An RFID automatic inventory counting robot system

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of inventory counting robots, and discloses an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, including a host computer PC and a slave computer, wherein the host computer PC is the main part of the running control software, and can be connected to a local area network through a wireless module; the slave computer is used to directly control a lifting module and a servo motor drive module, that is, it can directly send motion instructions to the slave computer to control the movement of the inventory counting robot, and thereby control the relative position of the inventory counting robot. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system effectively solves the problem that in traditional logistics management, since the managed goods are mostly devices, products, semi-finished products, etc., which are numerous and complicated, the speed of obtaining information is relatively slow and the efficiency is relatively low when tracking the registered goods in real time, and errors or losses are prone to occur during the information transmission process, thereby realizing the intelligentization and digitization of warehousing and logistics management.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of inventory counting robots, in particular to an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system. Background Art

[0002] RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a non-contact automatic identification technology that mainly achieves the purpose of identifying the target object through non-contact data communication between the reader and the electronic tag. Due to its high information transmission rate and accuracy, it is widely used in the field of logistics and warehousing.

[0003] The use of RFID technology for batch management of goods introduces the goods information into the batch management platform through electronic tags, and enters detailed information such as the destination, current location, quantity, storage conditions, and storage requirements of the batch products, in order to effectively solve the problem in traditional logistics management that the speed of obtaining information is slow and the efficiency is low when real-time tracking of registered goods is carried out, because the goods managed are mostly devices, products, semi-finished products, etc., which are large in number and complex, and errors or losses are prone to occur during the information transmission process.

[0004] Among them, the inventory counting robot, as an important means of reading electronic tags, is the key to establishing a logistics inventory counting and tracking system and realizing intelligent, digital and networked logistics management. In the process of using the reader on the inventory counting robot to read the information in the electronic tags, because the electronic tags are placed layer by layer at specific positions on the shelves, it is necessary to continuously move the reader up and down when reading them one by one, and gradually move the inventory counting robot forward to achieve full coverage and reading of the electronic tags;

[0005] However, in order to achieve comprehensive coverage and reading of electronic tags in the readers on existing inventory robots, it is necessary to establish multiple feedback mechanisms and control systems therein to adjust the linkage relationship between the reader moving up and down and the forward movement of the inventory robot, thereby increasing the preparation and maintenance costs of the inventory robot. At the same time, establishing multiple feedback mechanisms and control systems invisibly increases the failure rate of the inventory robot in harsh environments, greatly limiting the adaptability of the inventory robot.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system and a reader control structure thereon to solve the above-mentioned defects in the existing warehousing logistics. Summary of the invention

[0007] 1. Technical issues to be resolved

[0008] The present invention provides an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, which utilizes RFID technology to manage goods in batches, realizes the intelligence and digitization of warehouse logistics management, and utilizes a mechanical structure to replace the mobile control feedback of a reader in the inventory counting robot, effectively improving the adaptability of the inventory counting robot to harsh environments, stability and high reliability, and solving the problem that in traditional logistics management, since the managed goods are mostly devices, products, semi-finished products, etc., which are numerous and complicated, the speed of obtaining information is relatively slow and the efficiency is relatively low when the registered goods are tracked in real time, and errors or losses are prone to occur during the information transmission process. In addition, the mechanical structure is used to replace the mobile control feedback of the reader in the inventory counting robot, effectively improving the adaptability of the inventory counting robot to harsh environments.

[0009] (II) Technical solution

[0010] The present invention provides the following technical solution: an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, comprising a host computer PC and a slave computer, wherein the host computer PC comprises an RFID module, a positioning module, a Bluetooth module and a wireless module; the slave computer comprises a lifting module, a servo motor drive module, an ultrasonic and infrared sensor module;

[0011] The host PC is the main part of the running control software, and can access the local area network through the wireless module, so as to communicate with the remote host through the local area network;

[0012] The RFID module is used to scan electronic tags and exchange data with the host computer via Ethernet;

[0013] The positioning module is a laser-based positioning system and is positioned through a SLAM positioning algorithm;

[0014] The Bluetooth module is used to connect the manual remote control to the inventory robot;

[0015] The lower computer is used to directly control the lifting module and the servo motor drive module, that is, it can directly send motion instructions to the lower computer to control the movement of the inventory counting robot, and thereby control the relative position of the inventory counting robot.

[0016] Preferably, the lifting module includes a fixed bracket fixedly mounted on the inventory robot, a linear motor is fixedly mounted inside the fixed bracket, and a fixed slide rail is fixedly mounted on one side outside the fixed bracket, a driving bracket is movably connected inside the fixed slide rail, and a transmission connection is formed between the inside of the driving bracket and the linear motor, a reader is fixedly mounted on the end face of the driving bracket, and a group of top columns are fixedly mounted at the upper and lower ends of the driving bracket respectively.

[0017] Preferably, a linkage slide bar is movably sleeved inside the fixed bracket, and a group of first magnetic blocks are fixedly installed on the upper and lower ends of the linkage slide bar respectively and have opposite magnetic properties to the second magnetic blocks fixedly installed on the upper and lower ends of the fixed bracket.

[0018] Preferably, a first conductive carbon brush is provided at one end inside the linkage slide rod, and cooperates with a first conductive module fixedly mounted on a fixed bracket. At the same time, an electrical feedback connection is formed between the first conductive carbon brush, the first conductive module and a servo motor drive module of the inventory robot. A second conductive carbon brush is provided at one end inside the linkage slide rod and below the first conductive carbon brush, and cooperates with a second conductive module fixedly mounted on a fixed bracket. An electrical feedback connection is formed between the second conductive carbon brush, the second conductive module and a lifting module of the inventory robot.

[0019] Preferably, the magnetic force between the first magnetic block and the second magnetic block is greater than the gravity of the linkage slide bar itself.

[0020] Preferably, the second conductive module is provided with three groups of terminals, which are respectively connected to the live wire, the neutral wire and the live wire, and the two groups of live wires are connected. At the same time, the servo motor on the lifting module is also provided with two groups of live wire terminals, and its forward and reverse movements are realized when different live wires are connected.

[0021] Preferably, an insulating layer is provided inside the second conductive carbon brush, and the thickness of the insulating layer is greater than the gap between the neutral and live wire terminals on the second conductive module, so as to effectively prevent short circuit when the second conductive carbon brush moves up and down and connects different live wires of the servo motor on the lifting module.

[0022] Preferably, when the lifting module on the inventory robot moves downward due to the connection between the second conductive carbon brush and the second conductive module, the first conductive carbon brush and the first conductive module are connected to the servo motor drive module of the inventory robot; when the lifting module on the inventory robot moves upward due to the connection between the second conductive carbon brush and the second conductive module, the first conductive carbon brush and the first conductive module are disconnected from the servo motor drive module of the inventory robot.

[0023] Preferably, when the inventory counting robot counts the goods on one side of the shelf, the reading process includes the following:

[0024] S1, start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot, so that when it moves between shelves, the reader on it reads the road label or turning label in its moving path, and reads the information of the shelf label in its relative position;

[0025] S2, start the lifting module in the inventory counting robot, and drive the reader on it to move upward, and then read the layer labels on the shelf layer by layer to obtain the goods information therein, until it reads the layer label on the top layer that records the end information;

[0026] S3. Start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot again and repeat the above steps to gradually read the information of the electronic tags on the shelf layer by layer and obtain the information of the corresponding goods thereon until it completes the inventory counting of all goods on one side of the shelf.

[0027] Preferably, when the inventory counting robot counts all shelves within a certain area, the reading process includes the following:

[0028] S1. The inventory counting robot starts to count from the top of shelf A. After completing the inventory counting of the shelf, the inventory counting robot returns to the starting point of shelf A and moves to the other side of shelf A and counts the shelf A based on the information on the path label or turn label read by the reader on the shelf.

[0029] S2, when the inventory robot has finished inventorying the other side of shelf A and returned to the upper end of the other side, it continues to move to the right and reads the information on the path label or the turning label on shelf B, and then repeats the above step S1 to perform inventory operations on both sides of shelf B;

[0030] S3. When the inventory robot has finished inventorying the entire row of shelves and moved to the rightmost side, it moves to the upper end of shelf D again according to the read path label or turn label, and repeats the above steps S1 and S2 until it completes the inventory of goods on all shelves within a certain area.

[0031] (III) Beneficial effects

[0032] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0033] 1. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system effectively solves the problem that in traditional logistics management, the goods managed are mostly devices, products, semi-finished products, etc., which are numerous and complicated, so the speed of obtaining information is relatively slow and the efficiency is relatively low when tracking the registered goods in real time. In addition, errors or losses are prone to occur during the information transmission process. At the same time, it can effectively record and collect multiple data including item stacking height, storage depth and robot moving speed, thereby realizing the intelligent and digital management of warehouse logistics.

[0034] 2. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system uses a mechanical structure to replace the mobile control feedback of the reader in the inventory counting robot for the setting of the lifting module, thereby greatly optimizing its internal control system composition, reducing its own preparation cost and future maintenance cost, and at the same time, effectively improving its reliability and stability when operating in harsh environments.

[0035] 3. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, with respect to the circuit connection setting of the lifting module, can effectively control the running trajectory of the reader while forming an electrical feedback connection to control the movement of the reader. In the process of moving the inventory counting robot, it can be moved downward for the next reading action, thereby effectively improving the work efficiency of the inventory counting robot when reading and counting the goods on the shelves. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structural module of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the lifting module of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 3 It is a partial front view of the structural lifting module of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 4 A first circuit connection diagram of the structure reader of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 5 A second circuit connection diagram of the structure reader of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the operation trajectory of the structure reader of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 7 A flowchart of layer-by-layer reading by the structure reader of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 8 It is a simplified diagram of the path planning of the structure of the present invention.

[0044] In the figure: 1. fixed bracket; 2. linear motor; 3. fixed slide rail; 4. driving bracket; 5. reader; 6. top column; 7. linkage slide rod; 8. first magnetic block; 9. second magnetic block; 10. first conductive carbon brush; 11. first conductive module; 12. second conductive carbon brush; 13. second conductive module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0046] See also Figure 1 , an RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, including a host computer PC and a slave computer, the host computer PC includes an RFID module, a positioning module, a Bluetooth module and a wireless module; the slave computer includes a lifting module, a servo motor drive module, an ultrasonic and infrared sensor module;

[0047] The host PC is the main part of the control software, which can access the local area network through the wireless module, and thus communicate with the remote host through the local area network;

[0048] The main part of the operation control software also includes server software;

[0049] The RFID module is used to scan electronic tags and exchange data with the host computer through Ethernet;

[0050] The positioning module is a laser-based positioning system, and is positioned through the SLAM positioning algorithm;

[0051] The Bluetooth module is used to connect the manual remote control to the inventory counting robot. In some cases, when the worker needs to manually control the inventory counting robot, the Bluetooth module can be used to control it through the manual remote control;

[0052] The lower computer is used to directly control the lifting module and the servo motor drive module, that is, it can directly send motion instructions to the lower computer to control the movement of the inventory robot, and thereby control the relative position of the inventory robot;

[0053] The lifting module uses motor drive to directly interact with the lower computer;

[0054] The positioning module can obtain some information from the ultrasonic and infrared sensor modules on the lower computer to assist in the positioning of the inventory robot.

[0055] like Figure 2As shown, in the present technical solution, the lifting module includes a fixed bracket 1 fixedly mounted on the inventory robot, a linear motor 2 is fixedly mounted inside the fixed bracket 1, and a fixed slide rail 3 is fixedly mounted on one side of the outside of the fixed bracket 1, a driving bracket 4 is movably connected inside the fixed slide rail 3, and a transmission connection is formed between the inside of the driving bracket 4 and the linear motor 2, and the driving bracket 4 can be driven to slide up and down along the track of the fixed slide rail 3, a reader 5 is fixedly mounted on the end face of the driving bracket 4 for reading the electronic tag on the shelf, and a group of top columns 6 are fixedly mounted on the upper and lower ends of the driving bracket 4 respectively.

[0056] In this technical solution, a linkage slide rod 7 is movably sleeved on the inner side of the fixed bracket 1, and a group of first magnetic blocks 8 are fixedly installed at the upper and lower ends of the linkage slide rod 7 and have opposite magnetic properties to the second magnetic blocks 9 fixedly installed at the upper and lower ends of the fixed bracket 1.

[0057] like Figure 3 As shown, in the present technical solution, a first conductive carbon brush 10 is provided at one end inside the linkage slide bar 7, and cooperates with a first conductive module 11 fixedly mounted on the fixed bracket 1, and at the same time, an electrical feedback connection is formed between the first conductive carbon brush 10 and the first conductive module 11 and the servo motor drive module of the inventory robot, and a second conductive carbon brush 12 is provided at one end inside the linkage slide bar 7 and below the first conductive carbon brush 10, and cooperates with a second conductive module 13 fixedly mounted on the fixed bracket 1, and an electrical feedback connection is formed between the second conductive carbon brush 12 and the second conductive module 13 and the lifting module of the inventory robot.

[0058] In the present technical solution, the magnetic force between the first magnetic block 8 and the second magnetic block 9 is greater than the gravity of the linkage slide bar 7 itself, so that the linkage slide bar 7 can stay at the corresponding position without being affected by external force, and will not automatically fall due to the influence of gravity, so that the circuit in the lifting module is in different connectivity states.

[0059] like Figure 4 As shown, in the present technical solution, the second conductive module 13 is provided with three groups of terminals, which are respectively connected to the live wire, the neutral wire and the live wire, and the two groups of live wires are connected. At the same time, the servo motor on the lifting module is also provided with two groups of live wire terminals, and its forward and reverse movements are realized when different live wires are connected.

[0060] In this technical solution, an insulating layer is provided inside the second conductive carbon brush 12, and the thickness of the insulating layer is greater than the gap between the neutral and live wire terminals on the second conductive module 13, so as to effectively prevent short circuit when it moves up and down and connects different live wires of the servo motor on the lifting module.

[0061] In the present technical solution, when the lifting module on the inventory counting robot moves downward under the connection between the second conductive carbon brush 12 and the second conductive module 13, the first conductive carbon brush 10 and the first conductive module 11 connect the servo motor drive module of the inventory counting robot to drive it to move forward. Figure 5 As shown, when the lifting module on the inventory counting robot moves upward under the connection between the second conductive carbon brush 12 and the second conductive module 13, the first conductive carbon brush 10 and the first conductive module 11 are disconnected from the servo motor drive module of the inventory counting robot, thereby making it stationary, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, the reader 5 on the inventory counting robot is in an intermittent N-shaped running track.

[0062] like Figure 7 As shown, in this technical solution, when the inventory counting robot counts the goods on one side of the shelf, it includes the following reading process:

[0063] S1, start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot, so that when it moves between shelves, the reader on it reads the road label or turning label in its moving path, and reads the information of the shelf label in its relative position;

[0064] S2, start the lifting module in the inventory counting robot, and drive the reader on it to move upward, and then read the layer labels on the shelf layer by layer to obtain the goods information therein, until it reads the layer label on the top layer that records the end information;

[0065] S3. Start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot again and repeat the above steps to gradually read the information of the electronic tags on the shelf layer by layer and obtain the information of the corresponding goods thereon until it completes the inventory counting of all goods on one side of the shelf.

[0066] like Figure 8 As shown, in this technical solution, when the inventory counting robot counts all the shelves within a certain area, it includes the following reading process:

[0067] S1. The inventory counting robot starts from the top of shelf A and after completing the inventory counting of the shelf, the inventory counting robot returns to the starting point of shelf A and moves to the other side of shelf A and performs inventory counting based on the information on the path tag or turn tag read by the reader on the shelf.

[0068] S2, when the inventory robot has finished inventorying the other side of shelf A and returned to the upper end of the other side, it continues to move to the right and reads the information on the path label or the turning label on shelf B, and then repeats the above step S1 to perform inventory operations on both sides of shelf B;

[0069] S3. When the inventory robot has finished inventorying the entire row of shelves and moved to the rightmost side, it moves to the upper end of shelf D again according to the read path label or turn label, and repeats the above steps S1 and S2 until it completes the inventory of goods on all shelves within a certain area.

[0070] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device.

[0071] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An RFID automatic inventory counting robot system, comprising a host computer PC and a slave computer, wherein the host computer PC comprises an RFID module, a positioning module, a Bluetooth module and a wireless module; the slave computer comprises a lifting module, a servo motor drive module, an ultrasonic and infrared sensor module, and is characterized in that: The host PC is the main part of the running control software, and can access the local area network through the wireless module, so as to communicate with the remote host through the local area network; The RFID module is used to scan electronic tags and exchange data with the host computer via Ethernet; The positioning module is a laser-based positioning system and is positioned through a SLAM positioning algorithm; The Bluetooth module connects the manual remote control to the inventory counting robot and is used to manually control the inventory counting robot; The lower computer is used to directly control the lifting module and the servo motor drive module, that is, it can directly send motion instructions to the lower computer to control the movement of the inventory counting robot, and thereby control the relative position of the inventory counting robot; The lifting module comprises a fixed bracket (1) fixedly mounted on the inventory counting robot, a linear motor (2) fixedly mounted inside the fixed bracket (1), and a fixed slide rail (3) fixedly mounted on one side of the outside of the fixed bracket (1), a driving bracket (4) movably connected inside the fixed slide rail (3), and a transmission connection is formed between the inside of the driving bracket (4) and the linear motor (2), a reader (5) fixedly mounted on the end surface of the driving bracket (4), and a group of top columns (6) fixedly mounted at the upper and lower ends of the driving bracket (4); a linkage slide rod (7) movably sleeved inside the fixed bracket (1), and a group of first magnetic blocks (8) fixedly mounted at the upper and lower ends of the linkage slide rod (7), and the magnetic properties of the linkage slide rod (8) are opposite to those of second magnetic blocks (9) fixedly mounted at the upper and lower ends of the fixed bracket (1); A first conductive carbon brush (10) is provided at one end of the linkage slide bar (7) and cooperates with a first conductive module (11) fixedly mounted on the fixed bracket (1). At the same time, an electrical feedback connection is formed between the first conductive carbon brush (10), the first conductive module (11) and the servo motor drive module of the inventory counting robot. A second conductive carbon brush (12) is provided at one end of the linkage slide bar (7) and below the first conductive carbon brush (10) and cooperates with a second conductive module (13) fixedly mounted on the fixed bracket (1). An electrical feedback connection is formed between the second conductive carbon brush (12), the second conductive module (13) and the lifting module of the inventory counting robot. The magnetic force between the first magnetic block (8) and the second magnetic block (9) is greater than the gravity of the linkage slide bar (7) itself. When the inventory counting robot counts the goods on one side of the shelf, it includes the following reading process: S1, start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot so that when it moves between shelves, the reader on it reads the road label or the turning label in its moving path, and reads the information of the shelf label in its relative position; S2, start the lifting module in the inventory counting robot, and drive the reader on it to move upward, and then read the layer labels on the shelf layer by layer to obtain the goods information therein, until it reads the layer label on the top layer that records the end information; S3. Start the servo motor drive module in the inventory counting robot again and repeat the above steps to gradually read the information of the electronic tags on the shelf layer by layer and obtain the information of the corresponding goods thereon until it completes the inventory counting of all goods on one side of the shelf.

2. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second conductive module (13) is provided with three groups of terminals, which are respectively connected to the live wire, the neutral wire and the live wire, and the two groups of live wires are connected. At the same time, the servo motor on the lifting module is also provided with two groups of live wire terminals, and its forward and reverse movements are realized when different live wires are connected.

3. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system according to claim 2, characterized in that: An insulating layer is provided inside the second conductive carbon brush (12), and the thickness of the insulating layer is greater than the gap between the neutral and live wire terminals on the second conductive module (13), so as to effectively prevent a short circuit when the second conductive carbon brush (12) moves up and down and connects different live wires of the servo motor on the lifting module.

4. The RFID automatic inventory counting robot system according to claim 3, characterized in that: When the lifting module on the inventory counting robot moves downward under the connection between the second conductive carbon brush (12) and the second conductive module (13), the first conductive carbon brush (10) and the first conductive module (11) are connected to the servo motor drive module of the inventory counting robot; when the lifting module on the inventory counting robot moves upward under the connection between the second conductive carbon brush (12) and the second conductive module (13), the first conductive carbon brush (10) and the first conductive module (11) are disconnected from the servo motor drive module of the inventory counting robot.

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