the bin stored in each inventory position in a discontinuous walking manner.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 320 is in a traveling state with fluctuation in speed, i.e., the inventory robot 320 travels at a faster speed until it travels to the inventory level of the inventory, decreases the traveling speed, reads the bin identifier of the bin stored on the inventory level, and then travels again at a faster speed until it reaches the inventory level of the next inventory level.

In one embodiment, each bin on the storage shelf has a known, standardized size, and the bin identification code provided on each bin has a known, fixed location, i.e., the bins stored on the storage shelf are either standard bins or standardized bins. At this time, the recognition range of the bin recognition device 321 may be relatively small so that the bin recognition code can be accurately captured. Thus, the serial reading of the bin identification codes of the bins stored on the adjacent storage positions can be reduced, the power consumption of the bin identification device 321 can be reduced, and the duration of the inventory robot 320 can be prolonged.

In one embodiment, bin identification device 321 is an electronic tag reader, and the bin identification code is an electronic tag such as an RFID.

In one embodiment, bin identification device 321 is a camera and the bin identification code is a visual identification code such as a two-dimensional code.

In one embodiment, if the serial reading of the bin identifier 321 is severe, the bin identifier actually read on the bin may be identified based on the bin identifiers read by the adjacent bin and the adjacent bin of the bin.

In one embodiment, the bin identifier of a bin stored on a bin may be determined by the intersection of the bin identifier read by a neighboring bin and a neighboring bin of the bin. For example, when the checking robot walks along the roadway and performs batch checking on all the library bits in one row in a single library bit mode, the bin identification code is A, B, C when the current library bit is read, A, B, D when the library bit is read before the same row, and B, C, E, F when the library bit is read after the same row. And acquiring an intersection of the current bin bit and the bin identification code read by the previous bin bit to obtain A, B. And acquiring an intersection of the bin identification code read by the current bin and the next bin to obtain B, C. And finally, the intersection results of the two times are subjected to intersection again to obtain B, namely the bin identification code of the bin stored in the bin. If the serial reading of the bin identifier 321 seriously results in that the last intersection result includes more than one bin identifier, for example, B, X, then it may be determined whether the current inventory is successful by determining whether the bin B that should be placed on the bin exists in the intersection result. This is because, using the intersection method described above, bin identifiers that are not associated with the bin in some direction may be removed, leaving bin identifiers that are most associated with the bin. Therefore, if the final intersection result still contains more than one bin identifier, it is described as a bin identifier that is read in series in other directions. For example, in the above embodiment, since the robot walks along the pallet lateral direction, the above intersection is sufficient to exclude the bin identification code that is read in series in the pallet lateral direction, it is possible to determine the bin identification code that is read in series in the vertical direction or in the pallet depth direction. It will be appreciated that based on this concept, a skilled artisan can readily devise a suitable algorithm to solve the problem of serial reading of inventory by bin identification device 321 having a common identification range to identify the bin identification code of the bin in which the bin is stored. In one embodiment, the checking robot working in the multi-bin mode, for example, the checking robot reading three bins in the same row at a time, can be used to implement the checking, and the bin identification code on a bin can be accurately determined by the intersection taking method.

In one embodiment, if the serial reading of bin identifier 321 is severe, the bin identifier actually read on the bin may be identified based on the signal strength of the bin identifier read on the bin. For example, the identification range of the bin identification device 321 is single bin identification, the bin identification code read at a bin is A, B, C, and the signal intensities of the bin identification codes are 0.4, 1.2 and 0.5 respectively, so that the bin identification code of the bin stored at the bin can be determined to be B; if the bin id read by the bin id device 321 at another bin is E, F, and the signal strength is 0.3 and 0.2, respectively, then it can be determined that the bin is not storing bins.

In one embodiment, if the serial reading of the bin id device 321 is severe, the bin ids of multiple bins may be read, as a whole, the method does not distinguish the sequence of each other, and compares the bin identification codes of the bins which are pre-stored in the stock data and are placed in the bin.

In one embodiment, if the bin identifier 321 has severe lateral serial reading (along the roadway), the bin identifiers of a row of bins may be read completely. Then, de-duplicating all the read bin identifiers to obtain a plurality of bin identifier group queues, and comparing the bin identifier groups with bin identifiers of bins which are pre-stored in the stock data and are to be placed in the row of stock positions. If the bin identification codes of the bins where the bin should be placed are all found in the queue, the inventory is considered to be successful without checking. If the bin identification code of the bin to be placed in the bin is not found in the queue and is marked as a missing bin identification code, determining the bin with the missing bin identification code as a unit to be checked from the original bin.

In one embodiment, since the bin may be misplaced on an adjacent bin, one or more bins within a range of the bin where the missing bin identification code was originally located and its vicinity may be determined as units to be inspected, which range may be determined as desired.

In one embodiment, if the vertical serial reading of the bin identifier 321 is serious (in the vertical direction), the bin identifiers of a row of bins may be completely read first, and then compared with the bin identifiers of bins that should be placed by the row of bins pre-stored in the inventory data as a whole without distinguishing the sequence of bins.

In one embodiment, if the horizontal and vertical serial reading of the bin identifier 321 is severe, the bin identifiers of all bins on a storage rack can be completely read, and then compared with the bin identifiers of bins that should be placed on all bins of the storage rack pre-stored in the inventory data as a whole without distinguishing the sequence of each other.

In one embodiment, the bin identification device 321 is preferably selected to have substantially no cross reading in at least one direction for batch inventory.

Referring to fig. 3C, fig. 3C is a schematic diagram of an inventory robot employing a multi-bin inventory method in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3C, a scanning range of the inventory robot 340 is a row of multiple rows of bins, and in fig. 3C, for example, with 1 row 5, a working range of the bin recognition device 341 of the inventory robot 340 may be 1m to 2m, and a distance between the bin recognition device and the storage rack 330 may be 0.5m to 0.8m, so as to avoid an excessively small working range, which results in that multiple rows of bins cannot be recognized by one scanning. In this way, too much work space is available for the bin identifier 341 behind the pallet, so that more serial reading of the bin identifier of the bin stored on the storage location behind the pallet is avoided. It will be appreciated that the above-described working range of the bin identifier 341 and the distance from the storage shelf 330 are examples, and may be adjusted as desired.

In fig. 3C, a broken line is used to indicate the operating range of the bin recognition device 321. The working range of the bin recognition device 341 is a row of five rows. The inventory robot 340 may first align the bin identification device 341 with the third row of the storage rack 330, walk along the row direction, thereby identifying each of the first to fifth rows of the storage rack 330, then raise the bin identification device 341 to align with the last column of the eighth row of the storage rack 330, walk along the row direction, thereby identifying each of the sixth to tenth rows of the storage rack 330, and then raise the bin identification device 341 to align with the first column of the twelfth row of the storage rack 330, walk along the row direction, thereby identifying each of the twelfth to tenth rows of the storage rack 330. Thus, only three passes can be made to inventory all of the storage shelves 330. As can be seen from comparing FIG. 3B with FIG. 3C, the counting efficiency is greatly improved by adopting a plurality of library bits.

In one embodiment, the bin identifier 341 with a range of five bin identifiers may identify the bin identifiers stored on a certain column of five bin locations when turned on, e.g., five bin identifiers may be read.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 does not distinguish the bin identifier read by a particular opening, correlates the bin identifier read by the particular opening with information (hereinafter referred to as "the particular opening identifier") that can identify the particular opening, such as the time, sequence number, geographic location of the bin identifier 341, and the like, corresponding to the particular opening, and adds the bin identifier to the bin identifier queue. Under the condition, the system compares the bin identification code read by the opening with the bin identification code which is required to be placed on the bin corresponding to the opening in the inventory data, if the comparison result is consistent, the bin corresponding to the opening is not required to be checked, if the comparison result is inconsistent, the bin corresponding to the opening is listed as a unit to be checked together, and the unit to be checked, namely the bin corresponding to the opening, is checked further by a manual or robot.

In one embodiment, the bin identifier read by the opening corresponds to the bin identifier that should be placed on the bin corresponding to the opening in the inventory data, which does not mean that bins stored on the bin corresponding to the opening are all placed on accurate positions, for example, bins or positions may be interchanged between bins stored on the bin corresponding to the opening, but the problem is not checked by multiple bin inventory, which can be solved by optimizing a robot material taking bin method, so as to ensure efficiency of bin inventory. For example, when the robot picks up the bin, if the bins stored on the bin are not aligned, the other four bins checked together in the checking are checked first, the required pick-up bin is not found, and a "pick-up error" message is sent to the system.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 determines a specific corresponding bin of each bin id read by a particular opening according to the signal strength of each bin id read by the particular opening, for example, when the bin id 341 is an RFID or other electronic tag reader.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 determines a specific corresponding bin location for each bin identifier read by a particular opening based on the location of the bin identifier within the identification range, for example, when the bin identifier 341 is an image identifier such as a camera.

In one embodiment, bin identifiers read by the inventory robot at each turn-on may be associated with specific bin information and added to a bin identifier queue.

In one embodiment, inventory robot 340 correlates the bin identifier read for each turn-on with the identification information corresponding to the turn-on and sets an internal serial number for the read bin identifier based on the signal strength of the read bin identifier.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 determines, according to the identification information corresponding to the last opening and the internal serial number, a bin corresponding to the bin identifier read by the last opening, associates the bin identifier read by the last opening with the corresponding bin, and reports the bin identifier to the warehouse system or the scheduling device or the warehouse system.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 reports the identification information corresponding to the opening and the internal serial number to the warehouse system or the dispatching device or the warehouse system, and the warehouse system or the dispatching device or the warehouse system determines the warehouse location corresponding to the bin identification code read by the opening.

In one embodiment, as a result of the occurrence of the serial reading, bin identifiers of bins stored on more than five bins, such as six bin identifiers, may be read by bin identification device 341, which identifies a row of five rows, at a time of activation.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot 340 does not distinguish bin identifiers read by a certain opening where serial reading occurs, and associates the bin identifier read by the opening with the identification information corresponding to the opening as a bin identifier set, and adds the bin identifier set to the bin identifier queue. Under the condition, the bin identification code read by the warehouse system or the dispatching equipment or the warehouse system is compared with bin identification codes (at most five) which are prestored in the inventory data and are placed on corresponding bin positions of the warehouse system, and if all bin identification codes which are placed on the corresponding bin positions of the warehouse system are in the bin identification code read by the warehouse system, the corresponding bin positions of the warehouse system do not need to be checked; if the bin identification code which is not read in the bin identification code and is needed to be placed on the bin identification code corresponding to the opening at the time is marked as the missing bin identification code, the bin identification code corresponding to the opening at the time is listed as a unit to be checked, and the bin identification code corresponding to the opening at the time is checked and checked by a person or a robot.

In one embodiment, for a bin for which a bin identification code is missing, it may be checked first whether the bin is located in a range of bins adjacent to the bin corresponding to the opening, such as in an adjacent column, adjacent shelf, etc., which range may be determined as desired, such as by a balance between efficiency and accuracy as desired.

In one embodiment, if the bin corresponding to the missing bin identifier is not located in a bin adjacent to the bin corresponding to the opening, the missing bin identifier may be recorded and associated with the location information or the identification information of the bin corresponding to the opening (since after checking, the bin information may be updated if the bin corresponding to the missing bin identifier is confirmed to be missing and not placed in the bin, the bin information corresponding to the missing bin identifier may be lost, so the association relationship may be recorded in advance) for checking or searching for bins corresponding to the missing bin identifier in other areas.

In one embodiment, the same inventory area may be checked by multiple inventory robots.

In one embodiment, the inventory data for each inventory area is from at least two inventory robots, and the inventory robots of the same inventory area are in different inventory orders. The plurality of counting robots are used for counting in the same counting area in different counting sequences, and the plurality of counting robots are used for integrating counting data, namely the plurality of counting robots are used for intersecting counting ranges, so that the units or the library positions with errors in the storage bin can be more comprehensively and accurately positioned.

In one embodiment, the same storage rack is checked by two checking robots, and the two checking robots check the storage rack on different roadways, wherein the roadways are roads for the robots to walk and are arranged between the storage racks or between the storage racks and other objects.

In one embodiment, the storage shelves are elongated, a roadway for a robot to walk is arranged between two adjacent storage shelves, the roadway is parallel to the long side of the storage shelf, and one storage shelf corresponds to two roadways. The two opposite sides of the feed box are respectively provided with a feed box identification code, and when the feed box is stored on the storage position, the side provided with the feed box identification codes is required to face the roadway. In order to improve the space utilization rate of the warehouse system, the roadway is usually narrow, only one robot can be allowed to pass through, and in order to avoid collision or route conflict when two robots count in the same storage shelf, the two robots can be arranged to walk on different roadways corresponding to the storage shelf when counting the same storage shelf.

In one embodiment, two inventory robots performing inventory on the same storage shelf perform inventory on the storage shelf in a mirror image manner, that is, positions of the two inventory robots during inventory and heights of the pick-and-place devices are symmetrical relative to the storage shelf, so that two sets of inventory data corresponding to the storage shelf are obtained.

In one embodiment, the bin identification codes of bins stored on other storage shelves that are read in series due to the overlarge range of the checking robot can be deleted in a mode that two sets of checking data corresponding to the same storage shelf are intersected, so that the accuracy of the checking data is improved.

Further, in order to reduce interference between the plurality of inventory robots performing inventory in the same inventory area, different inventory start points may be set for the plurality of inventory robots in the same inventory area through a control instruction. The starting point of the inventory may be a position corresponding to one end of the storage shelf of the inventory area. When the inventory area corresponds to a plurality of storage shelves, the inventory orders of the storage shelves corresponding to different inventory robots are different.

For example, if the inventory area O1 corresponds to two storage shelves, namely, the storage shelf H1 and the storage shelf H2, the inventory area O1 corresponds to the inventory robot R1 and the inventory robot R2. The inventory robot R1 can be controlled to inventory the storage shelf H1 and then inventory the storage shelf H2 through the control instruction, and the inventory robot R2 can be controlled to inventory the storage shelf H2 and then inventory the storage shelf H2.

In one embodiment, the inventory command is used for indicating two inventory robots in the same inventory area to perform inventory on each unit of the storage shelf in turn in a way of walking in opposite directions, so as to obtain two sets of inventory data of the storage shelf, so that the inventory orders of the two sets of inventory data are different.

In one embodiment, two inventory robots that inventory the same storage rack may perform inventory of the same storage rack in a manner that travels in opposite directions along two lanes that are parallel to the storage rack. In one embodiment, a plurality of counting robots for counting the same counting area adopt a mode of walking in opposite directions, so that the phenomenon that the operation ranges of the counting robots overlap can be greatly reduced, and interference among the counting robots is reduced.

Further, when two inventory robots in the same inventory area inventory the same storage shelf, the two sides of the storage shelf can be subjected to inventory, namely, the inventory robots walk on two parallel roadways corresponding to the storage shelf in a way of walking in opposite directions, namely, in a way of walking in opposite directions, so that interference among the inventory robots is reduced.

In one embodiment, the walkways of two counting robots in the same counting area are parallel, and the walking directions of the two robots on the walkways are opposite.

Referring to fig. 3D, fig. 3D is a schematic diagram illustrating the cross-checking of two checking robots in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 of the present disclosure, where, as shown in fig. 3D, the checking robot 350 and the checking robot 360 are responsible for checking the same checking area, such as checking the same storage shelf, that is, the storage shelf 370. During inventory, the inventory robot 350 and the inventory robot can travel along the lanes on both sides of the storage shelf 370, and inventory the various storage positions of the storage shelf 370 in a single storage position mode or a multi-storage position mode. In fig. 3D, the inventory robot 350 walks along the roadway between the storage rack 370 and the wall during inventory, and the inventory robot 360 walks along the roadway between the storage rack 370 and another storage rack during inventory.

In one embodiment, two inventory robots, such as inventory robot 350 and inventory robot 360, that inventory the same storage rack may use the same mode for inventory of corresponding inventory areas, such as a single inventory mode or multiple inventory modes.

In one embodiment, the plurality of inventory robots in the same area may process the bin identification code read by the plurality of inventory robots in the same area in the processing manner in the foregoing embodiment, and report the bin identification code after processing to the warehouse system or the scheduling device or the warehouse system. For example, for the storage shelf 370, the bin identifiers obtained by the inventory robot 350 are A1 to a10, B1 to B5, and the bin identifiers obtained by the inventory robot 360 are A1 to a10, C1 to C6, and then the two bin identifiers are intersected to obtain A1 to a10 as the bin identifiers of the storage shelf 370. The bin identifiers B1 to B5, which are arranged by taking the intersection, are the bin identifiers behind the storage shelf 370 that the inventory robot 350 reads in series when taking an inventory from one side, because the beam of the inventory robot 350 spreads to the back of the storage shelf 370 to some extent, and the bin placed on the rear shelf is read in series. Similarly, the bin identifiers C1 to C6, which are disposed by taking the intersection, are the bin identifiers behind the shelf that are read in series by the inventory robot 360 when inventory is performed from the other side.

In one embodiment, inventory robots 350 and 360 inventory storage shelves 370 simultaneously from both sides, respectively. In one embodiment, the inventory robot 350 first inventory it from one side of the storage shelf 370, and at another time after the inventory is completed, the inventory robot 360 inventory the storage shelf 370 from the other side.

For example, fig. 3E is a schematic diagram of inventory of storage racks in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3E, taking an inventory area including only storage racks 610 and 620, and taking an inventory area for inventory by inventory robot 601 and inventory robot 602 as an example, inventory robot 601 may walk on roadway 1, trunk 1 and roadway 3, with a traveling direction shown by arrows in fig. 3E, so that inventory robot 601 collects bin identifiers of bins stored on each of storage racks 610 and 620 on one side of storage racks 610 and 620, and inventory robot 602 may walk on roadway 2, trunk 1 and roadway 4, with a traveling direction shown by arrows in fig. 3E, so that bins identifiers of bins stored on each of storage racks 610 and 620 on the other side of storage racks 610 and 620 are collected.

In one embodiment, after the inventory robot 601 and the inventory robot 602 inventory the storage shelf 610 and the storage shelf 620 from two sides, respectively, the bin identification codes read may be processed in the processing manner in the foregoing embodiment, and the processed bin identification codes may be reported to the warehouse system or the dispatching device or the warehouse system.

Similarly, bin identifiers obtained by inventory robot 601 and inventory robot 602, respectively, may be intersected to obtain bin identifiers for storage shelves 610 and 620 that are exclusive of serial reads. Inventory robot 601 and inventory robot 602 may inventory storage shelves 610 and 620 simultaneously or differently.

In one embodiment, step S203 may be replaced by step S204, where step S204 specifically includes:

and determining a unit to be checked of the checking area according to the checking data of the checking area and the inventory data of the checking area so as to check the unit to be checked.

In one embodiment, the unit to be inspected may be in units of inventory accuracy (i.e., identification range) of the inventory robot. When the inventory accuracy of the inventory robot is single inventory position, if the bin identification device is in a single inventory position mode, the unit to be checked only comprises one inventory position, and when the inventory accuracy of the inventory robot is multiple inventory positions, if the bin identification device is in a multiple inventory position mode, the unit to be checked comprises multiple inventory positions.

Illustratively, the units to be inspected may be one or more library bits located on the same row or layer of storage shelves.

Illustratively, the units to be inspected may be one or more library bits located in the same column of storage shelves.

Illustratively, the unit to be inspected may be a plurality of bank bits located in a plurality of rows and columns, such as a plurality of bank bits of 2 rows and 3 columns, a plurality of bank bits of 3 rows and 3 columns, and so on.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may sequentially determine the units to be inspected in each inventory area according to the inventory area. And comparing the inventory data of the inventory area with the inventory data of the inventory area stored in advance for each inventory area, and determining a unit to be checked of the inventory area according to the comparison result.

In one embodiment, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory area includes: and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the bin identification code queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

In one embodiment, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory area includes: judging whether a missing bin identification code exists in the inventory data of the inventory area according to the inventory data and the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area; if the inventory data of the checking area contains a missing bin identification code, determining that the checking area contains the library position to be checked; wherein the missing bin identifier does not exist in the bin identifier queue.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining the library bits to be checked comprises: and in the stock data, library bits corresponding to the missing bin identification codes. Alternatively, determining the library bits to be checked includes: and in the stock data, the stock positions in a preset range are nearby the stock positions corresponding to the missing bin identification codes. The preset range may be manually set, or a default range may be employed.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked bin according to the inventory data of the inventory area and the inventory data of the inventory area includes: judging whether a misplaced bin identification code exists in a bin identification code queue of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if the misplaced bin identification code exists in the bin identification code queue, determining that the inventory area has the bin to be checked; the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, if only a misplaced bin identifier exists in the inventory data of the inventory area or the bin identifier queue, it may be determined that the inventory area does not have a bin to be checked, a preset flag is added to the inventory area to identify that the misplaced bin identifier exists in the inventory area, and the misplaced bin identifier is associated with the inventory data of the inventory area, so that when bins corresponding to the misplaced bin identifier are discharged, bins corresponding to the misplaced bin identifier may be located based on an association relationship between the misplaced bin identifier and the inventory data of the inventory area.

In one embodiment, the inventory positions of the inventory units or the inventory positions of the inventory units in the inventory data can be determined, if the identification codes of one unit or the inventory position in the inventory data in the inventory area are inconsistent, the unit in which the inventory position is located or the inventory position is determined to be the unit to be checked, wherein the unit in which the inventory position is located is the unit comprising the inventory position, and the corresponding range of the unit is the identification range of the inventory robot in inventory.

In one embodiment, the inventory data and bin identification code inconsistencies in the inventory data may be that the bin identification code in the inventory data is not present in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, the inconsistent bin identifiers of the unit in the inventory data and inventory data may include inconsistent numbers of corresponding bin identifiers of the unit in the inventory data and inventory data, e.g., for bin identifiers having a relatively determined identification range, e.g., a camera used as an image acquisition device, and facilities for controlling the bin identifiers such as an inventory robot are very stable, such that when the unit inventory is performed with little likelihood of a read-out, then when the bin identifiers read at the location corresponding to the unit are inconsistent with the corresponding bin identifiers in the inventory data, then it may be determined that the unit is inconsistent with the bin identifiers in the inventory data and inventory data.

In one embodiment, the bin identification inconsistency of the unit in inventory data and inventory data may include: at least one of the plurality of bin identifiers corresponding to the unit in the inventory data is inconsistent with the plurality of bin identifiers corresponding to the unit in the inventory data, for example, when the bin identifier is an electronic tag reader such as an RFID, serial reading is easy to occur, and the bin identifiers of the unit in the inventory data and the inventory data can be determined to be inconsistent in this way.

For example, taking a case that a unit includes 2 rows and 2 columns of library bits, that is, 4 library bits as an example, bin identifiers corresponding to a unit 001 in inventory data are LX01, LX02, LX10 and LX11, bin identifiers corresponding to a unit 001 in inventory data are LX01, LX02, LX10 and LX12, and since LX11 and LX12 are inconsistent, each library bit in the unit 001 is determined to be a library bit to be inspected, or a library bit corresponding to LX11 or LX12 is determined to be one of the library bits to be inspected.

In one embodiment, for each inventory position of each inventory area, the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory position in the inventory data and inventory data may be compared to determine whether the inventory position is consistent, if not, that is, if not, the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory position in the inventory data and inventory data are inconsistent, then the unit in which the inventory position is located is determined to be the unit to be inspected. The inventory positions are inventory positions of the inventory robots in the inventory areas, and the inventory positions of each inventory area can be determined by a warehouse system, a dispatching device or a warehouse system or an operator.

In one embodiment, for each inventory unit, if a bin identifier is not present in the bin identifier set corresponding to the inventory data for that inventory unit (the bin identifier corresponding to the inventory data may be one or more, depending on the number of bins contained in the inventory unit), and the bin identifier is not a bin identifier placed in the vicinity of that inventory unit (e.g., the bin identifier corresponding to the non-present bin identifier exceeds a threshold distance from the inventory unit or the inventory area in which the inventory unit is located, the threshold distance may be the range that the bin identifier may be acquired by or a margin superimposed on). The misplaced bin identification code can be recorded for subsequent bin searching, and the bin position to be stored in the misplaced bin identification code book in the inventory data can be determined as the bin position to be checked.

In one embodiment, if the same misplaced bin identification code exists in a plurality of units to be inspected, determining an intersection of the units to be inspected as a range to be inspected, and checking each bin within the range to be inspected to determine a bin with a disorder.

For example, fig. 3F is a schematic diagram illustrating determination of a range to be inspected in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3F, it has been determined that error bin identifiers exist in both the unit 381 and the unit 382, that is, both the unit 381 and the unit 382 are units to be inspected, and the unit 381 and the unit 382 include library bits, as shown in fig. 3E, where the intersection of the unit 381 and the unit 382 is the library bit K31 and the library bit K32, and then the range to be inspected may be determined to be the library bit K31 and the library bit K32.

In one embodiment, after receiving the inventory data of each inventory area, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may further determine a bin bit corresponding to each bin identifier in the inventory data according to the bin identifier queue in the inventory data. Wherein the bin id queue includes each bin id in the inventory data.

The inventory robot executes the inventory instructions, namely the inventory process of the corresponding inventory area is automatically performed by the inventory robot, the scheduling equipment or the warehouse system does not need to control the inventory positions of the inventory robot in real time, and the inventory robot automatically performs the inventory of the inventory area based on the set inventory program and the received inventory instructions. Therefore, the inventory data may have a phenomenon that one bin corresponds to a plurality of bin identification codes due to fluctuation of the walking control precision of the inventory robot, an excessive identification range of the bin identification device, and the like. After receiving the inventory data, the scheduling device or the warehousing system can also determine the corresponding bin identification code of each inventory bin in the inventory data according to the signal intensity corresponding to each bin identification code in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, for a inventory bin bit corresponding to a plurality of bin identifiers in inventory data, the bin identifier for the inventory bin bit having a signal strength less than a first strength threshold in the inventory data may be deleted. Wherein the first intensity threshold may be determined from the field test value.

Further, for the inventory positions corresponding to the plurality of bin identifiers in the inventory data, the plurality of bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory positions in the inventory data can be screened according to the positions of the inventory positions and the signal strengths of the plurality of bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory positions in the inventory data, so that the number of bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory positions in the inventory data is reduced.

For example, the inventory robot performs inventory using a multi-bin mode, the bin identification device is an RFID collector, and the inventory unit is 2 rows and 2 columns of bins (at this time, the identification range of the inventory robot is approximately 2 rows and 2 columns of bins). Through testing, when the bin identification device is aligned to one counting unit, the signal intensity of the collected RFID label from the bin placed on the counting unit fluctuates between 0.5 and 1.2, and then the signal intensity threshold value can be set to be 0.3. When the bin identifier with the signal strength lower than 0.3 is received, it can be determined that the bin identifier is not from the checking unit being acquired but is a bin identifier read in series, and the bin identifier can be directly deleted.

In one embodiment, the signal intensity range of the bin identifier corresponding to the inventory bin may be determined according to the minimum distance between the position of the inventory bin and the set position point. In one embodiment, the set location point is where the collector is located. In one embodiment, the set location point is a location point set based on the location of the collector, e.g., the system does not acquire the location of the collector, but can acquire a parameter corresponding to the general location where the collector should be. Screening a plurality of bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory data based on the signal intensity range of the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory data to delete bin identifiers exceeding the corresponding signal intensity range.

In order to improve the efficiency of checking the bin positions, the unit to be checked can comprise each problem bin position, in which inventory data and bin identifiers in inventory data are inconsistent, and one or more bin positions corresponding to bin identifiers before and after the bin identifier corresponding to the problem bin position in the bin identifier queue.

In one embodiment, bin identification device 341 with the appropriate identification range is selected such that bin locations where inventory data does not correspond to bin identification codes in inventory data may be determined to be problem bin locations based on signal strength sufficient to preclude serial reads.

In one embodiment, the bin identifier 341 has an identification range that is less than or substantially equal to the physical size of a bin, such that the signal strength of the bin identifier obtained by serial reading is much lower than the bin identifier strength of the bin placed on the bin, and a bin where inventory data does not correspond to the bin identifier in the inventory data may be determined as a problem bin.

In one embodiment, the bin recognition device is an image recognition device, such as a camera. At this time, the bin identification device determines whether a corresponding bin exists according to the bin identification code (i.e., the graphic identification code such as the bar code, the two-dimensional code, etc.) acquired in the identification range (i.e., the field of view), and the bin identification device has a relatively determined identification range. Therefore, whether the bin identification code is in the serial reading can be determined by the position of the acquired bin identification code in the identification range. For example, when the bin identification device is aligned to a bin, the collected bin identification codes are all located in a circle with the identification range as the center of a circle and the radius of 3 cm, and the bin identification codes exceeding the identification range can be directly deleted from the collection result. For example, the inventory unit is in a multi-bank mode, the inventory unit is in three banks in the same row, and the identification range of the bin identification device is approximately in three banks in the same row. Through testing, when the bin identification device is aligned to one inventory unit, the acquired bin identification codes are all positioned in a rectangle which takes the center of an identification range as the center and takes 10 cm as the length and 3 cm as the width, and then a preset position range can be determined to be a rectangle which takes the center of the identification range as the center and takes 15 cm as the length and 5 cm as the width, and bin identification codes exceeding the identification range are the bin identification codes which are read in series and can be directly deleted from the acquired result. In one embodiment, an image recognition device with a rectangular recognition range may be implemented by occluding a portion of the field of view. It should be understood that the above identification range and the preset position range are only examples, and the shape and the size thereof may be determined according to practical situations.

In one embodiment, after each target bin is determined, an inspection instruction of the inspection robot may be generated according to the position coordinates of each target bin to control one or more inspection robots to inspect bins stored on the target bin. In one embodiment, the inspection robot may be any free robot, such as the above-mentioned inventory robot, or may be a robot of a type different from that of the inventory robot, or may be a robot specifically configured to perform inventory inspection.

According to the bin counting method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the counting robot is controlled to count the counting area based on the counting instruction of the counting area, so that counting data of the counting area is obtained, and the counting data comprises a bin identification code queue formed by bin identification codes of bins stored in a plurality of counted bin positions; when the checking is finished, based on the checking data of the checking area and the prestored library position data of the checking area, judging whether the checking area has library positions to be checked which need to be checked further, thereby realizing batch checking based on the area, improving the checking efficiency, and simultaneously realizing rechecking of the checking area of the misplaced feed box by checking, thereby ensuring that the feed box warehouse-out task is carried out smoothly and without errors, and improving the working efficiency of the warehouse-out task.

Some warehouses use multiple deep shelves to increase storage density, such as double deep shelves. Fig. 3G is a schematic diagram of batch inventory of a multi-deep shelf according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3G, in the multi-deep shelf 390 shown in fig. 3G, four rows of bins are placed on a row of shelves, and no matter which side of the shelf is used for picking, the robot has to move one bin to pick up the bin located deep in the shelf. When the multi-deep shelf is checked, when the identification range of the bin identification device can be accurately timed, the bin which is related to the identification range can be accurately determined, and the multi-deep shelf can be checked by taking a checking unit as a unit, as shown in fig. 3G. The "inventory unit" is three-dimensional and may include inventory levels located deep within the shelf, such as inventory levels including three mutually perpendicular directions of shelf depth (D), length, and height (H).

When it is difficult to accurately determine the identification range of the bin identification device, that is, it is difficult to determine which bins the identification range of the bin identification device involves in a certain identification, the collected bin identification codes may be used as a whole in units of the whole shelf or a part of the shelf, and the bin identification codes may be formed into a bin identification code queue after de-duplication and directly sent to the information system.

In one embodiment, the bin identification device is an RFID identification device, and the antenna of the bin identification device is designed so that the identification range can include one to two bins in the depth of the shelf in the same row, but the bins in other rows are not involved, and the bin identification codes acquired by counting the whole row can be integrated in a whole row unit of the shelf, and the bin identification code queue is formed after de-weighting and directly sent to the information system. It should be understood that the inventory of the same row of stock locations on a dual deep shelf may be performed on only one side of the shelf or may be performed separately from both sides of the shelf. Further, the checking from both sides of the shelf may be: after counting all rows from one side of the goods shelf, winding the goods shelf to the other side of the goods shelf, splicing the acquired bin identification codes according to the rows by a robot or an information system, and judging whether the counting is successful or not according to the bin identification code queue obtained by splicing.

It should be appreciated that the inventory method described above with respect to a dual deep shelf is equally applicable to other multi-deep shelves.

Fig. 3H is a schematic diagram of cross checking of a multi-deep shelf according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3H, when checking the multi-deep shelf, in order to check a storage position deep in the shelf, a bin identification device with a large identification range is often required, so that serial reading is generally serious. In order to improve the accuracy of counting, a cross counting method can be used to remove the serial-read bin identification code. For example, the identification range is enough to cover the bins located at all depths on the same row, after checking the shelf from one side of the shelf, checking the shelf from the other side of the shelf, and then taking the intersection of the bin identification code queues obtained by checking twice, so as to obtain the bin identification code for storing the bins on the shelf accurately. In this case, the checking is generally in a multi-bin mode, that is, the checking command controls the checking robot to check the checking area by taking the checking unit as a unit, and then the bin identification code queue is composed of a plurality of bin identification code sets, each bin identification code set corresponds to one checking unit, or the bin identification code sets correspond to the checking units one by one, and the checking units are determined by the identification range of the bin identification device. In this case, the bin id queues obtained by two times of counting are respectively intersected with the corresponding bin id sets. That is, in the two bin id queues obtained by two counting, each counting unit should correspond to two bin id sets, such two bin id sets are taken as intersections, the result obtained after the intersections are weighed as intersecting bin id sets, and then the intersecting bin id sets are combined to obtain the intersecting counting queue. The cross checking queue is a result obtained by cross checking the goods shelves and is a basis for determining whether the to-be-checked library position exists or not subsequently. It should be appreciated that the cross-checking method described above is applicable to all multi-bin pattern checking and is not limited to checking of deep shelves.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot performs inventory on the inventory area based on the inventory instruction, the bin identification device of the inventory robot is intermittently opened; the bin identification device is opened when moving to a preset position of the corresponding checking unit, and the bin identification code set consists of bin identification codes acquired during each opening.

In one embodiment, when the counting robot performs counting on the counting area based on the counting instruction, the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously opened, and if the difference value of the collection time points corresponding to two bin identification codes collected adjacently is smaller than a preset value, the two bin identification codes are classified into the same bin identification code set.

In one embodiment, when the counting robot counts the counting area based on the counting instruction, the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously opened, and if the distance between the positions of the bin identification devices when two bin identification codes collected adjacently are collected is smaller than a preset distance, the two bin identification codes are classified into the same bin identification code set.

In one embodiment, the position of the bin identification device comprises at least one of a height of the bin identification device and a position coordinate of the inventory robot.

In one embodiment, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory area includes: for each inventory unit in the inventory area, when the bin identification code corresponding to the inventory unit in the inventory data exists in the bin identification set corresponding to the inventory unit, determining that the inventory unit does not exist the to-be-checked bin; and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

In one embodiment, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory area includes: judging whether a first unit exists in each inventory unit of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if the first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the first unit is an inventory unit with a missing bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the missing bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the library bits to be checked comprise library bits corresponding to the first unit.

In one embodiment, determining whether a to-be-checked library exists in the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory area includes: judging whether a second unit exists in each inventory unit of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

In some embodiments, when it is determined that the inventory area has a inventory location to be inspected, the method further includes the step of determining the inventory location or unit to be inspected of the inventory area. Specifically, according to inventory data and inventory data corresponding to the inventory area, determining a to-be-checked library position or a to-be-checked unit of the inventory area.

Optionally, fig. 4 is a flowchart of a step of determining a unit to be inspected, as shown in fig. 4, provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the step of determining the unit to be inspected, that is, the step S204 may specifically include the following steps:

step S401, determining bin identifiers corresponding to the respective inventory units in the inventory area according to the collection sequence of the bin identifiers in the inventory data of the inventory area.

The collection sequence is the sequence of collecting or identifying each bin identification code by the bin identification device of the inventory robot.

In one embodiment, the inventory data may include the collection sequence of the individual bin identifiers.

In one embodiment, for each inventory data of each inventory area, the bin identifiers corresponding to each unit or each bin of the inventory area are determined according to the inventory data or the collection sequence of each bin identifier in the bin identifier queue of the inventory data.

In one embodiment, one of the acquisition sequences may correspond to one or more bin identifiers.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may determine the collection order of the bin identifiers and form a bin identifier queue from the collected or identified bin identifiers according to the collection order.

Further, the inventory robot may determine an order of collection of the bin identifiers according to a time of collection or identification of the bin identifiers.

Further, the order of each bin identification code in the collection sequence can be determined according to the current position coordinates of the inventory robot and the current height of the pick-and-place device when the inventory robot collects the bin identification codes.

Table 1 bin id code table in bin id code queue

For example, table 1 is a bin identification code table in a bin identification code queue, as shown in table 1, a bin position required by the inventory robot 0045 or a corresponding inventory bin position is from bin position 001 to bin position 006, the bin identification code queues in the reported inventory data are LXA01, LXA02 and LXA03, LXA04, LXA05 and LXA06, the "LX" in the bin identification code represents the identified bin, the code behind the "LX" in the bin identification code can be determined according to the materials stored in the bin, for example, "a" represents the type a building blocks in the building block toy, and the number in the bin identification code can be a non-repeated random number or a self-increment number, or can be determined according to the time when the production batch or the materials reach the storage system.

In one embodiment, the order of collection of the individual bin identifiers may be determined by a scheduling device or warehousing system based on the time of collection of the individual bin identifiers in inventory data.

In one embodiment, for each inventory area, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may extract each bin identifier and the collection sequence of each bin identifier from the inventory data, and may further determine, according to the collection sequence of each bin identifier in the inventory data, a unit corresponding to each bin identifier or a bin identifier corresponding to each unit.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot reaches the corresponding inventory area, the inventory positions or units in the inventory area may be checked according to a preset inventory sequence, that is, the order in which the inventory positions are checked by the robot.

The inventory sequence may include an order of inventory of each storage shelf in the inventory area, and an order of inventory of each inventory bin or unit on each storage shelf.

In one embodiment, when the inventory area includes a plurality of storage shelves, the inventory instruction may include only an order of inventory of each storage shelf, for example, an order of inventory of each storage shelf and an inventory start point of each storage shelf are specified, so as to control the inventory robot to sequentially go to the inventory start point of each storage shelf to perform inventory of each storage shelf.

In one embodiment, the inventory sequence may be specified by the scheduling device or the warehousing system and stored in the inventory instructions.

The inventory robot may inventory the storage shelves in layers, for example, the inventory sequence may be an order of from top to bottom and end to end according to the layer where the inventory positions are located, that is, the inventory robot may inventory each inventory position of each layer of the storage shelves in a mode of from top to bottom and end to end according to the layer where the inventory positions are located, or inventory each unit in turn. The checking sequence of each storage shelf can also be performed according to the row, for example, the checking sequence can be the sequence from the near to the far and the end to end according to the row of the storage shelf, namely, the checking robot can check each storage shelf row of each storage shelf in sequence or check each unit in sequence according to the mode that the row of the storage shelf is from the near to the far and the end to end.

In one embodiment, the inventory area corresponding to the inventory data may be determined according to the robot identification code in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, for each inventory data, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may determine, according to the collection sequence of each bin identifier in the inventory data and the inventory sequence of the inventory robot reporting the inventory data, the bin identifier corresponding to each bin or each unit.

In one embodiment, bin identifiers corresponding to each bin or each unit may be determined by one-to-one correspondence of inventory sequences to acquisition sequences. Namely, the inventory warehouse positions with the same order in the inventory sequence and the collection sequence correspond to the bin identification codes.

When the working range of the bin identification device of the checking robot fluctuates, the phenomenon of serial reading is caused, namely the checking robot reads the bin identification codes of the bins stored on the bin positions outside the limited range. In order to weaken the influence of serial reading on inventory, the inventory data also comprises signal intensity of each bin identification code, and for each unit with the number of the corresponding bin identification codes being greater than the preset number, the bin identification code corresponding to the unit in the inventory data can be screened according to the signal intensity of each bin identification code. The preset number is the number of library bits included in the unit, and may be 1, 2, 3, 4 or other values.

Step S402, determining a unit to be checked of the checking area according to the bin identification codes corresponding to all the library positions in the checking area and the inventory data of the checking area, and determining all the library positions of the unit to be checked as the library positions to be checked.

When the unit comprises a plurality of library bits, each library bit included in the unit to be checked is the library bit to be checked.

In one embodiment, for each unit or each bin of each inventory area, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may compare whether the bin identifiers corresponding to the same unit or the same bin in the inventory data and inventory data are consistent, and if not, determine that the bin is one of the target bins.

In one embodiment, if there is no unit to be inspected in each inventory area, the scheduling device or the warehousing system identifies that there is no exception in the present inventory.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may initiate an inventory task of the warehousing system in a preset period, so as to generate inventory instructions of each inventory area. The preset period may be 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 5 days, 7 days, etc.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may determine whether to trigger the inventory task of the warehousing system according to the condition of the inventory task being executed and waiting to be executed by the warehousing system, and if so, generate the inventory instruction of each inventory area to trigger the inventory task when the inventory task being executed and waiting to be executed is fewer or the inventory task being executed is fewer and there is no inventory task waiting to be executed.

Optionally, the inventory data further includes position coordinates when the inventory robot collects the identification codes of the bins and a height of a pick-and-place device of the inventory robot, and fig. 5 is a flowchart of a step of determining a unit to be inspected provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 5, the step of determining the unit to be inspected may specifically include the following steps:

step S501, determining bin identifiers corresponding to each of the inventory units in the inventory area according to the position coordinates of the inventory robot corresponding to each bin identifier in the inventory data of the inventory area and the height of the pick-and-place device of the inventory robot.

The picking and placing device is used for picking or storing the material box, and the material box identification device is arranged on the picking and placing device to acquire or identify the material box identification code of the material box. The pick and place device may be aligned with individual units or bins on the storage shelves by lifting, translation, rotation, etc.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot performs inventory, for example, the inventory start point of the storage shelf required to be checked is moved, the pick-and-place device can be rotated to enable the bin identification code to be far away from the storage shelf required to be checked, so that the bin identification device is prevented from reading the storage shelf on the side, far away from the inventory robot, of the storage shelf required to be checked due to the fact that the working range of the bin identification code is large.

In one embodiment, the width of the lane between adjacent storage shelves for the inventory robot to walk through allows only one inventory robot to pass through.

In one embodiment, when the inventory robot performs inventory on the storage shelf, the inventory robot can lift the pick-and-place device of the inventory robot based on the layer number of the current inventory unit or the inventory position, so that the pick-and-place device is aligned to the area where the bin identification code is set by the bin stored on the current inventory unit or the inventory position.

In one embodiment, the height of each layer of the storage shelf is adjustable, so that the inventory command issued by the scheduling system can also include the height of each layer of the storage shelf, so that the inventory robot can perform lifting control of the pick-and-place device based on the height of each layer of the storage shelf to be checked during inventory, thereby aligning with the stock positions of each layer of the storage shelf to be checked.

In one embodiment, the size of each storage location of the storage shelf is adjustable, for example, the height and length of the storage location are adjustable, and the direction in which the length is located is the direction in which the inventory robot walks when making an inventory of the storage shelf. The inventory command issued by the dispatching system can also comprise the size of each bin of the storage shelf, so that the inventory robot can lift the pick-and-place device and control the walking speed or the walking distance of the inventory robot based on the size of each bin of the inventory storage shelf when inventory is performed, and the inventory robot is aligned with each bin of the inventory storage shelf.

In one embodiment, the checking robot can walk in a round trip mode on the roadway corresponding to the storage shelf during checking so as to check the storage positions of each layer of the storage shelf. The inventory robot may adjust the height of the pick and place device while walking so as to align with the layers of the storage shelves. The adoption of the layer-based checking can reduce the times of adjusting the picking and placing device and improve the checking safety.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may travel at a constant speed at a low speed without stopping when inventory a layer of the storage rack, thereby collecting bin identifiers stored on each unit or bin of the layer.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may walk in a single pass over the lane corresponding to the storage rack during inventory to collect bin identifiers of bins stored on various bins of the storage rack.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot stops walking when walking to the position corresponding to each column of inventory positions, and aligns with each unit or inventory position of the column, thereby collecting the bin identification codes stored on each unit or each inventory position of the column. In order to reduce the adjustment times of the pick-and-place device, the picking and placing device can be checked in an end-to-end mode of each row.

For example, taking a storage shelf for required inventory comprising 6 rows and 6 columns, wherein the working range of the bin identification code of the inventory robot is 3 rows and 1 column as an example, the inventory robot can control the pick-and-place device of the inventory robot to rise from a first height to a second height when the inventory robot is positioned in the range corresponding to the 1 st column of the storage shelf, so as to perform inventory of 1 st column to 3 rows of inventory positions when the inventory robot is positioned at the first height, and perform inventory of 1 st column to 6 rows of inventory positions when the inventory robot is positioned at the second height; and when the storage rack is in the range corresponding to the 2 nd row, controlling the pick-and-place device to be lowered to the first height from the second height, checking the 2 nd row, the 4 th row and the 6 th row of the storage racks, checking the 2 nd row, the 1 st row and the 3 rd row of the storage racks, and so on, so as to finish checking the storage racks in each row, each column and each other, and obtain the checking data corresponding to the storage racks. The first height may be a height at which the 2 nd row is located, and the second height may be a height at which the 5 th row is located.

In one embodiment, the bin identifier may be an electronic tag reader, and a projection of an electromagnetic wave output by the electronic tag reader on a vertical plane may be elliptical, so as to read a bin identifier of a bin stored on one row of multiple rows of bins at a time or read a bin identifier of a bin stored on one row of multiple rows of bins at a time.

In one embodiment, the projection of the electromagnetic wave output by the electronic tag reader on the vertical plane can be circular, so that the bin identification codes of the bins stored on the multi-column multi-row bin can be read at one time.

In one embodiment, the working range of the electronic tag code reader can be adjusted by adjusting the internal structure of the antenna of the electronic tag code reader, adding a reflecting plate and the like so as to meet the inventory requirement.

In one embodiment, when the checking robot performs checking on each unit, the checking robot performs multiple times of bin identifiers on the unit or the library position, so that one library position corresponds to multiple identical bin identifiers, before the checking robot reports the checking data, the checking robot may perform duplicate removal processing on the bin identifiers in the checking data, that is, the bin identifier after or before the current bin identifier is identical to the current bin identifier, and the interval between the bin identifier after or before the current bin identifier and the acquisition time of the current bin identifier is smaller than the value, or the current bin identifier is the same as the next bin identifier or the previous bin identifier, the interval between the next bin identifier or the previous bin identifier of the current bin identifier and the acquisition time of the current bin identifier is smaller than a preset value, the preset value can be 0.1s, 0.3s, 0.5s and the like, the next bin identifier or the previous bin identifier is deleted, and the data corresponding to the next bin identifier or the previous bin identifier in the inventory data is deleted.

In one embodiment, after the inventory data is received by the dispatching equipment or the warehousing system, the duplicate removal processing can be performed on the bin identification code in the inventory data, so that the data quantity required to be processed is reduced, and the efficiency of generating the inventory result is improved.

In one embodiment, after receiving inventory data reported by an inventory robot, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may extract each bin identification code in the inventory data, and the position coordinates of the inventory robot and the height of the pick-and-place device of the inventory robot corresponding to each bin identification, so as to determine, for each bin identification code, a unit or a bin corresponding to the bin identification code according to the position coordinates of the inventory robot and the height of the pick-and-place device of the inventory robot corresponding to the bin identification code.

Step S502, determining a unit to be checked in the checking area according to the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking units in the checking area and the inventory data of the checking area, and determining each bin of the unit to be checked as the bin to be checked.

Optionally, fig. 6 is a flowchart of a step of determining a unit to be inspected according to another embodiment of the disclosure, and as shown in fig. 6, the step of determining the unit to be inspected may specifically include the following steps:

Step S601, comparing the inventory data of the inventory area with inventory data of the inventory area.

Specifically, the inventory data of the inventory area and the inventory data of the inventory area can be compared with each bin identification code in the two sets to obtain a comparison result. The comparison result can comprise a bin identification code which is not matched with the inventory data in the inventory data and the inventory data in the inventory area

Step S602, determining the missing bin identification code according to the comparison result.

The missing bin identification code is a bin identification code of inventory data which does not belong to the inventory area in the inventory data of the inventory area. I.e., the missing bin id is present in the inventory data for the inventory area and not in the bin id queue or inventory data corresponding to the inventory area.

In one embodiment, each bin identification code in inventory data of the inventory area may be searched in inventory data of the inventory area, and if the bin identification code is not searched, the bin identification code is determined to be a missing bin identification code.

In one embodiment, each missing bin identification code may be determined based on a difference set of inventory data and inventory data of the inventory area.

Step S603, determining a unit to be checked of the inventory area according to the original bin positions of the identification codes of the misplaced bins in the inventory data, and determining each bin position of the unit to be checked as a bin position to be checked.

The original stock position of the missing bin identification code is the stock position of the missing bin identification code recorded in the stock data.

In one embodiment, the original bin of the missing bin identification code may be directly determined to be the unit to be inspected or the bin to be inspected.

In one embodiment, an area formed by a stock bin identifier missing and a neighboring stock bin of the stock bin identifier may be determined as a unit to be inspected, where the neighboring stock bin may be a stock bin within a certain range around the stock bin, for example, a stock bin directly adjacent to the stock bin, a stock bin in the same row or column as the stock bin, or a stock bin less than a certain distance from the stock bin.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a bin count method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, where the bin count method according to the present embodiment is further refined in step S203 based on the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and a step of determining an acquisition sequence is added after step S202, and as shown in fig. 7, the bin count method according to the present embodiment may include the following steps:

Step S701, generating an inventory command of a plurality of inventory areas, and sending each inventory command to each inventory robot to control each inventory robot to inventory each inventory unit of the inventory area corresponding to the inventory command, so as to obtain inventory data of each inventory area.

Step S702, receiving inventory data of each inventory area.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may issue inventory instructions corresponding to the same inventory area to multiple inventory robots simultaneously. The inventory robots of the same inventory area can respond to the received inventory instructions simultaneously or not simultaneously.

In one embodiment, if the inventory robot does not respond to the corresponding inventory command for a long time, the inventory command is issued to other inventory robots to execute the inventory command by the other inventory robots. In one embodiment, when the inventory robot executes the inventory instruction, parameters such as a position coordinate of the scheduling device or the inventory robot of the warehouse system, a height of the pick-and-place device, a traveling speed and the like can be reported in real time, and inventory interrupt parameters can be reported to inform the scheduling device or the inventory system that the currently executed inventory task is interrupted by other tasks, wherein the other tasks can be an avoidance task, a pick-and-place task, an abnormal maintenance task and the like. The avoidance task is a task that the inventory robot avoids other robots, and a specific strategy can be to wait in situ, walk to a tunnel opening and the like.

Step S703, determining the collection sequence of each bin identification code according to the collection time point of each bin identification code in the inventory data for the inventory data of each inventory area.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or warehousing system may determine the inventory data or the collection sequence of the bin identifiers in the bin identifier queue based on the interval in which the collection time point is located.

Optionally, if the difference between the collection time points of two adjacent bin identifiers in the bin identifier queue corresponding to the inventory data is smaller than a preset difference, determining that the collection sequence of the two adjacent bin identifiers is the same sequence.

The preset difference may be a smaller value, such as 0.1s, 0.3s, 0.5s, etc.

In one embodiment, the preset difference may be determined according to the fastest speed of the robot during the collection, for example, may be a ratio of the length of the library at the opposite end of the length of the inventory area to the fastest speed of the robot during the collection.

Step S704, for each checking area, determining the bin identifier corresponding to each checking unit in the checking area according to the collection sequence of each bin identifier in the bin identifier queue corresponding to the checking area and the position coordinates when the checking robot collects each bin identifier.

In one embodiment, for each counting area, since the counting sequence of the counting robot in the counting area is known, the counting unit corresponding to each bin identification code can be determined according to the collection sequence of each bin identification code in the bin identification code queue corresponding to the counting area. And checking the checking unit corresponding to each bin identification code by combining the checking data or the position coordinates of the checking robot when the bin identification codes are acquired or identified, which are recorded in the bin identification code queue.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot needs to move to a position corresponding to an inventory unit or an inventory unit when performing inventory of the inventory unit, so that the pick-and-place device is aligned with the inventory unit or the inventory unit by lifting. Therefore, according to the position coordinates of the checking robot when collecting the bin identification codes, the unit where the bin position of the bin corresponding to each bin identification code is located can be determined. Checking the inventory units corresponding to the bin identification codes determined according to the acquisition sequence through the unit where the bin position corresponding to the bin identification code determined based on the position coordinates is located, so that the accuracy of determining the inventory units corresponding to the bin identification codes is improved.

Further, if the checking unit corresponding to the bin identification code does not pass the rechecking, determining the checking unit corresponding to the bin identification code as one unit to be checked. Or if the bin positions corresponding to the bin identification codes do not pass the rechecking, the scheduling equipment or the warehousing system generates a secondary checking instruction so as to control other checking robots to check each checking unit of the storage shelf corresponding to the bin identification codes according to the checking sequence of the checking robots, obtain new checking data of the storage shelf, cover the checking data of the storage shelf acquired by the checking robots, and determine the bin identification codes corresponding to each checking unit of the storage shelf based on the new checking data.

Step S705, for each inventory unit in each inventory area, determining whether the inventory unit is consistent with the corresponding bin identification code in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, for each inventory area, inventory data for the respective inventory area may be determined from inventory data for the warehousing system stored in the scheduling device or the warehousing system. The stock data may include bin identifiers of bins stored on respective stock locations, and may also include material information stored in respective bins.

In one embodiment, a preset bin identification code set corresponding to each checking unit may be determined according to inventory data of the checking area, and for each checking unit in the checking area, whether the bin identification code corresponding to the checking unit in the checking data is consistent with the preset bin identification code set corresponding to the checking unit is determined, if not, the checking unit is determined to be one of the units to be checked. When the checking unit is a single bin, the number of bin identifiers in the preset bin identifier set is 1. The preset bin identification code set is a bin identification code of a bin stored on each bin position corresponding to the checking unit recorded in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, if the inventory unit does not include a bin identifier in the preset bin identifier set corresponding to the inventory unit in the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory data, determining that the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory unit in the inventory data and the inventory data are inconsistent.

In one embodiment, if the bin identifier corresponding to the unit in the inventory data is the same as the set of preset bin identifiers corresponding to the unit, then it is determined that the bin identifiers corresponding to the unit in the inventory data and in the inventory data are consistent.

Optionally, if the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory units in the inventory data are all in the inventory data, determining that the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory units in the inventory data are consistent with the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory units in the inventory data.

Step S706, if the bin identifiers corresponding to the inventory data and the inventory data of the unit are inconsistent, determining the inventory unit as a problem unit.

In one embodiment, it may also be determined that an inventory area for the problem cell exists, and that there are inventory bits to be checked. The library bits to be checked at least comprise library bits corresponding to the problem units.

Step S707, determining a unit to be checked of the checking area according to the problem unit, and determining each library bit of the unit to be checked as a library bit to be checked.

In one embodiment, each problem unit may be determined directly as each unit to be inspected.

In one embodiment, each problem cell and neighboring cells to each problem cell may be determined as each cell to be inspected. The adjacent unit of the problem unit may be an inventory unit adjacent to the acquisition sequence of the problem unit, or an inventory unit having a difference value between the acquisition sequences of the problem unit and the acquisition sequence of the problem unit in a set area, or a unit adjacent to the problem unit, or the like.

Optionally, determining the at least one unit to be checked according to the problem unit includes: for each problem unit, determining each checking unit with the absolute value of the difference value of the checking sequence and the checking sequence of the problem unit smaller than the first difference value as a unit to be checked.

Wherein the first difference may be 1, 2 or other values.

Further, if the inventory precision of the inventory robot is the inventory position, step S605 is to determine whether the inventory positions are consistent with the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory data for each inventory region, and if not, determine that the inventory positions are problem positions. And determining library positions corresponding to the bin identification codes acquired by each target acquisition sequence of the inventory data of the inventory area as target library positions of the inventory area aiming at each inventory area. The target acquisition sequence is located in a preset interval, and the preset interval takes the acquisition sequence of the bin identification codes corresponding to the problem library in the inventory data as a midpoint.

In one embodiment, the target acquisition sequence may include an acquisition sequence of a bin identification code of the problem bin in inventory data, that is, a problem acquisition sequence, and a previous acquisition sequence and a subsequent acquisition sequence of the problem acquisition sequence, or the target acquisition sequence may include a problem acquisition sequence, and a plurality of acquisition sequences adjacent to the problem acquisition sequence.

In order to reduce the cost, a storage shelf of the warehousing system is not provided with a storage position identification code, and when the identification range of the bin identification device is overlarge, the situation that one storage position corresponds to a plurality of bin identification codes occurs in inventory data. The bin positions corresponding to the bin identifiers are necessarily a problem bin position, and in order to more comprehensively and accurately determine the bin positions with errors of all the stored bins, the problem bin position and the bin positions corresponding to the bin identifiers in the adjacent sequence in the acquisition sequence corresponding to the problem bin position can be determined as target bin positions to be checked.

Taking the bin identification device as an example of an electronic tag, because the power of the electronic tag reader is too high, the electronic tag reader on the pick-and-place device can read the electronic tag on the bin stored on a plurality of bin positions at the same position, namely, the situation of serial reading occurs, and a plurality of bin identification codes in inventory data correspond to the same bin position, so that the bin position where the serial read bin identification code is located cannot be determined, and therefore, the bin position with errors is required to be positioned by the bin identification codes acquired from front to back through the problem bin position in inventory data, namely, the serial read bin position.

Illustratively, it is assumed that bin identifiers in inventory data in the order of collection are: LX001 to LX007, LX008 and LX010, the corresponding library bits are in order: if bin identifiers corresponding to bin positions 001 to 010 in inventory data are LX001 to LX010 in sequence, bin positions 008 and 009 can be determined to be problem bin positions by checking bin identifiers corresponding to the same bin positions in data and inventory data, and bin positions 007 to 0010 can be determined to be target bin positions together for the sake of comprehensiveness of checking, so that part of bin positions with errors stored therein cannot be checked due to the condition of serial reading, if bin positions 007 are not actually stored in bin positions 007, bin positions 008 are stored in bin positions LX007, and bin identifiers of bin positions LX007 stored in bin positions 008 are read when bin recognition devices are aligned with bin positions 007 due to serial reading or misjudging robot travel distance.

Step S708, according to the positions of the units to be inspected, an inspection report is generated to inspect the bins stored on the storage positions of the units to be inspected.

The inspection report may include a bin identifier or a bin code of a bin of each unit to be inspected, and a bin identifier of a bin in which each bin of each inspection unit should be stored.

In one embodiment, the bins stored on the various bins of the various inspection units may be inspected by an operator or robot based on the inspection report.

In this embodiment, a plurality of inventory instructions of the inventory areas are generated based on a scheduling device or a warehousing system, so as to control each inventory robot to perform inventory of each inventory unit of the corresponding inventory area, and obtain inventory data of each inventory area; when the checking is finished, based on the acquisition sequence of each bin identification code in the checking data of each checking area and the position coordinates of the robot when each bin identification code is acquired, determining the bin identification code corresponding to each unit in the checking area, and comparing the checking data with the bin identification codes corresponding to each unit in the pre-stored library position data to determine each unit to be checked so as to recheck each unit to determine the bin with error, thereby realizing batch checking based on the area and improving the checking efficiency.

Optionally, the bin identification device arranged on the checking robot may be an electronic tag code reader, and the checking robot collects bin identification codes of bins stored on each bin based on the electronic tag code reader.

In an embodiment, the bin counting method may further include closing a bin identification device provided on the counting robot based on the dispatching device or the warehouse system, so as to prevent the bin identification device of the counting robot from misreading bin identification codes of bins stored in other warehouse positions of the non-corresponding counting area.

Optionally, the bin counting method further includes: acquiring position coordinates uploaded by the inventory robot during the period that the inventory robot executes the received inventory instruction; and opening or closing a bin identification device of the robot according to the current position coordinates of the robot.

In one embodiment, after the scheduling device or the warehousing system sends the scheduling instruction to the checking robot, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may receive the position coordinates uploaded by the checking robot in real time, and further, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may determine whether the checking robot enters the corresponding checking area according to the position coordinates uploaded by the checking robot, if yes, whether the checking robot is located in the preset range of the checking starting point of the checking area, if yes, the bin identification device of the checking robot is started.

In one embodiment, the dispatching device or the warehousing system can judge whether the inventory robot exceeds the range of the corresponding inventory area according to the current position coordinates of the inventory robot, if so, the bin identification device of the inventory robot is closed, so that the bin identification device is prevented from misread of bin identification codes of bins stored in other warehouse positions.

Optionally, according to the current position coordinates of the robot, the bin recognition device of the robot is turned on or turned off, including: determining a current path node of the checking robot according to the current position coordinates of the checking robot; and closing the bin identification device of the checking robot according to the walking time of the current path node of the checking robot corresponding to the next path node.

Wherein the next path node is the next path node of the current path node.

In one embodiment, the inventory instruction may include an inventory path of the inventory robot, and a position of each path node in the inventory path and an association relationship between each path node.

In one embodiment, the inventory robot may automatically plan the inventory path according to the positions of each storage shelf or each inventory location required to be checked and the inventory start point of the inventory area corresponding to the inventory robot, and upload the inventory path and the positions of each path node in the inventory path to the scheduling device or the warehouse system.

In one embodiment, the scheduling device or the warehousing system may determine, according to the current position coordinate of the inventory robot, a path node that is closest to the current position coordinate and that has not yet been passed by the inventory robot is a current path node of the inventory robot, that is, the current path node of the inventory robot is a path node that is about to be passed by the inventory robot.

In one embodiment, the travel time of the current path node corresponding to the next path node may be a ratio of a path length from the current path node to the next path node to an average speed corresponding to the time when the inventory robot passes through the inventory start point of the corresponding inventory area and then reaches the current position coordinate.

In one embodiment, if the travel time of the current path node and the next path node is less than or equal to the preset time, the bin identification device of the checking robot is kept on, and if the travel time of the current path node and the next path node is greater than the preset time, the bin identification device of the checking robot is turned off, so that the bin identification device can not misread bin identification codes of bins stored in other storage positions when the checking robot goes to the next path node.

In one embodiment, the preset time may be determined according to a communication time of the scheduling device or the warehouse system issuing the control instruction of the bin identification device to the inventory robot and a time of the bin identification device responding to the control instruction, where the control instruction of the bin identification device is used to turn on or off the bin identification device.

In one embodiment, the preset time may be a fixed value, such as 5s, 6s, or other time.

Optionally, the bin counting method further includes: acquiring task parameters uploaded by the inventory robot during the period that the inventory robot executes the received inventory instruction; and closing the bin identification device of the checking robot according to the task parameters of the checking robot.

The task parameters may include parameters such as the type of task currently being performed by the inventory robot, the state of the task being performed, and the like.

In one embodiment, if the task parameter of the inventory robot is an inventory task pause or an inventory task termination, the bin identification device of the inventory robot is turned off.

In one embodiment, if the task parameter of the inventory robot is that the inventory robot is executing tasks other than the inventory task, such as an avoidance task, a pick-and-place task, an exception handling task, etc., the bin identification device of the inventory robot is turned off.

By closing control of the bin identification device based on the position coordinates or task parameters of the inventory robot, the phenomenon of misreading of the inventory robot is effectively reduced, and the inventory accuracy is improved.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a bin inventory method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, where, in the case that each inventory area corresponds to multiple sets of inventory data, as shown in fig. 8, the bin inventory method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

Step S801 generates an inventory command of an inventory area, and sends the inventory command to at least one inventory robot to control the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area, so as to obtain at least two sets of inventory data of the inventory area.

The inventory area comprises a plurality of inventory positions, the inventory units are units which need to be checked in the inventory area, each unit comprises one or more inventory positions in the inventory area, each group of inventory data comprises a bin identification code queue, and the bin identification code queue is a collection of bin identification codes collected by the inventory robot in the inventory area.

In one embodiment, the inventory sequence or inventory path corresponding to each set of inventory data is different.

Optionally, the step of sending the inventory instruction to at least one inventory robot to control the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area includes: and sending the checking instruction to a checking robot so as to control the checking robot to check the checking area at least twice, wherein at least one of the checking sequence and the checking path is different when the checking robot checks each time.

The specific process of one of the inventory robots performing one-time inventory of the inventory area based on the inventory instruction may refer to the inventory mode provided in any of the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described herein again.

In one embodiment, the first inventory robot and the second inventory robot may perform inventory of the storage shelves in a manner of walking in opposite directions on lanes on both sides of the storage shelves in the inventory area, so as to reduce the serial reading phenomenon.

Step S802, receiving at least two sets of inventory data.

Wherein each group of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue.

Step 803, the intersection of each bin identification code queue is obtained, and a cross checking queue is obtained.

By taking the intersection set through the bin identification code queues corresponding to the plurality of groups of inventory data, the influence of serial reading or misreading of the inventory robot on the inventory result is reduced, and the accuracy of the inventory result is improved.

Step S804, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area. In an embodiment, the to-be-checked library position of the checking area may be determined based on the manner of step S203, and only the checking data or the bin identification code queue in step S203 and the related description need to be replaced by a cross checking queue, which is not described herein.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the cross checking queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: if the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data have missing bin identification codes, determining that the checking areas have the library positions to be checked; wherein the missing bin identification code does not exist in the cross inventory queue.

In one embodiment, the library bits to be inspected comprise: and in the stock data, library bits corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

In one embodiment, the library bits to be inspected comprise: and in the stock data, the stock positions in a preset range are nearby the stock positions corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: if the cross checking queue has the misplaced bin identification code, determining that the checking area has the bin to be checked; the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

In one embodiment, the counting instruction is used for controlling the counting robot to count the counting area by taking a counting unit as a unit, and the counting unit comprises one or more library positions; the bin identification code queue consists of a plurality of bin identification code sets, and the bin identification code sets are in one-to-one correspondence with the checking units; intersection sets are taken from the bin identification code queues to obtain cross inventory queues, and the method comprises the following steps: respectively taking intersection sets of corresponding bin identification code sets in each bin identification code queue to obtain each crossed bin identification code set; and combining all the crossed bin identification code sets to obtain the crossed inventory queue.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: for each checking unit in the checking area, when the corresponding bin identification code of the checking unit in the inventory data is in the bin identification code set corresponding to the checking unit, determining that the checking unit does not have the to-be-checked library position; and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: judging whether a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area; the first unit is an inventory unit with a third bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the third bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the to-be-checked bin positions comprise all bin positions corresponding to the first unit.

In one embodiment, determining whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory bit according to the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area includes: judging whether a second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

In one embodiment, step S803 may not be performed, and step S804 may be replaced by determining at least one unit to be inspected in the inventory area according to the at least two sets of inventory data and the inventory data of the inventory area.

In one embodiment, each set of inventory data may be compared with corresponding inventory data, that is, each set of inventory data for an inventory area, the inventory data for the inventory area may be compared with the inventory data for the inventory area, and based on the comparison result, a to-be-checked library position for the inventory area may be determined.

In one embodiment, the to-be-checked library position of the inventory area may be determined according to each set of inventory data and inventory data of the inventory area in the manner of step S203 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2. And further performing de-duplication processing on the library positions to be checked corresponding to the inventory data of each group, thereby obtaining each library position to be checked in the inventory area.

Optionally, determining the to-be-checked library position of the inventory area according to the at least two groups of inventory data and the inventory data includes: for each checking unit, if the checking result of the checking unit is inconsistent with the inventory data of the checking unit, determining the checking unit as a problem unit; and determining the at least one library bit to be checked according to the problem unit.

Optionally, determining the to-be-checked library position of the inventory area according to the at least two groups of inventory data and the inventory data includes: determining bin identification codes corresponding to each counting unit in each group of counting data according to the acquisition sequence of each bin identification code in the bin identification code queue corresponding to the counting data; and determining the to-be-checked library position of the checking area according to the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking units in the checking data and the inventory data corresponding to the checking units.

Optionally, determining, according to the collection sequence of each bin identifier in the bin identifier queue corresponding to the inventory data, a bin identifier corresponding to each inventory unit in the inventory data, where the determining includes: and determining the bin identification codes corresponding to the counting units in the counting data according to the acquisition sequence of the bin identification codes in the bin identification code queue corresponding to the counting data and the position coordinates when the counting robot acquires the bin identification codes.

Optionally, the checking data further includes a position coordinate when the checking robot collects the bin identification code and a height of a pick-and-place device of the checking robot, and the determining the to-be-checked library position of the checking area according to the at least two sets of checking data and the inventory data of the checking area includes: determining bin identification codes corresponding to all the counting units in the counting data according to the position coordinates of the counting robot corresponding to all the bin identification codes in the counting data and the height of the picking and placing device of the counting robot; and determining the to-be-checked library position of the checking area according to the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking units in the checking data and the inventory data corresponding to the checking units.

Optionally, determining the to-be-checked library position of the checking area according to the bin identification code corresponding to each checking unit in each group of the checking data and the inventory data corresponding to each checking unit, including: for each checking unit, judging whether inventory data corresponding to the checking unit is consistent with a bin identification code corresponding to the checking unit in each group of the checking data; if the stock data corresponding to the checking unit is inconsistent with the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking unit in at least one group of the checking data, or the stock data corresponding to the checking unit is inconsistent with the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking unit in each group of the checking data, determining that the checking unit is a problem unit; and determining the to-be-checked library position of the checking area according to the problem unit.

Optionally, if the bin identifiers in the inventory data corresponding to the checking unit are all in the checking data of the checking unit, it is determined that the inventory data corresponding to the checking unit is consistent with the bin identifiers corresponding to the checking unit in the checking data, that is, the checking area does not have a bin to be checked.

Optionally, determining a unit to be checked of the library to be checked of the checking area according to the problem unit includes: and for each problem unit, determining each checking unit with the absolute value of the difference value of the checking sequence and the checking sequence of the problem unit smaller than the first difference value as a unit to be checked, and determining each library position of the unit to be checked as a library position to be checked.

Optionally, determining the unit to be checked of the checking area according to the at least two sets of checking data and the inventory data includes: comparing the inventory data with inventory data of the inventory area for each group of inventory data; determining a missing bin identification code in the inventory data according to the comparison result aiming at each group of the inventory data, wherein the missing bin identification code is a bin identification code which does not belong to the inventory data in the inventory data of the inventory area; and determining the library position to be checked of the inventory area according to the original library position of each missing bin identification code in the inventory data.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a bin inventory method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, where the bin inventory method is performed by an inventory robot, and the inventory robot may be any one of a warehouse system or a robot dedicated to performing inventory tasks, and as shown in fig. 9, the bin inventory method according to the present embodiment includes the following steps:

Step S901, receiving an inventory command of an inventory area.

Wherein the inventory area includes a plurality of inventory bits.

The counting instructions are used for controlling the counting robot to count the counting area.

Step S902, performing inventory on the inventory area based on the inventory instruction, and generating inventory data corresponding to the inventory area.

Step S903, transmitting the inventory data.

The inventory data comprises a bin identification code queue, and the inventory data is used for comparing with inventory data of the inventory area so as to judge whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked library position.

Optionally, the counting area based on the counting instruction, generating counting data corresponding to the counting area includes: counting the counting area based on the counting instruction; and carrying out duplication elimination processing on all bin identification codes acquired by the checking area to obtain checking data corresponding to the checking area.

Optionally, the counting area based on the counting instruction, generating counting data corresponding to the counting area includes: controlling a bin identification device of the checking robot based on the checking instruction, and collecting bin identification codes of bins placed in each checking unit of the checking area by taking the checking unit as a unit; acquiring a bin identification code set corresponding to each checking unit according to the acquired bin identification code; generating inventory data corresponding to the inventory area based on a bin identification code set corresponding to each inventory unit of the inventory area; the counting unit comprises one or more library bits, and the bin identification code set corresponds to the counting unit one by one.

Optionally, based on the checking instruction, the bin identification device of the checking robot is controlled to collect bin identification codes of bins placed in each checking unit of the checking area by taking the checking unit as a unit, and the bin identification device comprises: and starting the bin identification device of the counting robot to collect bin identification codes of bins placed in the counting units when the counting instructions move to preset positions of the counting units aiming at each counting unit.

Optionally, according to the collected bin identification codes, a bin identification code set corresponding to each checking unit is obtained, including: and if the difference value of the acquired time points corresponding to the acquired two adjacent bin identification codes is smaller than a preset value, classifying the two bin identification codes into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, according to the collected bin identification codes, a bin identification code set corresponding to each checking unit is obtained, including: and if the distance between the positions of the bin identification devices corresponding to the two collected bin identification codes is smaller than the preset distance, classifying the two bin identification codes into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and if the intensity value of the acquired bin identification code is lower than the preset intensity, deleting the bin identification code from the corresponding bin identification code set.

Optionally, the method further comprises: determining the position corresponding to the acquired bin identification code; and if the position corresponding to the acquired bin identification code exceeds the range of the corresponding checking unit, deleting the bin identification code from the corresponding bin identification code set.

The disclosed embodiments provide a bin inventory device that may be performed by a scheduling apparatus or a warehousing system, the bin inventory device comprising: the system comprises an instruction sending module, an inventory data receiving module and an abnormality judging module.

The system comprises an instruction sending module, an inventory robot, an inventory control module and an inventory control module, wherein the instruction sending module is used for generating an inventory instruction of an inventory area and sending the inventory instruction to the inventory robot, the inventory instruction controls the inventory robot to inventory the inventory area so as to obtain inventory data corresponding to the inventory area, the inventory area comprises a plurality of library positions, and the inventory data comprises a bin identification code queue; the inventory data receiving module is used for receiving the inventory data; and the abnormality judging module is used for judging whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the inventory data of the inventory area and the inventory data of the inventory data.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the bin identification code queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a missing bin identification code exists in the inventory data of the inventory area according to the inventory data and the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area; if the inventory data of the checking area contains a missing bin identification code, determining that the checking area contains the library position to be checked; wherein the missing bin identifier does not exist in the bin identifier queue.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a misplaced bin identification code exists in a bin identification code queue of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if the misplaced bin identification code exists in the bin identification code queue, determining that the inventory area has the bin to be checked; the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: for each inventory unit in the inventory area, when the bin identification code corresponding to the inventory unit in the inventory data exists in the bin identification set corresponding to the inventory unit, determining that the inventory unit does not exist the to-be-checked bin; and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a first unit exists in each inventory unit of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area; the first unit is an inventory unit with a missing bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the missing bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the library bits to be checked comprise library bits corresponding to the first unit.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a second unit exists in each inventory unit of the inventory area according to the inventory data corresponding to the inventory area and the inventory data; if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

Optionally, the device may replace the abnormality determination module with a to-be-checked library position determination module, where the to-be-checked library position determination module is configured to determine, according to the inventory data of the inventory area and the inventory data of the inventory area, a to-be-checked library position of the inventory area.

The bin counting device provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can execute the bin counting method provided by any embodiment corresponding to fig. 2 and fig. 4 to 7 of the disclosure, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method.

Another bin inventory device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure may be performed by a scheduling apparatus or a warehouse system, the bin inventory device including: the system comprises an instruction generation module, an inventory data receiving module, a cross queue acquisition module and an abnormality judgment module. The system comprises an instruction generation module, a counting module and a counting module, wherein the instruction generation module is used for generating a counting instruction of a counting area and sending the counting instruction to at least one counting robot so as to control the at least one counting robot to count the counting area to obtain at least two groups of counting data of the counting area, and the counting area comprises a plurality of library positions; the inventory data receiving module is used for receiving at least two groups of inventory data, wherein each group of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue; the cross queue acquisition module is used for acquiring intersections of the bin identification code queues to obtain cross checking queues; and the abnormality judging module is used for judging whether the inventory area has the inventory position to be checked according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area.

Optionally, the instruction generating module is specifically configured to: generating an inventory command of an inventory area, and sending the inventory command to an inventory robot to control the inventory robot to inventory the inventory area at least twice, wherein the inventory sequence and the inventory path of each inventory of the inventory robot are different.

Optionally, the instruction generating module is specifically configured to: generating a first inventory command and a second inventory command; and respectively sending the first inventory instruction and the second inventory instruction to a first inventory robot and a second inventory robot so as to control the first inventory robot and the second inventory robot to inventory the inventory areas respectively.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the cross checking queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: if the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data have missing bin identification codes, determining that the checking areas have the library positions to be checked; wherein the missing bin identification code does not exist in the cross inventory queue.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: if the cross checking queue has the misplaced bin identification code, determining that the checking area has the bin to be checked; the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: for each checking unit in the checking area, when the corresponding bin identification code of the checking unit in the inventory data is in the bin identification code set corresponding to the checking unit, determining that the checking unit does not have the to-be-checked library position; and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area; the first unit is an inventory unit with a third bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the third bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the to-be-checked bin positions comprise all bin positions corresponding to the first unit.

Optionally, the abnormality determination module is specifically configured to: judging whether a second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area; if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked; the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

The bin counting device provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can execute the bin counting method provided by any embodiment corresponding to fig. 8 of the disclosure, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method.

Another bin counting device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device is applied to a counting robot, the bin counting device includes: the system comprises an instruction receiving module, an inventory data generating module and an inventory data transmitting module.

The system comprises an instruction receiving module, a counting module and a counting module, wherein the instruction receiving module is used for receiving a counting instruction of a counting area, and the counting instruction is used for controlling the counting robot to count the counting area; the inventory data generation module is used for conducting inventory on the inventory area based on the inventory instruction and generating inventory data corresponding to the inventory area; the inventory data sending module is used for sending the inventory data; the inventory data is used for comparing with the inventory data of the inventory area so as to judge whether the inventory area has the inventory bits to be checked or not.

Optionally, the inventory data generating module is specifically configured to: counting the counting area based on the counting instruction; and carrying out duplication elimination processing on all bin identification codes acquired by the checking area to obtain checking data corresponding to the checking area.

Optionally, the inventory data generating module includes: the counting unit is used for controlling a bin identification device of the counting robot based on the counting instruction, and collecting bin identification codes of bins placed in each counting unit of the counting area by taking the counting unit as a unit; the collection acquisition unit is used for acquiring a bin identification code collection corresponding to each checking unit according to the acquired bin identification codes; the inventory data generation unit is used for generating inventory data corresponding to the inventory area based on the bin identification code sets corresponding to the inventory units of the inventory area; the counting unit comprises one or more library bits, and the bin identification code set corresponds to the counting unit one by one.

Optionally, the base stock unit is specifically configured to: and starting the bin identification device of the counting robot to collect bin identification codes of bins placed in the counting units when the counting instructions move to preset positions of the counting units aiming at each counting unit.

Optionally, the set acquisition unit is specifically configured to: and if the difference value of the acquired time points corresponding to the acquired two adjacent bin identification codes is smaller than a preset value, classifying the two bin identification codes into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, the set acquisition unit is specifically configured to: and if the distance between the positions of the bin identification devices corresponding to the two collected bin identification codes is smaller than the preset distance, classifying the two bin identification codes into the same bin identification code set.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes: the first identification code deleting module is used for deleting the bin identification codes from the corresponding bin identification code set if the intensity value of the acquired bin identification codes is lower than the preset intensity.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes: the second identification code deleting module is used for determining the position corresponding to the acquired bin identification code; and if the position corresponding to the acquired bin identification code exceeds the range of the corresponding checking unit, deleting the bin identification code from the corresponding bin identification code set.

The bin counting device provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can execute the bin counting method provided by any embodiment corresponding to fig. 9 of the disclosure, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a scheduling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 10, where the scheduling device includes: memory 1010, processor 1020 and computer programs.

Wherein a computer program is stored in the memory 1010 and configured to be executed by the processor 1020 to implement the bin inventory method provided by any of the embodiments of the present disclosure, fig. 2 and fig. 4-8.

Wherein the memory 1010 and the processor 1020 are coupled via a bus 1030.

The description and effects corresponding to the steps of fig. 2 and fig. 4 to 8 may be understood correspondingly, and are not repeated here.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an inventory robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 11, the inventory robot includes: memory 1110, processor 1120, and computer programs.

Wherein a computer program is stored in the memory 1110 and configured to be executed by the processor 1120 to implement the bin inventory method provided by the corresponding embodiment of fig. 9 of the present disclosure.

Wherein the memory 1110 and the processor 1120 are connected via a bus 1130.

The description and effect of the steps of fig. 9 may be correspondingly understood, and will not be repeated herein.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and as shown in fig. 12, the warehousing system includes: storage shelves 1210, scheduling apparatus 1220, and inventory robot 1230, fig. 12 illustrates two storage shelves 1210.

The scheduling device or the warehousing system 1220 is provided by the embodiment shown in fig. 10 of the present disclosure, and the inventory robot 1230 is provided by the embodiment shown in fig. 11 of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the sizes of the library bits on the same storage shelf may be the same or different, and may be set according to actual requirements.

In one embodiment, the warehousing system further includes other robots such as pick and place robots, stacking robots, and the like.

In one embodiment, the warehousing system further includes a transfer device of a hopper of an unloader, elevator, conveyor line, etc.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the bin inventory method provided by any one of the embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, 4 to 9 of the present disclosure.

The computer readable storage medium may be, among other things, ROM, random Access Memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc.

The present disclosure also provides a program product comprising an executable computer program stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of the scheduling apparatus or the warehousing system or the robot may read the computer program from the readable storage medium, and execution of the computer program by the at least one processor causes the bin inventory device to implement the bin inventory methods provided by the various embodiments described above.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, for example, multiple modules may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as modules may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional module in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated in one processing unit, or each module may exist alone physically, or two or more modules may be integrated in one unit. The units formed by the modules can be realized in a form of hardware or a form of hardware and software functional units.

The integrated modules, which are implemented in the form of software functional modules, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional module is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (english: processor) to perform some of the steps of the methods according to the embodiments of the disclosure.

It should be understood that the above processor may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, abbreviated as CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, abbreviated as DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, abbreviated as ASIC), etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the present disclosure may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor for execution.

The memory may comprise a high-speed RAM memory, and may further comprise a non-volatile memory NVM, such as at least one magnetic disk memory, and may also be a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or optical disk, etc.

The bus may be an industry standard architecture (Industry Standard Architecture, ISA) bus, an external device interconnect (Peripheral Component, PCI) bus, or an extended industry standard architecture (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, among others. The buses may be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of illustration, the buses in the drawings of the present disclosure are not limited to only one bus or to one type of bus.

The storage medium may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or nonvolatile memory devices such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disk. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuits, ASIC for short). It is also possible that the processor and the storage medium reside as discrete components in an electronic device or a master device.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: all or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments described above may be performed by hardware associated with program instructions. The foregoing program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The program, when executed, performs steps including the method embodiments described above; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program code, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present disclosure, and not for limiting the same; although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some or all of the technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method of inventory of a bin, the method comprising:

generating an inventory command of an inventory area, and sending the inventory command to at least one inventory robot, wherein the inventory command is used for controlling the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area by taking an inventory unit as a unit so as to obtain at least two groups of inventory data of the inventory area, and the inventory unit comprises a plurality of library positions;

receiving at least two groups of inventory data, wherein each group of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue, the bin identification code queue consists of a plurality of bin identification code sets, and the bin identification code sets are in one-to-one correspondence with the inventory units;

Respectively taking intersection sets of corresponding bin identification code sets in each bin identification code queue to obtain each crossed bin identification code set;

combining all the crossed bin identification code sets to obtain a crossed inventory queue;

and judging whether the inventory area has a to-be-checked inventory position according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the inventory instructions to at least one inventory robot to control the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area comprises:

and sending the checking instruction to a checking robot so as to control the checking robot to check the checking area at least twice, wherein at least one of the checking sequence and the checking path is different when the checking robot checks each time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the inventory instructions comprise a first inventory instruction and a second inventory instruction, the inventory instructions being sent to at least one inventory robot to control the at least one inventory robot to inventory the inventory area, comprising:

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the first and second inventory robots are different in at least one of inventory order and inventory path for the inventory area.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the bin identification code queue is obtained after all bin identification codes acquired by the checking robot for one time of checking the checking area are de-duplicated.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

and when all the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data exist in the cross checking queue, determining that the checking areas do not exist in the to-be-checked library positions.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

If the bin identification codes corresponding to the checking areas in the inventory data have missing bin identification codes, determining that the checking areas have the library positions to be checked;

wherein the missing bin identification code does not exist in the cross inventory queue.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the library bits to be inspected comprise: and in the stock data, library bits corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the library bits to be inspected comprise: and in the stock data, the stock positions in a preset range are nearby the stock positions corresponding to the missing bin identification codes.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

if the cross checking queue has the misplaced bin identification code, determining that the checking area has the bin to be checked;

the misplaced bin identification codes are not stored in the bin identification codes corresponding to the inventory areas in the inventory data, and the distances between the bin positions corresponding to the misplaced bin identification codes in the inventory data and the inventory areas exceed a first preset distance; and the library bit to be checked comprises a library bit or a unit corresponding to the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inventory robot is intermittently turned on at the time of inventory of the inventory area based on the inventory instruction; the bin identification device is opened when moving to a preset position of the corresponding checking unit, and the bin identification code set consists of bin identification codes acquired during each opening.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously turned on when the counting robot counts the counting area based on the counting instruction, and two bin identifications are classified into the same bin identification code set if a difference between collection time points corresponding to two bin identifications collected adjacently is smaller than a preset value.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bin identification device is intermittently or continuously turned on when the inventory robot performs inventory of the inventory area based on the inventory instruction, and two bin identifications are classified into the same bin identification code set if a distance between positions of the bin identification devices when two bin identifications collected adjacently are collected is smaller than a preset distance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the position of the bin identification device comprises at least one of a height of the bin identification device and a position coordinate of the inventory robot.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

for each checking unit in the checking area, when the corresponding bin identification code of the checking unit in the inventory data is in the bin identification code set corresponding to the checking unit, determining that the checking unit does not have the to-be-checked library position;

and if all the checking units in the checking area do not have the to-be-checked library position, determining that the checking area does not have the to-be-checked library position.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

judging whether a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area;

If a first unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that a to-be-checked library exists in the checking area;

the first unit is an inventory unit with a third bin identification code in corresponding inventory data, the third bin identification code is not in a bin identification code set corresponding to the first unit, and the to-be-checked bin positions comprise all bin positions corresponding to the first unit.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a inventory location exists in the inventory area based on the cross inventory queue and inventory data of the inventory area comprises:

judging whether a second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area according to the cross checking queue and the inventory data of the checking area;

if the second unit exists in each checking unit of the checking area, determining that the checking area has a library position to be checked;

the second unit is an inventory unit with a misplaced bin identification code in a corresponding bin identification set, the misplaced bin identification code does not exist in inventory data corresponding to the second unit, the distance between a corresponding bin position of the misplaced bin identification code in the inventory data and the second unit exceeds a second preset distance, and the bin positions to be checked comprise all bin positions corresponding to the second unit.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the bin identification device comprises an electronic tag identification device or an image identification device.

19. A bin inventory device, the device comprising:

the system comprises an instruction generation module, at least one counting robot and a counting module, wherein the instruction generation module is used for generating a counting instruction of a counting area and sending the counting instruction to the at least one counting robot, and the counting instruction is used for controlling the at least one counting robot to count the counting area by taking a counting unit as a unit so as to obtain at least two groups of counting data of the counting area, wherein the counting unit comprises a plurality of library bits;

the inventory data receiving module is used for receiving the at least two groups of inventory data, wherein each group of inventory data respectively comprises a bin identification code queue, the bin identification code queue consists of a plurality of bin identification code sets, and the bin identification code sets are in one-to-one correspondence with the inventory units;

the cross queue acquisition module is used for respectively acquiring corresponding bin identification code sets in each bin identification code queue to obtain each cross bin identification code set;

And the abnormality judging module is used for judging whether the inventory area has the inventory position to be checked according to the cross inventory queue and the inventory data of the inventory area.

20. A scheduling apparatus, comprising:

a memory and at least one processor;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, causing the at least one processor to perform the bin inventory method of any one of claims 1-18.

21. A warehousing system comprising a storage rack, an inventory robot, and the scheduling apparatus of claim 20.

22. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the bin inventory method of any one of claims 1-18.

23. A computer program product comprising a computer program, which when executed by a processor implements the bin inventory method according to any one of claims 1-18.