WO2024088306A1

WO2024088306A1 - Material box taking/returning device and control method therefor, system, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2024088306A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/126511
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李泽伟
Original assignee: 北京极智嘉科技股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-10-28
Filing date: 2023-10-25
Publication date: 2024-05-02
Also published as: CN117985389A

Abstract

A material box taking/returning device and a control method therefor, a system, and a storage medium. The control method comprises: determining the height of a target storage position, and controlling a material box taking/returning device to move to the height of the target storage position; acquiring a shelf image by means of a detection device of the material box taking/returning device, wherein the detection device is located above a pallet of the material box taking/returning device; when the shelf image comprises an image of an upper-layer cross beam adjacent to the target storage position, determining a first relative height of the upper-layer cross beam and the detection device on the basis of the image of the upper-layer cross beam in the shelf image; and on the basis of the first relative height, controlling the material box taking/returning device to move and take/return a material box at the target storage position.

Description

Material box retrieval device and control method, system and storage medium thereof

This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Publication No. 202211335266.2 filed on October 28, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this disclosure.

Technical Field

The present invention belongs to the technical field of logistics and warehousing, and relates to a material box retrieval device and a control method, system and storage medium thereof.

Background technique

At present, in the field of logistics and warehousing, box robots can be used to retrieve and return boxes on shelves. In order to accurately retrieve and return boxes, position reference objects (such as QR codes) can usually be attached to the shelf beams. The box robot detects the position of the reference object through a detection device to determine the position of the target cargo position, and places the box on the target cargo position or takes the box from the target cargo position.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a material box retrieval device and a control method, system and storage medium thereof.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a control method for a material box retrieval device is provided, comprising: first, determining the height of a target inventory location, and controlling the material box retrieval device to move to the height of the target inventory location; then, acquiring a shelf image through a detection device of the material box retrieval device; the detection device is located above a pallet of the material box retrieval device; then, in a case where the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image; finally, based on the first relative height, controlling the material box retrieval device to move and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image, determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device includes: identifying the pixel coordinates of the upper beam in the shelf image; obtaining the lateral distance between the upper beam and the detection device; and determining the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the lateral distance, attribute parameters of the detection device and pixel coordinates of the upper beam.

In some embodiments, based on the first relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location, including: obtaining a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet of the material box retrieval device; obtaining the interlayer spacing between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location; based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the interlayer spacing, calculating the third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet; based on the third relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer spacing, the third relative height between the lower crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet is calculated, including: calculating the sum of the first relative height and the second relative height to obtain a fourth relative height between the upper crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet; calculating the absolute value of the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing to obtain the third relative height between the lower crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet.

In some embodiments, based on the third relative height, controlling the container retrieval device to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location includes: determining the adjustment direction according to the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing; controlling the container retrieval device to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location; The device moves to a third relative height along the adjustment direction and retrieves and returns the material box at the target storage location.

In some embodiments, when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is greater than zero; when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is less than zero.

In some embodiments, the adjustment direction is determined according to the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer spacing, including: when the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer spacing is greater than zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be upward; when the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer spacing is less than zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be downward.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: obtaining a preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam when the material box retrieval device retrieves and returns the material box; and adjusting the height of the pallet according to the preset relative height and the third relative height.

In some embodiments, the height of the pallet is adjusted according to a preset relative height and a third relative height, including: determining an adjustment direction and an adjustment height of the pallet according to the preset relative height and the third relative height; controlling a material box retrieval device to move along the adjustment direction to adjust the height, and retrieving and returning the material box at a target inventory location.

In some embodiments, determining the adjusted height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height includes: determining the difference between the preset relative height and the third relative height, and using the difference as the adjusted height of the tray.

In some embodiments, the adjustment direction of the tray is determined based on the preset relative height and the third relative height, including: if the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing is less than the preset relative height, the adjustment direction of the tray is determined to be downward; if the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing is greater than the preset relative height, the adjustment direction of the tray is determined to be upward.

In some embodiments, the method also includes: if the target inventory location is on the top beam of the shelf, controlling the detection device to photograph the preset reference object above the target inventory location to obtain an image containing the preset reference object; based on the image containing the preset reference object, determining a fifth relative height between the preset reference object and the detection device; based on the fifth relative height, controlling the material box retrieval device to retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location on the top beam.

In some embodiments, the method also includes: when the shelf image does not include an image of an upper beam adjacent to a target inventory location, controlling the material box retrieval device to move to adjust the height of the detection device; acquiring a new shelf image through the detection device; determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the new shelf image; and based on the first relative height, controlling the material box retrieval device to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a control system for a box retrieval device is provided, including: a control movement module, configured to control the box retrieval device to move to the height of a target inventory location; an image recognition module, configured to acquire a shelf image through a detection device of the box retrieval device; a determination module, configured to determine the height of the target inventory location; when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image; and a control retrieval module, configured to control the movement of the box retrieval device and retrieve and return the box at the target inventory location based on the first relative height.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a material box retrieval device, comprising a detection device, a pallet and a controller; the detection device is installed above the pallet, and the detection device is communicatively connected with the controller; the detection device is configured to obtain a shelf image and transmit the shelf image to the controller; the controller is configured to control the material box retrieval device to move to a height of a target inventory location, and when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image, determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device; based on the first relative height, control the material box retrieval device to move and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the material box retrieval device further includes a lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is respectively connected to the controller and the tray connection; the controller is configured to: obtain a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet; obtain the inter-layer spacing between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location; based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer spacing, calculate a third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet; based on the third relative height, control the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to move and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to: determine the adjustment direction and adjustment height of the pallet based on the preset relative height and the third relative height; control the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to move along the adjustment direction to adjust the height, and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location; wherein the preset relative height is the height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam.

In some embodiments, the material box retrieval device also includes: a rotary drive assembly and a fork mechanism; the rotary drive assembly is respectively connected to the controller, the lifting mechanism and the fork mechanism, and the rotary drive assembly is located at the end of the fork mechanism away from the pallet; the rotary drive assembly is used to drive the fork mechanism to rotate around the vertical axis; the controller is used to control the rotary drive assembly to drive the fork mechanism to retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory position after adjusting the height of the pallet.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement any of the aforementioned control methods for the material box retrieval device.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and the program is executed by a processor to implement any of the aforementioned control methods of the material box retrieval device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below. The accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be considered as limiting the present disclosure. Also, the same reference symbols are used throughout the accompanying drawings to represent the same components. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG1 shows a control schematic diagram of a material box retrieval device in the related art;

FIG2 is a schematic flow chart showing a control method of a material box retrieval device provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG3A is a schematic diagram showing the positions of a material box retrieval device and an upper crossbeam provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG3B is a schematic diagram showing the positions of another material box retrieval device and an upper crossbeam provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG3C shows a control schematic diagram of a material box retrieval device provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG4 is a schematic flow chart showing another method for controlling a material box retrieving device provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing a process of retrieving and returning a material box from a top beam of a shelf provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a control system of a material box retrieval device provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanical structure of a pallet, a rotary drive assembly and a fork-holding mechanism provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG8 shows a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a readable storage medium provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure and to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure are further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the field of logistics and warehousing, material boxes can be stored on shelves. The shelves include multiple layers of beams that divide the shelves into Divided into multiple layers of cargo space, a layer of cargo space can be divided into multiple storage spaces by setting at least one partition on each layer of cargo space, and the storage spaces are used to place containers such as boxes. Usually, a box retrieval device (such as a box robot) can be used to put the box into the target storage space on the shelf or take the box out from the target storage space on the shelf.

The box retrieval device includes a box retrieval device (such as a pallet), a detection device and a lifting mechanism. The detection device is installed above the box retrieval device, and the box retrieval device is used to retrieve and place the box. The lifting mechanism is used to drive the box retrieval device to rise and fall in the vertical direction, so that the box retrieval device can retrieve and place the boxes at different heights on the shelf. The type of the box retrieval device is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The following embodiments are exemplified by taking the box retrieval device as a pallet.

In actual operation, the ground may be uneven or the manufacturing process of the shelf may cause an error between the height of the target inventory position determined by the system according to the specifications of the shelf and the actual height of the target inventory position; therefore, in order to enable the material box retrieval device to determine the position of the target inventory position and accurately retrieve the material box, a position reference object (such as a QR code) is mounted on the crossbeam of the shelf. The position of the reference object is detected by the detection device, and the material box retrieval device determines the target inventory position based on the position of the reference object.

Exemplarily, as shown in Figure 1, the material box retrieval device controls the lifting mechanism to move the detection device to a position aligned with the beam below the target inventory position according to the position of the target storage position corresponding to the material box to be retrieved and placed; thereafter, the detection device identifies the position reference object on the beam below the target inventory position (e.g., the beam arranged between the target inventory position and the adjacent next-level inventory position); if it is determined that the beam where the position reference object is located is the beam below the target inventory position, the lifting mechanism is used to control the pallet to rise to the target inventory position, so as to take out the material box at the target inventory position and place it on the pallet, or to place the material box on the pallet at the target inventory position.

Since the position reference object detected by the detection device is located on the lower beam of the target inventory position, the pallet needs to be controlled to rise after the position reference object is identified in order to retrieve and return the material box, resulting in a large adjustment range of the pallet height, which reduces the efficiency of retrieving and returning the material box.

Based on this, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a control method for a material box retrieval device, which method uses a detection device in the material box retrieval device to obtain a shelf image; when the shelf image includes a shelf image of an upper beam adjacent to a target inventory location, a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined by performing image processing on the shelf image; then, based on the first relative height, a third relative height between an upper surface of a lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location and an upper surface of a pallet in the material box retrieval device is determined; finally, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move the third relative height along the adjustment direction, and the material box is removed from the target inventory location, or the material box is placed in the target inventory location. Since the detection device is located above the pallet and identifies the upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location; therefore, in this scenario, the distance between the pallet and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location is shorter, that is, the third relative height is shorter; in this way, after determining the third relative height between the upper surface of the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet, it is only necessary to fine-tune the height of the pallet to retrieve and return the material box; this can reduce the amplitude of the pallet height adjustment and improve the efficiency of retrieving and returning the material box.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the control method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following steps:

Step 101: Determine the height of the target inventory location, and control the material box retrieval device to move to the height of the target inventory location.

When it is necessary to retrieve a box at the target stock location, since the size of the shelf is known, the system can determine the height of the target stock location based on the shelf specifications and configure the height to the box robot. The box robot controls the box retrieval device to move to the height of the target stock location based on the height.

Since the floor in the storage system may be uneven, the height of the target storage location determined according to the shelf size may be different from the actual height of the target storage location. Therefore, after the material box retrieval device is moved to the height of the target storage location in step 101, it is necessary to control the material box retrieval device to make fine adjustments in the following steps 102 to 104 to ensure that the material box retrieval device is smooth. The box-picking device of the device can accurately pick up and place the material boxes at the target inventory location.

Step 102: Acquire a shelf image through a detection device of a material box retrieval device.

Among them, the detection device is located above the tray of the material box retrieval device.

In some embodiments, the detection device may include a depth camera, a three-dimensional camera, a spherical panoramic camera, etc. After the material box retrieval device moves to the height of the target inventory location, because the detection device is located above the pallet, the detection range of the detection device can easily cover the upper beam adjacent to and above the target inventory location; therefore, the shelf image can be captured by the detection device to identify whether there is an upper beam in the shelf image. If not, the height of the material box retrieval device is controlled and fine-tuned so that the upper beam enters the field of view of the detection device, and the shelf image is captured again to ensure that the shelf image includes the image of the upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location.

Step 103: When the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location, determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image.

After the shelf image is obtained by photographing in step 102, the shelf image is processed to determine whether the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location. In the case where the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location, a first relative height between the upper beam adjacent to the target stock location and the detection device is determined.

In some embodiments, first, the shelf image is processed to locate each pixel point belonging to the upper beam in the shelf image. Based on the coordinates of each pixel point of the upper beam, the pixel coordinates of the upper beam are identified in the shelf image. Then, the lateral distance between the upper beam and the detection device is obtained; finally, based on the lateral distance, the attribute parameters of the detection device and the pixel coordinates of the upper beam, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined.

The disclosed embodiment establishes an image coordinate system in the shelf image, and the image coordinate system may take the upper left vertex of the shelf image as the coordinate origin, the horizontal side where the upper left vertex is located as the x-axis, and the vertical side where the upper left vertex is located as the y-axis. The image coordinate system may also be established with other vertices of the shelf image as the coordinate origin, and the disclosed embodiment does not limit the construction method of the coordinate system.

After establishing the image coordinate system in the shelf image, the pixel point closest to the target inventory location is determined from each pixel point of the identified upper beam, and the coordinates of the closest pixel point are determined as the pixel coordinates of the upper beam. That is, the coordinates of the pixel points on the lower surface of the upper beam are used as the pixel coordinates of the upper beam.

In other embodiments, a QR code for identifying the position of the upper beam may be affixed to the upper beam. After the image coordinate system is established in the shelf image, the pixel coordinates of the QR code are determined from the shelf image and the pixel coordinates of the QR code are used as the pixel coordinates of the upper beam.

The detection device uses a camera that can collect depth or distance information, such as a depth camera, a three-dimensional camera, or a spherical panoramic camera. Therefore, in the process of obtaining the shelf image containing the upper beam through the detection device, the actual distance between the upper beam and the detection device can be directly obtained, that is, the lateral distance between the upper beam and the detection device is obtained. After that, the attribute parameters of the detection device are obtained, and the attribute parameters include the focal length of the detection device. Based on the above actual distance (lateral distance), the attribute parameters of the detection device and the pixel coordinates of the upper beam, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is calculated.

In some embodiments, the coordinates of the center point of the shelf image are first determined, and the absolute value of the difference between the ordinate of the pixel coordinates of the upper beam and the ordinate of the center point coordinate is calculated. The product of the absolute value of the difference and the actual distance is calculated, and the ratio between the product and the focal length of the detection device is calculated. The ratio is the actual vertical height between the upper beam and the detection device, that is, the first relative height.

Based on image processing technology, according to the shelf image and the attribute parameters of the detection device, the relative height between the lower surface of the upper beam and the detection device can be accurately calculated, and the calculation process is simple and efficient.

Step 104: Based on the first relative height, control the container retrieving device to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location.

In the disclosed embodiment, the second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet of the material box retrieval device, and the inter-layer spacing between the adjacent upper beams and lower beams on the shelf are pre-configured in the material box retrieval device. The pre-configured second relative height and the inter-layer spacing between the adjacent upper beams and lower beams are obtained from the memory of the material box retrieval device.

Based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the layer spacing, a third relative height between the lower layer beam and the upper surface of the pallet is calculated.

In some examples, the height of the detection device may be higher than the height of the upper beam, or may be lower than the height of the upper beam. When the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height may be greater than zero, and when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height may be less than zero; or, when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height may be less than zero, and when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height may be greater than zero. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this, and the following embodiments are illustrative by taking the example that when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is greater than zero, and when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is less than zero.

In some embodiments, the sum of the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device and the second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet is calculated to obtain a fourth relative height between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet. Since the first relative height is the relative height between the upper beam and the detection device, and the second relative height is the relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet, the sum of the two is the relative height between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet.

FIG3A is a schematic diagram of the positions of a material box retrieval device and an upper beam provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG3A , when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is less than zero, so the sum of the second relative height and the first relative height is equivalent to the absolute value of the second relative height minus the first relative height. That is, the fourth relative height obtained by subtracting the distance between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet from the distance between the detection device and the upper beam (such as beam N+1 shown in FIG3A ) is the relative height between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet.

For example, the second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet is 49 cm, the absolute value of the first relative height is 2 cm, and the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam. Since the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is -2 cm; at this time, the fourth relative height is 49+(-2)=47 cm.

FIG3B is a schematic diagram of the positions of another material box retrieval device and the upper beam provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG3B , when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height is greater than zero. The fourth relative height is the sum of the second relative height and the first relative height, that is, the distance between the upper beam (such as beam N+1 shown in FIG3B ) and the detection device is added to the distance between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet. The fourth relative height obtained is the relative height between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet.

For example, the second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet is 49 cm, the absolute value of the first relative height is 2 cm, and the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam. Since the first relative height is greater than zero when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper beam, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is 2 cm; at this time, the fourth relative height is 49+2=51 cm.

For example, after obtaining the fourth relative height, the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory position can be obtained. The layer spacing between the beams is calculated, and the absolute value of the difference between the fourth relative height and the layer spacing is calculated to obtain the third relative height between the upper surface of the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet.

In some examples, the interlayer spacing between the upper crossbeam and the lower crossbeam may be equal to the second relative height between the detection device and the tray, or may not be equal to the second relative height, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this. For example, the interlayer spacing may be greater than the second relative height, or may be less than the second relative height. The following embodiments are illustrative examples of the interlayer spacing being greater than the second relative height.

Exemplarily, the third relative height refers to the distance that the material box retrieval device needs to move.

Since the height of the detection device may be higher than or lower than the height of the upper beam, therefore, the height of the pallet may be slightly higher than or lower than the height of the lower beam, thus, during the fine-tuning process of the material box retrieval device, it is necessary to determine whether to control the material box retrieval device to move upward to a third relative height or downward to a third relative height, that is, it is necessary to determine the adjustment direction of the material box retrieval device.

In some embodiments, the above-mentioned control of the movement of the material box retrieval device based on the third relative height and retrieving the material box at the target inventory location includes: determining the adjustment direction according to the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing; controlling the material box retrieval device to move the third relative height along the adjustment direction and retrieving the material box at the target inventory location.

When the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance is greater than zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be upward; when the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance is less than zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be downward.

Exemplarily, the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing refers to the value obtained by subtracting the inter-layer spacing from the fourth relative height. When the fourth relative height is greater than the inter-layer spacing, it means that the distance between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet is greater than the distance between the upper beam and the lower beam of the target inventory location. That is, at this time, the upper surface of the pallet is located below the lower beam of the target inventory location. Therefore, when the difference obtained by subtracting the inter-layer spacing from the fourth relative height is greater than zero, the pallet needs to be slightly adjusted upward to retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

For example, as shown in Figure 3B, taking the interlayer spacing between the upper beam and the lower beam of the target inventory location as 50 cm and the fourth relative height as 51 cm, the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer spacing is 51-50=1 cm; that is, the material box retrieval device needs to be controlled to move upward 1 cm.

For example, when the fourth relative height is less than the inter-layer spacing, it means that the distance between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet is less than the distance between the upper beam and the lower beam of the target inventory location. That is, at this time, the upper surface of the pallet is located above the lower beam of the target inventory location, so the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing is less than zero, and the pallet needs to be slightly adjusted downward to retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

For example, as shown in Figure 3A, taking the interlayer spacing between the upper beam and the lower beam of the target inventory location as 50 cm and the fourth relative height as 47 cm, the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer spacing is 47-50=-3 cm; that is, the material box retrieval device needs to be controlled to move downward 3 cm.

The control method of the material box retrieval device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is that when retrieving and returning the material box on the lower beam, there is no need to use the detection device to shoot and identify the lower beam. The detection device directly shoots the image of the shelf including the upper beam, identifies the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device, and the difference between the upper surface of the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet, as well as the third relative height, can be obtained based on the first relative height, so as to determine the adjustment direction and adjustment distance of the material box retrieval device; in this way, the accuracy and efficiency of locating the position of the lower beam can be improved, and the material box can be accurately retrieved and returned at the target inventory position. Moreover, since the detection device shoots the upper beam and the detection device is installed above the pallet; therefore, the pallet is closer to the lower beam. In this way, only the height of the pallet needs to be fine-tuned to retrieve and return the material box; in this way, the amplitude of the pallet height adjustment can be reduced, and the efficiency of retrieving and returning the material box can be improved.

In some embodiments, when the shelf image does not include an image of an upper beam adjacent to a target inventory location, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move to adjust the height of the detection device; a new shelf image is acquired through the detection device; based on the image of the upper beam in the new shelf image, a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined; based on the first relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

Exemplarily, when the shelf image obtained in step 102 does not include an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, the material box retrieval device can be controlled to move to adjust the height of the detection device. After the material box retrieval device moves to adjust the height of the detection device, step 102 can be performed again to obtain a new shelf image through the detection device. Thereafter, based on the image of the upper beam in the new shelf image, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined. Based on the first relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location. That is, after obtaining the new shelf image, steps 103-104 are performed to determine the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device, and based on the first relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, when the material box retrieval and return device retrieves and returns the material box, the upper surface of the tray can be flush with the upper surface of the lower beam, or can maintain a certain height (preset relative height) with the upper surface of the lower beam. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. In the following embodiments, the upper surface of the tray and the upper surface of the lower beam are maintained at a preset relative height when the material box retrieval and return device retrieves and returns the material box as an example for illustrative description.

When the material box retrieval and return device is retrieving and returning the material box, when the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower crossbeam maintain a preset relative height, it is necessary to further fine-tune the height of the pallet based on the preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower crossbeam, and the third relative height.

In some embodiments, a preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam is obtained when the material box retrieval device retrieves and returns the material box; and the height of the pallet is adjusted according to the preset relative height and the third relative height.

In the disclosed embodiment, the preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower cross beam is pre-configured in the material box retrieval device. The preset relative height is the relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the material box when the material box retrieval device retrieves and returns the material box. The height of the pallet is adjusted according to the preset relative height and the third relative height.

In some embodiments, the adjustment direction and the adjustment height of the pallet are determined according to the preset relative height and the third relative height, and the material box retrieving device is controlled to move along the adjustment direction to adjust the height, and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

Exemplarily, the difference between the preset relative height and the third relative height is determined, and the difference is used as the adjustment height of the tray. The third relative height is compared with the preset relative height, and the adjustment direction of the tray is determined according to the comparison result.

In some embodiments, in order to make it easier for the material box retrieval device to return the material box, when the material box retrieval device takes the material box out of the target inventory location, the upper surface of the pallet can be lower than the upper surface of the lower beam; when the material box retrieval device puts the material box into the target inventory location, the upper surface of the pallet can be higher than the upper surface of the lower beam.

In some embodiments, if the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is less than the preset relative height, the adjustment direction of the pallet is determined to be downward. At this time, the adjustment height is the difference between the third relative height and the preset relative height, and the pallet is controlled to move downward by the difference, and the material box is retrieved and returned at the target inventory location.

For example, as shown in Figure 3A, taking the preset relative height of 8 mm when the material box retrieval device places the material box into the target inventory position, if the upper surface of the pallet is located above the lower beam (beam N as shown in Figure 3A), the difference between the fourth relative height and the layer spacing is -3 cm, then the pallet needs to be controlled to move downward 22 mm.

In some embodiments, if the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing is greater than the preset relative height, the adjustment direction of the tray is determined to be upward, and the adjustment height is the difference between the third relative height and the preset relative height, and the tray is controlled to move upward. Move the difference distance and retrieve the material box at the target storage location.

For example, as shown in Figure 3B, taking the preset relative height of 8 mm when the material box retrieval device takes the material box out of the target inventory location, if the upper surface of the pallet is located below the lower beam (beam N as shown in Figure 3A), the difference between the fourth relative height and the layer spacing is 1 cm, then the pallet needs to be controlled to move upward 2 mm.

In some embodiments, if the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is equal to the preset relative height, the height of the tray is not adjusted.

After the third relative height is calculated in the above manner, the box retrieval and return operation can be performed by only slightly adjusting the height of the pallet, which greatly shortens the adjustment height of the pallet and improves the efficiency of retrieval and return.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the target inventory is located on the top beam of the top shelf, there is no longer any beam above the top beam. In order to accurately position, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides two positioning solutions.

In the first solution, a preset reference object is set above the top crossbeam, and the preset reference object can be a barcode or a QR code. The vertical distance between the preset reference object and the top crossbeam can be the shelf layer spacing or other distances. If it is other distances, the distance between the preset reference object and the top crossbeam needs to be pre-set in the material box retrieval device.

In a scenario where a preset reference object is set above the top beam, the detection device is controlled to shoot the preset reference object above the target inventory position to obtain an image containing the preset reference object. Based on the image containing the preset reference object, the fifth relative height between the preset reference object and the detection device is determined; wherein the determination process is the same as the operation of step 103 and will not be repeated here. Then, based on the fifth relative height, the material box retrieval device is controlled to retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory position; wherein the retrieval process is the same as the operation of step 104 and will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, the height of the detection device may be higher than the height of the top beam, or may be lower than the height of the top beam. When the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the top beam, the fifth relative height may be greater than zero, and when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the top beam, the fifth relative height may be less than zero; or, when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the top beam, the fifth relative height may be less than zero, and when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the top beam, the fifth relative height may be greater than zero. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this.

By setting a preset reference object above the top crossbeam, after identifying the fifth relative height, the fifth relative height can be used to accurately and quickly calculate the relative height between the top crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet, and the target inventory position can be accurately located based on the relative height between the top crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet, and then the material box can be accurately retrieved and returned at the target inventory position. In addition, since the detection device shoots the preset reference object and the detection device is installed above the pallet, the pallet is very close to the top crossbeam, so the pallet only needs to slightly adjust its height when the top crossbeam retrieves and returns the material box, which improves the efficiency of retrieving and returning the material box.

The second solution adopts the identification solution in the related technology, uses the detection device to shoot the top beam, identifies the height position of the top beam, and then controls the pallet to rise based on the height position of the top beam, and then retrieves the material box.

To facilitate understanding of the control method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following is an explanation in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG3C , for the target inventory position on the beam N, FIG3C takes the material box placed at the target inventory position as an example. The beam N+1 is photographed by a detection device located above the pallet, the first relative height between the beam N+1 and the detection device is identified, and then the third relative height between the beam N and the upper surface of the pallet is calculated. Based on the calculated third relative height, the pallet is controlled to take out the material box. It can be seen from FIG3C that the pallet is very close to the beam N during the entire process. Therefore, after calculating the height position of the beam N, it is only necessary to fine-tune the pallet to perform the box removal operation.

FIG4 shows a flow chart of a control method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the pallet is lifted to the N-layer horizontal The height of the beam, the detection device identifies the N+1 layer of beams, reversely calculates the precise height difference between the upper surface of the N layer of beams and the upper surface of the pallet, fine-tunes the height, and retrieves and returns the material box.

Figure 5 shows a flow chart of a processing method for the top beam. First, it is determined whether to retrieve the material box on the top layer of the shelf. If so, the detection device identifies the top beam, the pallet rises by the height of a beam, and then retrieves the material box. If it is not to retrieve the material box on the top layer of the shelf, the detection device identifies the N+1 layer beam, calculates the height difference between the upper surface of the N layer beam and the upper surface of the pallet, fine-tunes the pallet height, and retrieves the material box.

In the disclosed embodiment, with respect to the material box retrieval device in which the detection device is installed above the pallet, a method is proposed in which the detection device is used to directly identify the N+1 layer of beams when retrieving N layers of material boxes; wherein, the third relative height between the upper surface of the N layer of beams and the upper surface of the pallet can be obtained by reverse calculation based on the first relative height between the N+1 layer of beams and the detection device and the inter-layer spacing of the beams; thereafter, the material box can be accurately retrieved and returned at the target inventory location based on the third relative height. Since the detection device photographs the N+1 layer of beams and the detection device is installed above the pallet, the distance between the pallet and the N layer of beams is shortened. In this way, when controlling the pallet to retrieve and return the material box via the N layer of beams, it is only necessary to fine-tune the height of the pallet, thereby reducing the amplitude of the pallet height adjustment and improving the efficiency of retrieving and returning the material box.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a control system for a material box retrieval device, which is used to execute the control method provided by any of the above embodiments. As shown in FIG6 , the system includes:

The control movement module 201 is configured to control the material box retrieval device to move to the height of the target inventory location; the image recognition module 202 is configured to obtain the shelf image through the detection device of the material box retrieval device. The determination module 203 is configured to determine the height of the target inventory location; when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image. The control retrieval module 204 is configured to control the movement of the material box retrieval device and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location based on the first relative height.

In some embodiments, the determination module 203 is further configured to identify the pixel coordinates of the upper beam in the shelf image; obtain the lateral distance between the upper beam and the detection device; and determine the first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the lateral distance, the attribute parameters of the detection device and the pixel coordinates of the upper beam.

In some embodiments, the control module 204 is further configured to obtain a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet of the material box retrieval device; obtain the inter-layer spacing between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location; calculate the third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer spacing; and control the movement of the material box retrieval device based on the third relative height and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the control retrieval module 204 is also configured to calculate the sum of the first relative height and the second relative height to obtain a fourth relative height between the upper beam and the upper surface of the pallet; and calculate the absolute value of the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer spacing to obtain a third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet.

In some embodiments, the control retrieval module 204 is also configured to determine the adjustment direction based on the difference between the fourth relative height and the layer spacing; control the material box retrieval device to move the third relative height along the adjustment direction, and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the control module 204 is further configured to determine that the adjustment direction is upward when the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is greater than zero; and when the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is less than When it is zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be downward.

In some embodiments, the determination module 203 is further configured to obtain a preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam when the material box retrieval device retrieves and returns the material box; the control retrieval module 204 is further configured to control the material box retrieval device to move along the adjustment direction according to the preset relative height and the third relative height, and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the control module 204 is further configured to determine the adjustment direction and height of the pallet based on a preset relative height and a third relative height; control the material box retrieval device to move along the adjustment direction to adjust the height, and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the control module 204 is further configured to determine a difference between the preset relative height and the third relative height, and use the difference as the adjusted height of the tray.

In some embodiments, the control retrieval module 204 is further configured to determine that the adjustment direction of the tray is downward if the third relative height is greater than the preset relative height; and to determine that the adjustment direction of the tray is upward if the third relative height is less than the preset relative height.

In some embodiments, the control module 204 is further configured to control the detection device to photograph the preset reference object above the target inventory location if the target inventory location is on the top beam of the shelf to obtain an image containing the preset reference object; based on the image containing the preset reference object, determine the fifth relative height between the preset reference object and the detection device; based on the fifth relative height, control the material box retrieval device to retrieve the material box at the target inventory location on the top beam.

In some embodiments, the control movement module 201 is also configured to control the movement of the material box retrieval device to adjust the height of the detection device when the shelf image does not include the image of the upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location; the image recognition module 202 is also configured to acquire a new shelf image through the detection device; the determination module 203 is configured to determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the new shelf image; the control retrieval module 204 is also configured to control the movement of the material box retrieval device and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location based on the first relative height.

The control system of the material box retrieval and return device provided in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure and the control method of the material box retrieval and return device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure are based on the same inventive concept and have the same beneficial effects as the methods adopted, run or implemented by the application programs stored therein.

The disclosed embodiment also provides a material box retrieval device, including a detection device, a pallet and a controller; the detection device is installed above the pallet, and the detection device is communicatively connected with the controller; the detection device is configured to obtain a shelf image and transmit the shelf image to the controller; the controller is configured to control the material box retrieval device to move to the height of a target inventory location, and when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image, determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device; based on the first relative height, control the material box retrieval device to move and retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory location.

In some embodiments, the material box retrieval device further includes a lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is connected to the controller and the pallet respectively. The controller is configured to: obtain a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the pallet; obtain the interlayer distance between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory position; based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the interlayer distance, calculate the third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet; based on the third relative height, control the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory position.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to: determine the adjustment direction and the adjustment height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height; control the lifting mechanism to drive the tray to move along the adjustment direction to adjust the height, and at the target Mark the storage location to retrieve and return the material box; wherein the preset relative height is the height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam.

In some embodiments, the material box retrieval device further includes: a rotary drive assembly and a fork holding mechanism;

The rotary drive assembly is connected to the controller, the lifting mechanism and the fork mechanism respectively, and the rotary drive assembly is located at one end of the fork mechanism away from the pallet; the rotary drive assembly is used to drive the fork mechanism to rotate around the vertical axis;

The controller is used to control the rotary drive assembly to drive the fork mechanism to retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory position after adjusting the height of the pallet.

In some embodiments, the fork mechanism is used to move the material box on the shelf beam to the pallet, or to move the material box on the pallet to the shelf beam for storage. The fork mechanism is connected to the lifting mechanism through a rotary drive assembly, so that the rotary drive assembly drives the fork mechanism to rotate relative to the lifting mechanism to facilitate the retrieval and return of the material box. It should be emphasized that the rotary drive assembly is arranged at the end of the fork mechanism away from the pallet, so that the rotary drive assembly is located above the fork mechanism, thereby avoiding the rotary drive assembly occupying the space below the fork mechanism, reducing the invalid space at the lower end of the pallet when retrieving and returning the box, so as to further reduce the operating height of the material box retrieval device, save the space below the first layer of the shelf, and improve the utilization rate of the shelf and warehouse.

FIG7 shows a schematic diagram of the mechanical structure of a pallet, a rotating drive assembly and a fork-holding mechanism. The rotating drive assembly is shown as 32 in FIG7 , the fork-holding mechanism is shown as 33 and 34 in FIG7 , and reference numeral 31 in FIG7 represents a pallet.

The material box retrieval device provided in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure and the control method of the material box retrieval device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure are based on the same inventive concept and have the same beneficial effects as the method adopted, run or implemented by the application program stored therein.

The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide an electronic device to execute the control method of the above-mentioned material box retrieval device. Please refer to Figure 8, which shows a schematic diagram of an electronic device provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, the electronic device 3 includes: a processor 300, a memory 301, a bus 302 and a communication interface 303, and the processor 300, the communication interface 303 and the memory 301 are connected via the bus 302; the memory 301 stores a computer program that can be run on the processor 300, and the processor 300 executes the control method of the material box retrieval device provided by any of the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure when running the computer program.

The memory 301 may include a high-speed random access memory (RAM), and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage. The communication connection between the device network element and at least one other network element is realized through at least one communication interface 303 (which may be wired or wireless), and the Internet, wide area network, local area network, metropolitan area network, etc. may be used.

The bus 302 may be an ISA bus, a PCI bus, or an EISA bus, etc. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. The memory 301 is used to store programs, and the processor 300 executes the programs after receiving the execution instruction. The control method of the material box retrieval device disclosed in any implementation of the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to the processor 300, or implemented by the processor 300.

The processor 300 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor 300 or the instructions in the form of software. The above processor 300 can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. In combination with the present disclosure The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 301, and the processor 300 reads the information in the memory 301 and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

The electronic device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure and the control method of the material box retrieval device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure are based on the same inventive concept and have the same beneficial effects as the methods adopted, operated or implemented therein.

The disclosed embodiment also provides a computer-readable storage medium corresponding to the control method of the material box retrieval device provided in the aforementioned embodiment. Please refer to Figure 9, which shows that the computer-readable storage medium is a CD 30 on which a computer program (i.e., a program product) is stored. When the computer program is run by the processor, it will execute the control method of the material box retrieval device provided in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

It should be noted that examples of the computer-readable storage medium may also include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other optical or magnetic storage media, which are not listed here one by one.

The computer-readable storage medium provided in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure and the control method of the material box retrieval device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are based on the same inventive concept and have the same beneficial effects as the methods adopted, run or implemented by the application programs stored therein.

It should be noted:

In the description provided herein, a lot of details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without these details. In some instances, well-known structures and technologies are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present disclosure and aid in understanding one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the above description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the various features of the present disclosure are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, the disclosed method should not be interpreted as reflecting the following schematic diagram: the claimed disclosure requires more features than the features explicitly recited in each claim. More specifically, as reflected in the claims below, the inventive aspects lie in less than all the features of the single embodiment disclosed above. Therefore, the claims following the embodiment are hereby expressly incorporated into the embodiment, with each claim itself serving as a separate embodiment of the present disclosure.

In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features of different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of this disclosure and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims below, any one of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A control method for a material box retrieval device, comprising:

Determine the height of the target inventory position, and control the material box retrieval device to move to the height of the target inventory position;

The shelf image is acquired by a detection device of the material box retrieval device; the detection device is located above the tray of the material box retrieval device;

In a case where the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location, determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image;

Based on the first relative height, the container retrieving device is controlled to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location.
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image comprises:

identifying pixel coordinates of the upper beam in the shelf image;

Obtaining a lateral distance between the upper crossbeam and the detection device;

The first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device is determined based on the lateral distance, the attribute parameters of the detection device and the pixel coordinates of the upper beam.
The method according to claim 1, wherein, based on the first relative height, controlling the movement of the container retrieving device and retrieving the container at the target inventory location comprises:

Acquire a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the tray of the material box retrieval device;

Obtaining the inter-layer distance between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location;

Calculating a third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer distance;

Based on the third relative height, the container retrieving device is controlled to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the calculating the third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer distance comprises:

Calculating the sum of the first relative height and the second relative height to obtain a fourth relative height between the upper crossbeam and the upper surface of the pallet;

The absolute value of the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is calculated to obtain a third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet.
The method according to claim 4, wherein, based on the third relative height, controlling the container retrieving device to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location comprises:

Determining an adjustment direction according to a difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance;

The material box retrieving device is controlled to move the third relative height along the adjustment direction, and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.
The method according to claim 5, wherein, when the height of the detection device is lower than the height of the upper crossbeam, the first relative height is greater than zero; when the height of the detection device is higher than the height of the upper crossbeam, the first relative height is less than zero.
The method according to claim 6, wherein determining the adjustment direction according to the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance comprises:

When the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance is greater than zero, determining that the adjustment direction is upward;

When the difference between the fourth relative height and the interlayer distance is less than zero, the adjustment direction is determined to be downward.
The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

Obtaining a preset relative height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam when the material box retrieving and returning device retrieves and returns the material box;

The height of the tray is adjusted according to the preset relative height and the third relative height.
The method according to claim 8, wherein adjusting the height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height comprises:

Determining an adjustment direction and an adjustment height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height;

The material box retrieving device is controlled to move the adjusted height along the adjustment direction, and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.
The method according to claim 9, wherein determining the adjusted height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height comprises:

A difference between the preset relative height and the third relative height is determined, and the difference is used as the adjustment height of the tray.
The method according to claim 9, wherein determining the adjustment direction of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height comprises:

If the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is smaller than the preset relative height, determining that the adjustment direction of the tray is downward;

If the difference between the fourth relative height and the inter-layer distance is greater than the preset relative height, it is determined that the adjustment direction of the tray is upward.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising:

If the target stock location is on the top beam of the shelf, the detection device is controlled to shoot a preset reference object above the target stock location to obtain an image containing the preset reference object;

determining a fifth relative height between the preset reference object and the detection device based on the image including the preset reference object;

Based on the fifth relative height, the container retrieving device is controlled to retrieve the container at the target storage location on the top beam.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

When the shelf image does not include an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location, controlling the material box retrieval device to move to adjust the height of the detection device;

Acquire a new shelf image through the detection device;

Determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the new shelf image;

Based on the first relative height, the container retrieving device is controlled to move and retrieve the container at the target inventory location.
A control system for a material box retrieval device, comprising:

A control movement module is configured to control the material box retrieval device to move to a height of a target inventory position;

An image recognition module is configured to obtain a shelf image through a detection device of the material box retrieval device;

a determination module configured to determine the height of the target stock location; and, when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target stock location, determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image;

The control retrieval module is configured to control the movement of the material box retrieval device and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location based on the first relative height.
A material box retrieval device comprises a detection device, a tray and a controller;

The detection device is installed above the tray, and the detection device is communicatively connected with the controller;

The detection device is configured to acquire a shelf image and transmit the shelf image to the controller;

The controller is configured to control the movement of the material box retrieval device to the height of a target inventory location, and when the shelf image includes an image of an upper beam adjacent to the target inventory location, determine a first relative height between the upper beam and the detection device based on the image of the upper beam in the shelf image; based on the first relative height, control the material box retrieval device to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.
According to the device of claim 15, the material box retrieval device further comprises a lifting mechanism; the lifting mechanism is connected to the controller and the tray respectively;

The controller is configured to:

Acquiring a second relative height between the detection device and the upper surface of the tray;

Obtaining the inter-layer distance between the upper beam and the lower beam adjacent to the target inventory location;

Calculating a third relative height between the lower beam and the upper surface of the pallet based on the first relative height, the second relative height and the inter-layer distance;

Based on the third relative height, the lifting mechanism is controlled to drive the pallet to move and retrieve the material box at the target inventory location.
According to the device of claim 16, the controller is further configured to:

Determining the adjustment direction and the adjustment height of the tray according to the preset relative height and the third relative height;

Control the lifting mechanism to drive the tray to move along the adjustment direction to the adjustment height, and retrieve and return the material box at the target storage location;

Wherein, the preset relative height is the height between the upper surface of the pallet and the upper surface of the lower beam.
The device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the material box retrieval device further comprises: a rotary drive assembly and a fork-holding mechanism;

The rotary drive assembly is connected to the controller, the lifting mechanism and the fork-holding mechanism respectively, and the rotary drive assembly is located at one end of the fork-holding mechanism away from the pallet; the rotary drive assembly is used to drive the fork-holding mechanism to rotate around the axis in the vertical direction;

The controller is used to control the rotary drive assembly to drive the fork mechanism to retrieve and return the material box at the target inventory position after adjusting the height of the pallet.
An electronic device includes a memory, a processor, and a A computer program running on a processor, wherein the processor runs the computer program to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.
A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the program is executed by a processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.