CN115213106A - Automatic sorting system, method and computer equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic sorting system, a method and computer equipment, wherein the system comprises sorting identification equipment, a transmission robot, a transmission track, a goods shelf, checking identification equipment and control equipment; the conveying robot runs on a conveying track, the conveying track comprises a plurality of track branches, and the track branches are respectively connected to a plurality of goods positions of the goods shelf; the control equipment is respectively in communication connection with the sorting identification equipment and the transmission robot, the sorting identification equipment is used for acquiring the goods information of the goods to be sorted, the control equipment is used for determining the target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information, and the transmission robot is controlled to transmit the goods to be sorted to the target goods position and mark the goods to be sorted as the sorted goods; the checking identification equipment is arranged at the checking cargo position of the goods shelf, is in communication connection with the control equipment and is used for identifying the checking codes of the sorted cargos in the checking cargo position so as to check the sorting process. The invention can automatically sort goods and carry out sorting and checking.

Description

Automatic sorting system, method and computer equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to computer technology, in particular to an automatic sorting system, method and computer equipment.

Background

In the logistics transportation process of goods, the goods need to be managed when being delivered from a warehouse, the goods are sorted according to information such as user orders, and then the processes such as follow-up packaging transportation are carried out. The warehouse letter sorting in-process of mesh tradition generally all realizes through manual sorting, is provided with a plurality of letter sorting platforms in the warehouse, and every letter sorting platform all is equipped with letter sorting workman and computer, display, sweeps a yard rifle etc. and selects complete sets, treats to sort goods to every, and the operator need use to sweep a yard rifle and scan, then waits for the system to tell the concrete position that commodity should be put in, carries out commodity at last and puts in. The sorting mode can occupy a large amount of space and human resources, and the sorting efficiency is low.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the above, the present invention provides an automatic sorting system, method and computer device, which can automatically sort goods and perform sorting verification.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic sorting system, where the automatic sorting system includes a sorting identification device, a transfer robot, a transfer track, a goods shelf, a verification identification device, and a control device;

the conveying robot runs on the conveying track, the conveying track comprises a plurality of track branches, and the track branches are respectively connected to a plurality of goods positions of the goods shelf;

the control equipment is respectively in communication connection with the sorting identification equipment and the transmission robot, the sorting identification equipment is used for acquiring goods information of goods to be sorted, the control equipment is used for determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information, controlling the transmission robot to transmit the goods to be sorted to the target goods position and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or verified goods;

the checking and identifying device is arranged at the checking and goods position of the goods shelf, is in communication connection with the control device and is used for identifying the checking codes of the sorted goods in the checking and goods position so as to check the sorting process through the checking codes.

Above-mentioned automatic sorting system can automatic identification treat the goods information of letter sorting goods to according to goods information automatic control transmission robot with freight to goods's appointed goods position department of goods shelves, do not need unnecessary letter sorting platform and manual operation process, can effectively practice thrift the space and improve letter sorting efficiency, can sort the check-up according to the goods of letter sorting to the check-up goods position simultaneously.

In one embodiment, the automatic sorting system further comprises a buffer zone arranged before the start point of the conveying track, and the control device keeps the plurality of goods to be sorted passing through the buffer zone in a set sequence and interval through differential speed control.

In one embodiment, a reference positioning sensor is arranged at a preset reference position on the transmission track, and a first positioning sensor and a second positioning sensor are respectively arranged on the transmission robot; wherein the first positioning sensor is configured to sense the reference positioning sensor to determine a distance between the transfer robot and the reference position; the second positioning sensor is used for sensing the second positioning sensors on other transmission robots to determine the distance between different transmission robots.

In one embodiment, the transfer rail is a three-dimensional rail on which the transfer robot moves horizontally and/or vertically; the goods shelves are arranged on two sides of the three-dimensional track, each goods position of the goods shelves is provided with an indicator light, and the indicator lights are used for displaying the completion condition of goods sorting.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic sorting method, which is applied to the above automatic sorting system, and the method includes:

acquiring goods information of the goods to be sorted, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods;

determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information;

optimizing the running route of the transmission robot according to the position of the target cargo space;

controlling a track robot to convey the goods to be sorted to the target goods space along the running route, and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods;

and acquiring the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position so as to check the sorting process through the check code.

According to the automatic sorting method, the goods information of the goods to be sorted can be automatically identified, the transmission robot is automatically controlled to transport the goods to the specified goods position of the goods shelf according to the goods information, redundant sorting tables and manual operation processes are not needed, the space can be effectively saved, the sorting efficiency is improved, and meanwhile sorting and checking can be carried out according to the goods sorted to the checking goods position.

In one embodiment, the obtaining the check code for checking the sorted goods in the goods location to check the sorting process by the check code includes:

acquiring a check goods position of the check goods, and determining a check code of the check goods as a reference verification code;

and determining the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position as a comparison verification code, and checking whether the comparison verification code is consistent with the reference verification code.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

when a robot reset instruction is received, controlling each transmission robot on the transmission track to run along a preset running direction;

and acquiring the running position information of each transmission robot, and performing position calibration on each transmission robot according to the running position information.

In one embodiment, the acquiring operation position information of each of the transfer robots, and performing position calibration on each of the transfer robots according to each of the operation position information includes:

controlling a reference positioning sensor at a reference position to emit a standard position signal;

according to feedback signals of each transmission robot to the standard position signals, determining the transmission robot closest to the reference position in the reverse preset running direction of the reference position as a robot to be calibrated, and performing position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the reference position;

and when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, controlling all the transmission robots to run along the preset running direction, and returning to re-determine the next robot to be calibrated until all the transmission robots finish position calibration.

In one embodiment, the obtaining operation position information of each of the transfer robots, and performing position calibration on each of the transfer robots according to each of the operation position information includes:

controlling a reference positioning sensor at a reference position to emit a standard position signal;

determining the reference position as a position to be calibrated, and determining the first transmission robot receiving the standard position signal as a robot to be calibrated;

carrying out position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the position to be calibrated, and controlling the robot to be calibrated to stay at the position to be calibrated;

when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, controlling the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration to move along a preset running direction, re-determining the positions of the positions to be calibrated along a preset interval distance against the preset running direction as positions to be calibrated, re-determining the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated as the robot to be calibrated, returning to execute position calibration operation of the robot to be calibrated until all the transmission robots finish position calibration, wherein the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated is determined according to the running distance between the transmission robots.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer device, which includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and when the processor executes the program, the automatic sorting method is implemented as described above.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automated sorting system in one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an automated sorting system in one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of an automated sorting method in one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating steps in verifying the sorting process by a verification code in one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an automated sorting method according to another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates steps for calibrating a position of a transfer robot based on operating position information, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is another flowchart illustrating steps for performing positional calibration of a transfer robot based on operating position information in one embodiment.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of them.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automated sorting system in one embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, in one embodiment, an automatic sorting system 50 includes a sorting recognition device 520, a transfer robot 540, a transfer track 560, a shelf 580, a verification recognition device (not shown), and a control device (not shown); the conveying robot 540 runs on the conveying track 560, the conveying track 560 comprises a plurality of track branches, and the plurality of track branches are respectively connected to a plurality of goods positions 582 of the goods shelf 580; the control equipment is respectively in communication connection with the sorting identification equipment 520 and the transmission robot 540, the sorting identification equipment 520 is used for acquiring goods information of goods to be sorted, the control equipment is used for determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information, the transmission robot 540 is controlled to transmit the goods to be sorted to the target goods position, and the goods to be sorted are marked as sorted goods, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods; the checking and identifying device is arranged at the checking and goods position of the shelf 580, is in communication connection with the control device, and is used for identifying the checking code of the sorted goods in the checking and goods position so as to check the sorting process through the checking code.

Specifically, in the automatic sorting system 50, a control device is communicatively connected to the sorting recognition device 520 and the transfer robot 540, respectively, and the control device operates the sorting recognition device 520 and the transfer robot 540 by transmitting corresponding control commands. The connection between the control device and the sorting and identification device 520 and the transfer robot 540 may be implemented in a wired or wireless manner, the sorting and identification device 520 is generally disposed at the starting position of the transfer track 560, the transfer track 560 may include a plurality of branches, each branch may be connected to a cargo space 582 of a rack 580, the number of branches of the transfer track 560 and the number of cargo spaces 582 in the rack 580 may be determined according to actual cargo conditions, and the form and specification of the transfer track 560 may also be matched with the distribution of the cargo spaces 582 in the rack 580. In order to facilitate the inspection of the sorting process, one or more check cargo positions can be selected from the cargo positions of the shelf, when the check cargo exists in the cargo to be sorted, the check cargo position corresponding to the check cargo can be preset, and in the sorting process, the automatic sorting system 50 needs to sort the check cargo into the corresponding check cargo position.

When the goods to be sorted enter the automatic sorting system 50 and pass through the sorting and identifying device 520, the control device may control the sorting and identifying device 520 to perform information identification on the goods information of the goods to be sorted, the goods information of the target sorted goods may specifically include product information, order information, production information, logistics information, check code information and the like of the goods, and the goods information of the check goods may include corresponding check goods location information, check code information and the like. The sorting and identifying devices 520 may generally obtain the information of the goods through reading or scanning, the specific types and number of the sorting and identifying devices 520 may be determined according to actual requirements, for example, the sorting and identifying devices 520 may specifically be code scanning devices, radio frequency identification devices, bluetooth identification devices, or the like, only one sorting and identifying device 520 may be provided in the automatic sorting system 50 to identify all the goods to be sorted, or a plurality of sorting and identifying devices 520 may be provided according to actual requirements to improve the identification speed and success rate in the sorting process.

After the sorting and identifying device 520 obtains the cargo information of the cargo to be sorted, the control device may determine a target cargo space to which the cargo needs to be transported according to the cargo information, the specific correspondence between the cargo information and the target cargo space may be preset, or the control device may perform matching in real time during the sorting process, and generally allocate the cargo to be sorted, whose cargo information is the same as or similar to that of the adjacent cargo space. The target cargo space of the verified cargo may be its corresponding verified cargo space. After the target cargo space of the cargo to be sorted is determined, the control equipment automatically calculates a specific running route from the starting point of the transmission track to the target cargo space.

After the control device determines the transportation route of the transmission robot 540, the transmission robot 540 can be controlled to move to the position of the starting point of the transmission track 560 and automatically load the goods to be sorted, after the loading is completed, the control device controls the transmission robot 540 to move on the transmission track 560 along the determined operation route until the transmission robot 540 bears the goods to be sorted and moves to the target goods position, and after the goods to be sorted reach the target goods position, the control device controls the transmission robot 540 to unload the goods to be sorted to the target goods position and mark the goods to be sorted as the sorted goods, so that the sorting process of the goods to be sorted is completed. After finishing sorting, the control device controls the transfer robot 540 to return to the start point of the transfer track 560 for next sorting, or controls the transfer robot 540 to move to a set position of the transfer track 560 for queuing.

In the sorting process or after the sorting is completed, the check identification equipment arranged at each checking cargo position can identify and sort the check codes of the sorted cargos in the checking cargo position, the specific types and the number of the check identification equipment at the checking cargo position can be determined according to actual requirements, for example, the check identification equipment can be code scanning equipment, radio frequency identification equipment or Bluetooth identification equipment and the like, when the check identification equipment is code scanning equipment, the check identification equipment can be arranged above the checking cargo position and on the inner wall of a checking cargo position frame body, and when the check identification equipment is radio frequency identification equipment or Bluetooth identification equipment, the check identification equipment can be embedded in the frame body of the checking cargo position. The checking and identifying equipment can send the checking codes of all the identified sorted goods in the checking goods space to the control equipment, and the control equipment can verify whether the goods are sorted correctly through the checking codes.

The automatic sorting system 50 can automatically identify the goods information of the goods to be sorted, and transport the goods to the appointed goods position of the goods shelf 580 according to the goods information automatic control transmission robot 540, does not need redundant sorting tables and manual operation processes, and can effectively save space and improve sorting efficiency.

Further, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment, in an embodiment, the automatic sorting system 50 further includes a buffer 530, the buffer 530 is disposed before the start point of the conveying track 560, and the control device maintains the plurality of goods to be sorted passing through the buffer in the set sequence and interval by differential control.

A buffer 530 is also provided in the automated sorting system 50, the buffer 530 may be a conveyor or the like, the end of the buffer 530 is connected to the beginning of the transfer track 560, and the identification device 520 may be disposed above the buffer 530. After the goods to be sorted are randomly delivered, the buffer 530 can ensure the sequence and the distance of the goods to be sorted entering the conveying track 560. The buffer area 530 generally includes a plurality of buffer positions, and when a plurality of articles to be sorted are placed in the buffer area 530, the control device controls the running speed of the buffer area 530 after each article to be sorted is placed through digital differential logic according to the position and the distance when each article to be sorted is placed, so that only one article to be sorted is in each buffer position, and the distance set by the system is maintained among different articles to be sorted, thereby avoiding the articles to be sorted from being crowded or blocked, and affecting the normal running of the sorting recognition device 520 or the transmission track 560.

In one embodiment, on the basis of the above embodiments, the transfer rail 560 is a three-dimensional rail on which the transfer robot 540 moves horizontally and/or vertically; goods shelves 580 are arranged on two sides of the three-dimensional track, and each goods space 582 of the goods shelves 580 is provided with an indicator light 584, and the indicator light 584 is used for displaying the completion condition of goods sorting.

Specifically, the transfer rail 560 may be a three-dimensional rail provided with rails for allowing the transfer robot 540 to run in both the horizontal and vertical directions, and may be capable of performing rail transfer, for example, when the transfer robot 540 is switched from a horizontal direction running to a vertical direction running, that is, by a rail transfer operation at an intersection position of the horizontal rail and the vertical rail. The goods shelf 580 is also placed for three-dimensional goods shelf corresponding to the three-dimensional track, the three-dimensional goods shelf is arranged on two sides of the three-dimensional track, a plurality of goods positions 582 are arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction of the goods shelf 580, and the specific number and specification of the goods positions 582 can be determined according to actual requirements. Each goods position 582 can be further provided with an indicator light 584, and the control device can indicate the completion of goods sorting by controlling the on and off of the indicator light, for example, when goods to be sorted are unloaded to a target goods position by the conveying robot 540, the control device controls the indicator light at the goods position 582 to be on, so that a user can conveniently monitor the completion of goods sorting at each goods position 582.

Fig. 2 is a top view of an automatic sorting system according to an embodiment, and based on the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, in an embodiment, a reference positioning sensor 562 is disposed at a preset reference position on a conveying track 560, and a first positioning sensor 542 and a second positioning sensor 544 are disposed on a conveying robot 540, respectively; wherein the first positioning sensor 542 is used to sense the reference positioning sensor 562 to determine the distance between the transfer robot 540 and the reference position; the second positioning sensor 544 is used to sense the second positioning sensor 544 on the other transfer robot 540 to determine the distance between the different transfer robots 540.

Specifically, a plurality of positioning sensors are also provided in the automatic sorting system 50 for positioning and position correction of the transfer robots 540, and the automatic position calibration of the plurality of transfer robots 540 in the automatic sorting system 50 may be performed, for example, when the automatic sorting system 50 is initialized or when an abnormal event occurs, which requires a system reset, and the like. A reference position is previously set on the transfer rail 560, the positioning and position correction of the transfer robot 540 are performed based on the reference position, a reference positioning sensor 562 is provided at the reference position, and any transfer robot 540 in the automatic sorting system 50 is provided with a first positioning sensor 542 and a second positioning sensor 544. Among them, the first positioning sensor 542 is used to reference the signal of the positioning sensor 562 to detect the distance between the transfer robot 540 and the reference position, and the second positioning sensors 544 of different transfer robots 540 may mutually sense to detect the distance between the transfer robots 540. When the position correction is needed, the transmission robot 540 can be dynamically scheduled according to the distance between the transmission robot 540 and the reference position and the distance between different transmission robots 540, so that the two distance data meet the preset standard, and the automatic calibration process of the position of the transmission robot 540 is realized.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of an automatic sorting method in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, in an embodiment, an automatic sorting method is applied to an automatic sorting system in the foregoing embodiment, and the automatic sorting method specifically may include:

step S100: the method comprises the steps of obtaining goods information of goods to be sorted, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods.

In this embodiment, the sorting process may be checked by setting a method for checking the goods, the number of the checked goods may be generally multiple, the checked goods may be selected from the goods to be sorted, or an article specially used for checking may be selected as the checked goods.

Step S120: and determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information.

Specifically, when the automatic sorting system performs automatic sorting on goods to be sorted, the goods information of the goods to be sorted needs to be identified at first, the goods information of the goods to be sorted can be obtained in modes of reading or scanning, and the like, and the specific type of the goods information can be determined according to actual goods conditions, for example, the goods information can include product information, order information, production information, logistics information, check code information and the like of the goods. After the goods information of the goods to be sorted is obtained, the goods position of the goods to be transported to the goods shelf can be determined according to the goods information, the goods to be sorted and the target goods position in the goods shelf are generally in one-to-one correspondence, and the specific correspondence between the goods information and the target goods position can be preset and can also be matched in real time in the sorting process.

In practical application, when the target sorted goods are automatically sorted, a preset number of check goods are prepared, and all the check goods are bound with the designated check goods positions on the goods shelf. The cargo information of the verified cargo can comprise an automatically recognizable verification code and corresponding verified cargo space information. After the sorting task is started, the checking goods with the preset quantity can be randomly mixed into the target sorting goods, and the checking goods and the target sorting goods are both used as goods to be sorted for sorting.

Step S140: and planning the running route of the transfer robot according to the position of the target cargo space.

Step S160: and controlling the track robot to convey the goods to be sorted to the target goods location along the running route, and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods.

Specifically, after the target goods location of the goods to be sorted is determined, a specific running route running from the starting point of the transmission track to the target goods location can be calculated according to the position of the target goods location, and as the transmission track is provided with a plurality of branches, a plurality of feasible routes for transporting the goods to be sorted to the target goods location are possible, analysis can be performed according to factors such as route distance and distribution conditions of transmission robots on each route, and therefore an optimal running route can be screened out. After the transportation route of the transmission robot is determined, the transmission robot is controlled to move to the position of the starting point of the transmission track and automatically load goods to be sorted, after the goods to be sorted are loaded, the transmission robot is controlled to bear the goods to be sorted and move on the transmission track along the determined operation route until the goods to be sorted are conveyed to the position of the target goods position, the goods to be sorted are automatically unloaded to the position of the target goods position, the goods to be sorted placed in the target goods position are marked as the sorted goods, and therefore the automatic sorting process of the goods to be sorted is completed. After the sorting is finished, the transmission robot can be controlled to return to the starting point of the transmission track to carry out the next sorting process, or the transmission robot is controlled to move to the set position of the transmission track to queue so as to wait for the subsequent sorting task.

Step S180: and acquiring the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position so as to check the sorting process through the check code.

Specifically, in the sorting process or after the sorting is completed, the checking identification equipment arranged at each checking cargo space can identify and sort the checking codes of the sorted cargos in the checking cargo space, and if the automatic sorting system works normally, all the checked cargos can be transported to the corresponding checking cargo space by the transport robot, so that whether the cargo sorting is correct can be verified through the checking codes.

According to the automatic sorting method, the goods information of the sorted goods can be automatically identified, the transmission robot is automatically controlled to transport the goods to the designated goods position of the goods shelf according to the goods information, redundant sorting tables and manual operation processes are not needed, the space can be effectively saved, the sorting efficiency is improved, and meanwhile, sorting and checking can be performed according to the goods sorted to the checking goods position.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating steps of verifying the sorting process by checking codes in an embodiment, and based on the embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, in an embodiment, the step of obtaining the checking codes of the sorted goods in the checking goods space so as to verify the sorting process by the checking codes can be implemented by the following steps:

step S182: and acquiring a check goods position of the check goods, and determining the check code of the check goods as a reference verification code.

Step S184: and determining the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position as a comparison verification code, and checking whether the comparison verification code is consistent with the reference verification code.

Specifically, when goods to be sorted are sorted or after sorting is completed, the situation that abnormal sorting errors occur due to recognition equipment or a transmission robot and the like is not avoided, and the correctness of the sorting process can be verified and rechecked. The verification goods position associated with the verification goods can be obtained, and the verification code of the verification goods is used as the reference verification code. The verification identification equipment arranged on the verification goods position can identify the verification codes of the sorted goods sorted into the verification goods position and takes the identified verification codes as comparison verification codes. For each check cargo space, whether the reference verification code associated with the check cargo space corresponds to the identified comparison verification code one by one can be compared. In practical application, the number of the check goods transmitted to the check goods location is consistent with the set number of the check goods, and when the condition that the checked goods are transmitted to the corresponding check goods location is met, the sorted goods of the automatic sorting system can be probabilistically shown to be correctly sorted, if the checked goods are judged to be sorted incorrectly, a prompt or an alarm can be sent out, so that a user can check the automatic sorting system, and the stability and the accuracy of the automatic sorting system are improved.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an automatic sorting method in another embodiment, and based on the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, in an embodiment, the automatic sorting method may further include:

step S200: and when a robot reset instruction is received, controlling each transmission robot on the transmission track to run along a preset running direction.

Step S220: and acquiring the running position information of each transmission robot, and calibrating the position of each transmission robot according to the running position information.

The conveying robot runs along a certain specified direction on the conveying track, the direction can be recorded as a preset running direction, and the reverse direction of the preset running direction can be recorded as a reverse preset running direction.

Specifically, when the automatic sorting system is initialized or when an abnormal event occurs and the system needs to be reset, it is necessary to perform automatic position calibration on the transfer robot in the transfer rail. A reference position may be set in advance on the transfer rail, and the positioning and position correction of the transfer robot are realized based on the reference position. In practical application, when the control device receives a robot reset instruction, the control device can control the transmission robot to continue to operate along the track transmission direction, and in the operation process of the transmission robot, the control device can transmit positioning signals through the reference position and the positioning sensors arranged on the transmission robot to detect the distance between the transmission robot and the reference position and the distance between different transmission robots, determine the operation position of each transmission robot, and further determine the position of each transmission robot when the transmission robot is reset. When the position where the transfer robot should be located when the transfer robot is reset is determined, the transfer robot may be controlled to travel to the position.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a step of performing position calibration on the transfer robot according to the operation position information in an embodiment, and on the basis of the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, in an embodiment, step S220 may be specifically implemented by the following steps:

step S2222: the reference positioning sensor at the reference position is controlled to emit a standard position signal.

Step S2224: and according to the feedback signal of each transmission robot to the standard position signal, determining the transmission robot closest to the reference position in the reverse preset running direction of the reference position as the robot to be calibrated, and performing position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the reference position.

Step S2226: and when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, controlling all the transmission robots to run along the preset running direction, and returning to re-determine the next robot to be calibrated until all the transmission robots finish the position calibration.

Specifically, when the transfer robot is reset, the reference positioning sensor arranged at the reference position can be controlled to continuously emit a standard position signal, each transfer robot on the transfer track can feed back the signal after receiving the standard position signal, so that interaction between the reference positioning sensor at the reference position and the transfer robot is realized, the transfer robot closest to the reference position in the reverse preset running direction of the reference position can be used as the robot to be calibrated according to the feedback signal of each transfer robot to the standard position signal, and when the robot to be calibrated passes through the reference position, the robot to be calibrated can perform self position calibration according to the reference position. When the position calibration of the first transfer robot is completed, the position calibration of the second transfer robot is continued, at this time, all the transfer robots can be controlled to continue to run along the preset running direction, the next transfer robot which is going to pass through the reference position is re-determined as the robot to be calibrated, so that the position calibration of the second transfer robot is completed, and by analogy, the position calibration of all the transfer robots can be determined step by step.

In practice, in one embodiment of the automated sorting system 50 shown in fig. 1 and 2, the datum position sensor 562 in the transport track 560 emits a signal at a datum position. The first positioning sensor 542 provided on the transfer robot 540 can capture a signal from the reference positioning sensor 562 if and only if the transfer robot 540 passes the reference position. A second positioning sensor 544 on the transfer robot 540 is used to sense the distance to an adjacent transfer robot. The second positioning sensor 544 may be a diffuse reflection sensor, and outputs a switching value signal when detecting a distance, that is, when a detected distance value is greater than a preset value, 0 or 1 is output, and when the detected distance value is less than the preset value, an opposite signal is output, where the preset value may be determined according to actual requirements. In performing the automatic position calibration, all the transfer robots 540 are first pushed into the bottom horizontal transfer track 560, and it is ensured that the transfer robot 540 positioned at the forefront should be positioned behind the reference positioning sensor 562 along the advancing direction of the transfer robots 540 to ensure that the transfer robots 540 can pass through the reference positions during the advancing process, thereby obtaining the position calibration. After the system starts the automatic position calibration, all the transfer robots 540 travel forward, and the transfer robots 540 should operate at a set slower speed because the slower the operating speed, the higher the calibration accuracy. In the forward process, for any transfer robot 540, if the first positioning sensor 542 detects the signal of the reference positioning sensor 562 and drives the detected signal to the reference positioning sensor 562, the operation is stopped immediately, and then the transfer robot 540 automatically calibrates the coordinates to the reference position. If the second positioning sensor 544 detects that the distance to the adjacent robot is less than a preset value, stopping immediately to ensure a safe distance between the transfer robots 540; if the second positioning sensor 544 detects that the distance to the neighboring robot is greater than a preset value, the forward movement may be continued. When the transfer robot 540 positioned at the forefront completes the position auto-calibration, the transfer robot 540 is dispatched to the position of the last column of the transfer rail 560 and waits for the other transfer robots 540 to complete the position calibration. And the transfer robot 540, which then completes the position calibration, will be dispatched to the position in turn and put a safety distance constraint, i.e., queued up. The automatic sorting system 50 may start normal operation until all the transfer robots 540 complete the position calibration.

Fig. 7 is another schematic flow chart of the step of performing position calibration on the transfer robot according to the operating position information in an embodiment, and based on the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, in an embodiment, the step S220 may be further implemented by:

step S2242: the reference positioning sensor at the reference position is controlled to emit a standard position signal.

Step S2244: and determining the reference position as a position to be calibrated, and determining the first transmission robot receiving the standard position signal as the robot to be calibrated.

Step S2246: and carrying out position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the position to be calibrated, and controlling the robot to be calibrated to stay to the position to be calibrated.

Step S2248: when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration are controlled to move along a preset running direction, positions of positions to be calibrated along a preset interval distance opposite to the preset running direction are determined as positions to be calibrated again, the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated is determined as the robot to be calibrated again, the position calibration operation of the robot to be calibrated is executed in a returning mode until all the transmission robots finish position calibration, and the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated is determined according to the running distance between the transmission robots.

Specifically, when the transfer robot is reset, the reference positioning sensor arranged at the reference position may be controlled to continuously transmit a standard position signal, each transfer robot on the transfer track may receive the standard position signal, and the first transfer robot receiving the standard position signal may be considered to be closest to the reference position. When the calibration position of the first transfer robot is determined, it may be controlled to remain at the calibration position and continue to determine the calibration position of the next transfer robot. At this time, the transfer robots which are not subjected to position calibration can be controlled to continue to move along the preset running direction, the distance between the transfer robots is determined according to the positioning sensors arranged on the transfer robots, the transfer robot closest to the first transfer robot is found from the transfer robots which are not determined with the calibrated positions, the transfer robot is determined to be the next robot to be calibrated, the corresponding position to be calibrated can be the position of the reference position along the preset running direction along the reverse preset distance, then the operation of controlling the robot to be calibrated to run to the position to be calibrated is returned, when the transfer robot which is not determined with the calibrated positions exists, the method is the same as the method for determining the calibrated position of the second transfer robot, and so on, the calibrated positions of all the transfer robots can be determined step by step, and the transfer robots are controlled to run to the corresponding positions to finish the position calibration.

For example, the position of the positioning sensor at the reference position may be set to x ₀ Setting a distance between the transfer robots to dx ₀ Wherein x is ₀ And dx ₀ The specific value thereof may be determined according to the size of the transfer robot and the size of the transfer rail, rather than a fixed value. When the transmission robot in the transmission track in front of the position receives the signal of the reference position and reaches the reference position, the transmission robot standsStopping the operation, correcting the position of the transmission robot, and setting the accurate position as x ₀ And the subsequent transmission robots sequentially follow the operation until the subsequent transmission robots detect the distance dx = dx between the subsequent transmission robots and the front transmission robot through the positioning sensors ₀ When the operation is stopped, the operation is stopped. At a certain moment, the foremost transfer robot then stops at the reference position of the transfer track, while the other transfer robots in turn maintain the standard pitch dx ₀ Then, the relative position of the robot at the farthest distance is obtained as x ₀ +dx ₀ * (n-1), wherein n is the number of transfer robots.

It can be understood that the automatic sorting system provided by the embodiment of the invention can execute the automatic sorting method provided by any embodiment of the invention, and has corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method. The units and modules included in the automatic sorting system in the above embodiment are merely divided according to functional logic, but are not limited to the above division as long as corresponding functions can be realized; in addition, specific names of the functional units are only for convenience of distinguishing from each other, and are not used for limiting the protection scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, a computer device is provided that includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor. The processor, when running the program, may perform the steps of: acquiring goods information of goods to be sorted, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods; determining a target goods position corresponding to goods to be sorted according to the goods information; planning a running route of the transmission robot according to the position of the target cargo space; controlling the track robot to convey the goods to be sorted to a target goods position along the operation route, and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods; and acquiring the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position so as to check the sorting process through the check code.

It is understood that the computer device provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the processor of which executes the program stored in the memory is not limited to the method operations described above, and can also execute the relevant operations in the automatic sorting method provided by any embodiment of the present invention.

Further, the number of processors in the computer may be one or more, and the processors and the memory may be connected by a bus or other means. The memory can mainly comprise a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area can store an operating system and an application program required by at least one function; the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the terminal, and the like. Further, the memory may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid state storage device. In some examples, the memory may further include memory located remotely from the processor, which may be connected to the device/terminal/server via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the present invention also provides a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of: acquiring goods information of goods to be sorted, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods; determining a target goods position corresponding to goods to be sorted according to the goods information; planning a running route of the transmission robot according to the position of the target cargo space; controlling the rail robot to convey the goods to be sorted to a target goods position along the running route, and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods; and acquiring the check codes of the sorted goods in the check goods position so as to check the sorting process through the check codes.

It is to be understood that the computer-readable storage medium containing the computer program according to the embodiments of the present invention is not limited to the method operations described above, and may also perform related operations in the automatic sorting method according to any embodiments of the present invention.

From the above description of the embodiments, it is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented by software and necessary general hardware, and certainly, can also be implemented by hardware, but the former is a better embodiment in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a FLASH Memory (FLASH), a hard disk or an optical disk of a computer, and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present invention.

All possible combinations of the technical features of the above embodiments may not be described for the sake of brevity, but should be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above embodiments only represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the applied technical principles, and the description thereof is specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in more detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. The automatic sorting system is characterized by comprising sorting identification equipment, a conveying robot, a conveying track, a goods shelf, checking identification equipment and control equipment;

the conveying robot runs on the conveying track, the conveying track comprises a plurality of track branches, and the track branches are respectively connected to a plurality of goods positions of the goods shelf;

the control equipment is respectively in communication connection with the sorting identification equipment and the transmission robot, the sorting identification equipment is used for acquiring goods information of goods to be sorted, the control equipment is used for determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information, controlling the transmission robot to transmit the goods to be sorted to the target goods position and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or verified goods;

the checking and identifying device is arranged at the checking and goods position of the goods shelf, is in communication connection with the control device and is used for identifying the checking codes of the sorted goods in the checking and goods position so as to check the sorting process through the checking codes.

2. The automated sorting system according to claim 1, further comprising a buffer provided before the start of the transfer track, wherein the control device maintains the plurality of goods to be sorted passing through the buffer in a set order and pitch by differential control.

3. The automatic sorting system according to claim 1, wherein a reference positioning sensor is provided at a reference position preset on the transfer track, and a first positioning sensor and a second positioning sensor are provided on the transfer robot, respectively; wherein the first positioning sensor is configured to sense the reference positioning sensor to determine a distance between the transfer robot and the reference position; the second positioning sensor is used for sensing the second positioning sensors on other transmission robots to determine the distance between different transmission robots.

4. The automated sorting system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer track is a stereo track on which the transfer robot performs horizontal and/or vertical direction movements; the goods shelves are arranged on two sides of the three-dimensional track, each goods position of the goods shelves is provided with an indicator light, and the indicator lights are used for displaying the completion condition of goods sorting.

5. An automatic sorting method applied to the automatic sorting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring goods information of the goods to be sorted, wherein the goods to be sorted comprise target sorted goods and/or check goods;

determining a target goods position corresponding to the goods to be sorted according to the goods information;

planning the running route of the transmission robot according to the position of the target cargo space;

controlling a track robot to convey the goods to be sorted to the target goods space along the running route, and marking the goods to be sorted which are sorted as sorted goods;

and acquiring the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position so as to check the sorting process through the check code.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the obtaining the check code for checking the sorted goods in the goods location to check the sorting process by the check code comprises:

acquiring a check cargo space of the check cargo, and determining a check code of the check cargo as a reference verification code;

and determining the check code of the sorted goods in the check goods position as a comparison verification code, and checking whether the comparison verification code is consistent with the reference verification code.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

when a robot reset instruction is received, controlling each transmission robot on the transmission track to run along a preset running direction;

and acquiring the running position information of each transmission robot, and performing position calibration on each transmission robot according to the running position information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining of the operation position information of each of the transfer robots and the performing of the position calibration on each of the transfer robots based on each of the operation position information comprises:

controlling a reference positioning sensor at a reference position to emit a standard position signal;

according to feedback signals of each transmission robot to the standard position signals, determining the transmission robot closest to the reference position in the reverse preset running direction of the reference position as a robot to be calibrated, and performing position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the reference position;

and when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, controlling all the transmission robots to run along the preset running direction, and returning to re-determine the next robot to be calibrated until all the transmission robots finish position calibration.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the obtaining of the operation position information of each of the transfer robots and the position calibration of each of the transfer robots based on each of the operation position information comprises:

controlling a reference positioning sensor at a reference position to emit a standard position signal;

determining the reference position as a position to be calibrated, and determining the first transmission robot receiving the standard position signal as a robot to be calibrated;

carrying out position calibration on the robot to be calibrated according to the position to be calibrated, and controlling the robot to be calibrated to stay at the position to be calibrated;

when the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration exist, controlling the transmission robots which are not subjected to position calibration to move along a preset running direction, re-determining the positions of the positions to be calibrated along a preset interval distance against the preset running direction as positions to be calibrated, re-determining the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated as the robot to be calibrated, returning to execute position calibration operation of the robot to be calibrated until all the transmission robots finish position calibration, wherein the next transmission robot adjacent to the robot to be calibrated is determined according to the running distance between the transmission robots.

10. A computer arrangement comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that the processor, when executing the program, carries out the method of automated sorting according to any one of claims 5 to 9.

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