CN117369377A

CN117369377A - Automatic guided transport vehicle AGV operation control method, system and device

Info

Publication number: CN117369377A
Application number: CN202311209551.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 焦俊玲; 徐良; 卢维
Original assignee: Zhejiang Huaray Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhejiang Huaray Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-09-18
Filing date: 2023-09-18
Publication date: 2024-01-09

Abstract

The application discloses automatic guided vehicle AGV operation management and control method, system and device for realize that an AGV passes through a path point of section route, in time release this path point and preempt lock check region, ensure that other AGVs can operate, promote AGV's operating efficiency. The application provides an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control method, which comprises the following steps: determining a path of an AGV to be operated, and determining lock grids among preset path points of the AGV on the path of the AGV to be operated according to the path of the AGV to be operated; issuing a path of a section to be operated to the AGV, and pre-occupying lock grids among all path points of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated; aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to pass through the first path point and reach the second path point according to the operation direction of the path of the section to be operated, changing the current state of a lock grid pre-occupied between the first path point and the second path point into an idle state.

Description

Automatic guided transport vehicle AGV operation control method, system and device

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs, automated Guided Vehicle), in particular to an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation management and control method, system and device.

Background

The AGV is assigned with electromagnetic or optical automatic guiding transportation equipment, and vehicles with functions of task execution, positioning navigation control, path planning, autonomous obstacle avoidance, power management and the like are widely applied to automatic workshops, warehouses and wharfs. Along with the promotion of industry level, the AGV quantity and the daily average work load that are equipped in automatic industrial scene increase by a wide margin, and AGV route conflict is more serious, and whether AGV equipment can high-efficient operation becomes the key factor of decision AGV management and control system operating efficiency.

In order to ensure the safety and the high efficiency in the running process of the AGV, the AGV equipment in the AGV control system needs to be controlled in real time. The real-time control method of the current commonly used AGV control system mainly locks the lock grid of the path of the section to be operated by the AGV, when the AGV runs to the path of the next section through the path of the section, the lock grid of the path of the section is released, the release of the lock grid of the path of the section lacks timeliness, the lock grid which is not occupied is not considered to be cleared in time, other AGVs are easy to wait unnecessarily, and the operation efficiency of the AGV is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control method, system and device, which are used for realizing that each AGV passes through a path point of a section path, timely releasing a lock grid area occupied by the path point, ensuring that other AGVs can operate and improving the operation efficiency of the AGVs.

The embodiment of the application provides an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control method, which comprises the following steps:

determining a path of an to-be-operated section of the AGV, and determining each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and a lock grid among the path points according to the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV;

issuing the path of the section to be operated to the AGV, and pre-occupying each path point and lock lattice among the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated;

aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to reach a second path point through a first path point according to the operation direction of the path of the section to be operated, the current state of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path points is an idle state.

According to the method, a path of a to-be-operated section of the AGV is determined, and each path point and lock lattice among the path points preset on the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV are determined according to the path of the to-be-operated section; issuing the path of the section to be operated to the AGV, and pre-occupying each path point and lock lattice among the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated; aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to pass through a first path point to reach a second path point according to the operation direction of the path of the section to be operated, each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the current state of a pre-occupied lock grid between the path points are idle states, so that the full utilization of path network resources is realized by timely occupying and releasing the lock grid area, and the operation efficiency of the AGV is improved.

In some embodiments, the lock grid comprises a point location lock grid, an interpolation lock grid, a real-time lock grid; according to the running direction of the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to reach a second path point through a first path point, the current state of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path points is an idle state, and the specific method comprises the following steps:

and changing the point position lock grid of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the current state of the interpolation lock grid between the point position lock grid of the first path point and the point position lock grid of the second path point according to the running direction of the path of the section to be operated and when the AGV is determined to pass through the first path point to reach the second path point aiming at each path point before the final path point on the path of the section to be operated.

By the method, when the AGV reaches a new path point, lock grids on the passed path are cleared timely, other AGVs can be ensured to operate, and the operating efficiency of the AGV is improved.

In some embodiments, the lock grid includes a point position lock grid, an interpolation lock grid, and a real-time lock grid, where for each path point before a final path point on a path of a to-be-operated section, according to an operation direction of the path of the to-be-operated section, when the AGV passes through a first path point to reach a second path point, each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the current state of a pre-occupied lock grid between the path points are determined to be an idle state, and the specific method comprises the following steps:

Determining the AGV and/or the real-time lock grid of the load of the AGV according to the real-time position information reported by the AGV;

starting from the first path point to the second path point, repeatedly judging whether the closest path point of the AGV changes or not based on the position information of the real-time lock grid according to the running direction of the path of the section to be run, and if so, changing the interpolation lock grid from the last real-time lock grid to the current real-time lock grid and the point position lock grid of each path point which has passed through at the time into an idle state;

and judging whether the AGV reaches the second path point based on the identification information of the path point which the AGV passes through this time, if so, changing the residual occupied interpolation lock grid between the point position lock grid of the first path point and the point position lock grid of the second path point and the current state of the point position lock grid into an idle state.

By the method, when the past path point of the AGV is unchanged, the lock grid on the past path is cleared timely according to whether the closest path point is changed, other AGVs can be ensured to operate, and the operating efficiency of the AGV is improved.

In some embodiments, the determining whether the current closest path point of the AGV changes specifically includes:

For each path point from the first path point to the second path point, based on the position information of the real-time lock grid, sequentially judging whether the path point closest to the AGV is the next path point of the path point;

when the closest path point of the AGV is the next path point of the path point, determining that the closest path point of the AGV changes;

the determining whether the closest path point of the AGV is the next path point of the present path point includes:

calculating the distance between the AGV and the path point according to the position information of the real-time lock grid of the AGV to obtain a first distance; calculating the distance between the AGV and the next path point of the path point to obtain a second distance;

and comparing the first distance with the second distance, and determining the closest path point of the AGV as the next path point of the path point when the second distance is smaller than the first distance.

By the method, whether the closest path point of the AGV changes or not is judged, and the subsequent timely removal of the lock grid is facilitated.

In some embodiments, the determining whether the second path point is reached on the AGV specifically includes:

when the AGV runs on the path of the section to be operated, scanning the identification information of each path point preset on the path of the section to be operated through scanning equipment on the AGV, and determining that the AGV reaches the second path point when the acquired identification information of the path point corresponds to the second path point.

By the method, whether the AGV reaches the second path point or not is judged, and the lock grid can be cleared conveniently and timely subsequently.

In some embodiments, the determining the path of the to-be-operated segment of the AGV specifically includes:

planning an operation path of the AGV according to a starting point where the AGV is positioned and a task end point, and determining a path to be operated based on the operation path, wherein the path to be operated is a path to be operated in the operation path;

and acquiring running paths of other AGVs, judging whether the paths of the sections to be operated conflict with the running paths of the other AGVs, and if not, acquiring the final paths of the sections to be operated of the AGVs.

By the method, the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV is ensured to be safe and risk-free, and the safe operation of the AGV is ensured.

In some embodiments, the determining, according to the path of the to-be-operated section, each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and a lock grid between the path points by the AGV and/or the load of the AGV specifically includes:

determining a lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a moving state;

determining a motion mode of the AGV and/or a load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated according to the type of the AGV;

And determining each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and a lock grid between the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV based on the movement mode and the lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a movement state.

By the method, each path point of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated and the lock grid size between the path points are determined.

The embodiment of the application provides an automatic guide transport vechicle AGV operation management and control system, include:

the automatic control device comprises a determination unit, a control unit and a control unit, wherein the determination unit is used for determining a path of an AGV to be operated, and determining each path point preset on the path of the AGV to be operated and each lock grid among the path points according to the path of the AGV to be operated and/or the load of the AGV;

the sending unit is used for sending the path of the section to be operated to the AGV and pre-occupying each path point and lock lattice among the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated;

the updating unit is used for aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, and when the AGV is determined to reach the next path point of the path point, the current state of the path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path point and the next path point is an idle state.

Through the system, each time the AGV passes through a path point on the section path, the lock grid of the path point is cleared timely, other AGVs are ensured to be capable of running, thereby realizing full utilization of path network resources and improving the running efficiency of the AGV.

Another embodiment of the present application provides an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control device, which includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions stored in the memory, and execute any one of the methods according to the obtained program.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment, for example, a computer program product for a computer is provided, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of the method defined above, when said product is run on a computer. The computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having software code portions stored thereon. Furthermore, the computer program product may be directly loaded into the internal memory of the computer and/or transmitted via the network by at least one of an upload procedure, a download procedure and a push procedure.

Another embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform any of the methods described above.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic overall flow chart of an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an AGV motion path according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an AGV operation control system for an automatic guided vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of an AGV operation control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an AGV lock grid pre-occupation and removal method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 to 10 are schematic diagrams of a method for changing a lock grid state according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without undue burden from the present disclosure, are within the scope of the present disclosure.

The method and the device are based on the same application, and because the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims of the embodiments and in the above-described figures, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in other sequences than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The following examples and embodiments are to be construed as illustrative only. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one", or "some" example or embodiment(s) at several points, this does not mean that each such reference is related to the same example or embodiment, nor that the feature is applicable to only a single example or embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide further embodiments. Furthermore, terms such as "comprising" and "including" should be understood not to limit the described embodiments to consist of only those features already mentioned; such examples and embodiments may also include features, structures, units, modules, etc. that are not specifically mentioned.

Various embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the drawings attached hereto. It should be noted that, the display sequence of the embodiments of the present application only represents the sequence of the embodiments, and does not represent the advantages or disadvantages of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments.

It should be noted that, according to the technical scheme provided in this embodiment of the present application, the path of the section to be operated by the no-load AGV, the preset path points on the path of the section, and the lock grids between the path points are determined by the AGV operation management and control system, and when the AGV operates on the path of the section, each path point included between the two path points and the lock grid pre-occupied between the path points are cleared when the AGV reaches a new path point through one path point, for example, but not limited thereto.

Some terms appearing hereinafter are explained:

1. in this embodiment, the term "segment path" refers to a local running path length calculated for an AGV and including a certain number of path points and free of collision risk, where the local running path is a segment path, according to running paths of other AGVs through a certain multi-vehicle management and control strategy (avoiding collision or deadlock between the AGV and other AGVs).

2. The term "lock grid" in the embodiment of the application refers to at least one circular or rectangular area on the AGV equipment locking map according to the path points and action information contained in the segment path and combining the information such as the size, the load size, the running deviation and the following distance of the AGV equipment, namely, the area covered by the load of the AGV/AGV, including point position lock grid, interpolation lock grid and real-time lock grid;

the point position grid locking refers to an area covered when the center position of the empty AGV or the loaded AGV equipment is positioned at a certain path point;

interpolation lock grid means that when the distance between two adjacent path points exceeds the length of AGV equipment, in order to ensure that the AGV can occupy the area between the two path points without interruption when running between the two path points, a certain number of areas are uniformly inserted between the point position lock grids of the two path points, so that no interruption area exists between the point position lock grids of the two path points, and the area is the interpolation lock grid;

The real-time grid locking refers to an area covered by the current position of the AGV in the operation process.

3. In the embodiment of the application, the term "deadlock" refers to that a plurality of AGV devices mutually apply for an area occupied by the other party to form a mutual blocking relationship, and the mutual blocking state is called deadlock.

Referring to fig. 1, an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

step S101, determining a path of an AGV to be operated, and determining each path point preset on the path of the AGV to be operated and/or the load of the AGV and a lock grid among the path points according to the path of the AGV to be operated;

before determining the path of the to-be-operated segment of the AGV, according to the starting point and the task end point of the AGV, an optimal global operation path from the starting point to the end point is planned for the AGV according to certain standards (such as shortest operation time, shortest running route, minimum running cost and the like), and the specific method comprises the following steps:

according to the attribute (such as a workbench, a shelf area, an operation area and the like), the position and connectivity information of each path point in the map network and the real-time state of the operation task, the position and the operation path of each AGV device in the management and control system, an optimal global operation path from a starting point position to an end point position is planned for the AGV device by using a shortest path planning algorithm such as an A-type (direct search method) algorithm;

According to the information such as the direction of each path point and the connectivity of the path point contained in the global running path, generating a global running path containing AGV running information, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, moving straight from the path point No. 0 to the path point No. 1, turning left and right at the path point No. 1 by 90 degrees in situ, moving a Bezier curve from the path point No. 1 to the path point No. 2, and moving backward from the path point No. 2 to the path point No. 3;

determining the longest length and the shortest length of the path of the AGV to be operated according to a certain rule, such as a distance threshold, specifically, firstly determining the shortest length threshold of the path of the AGV to be operated according to the minimum deceleration parking function attribute of AGV equipment; and determining the longest length threshold value of the path of the AGV to be operated according to the upper limit of the length of the partial operation path occupied by the AGV equipment specified by the map size and the operation efficiency requirement. Selecting a path point closest to the shortest length threshold from all path points on the running path which is not smaller than the shortest length threshold and not exceeding the longest length threshold as a final path point of the path of the section to be operated which is preliminarily determined; and then, the path length of the preliminarily determined section to be operated is adjusted according to the attribute of each path point, for example: if the middle of the preliminarily obtained path of the section to be operated contains a rotating point, the device is indicated to rotate in situ after the rotating point is required to be decelerated and stopped, and the path of the section to be operated is preliminarily determined to be cut off to the rotating point forwards; if the attribute of the last path point of the path of the to-be-operated section obtained preliminarily is that parking waiting is not allowed (stopping is not allowed due to intersection congestion prevention), the path point which can be parked is continuously added forward.

After determining the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV, determining each path point of the AGV on the to-be-operated section path and locking grids among the path points according to the action information, the equipment size, the operation deviation, the following distance and the like of the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV, and the specific determination method can refer to a patent 'AGV dispatching safety locking grid method and device, and electronic equipment (authorized bulletin number CN 113253693B)', which are not repeated in the embodiment of the application.

Acquiring running segment paths of other AGVs, judging whether the AGV to-be-operated segment paths collide with the running segment paths of the other AGVs (namely, whether the AGVs have safety risks of collision or deadlock with the other AGVs), specifically, checking whether grid locking areas on the to-be-operated segment paths of the AGVs coincide with grid locking areas on the running segment paths of the other AGVs, if so, determining that the to-be-operated segment paths of the AGVs collide with the running segment paths of the other AGVs, sequentially reducing the number of the path points on the to-be-operated segment paths of the AGVs, modifying the length of the to-be-operated segment paths until the to-be-operated segment paths are determined to have no safety risks, and then re-determining all path points on the new to-be-operated segment paths and grid locking among the path points of the AGVs according to the newly obtained to-be-operated segment paths by adopting the method; and if the path is safe, issuing the path of the section to be operated to the AGV.

It should be noted that, whether the path of the section to be operated by the AGV conflicts with the paths of the sections operated by other AGVs or not may be determined by other methods, which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The path of the section to be operated can be in an initialized state, namely before the AGV enters the operation state, or can be a path to be operated next to the control system planning when the AGV operates on the current path.

Step S102, issuing the path of the section to be operated to the AGV, and pre-occupying each path point and lock lattice among the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated;

that is, each path point and the area between the path points on the path of the section to be operated are locked and cannot be used by other AGVs, so that the AGVs can use the path of the section exclusively to realize the safe operation of AGV equipment.

Step S103, aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, when determining that the AGV passes through a first path point to reach a second path point according to the operation direction of the path of the section to be operated, each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the current state of a pre-occupied lock grid between the path points are idle states;

The first path point may be any path point before a final path point on the path of the to-be-operated section; the second path point may be a next path point of the first path point, or may be any path point after the first path point on a path of the section to be operated;

in this step, the AGV may reach the second path point through the first path point, and change the current state of each path point included between the first path point and the second path point of the AGV device and the lock grid pre-occupied between the path points to be the idle state. From the first path point to the second path point, according to the running direction, for each path point, whether the path point closest to the AGV is the next path point of the present path point may be sequentially determined, specifically:

the AGV passes through a next path point of the first path point, the distance between the AGV equipment and the first path point is calculated to obtain a first distance, the distance between the AGV equipment and the next path point of the first path point is calculated to obtain a second distance, whether the closest path point of the AGV is changed to the next path point of the first path point is judged by comparing the first distance with the second distance, if yes, the current state of the AGV first path point and a lock grid between the first path point and the next path point is changed to an idle state; when the AGV reaches the next path point of the first path point, removing the interpolation lock grid occupied by the rest between the next path point of the first path point and the first path point, continuing to run forward by the AGV, and then judging whether the closest path point of the AGV is a second path point behind the first path point according to the same method until the closest path point of the AGV is the second path point.

When the AGV reaches the second path point through the navigation method, changing the current state of the lock grid occupied by the last path point of the second path point and the rest of the second path point to be an idle state;

the method is suitable for the situation that the network state is poor, the AGV cannot communicate with a management and control system in real time, and position information cannot be reported to the management and control system in real time.

The determining that the AGV reaches the second path point may be that a two-dimensional code is set on the road surface of each path point in advance to correspond to the path point, when the AGV runs on the path of the section to be operated, the two-dimensional code on the path to be operated is shot by a scanning device, such as a camera, on the AGV, and when the obtained two-dimensional code information corresponds to the second path point, the AGV is determined to reach the second path point; whether the AGV reaches the second path point or not can also be judged through a laser point cloud positioning algorithm, and the embodiment of the application is not repeated.

Through step S103, the lock grid area on the passing path is released timely, other AGVs can use the lock grid area, and the operation efficiency of the AGVs is improved.

In order to ensure that other AGVs can operate and improve the operation efficiency of the AGVs, in some embodiments, the lock grid comprises a point position lock grid, an interpolation lock grid and a real-time lock grid; according to the running direction of the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to reach a second path point through a first path point, the current state of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path points is an idle state, and the specific method comprises the following steps:

That is, for other path points on the path of the section to be operated except the final path point, every time one path point is reached, all lock cells (point position lock cells and interpolation lock cells) on the path which has passed are cleared.

In order to timely release lock grids on a passed path, ensure the operation of other AGVs and improve the operation efficiency of the AGVs, in some embodiments, the lock grids comprise point position lock grids, interpolation lock grids and real-time lock grids, and according to the operation direction of the path of the to-be-operated section, when the AGVs pass through a first path point to reach a second path point, the current states of the lock grids which are pre-occupied among the path points contained between the first path point and the second path point are idle states, and the specific method comprises the following steps:

For example, aiming at the path points 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the path of the section to be operated, determining that the path point closest to the AGV is the path point 2 according to the received position information of the real-time lock grid for the first time, and changing the closest path point from the path point 1 to the path point 2, wherein the interpolation lock grid from the point position lock grid of the path point 1 to the real-time lock grid is in an idle state; and determining that the closest path point of the AGV is the No. 4 path point according to the received position information of the real-time lock grid, and changing the closest path point from the No. 2 path point to the No. 4 path point, wherein the interpolation lock grid between the last real-time lock grid and the current real-time lock grid and the point position lock grids of the No. 2 and No. 3 path points are idle.

When the AGV is detected to pass through the No. 1 path point and is about to reach the No. 2 path point, namely, the AGV is positioned between the No. 1 path point and the No. 2 path point, when the AGV is detected to travel over the distance of 1/2 between the No. 1 path point and the No. 2 path point, the lock grid (the point position lock grid of the No. 1 path point and the partial interpolation lock grid between the No. 1 path point and the No. 2 path point) on the passed path is cleared once, and when the AGV reaches the No. 2 path point, the residual occupied interpolation lock grid between the No. 1 path point and the No. 2 path point is cleared; similarly, when the AGV is detected to travel a distance of more than 1/2 of the distance between the No. 2 and No. 3 path points, removing the lock grid (the point position lock grid of the No. 2 path point and the partial interpolation lock grid between the No. 2 and No. 3 path points) on the passed path again, and removing the residual occupied interpolation lock grid between the No. 2 and No. 3 path points when the AGV reaches the No. 3 path point; when the AGV is detected to travel over the distance of 1/2 between the No. 3 and No. 4 path points, removing the lock check (the point position lock check of the No. 3 path point and the partial interpolation lock check between the No. 3 and No. 4 path points) on the passing path once again; when the AGV reaches, for example, the No. 4 waypoint, the remaining occupied interpolation lock cells between the No. 3 and No. 4 waypoints are cleared.

If the AGV does not reach the second path point based on the identification information of the path point which the AGV has passed, repeatedly judging whether the path point which the AGV is closest to changes according to the position information of the real-time lock grid until the AGV reaches the second path point.

In order to realize the subsequent timely removal of the lock grid, in some embodiments, the determining whether the current closest path point of the AGV changes specifically includes:

In order to realize the subsequent timely removal of the lock grid, in some embodiments, the determining whether the AGV reaches the second path point specifically includes:

when the AGV runs on the path of the section to be operated, scanning identification information (such as a two-dimensional code) of each path point preset on the path of the section to be operated through scanning equipment (such as a camera) on the AGV, and determining that the AGV reaches the second path point when the acquired identification information of the path point corresponds to the second path point.

It should be noted that, whether the AGV reaches the second path point may also be determined by other navigation methods, such as a laser point cloud positioning algorithm, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

To ensure safe and risk-free operation of the AGV, in some embodiments, the determining a path of a to-be-operated segment of the AGV specifically includes:

In order to achieve the purpose of occupying an area on a path of an to-be-operated section of an AGV in advance and avoiding occurrence of a safety risk, in some embodiments, determining, according to the path of the to-be-operated section, each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and/or a lock grid between the path points by the AGV and/or a load of the AGV specifically includes:

determining a lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a moving state;

the AGVs are of the type such as lifting AGVs, sorting AGVs, roller AGVs, ground cow AGVs, forklift AGVs and the like; different types of AGVs have different movement modes, such as a lifting AGV having a rotational movement mode in addition to a straight movement;

determining each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and a lock grid between the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV based on the movement mode and the lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a movement state;

the motion modes are different, the generated motion deviation is different, the shape of the coverage area of the AGV or the load AGV is also different, for example, a rectangular lock grid is obtained when the AGV is lifted to move straight, a round lock grid is obtained when the AGV rotates, and therefore the method for calculating the size of the lock grid is also different, and the detailed calculation method is not repeated in the embodiment of the application.

Referring to fig. 3, an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control system provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

the determining unit 100 is configured to determine a path of a to-be-operated section of the AGV, and determine each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated section and a lock grid between the path points according to the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV and/or a load of the AGV;

the sending unit 200 is configured to send the path of the section to be operated to the AGV, and pre-occupy each path point and lock lattice between the path points of the AGV and/or the load of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated;

the updating unit 300 is configured to, for each path point before a final path point on the path of the to-be-operated segment, determine, according to the operation direction of the path of the to-be-operated segment, when the AGV passes through the first path point to reach the second path point, that each path point included between the first path point and the second path point and a current state of a lock grid pre-occupied between the path points are idle states.

Examples of several specific process flows are given below.

Embodiment one:

referring to fig. 4, an embodiment of the present application provides an AGV operation control method, which is executed by a system shown in fig. 3, for example, and includes the following specific steps:

Step S201, acquiring task information to be operated of an AGV, and planning an optimal global operation path from a task start point to a task end point for the AGV;

step S202, generating a global operation action path containing AGV action information according to the direction and connectivity of each path point on the global operation path;

step S203, determining a path of an AGV to be operated according to the global operation action path;

step S204, determining each path point and lock lattice among the path points of the AGV on the path of the to-be-operated section according to the action information contained in the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV and the information such as the size, the operation deviation and the following distance of the AGV;

step S205, acquiring the running segment paths of other AGVs in the system, judging whether the AGVs are safe or not, if not, sequentially reducing the number of path points contained in the to-be-run segment paths, modifying the length of the to-be-run segment paths, and returning to the step S204; if safe, go to step S206;

if the AGV is not in an initial state, namely, the AGV is in a certain section of path on the running global path, when the to-be-run section path issued to the AGV in advance is detected to be unsafe, the AGV stops after running the current section of path and waits for the system to issue the next section of path (namely, the to-be-run section path);

For steps S203-S205, it may also be that, first, according to the global operation action path, determining the path of the to-be-operated section of the AGV, judging whether the path of the to-be-operated section is safe, after determining that the path of the to-be-operated section is safe, calculating each path point of the AGV on the path of the to-be-operated section and the lock grid size between the path points, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application;

step S206, issuing the path of the section to be operated to the AGV, and preempting each path point and the grid locking area among the path points on the path of the section to be operated;

step S207, the AGV runs the segment path issued by the system and reports the real-time position information of the system;

step S208, calculating the distance between the AGV and the last passing path point and the distance between the AGV and the next passing path point according to the real-time position information reported by the AGV, comparing the two distances, and judging whether the closest path point of the AGV is changed to the next passing path point, if so, executing step S209; if not, go to step S207;

step S209, judging whether the current state of the lock grid of the path point passed by the AGV needs to be changed, if yes, executing step S210; if not, go to step S207;

step S210, changing the current state of the corresponding lock grid of the passed path point to be an idle state (namely clearing the corresponding lock grid);

Step S211, judging whether the system needs to issue a next section of path to be operated to the AGV, if so, issuing the next section of path to be operated by the AGV, and continuing to perform step S207 by the AGV; if not, go to step S212;

in the step, when the current section path of the AGV is not the last section path on the global running path, and when the length of the AGV from the final path point of the current section path is smaller than a preset distance threshold, the system needs to send the next section path to be operated to the AGV;

step S212, judging whether the final path point is a task end point of the current running task when the AGV reaches the final path point of the current section path, and if so, ending the running task; if not, go to step S207;

it should be noted that, if the current path of the AGV is not the last path of the global path, after the AGV reaches the final path point of the current path, the system still does not issue the next path of the to-be-operated to the AGV (indicating that the running paths of other AGVs occupy part or all of the area of the next path of the to-be-operated, and need to wait for other AGVs to drive away and release the lock grid), the AGV needs to stop waiting until the next path of the to-be-operated is received, and the AGV can continue to operate.

Embodiment two:

referring to fig. 5, in the method for pre-occupying and clearing lock grids of an AGV provided in the embodiment of the present application, it is assumed that a global running path has been planned for the AGV, and the specific steps include:

step S301, detecting and issuing a path of an AGV to-be-operated section;

it should be noted that, the path of the section to be operated in this step is determined by the above method, and it is determined that there is no conflict with the running paths of other AGVs;

step S302, calculating each path point (point position lock grid) of the AGV on the path of the section to be operated and lock grids (interpolation lock grid) among the path points, and pre-occupying the area where the lock grids are located;

step S303, an AGV runs the current section Duan Lujing, determines the information of the passed path point and the closest path point according to the position information reported by the AGV in real time, and determines the real-time lock grid of the AGV according to the real-time position information of the AGV;

step S304, updating the real-time position, the real-time lock grid and the closest path point of the AGV along with the change of the position information reported by the AGV in real time in the process of running the path of the section of the AGV;

step S305, starting from the first path point to the second path point, and for each path point, judging whether the closest path point of the AGV is the next path point of the path point, if so, performing step S306; if not, go to step S304;

In this step, the lock check clearing can be performed without changing the closest path point of this time and the closest path point of the last time for each path point, for example, the closest path point of the last time is the next path point of the first path point, the point position lock check of the first path point and the interpolation lock check between the first path point and the real-time lock check are cleared, the closest path point of this time is the 3 rd path point behind the first path point, and the remaining interpolation lock check between the first path point and the next path point, the point position lock check of the 2 path points behind the first path point, and the interpolation lock check between the next path point and the 3 rd path point behind the first path point are cleared;

step S306, changing the current state of interpolation lock grid between the point position lock grid of the AGV path point and the real-time lock grid to be an idle state;

step S307, the AGV reaches the next path point of the path point, and the current state of the interpolation lock grid remained and occupied between the point position lock grid of the path point and the point position lock grid of the next path point of the path point is changed to be an idle state;

repeating the steps S305-S307 until the closest path point of the AGV is the second path point;

Step S308, judging whether the AGV reaches a second path point, if so, performing step S309; if not, go to step S304;

in this step, the second path point may be the next path point of the first path point, or may be any path point after the first path point;

step S309, updating the already-passed path point of the AGV (changing from the last path point of the second path point to the second path point), and changing the current state of the interpolation lock grid remained occupied between the point position lock grid of the last path point of the second path point of the AGV and the point position lock grid of the second path point to an idle state;

for example, the path of the section to be operated comprises path points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the path point 1 corresponds to a first path point, the path point 5 corresponds to a second path point, and if the AGV reaches the path point 5, the current state of the interpolation lock grid remained and occupied between the point position lock grid of the path point 4 and the point position lock grid of the path point 5 is changed to be an idle state;

when the network state is bad, and the communication between the management and control system and the AGV is affected, and the system cannot timely receive the position information reported by the AGV in real time, for example, the latest time that the closest path point of the AGV is the path point No. 2, and when the real-time position information reported by the AGV is received again, the AGV reaches the path point No. 5, the point position lock grids of the path points No. 2, 3 and 4, and the interpolation lock grid remained occupied between the point position lock grid of the path point No. 1 and the point position lock grid of the path point No. 5 (namely, the interpolation lock grid remained occupied between the point position lock grid of the path point No. 1 and the point position lock grid of the path point No. 2, the interpolation lock grid pre-occupied between the path point No. 2 and the path point No. 3, the interpolation lock grid pre-occupied between the path point No. 3 and the path point No. 4 and the interpolation lock grid pre-occupied between the path point No. 5) are idle states;

Step S310, judging whether the AGV reaches a final path point of the path of the section, if so, running the next section path or ending the running task (the path of the section is the last section path of the global running path); if not, go to step S304.

Embodiment III:

for the above-mentioned change of the lock grid state, referring to fig. 6 to 10, the method for changing the lock grid state provided in the embodiment of the present application specifically includes the following steps:

suppose that the path of the segment operated by the AGV includes 4 path points, which are: 0. 1, 2, 3, the running order is 0 >1 >2 >3, initializing the AGV information: real-time position (0, 0) (indicating the physical coordinates of the AGV on the system running map, for example, the real-time position of the AGV is changed from (0, 0) to (1, 0), indicating that the AGV transversely runs from the path point 0 to the path point 1;

in the process of running the path of the current section, according to a real-time position (0.7,0) reported by the AGV (x is greater than 0.5, namely, the closest path point of the AGV is changed), the closest path point of the AGV is changed from 0 to 1, and the current state of a lock grid corresponding to the changed path point 0 (namely, the point position lock grid of the path point 0 and the interpolation lock grid between the point position lock grid and the real-time lock grid) is an idle state, for example, as shown in fig. 7;

When the AGV reaches the path point 1, the current state of the corresponding lock grid of the path point 1 (i.e. the interpolation lock grid occupied between the path points 0 and 1) is changed to be an idle state, for example, as shown in FIG. 8;

when the AGV runs to the real-time position (1.7,0), determining that the closest path point of the AGV is changed from 1 to 2, and changing the current state of the corresponding lock grid of the path point 1 (namely, the point lock grid of the path point 1 and the interpolation lock grid between the point lock grid and the real-time lock grid) to be an idle state, for example, as shown in fig. 9;

when the AGV reaches the waypoint 2, the current state of the corresponding lock of the waypoint 2 (i.e., the remaining occupied interpolated lock between waypoints 1, 2) is an idle state, as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

The following describes a device or apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application, where explanation or illustration of the same or corresponding technical features as those described in the above method is omitted herein.

Referring to fig. 11, an automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control device provided in the embodiments of the present application includes:

the processor 600, configured to read the program in the memory 620, performs the following procedures:

determining a lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a moving state;

In some embodiments, the automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes a transceiver 610 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 600.

Where in FIG. 11, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits of the one or more processors, as represented by processor 600, and the memory, as represented by memory 620, being chained together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 610 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

In some embodiments, the automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control device provided in the embodiments of the present application further includes a user interface 630, where the user interface 630 may be an interface capable of connecting to an internal connection device, including but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, etc.

The processor 600 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 620 may store data used by the processor 600 in performing operations.

In some embodiments, the processor 600 may be a CPU (Central processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit ), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array, field programmable Gate array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device ).

The embodiment of the application provides electronic equipment, which can be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a smart phone, a tablet personal computer, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA) and the like. The electronic device may include a central processing unit (Center Processing Unit, CPU), a memory, an input/output device, etc., the input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, etc., and the output device may include a display device such as a liquid crystal display (Liquid Crystal Display, LCD), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), etc.

The memory may include Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM) and provides the processor with program instructions and data stored in the memory. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be used to store a program of any of the methods provided in the embodiment of the present application.

The processor is configured to execute any of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application according to the obtained program instructions by calling the program instructions stored in the memory.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, causing the computer device to perform any of the methods of the embodiments described above. The program product described above may take the form of any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random Access Memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The present embodiments provide a computer readable storage medium for storing computer program instructions for use with an apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application described above, which includes a program for executing any one of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application described above. The computer readable storage medium described above may be a non-transitory computer readable medium.

Computer-readable storage media can be any available media or data storage device that can be accessed by a computer including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, nonvolatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof, the present application is intended to cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) operation control method, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lock grid comprises a point location lock grid, an interpolation lock grid, a real-time lock grid; according to the running direction of the path of the section to be operated, when the AGV is determined to reach a second path point through a first path point, the current state of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path points is an idle state, and the specific method comprises the following steps:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lock grid includes a point location lock grid, an interpolation lock grid, and a real-time lock grid, and the specific method includes, for each path point before a final path point on a path of a to-be-operated segment, according to an operation direction of the path of the to-be-operated segment, when determining that the AGV passes through a first path point to reach a second path point, determining that each path point included between the first path point and the second path point and a current state of a lock grid pre-occupied between the path points is an idle state, where:

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said determining whether the closest path point of the AGV has changed comprises:

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said determining whether the second path point is reached on the AGV comprises:

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the determining the path of the to-be-run segment of the AGV specifically comprises:

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the determining, according to the path of the to-be-operated segment, each path point preset on the path of the to-be-operated segment and a lock grid between the path points by the AGV and/or the load of the AGV specifically includes:

Determining a lock grid of the AGV in a static state or a moving state;

8. An automatic guided transport vehicle, AGV, operation control system, the system comprising:

the updating unit is used for aiming at each path point before a final path point on the path of the section to be operated, and when the AGV is determined to reach a second path point through a first path point according to the operation direction of the path of the section to be operated, the current state of each path point contained between the first path point and the second path point and the pre-occupied lock grid between the path points is an idle state.

9. An automatic guided vehicle AGV operation control device, comprising:

a memory for storing program instructions;

a processor for invoking program instructions stored in said memory to perform the method of any of claims 1-7 in accordance with the obtained program.

10. A computer program product for a computer, characterized in that it comprises software code portions for performing the method according to any of claims 1 to 7 when the product is run on the computer.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.