A method for unmanned crane to lift steel coils to flatbed trucks

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for unmanned vehicle to lift steel coils to flatbed trucks, comprising the following steps: 1) installing a scanner on the unmanned vehicle, the scanner continuously scans the truck and calculates the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck; 2) calculating the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of the truck; 3) calculating the target drop coordinates for the next steel coil; 4) judging whether there is space on the flatbed of the truck to place the next steel coil, that is, judging whether the target drop coordinates for the next steel coil are less than the coordinates of the tail of the flatbed of the truck, if so, the unmanned vehicle executes the instruction to place the next steel coil, otherwise the loading is completed. The present invention uses the method of calculating the positioning drop position by feedback of distance data and steel coil outer diameter data by the scanner, further improving the operation efficiency of the vehicle and reducing the intervention of operators.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to unmanned crane lifting technology in the intelligent hot rolling industry, and more specifically, to a method for unmanned crane lifting steel coils to a flatbed truck. Background Art

[0002] With the deepening of the construction of intelligent hot rolling plants, more and more intelligent hot rolling plants in China have begun to apply unmanned driving technology in their storage areas. During operation, unmanned driving technology has huge advantages in responding to work instructions, executing work tasks, and reducing the wear of driving machinery and equipment. It can greatly improve labor efficiency, which is also the key to the promotion and application of this technology.

[0003] At present, the lifting of steel coils from the warehouse to the truck has always been a difficult problem in the built warehouse area. The main reason is that the saddles on the trucks are of various types and the position spacing is not uniform. The current method is to use manual intervention to locate them. The specific steps are as follows:

[0004] 1) The driver parks the truck at the designated location;

[0005] 2) The driver uses a positioning gun to manually locate the coordinates of the truck;

[0006] 3) The warehouse management system records and generates the driving instructions for lifting;

[0007] 4) After the unmanned vehicle runs over the truck, it is lowered according to the recorded coordinates.

[0008] The existing unmanned vehicles have the following main disadvantages when performing steel coil outbound operations:

[0009] 1) Low efficiency: Before the steel coils are placed on the truck saddle, the driver needs to locate the target saddles one by one through the positioning gun. If it is a detachable frame truck, the operator needs to go to the site to locate them one by one. The whole process takes a long time, which is not conducive to the efficiency of automatic driving.

[0010] 2) There are certain safety risks: In the positioning process, the driver's vision is blocked in some cases, which may lead to inaccurate positioning. At the same time, due to the difference in skills of operators, the accuracy of positioning is also uneven, which poses certain hidden dangers to the safety of landing. Summary of the invention

[0011] In view of the above-mentioned defects existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a method for unmanned crane to lift steel coils to flatbed trucks, which calculates and locates the lowering position by using scanner feedback distance data and steel coil outer diameter data, thereby further improving the operation efficiency of the crane and reducing the intervention of operators.

[0012] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0013] A method for lifting a steel coil to a flatbed truck by an unmanned crane comprises the following steps:

[0014] 1) Using a scanner installed on an unmanned vehicle to continuously scan the truck and calculate the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck;

[0015] 2) calculating the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of the truck;

[0016] 3) Calculate the target drop coordinates for the next coil;

[0017] 4) Determine whether there is space on the flatbed of the truck to place the next roll of steel coil, that is, determine whether the target placement coordinate of the next roll of steel coil is less than the coordinate of the tail of the flatbed of the truck. If so, the unmanned vehicle executes the instruction to place the next roll of steel coil, otherwise, the loading is completed.

[0018] Preferably, the scanner is mounted above the clamp of the unmanned vehicle.

[0019] Preferably, in step 1), the scanner continuously scans the truck and calculates the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck, as follows:

[0020] According to the distance AC between the position point A of the scanner and the scanning point C of the truck cab and the scanning angle θ c , we can calculate:

[0021] The vertical distance value AH between the position point A of the scanner and the vertical point H of the scanning point C of the truck's cab is AC*cosθ c ;

[0022] According to the fixed height h of the scanner from the ground, the height value Hc of the scanning point C of the truck cab is calculated:

[0023] Hc=h-AH;

[0024] The scanning data of the scanner are calculated in sequence according to the calculation method of the height value Hc, from which the edge point B between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck is determined, and the scanning angle θ of the edge point B is determined according to the scanning angle θ of the edge point B. B and the current coordinates of the scanner, calculate the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, which is the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck.

[0025] Preferably, the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B is calculated as follows:

[0026] Y B =Y-AB*sinθB ;

[0027] In the above formula, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, θ B is the scanning angle of the edge point B, and Y is the current coordinate of the scanner.

[0028] Preferably, in step 2), the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of the truck are calculated as follows:

[0029] Y1=Y B +T+D1 / 2;

[0030] In the above formula, Y1 is the target drop coordinate of the first steel coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck, and D1 is the outer diameter of the first steel coil.

[0031] Preferably, in step 3), the target drop coordinates of the next steel coil are calculated as follows:

[0032] Y N =Y B +T+SUM(D)+D N / 2;

[0033] In the above formula, Y N The target coordinates for the next coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck, SUM(D) is the sum of the diameters of all the steel coils loaded on the flatbed of the truck, D N The diameter of the next steel coil.

[0034] Preferably, in step 3), it is determined whether the target drop coordinate of the next steel coil is smaller than the flatbed tail coordinate of the truck, specifically as follows:

[0035] Y N >(Y B +L+T);

[0036] In the above formula, Y N The target coordinates for the next coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, L is the distance from the head of the flatbed to the tail of the flatbed, and T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck.

[0037] The method for lifting steel coils to flatbed trucks by unmanned vehicles provided by the present invention also has the following beneficial effects:

[0038] 1) Improve the automatic rate of the crane: the daily output of small coils produced by flattening is about 100 coils, accounting for about 6.5% of the total daily lifting volume of the steel coil warehouse. After adopting this method, the lifting of this part can be completed fully automatically by the crane;

[0039] 2) Improve the operation efficiency of cranes: After full automation is achieved, the cranes with the same span in the warehouse area will coordinate the completion of the task, unlike manual lifting when another crane with the same span can only perform other tasks in a limited area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a scanner and its scanning angle in step 1) of a method for an unmanned vehicle to lift a steel coil to a flatbed truck of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the distance value and scanning angle fed back by the scanner in step 1) of a method for lifting a steel coil to a flatbed truck by an unmanned vehicle of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of forming a height value curve in step 1) of a method for lifting a steel coil to a flatbed truck by an unmanned vehicle of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of calculating the target drop coordinates of the first steel coil placed on the flatbed of the truck in step 2) of the method for unmanned vehicle to lift steel coils to a flatbed truck of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a scanner and its scanning angle of view in an embodiment of a method for an unmanned vehicle to lift a steel coil to a flatbed truck of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] In order to better understand the above technical solution of the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0046] The present invention provides a method for lifting a steel coil to a flatbed truck using an unmanned vehicle, comprising the following steps:

[0047] 1) Install scanner 1 above the clamp of unmanned vehicle 100. Scanner 1 continuously scans truck 200 and calculates the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of truck 200. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the details are as follows:

[0048] According to the distance AC between the position point A of the scanner 1 and the scanning point C of the cab of the truck 200 and the scanning angle θ c , we can calculate:

[0049] The vertical distance between the position point A of the scanner 1 and the vertical point H of the cab scanning point C of the truck 200 is AH=AC*cosθ c ;

[0050] According to the fixed height h of the scanner 1 from the ground, the height value Hc of the scanning point C of the cab of the truck 200 is calculated:

[0051] Hc=h-AH;

[0052] According to the calculation method of the height value Hc, the scanning data of the scanner is calculated in sequence, and a height value curve (such as Figure 3 ), from which the edge point B between the cab of the truck 200 and the flatbed of the truck 200 is determined (see Figure 3 The dashed box in the figure) and according to the scanning angle θ of the edge point B B and the current coordinates of scanner 1, calculate the Y-axis coordinate of edge point B, which is the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of truck 200;

[0053] Find the jump point from the height of the cab of the truck 200 to the height of the flatbed of the truck 200 from the height value curve (the height difference between the cab height of the truck and the flatbed of the truck is generally more than 1.5 meters). Figure 1 Point B in is the edge point B;

[0054] The Y-axis coordinate of edge point B is calculated as follows:

[0055] Y B =Y-AB*sinθ B ;

[0056] In the above formula, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of edge point B, θ B is the scanning angle of edge point B, and Y is the current coordinate of the scanner (determined according to the actual position of the unmanned vehicle 100 and the offset of the installation position of the scanner 1);

[0057] 2) Calculate the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of truck 200. Figure 4 As shown, the details are as follows:

[0058] Y1=Y B +T+D1 / 2;

[0059] In the above formula, Y1 is the target drop coordinate of the first coil (since the positioning accuracy of the unmanned vehicle 100 is less than 30 mm, the deviation between the actual drop position and the target position is ignored), Y B is the Y-axis coordinate (absolute coordinate) of the edge point B, T is the distance between the cab of the truck 200 and the flatbed of the truck 200 (fixed value), and D1 is the outer diameter of the first steel coil;

[0060] By analogy, D2 is the outer diameter of the second steel coil (data comes from the warehouse management system)..., Y1, Y2, Y3... are the coordinates of the steel coil trolley (Y axis);

[0061] 3) Calculate the target coordinates (absolute coordinates) for placing the next coil, as follows:

[0062] Y N =Y B +T+SUM(D)+D N / 2;

[0063] In the above formula, Y N Place coordinates for the next coil target, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of edge point B, T is the distance between the truck cab and the truck bed (fixed value), SUM(D) is the sum of the diameters of all the steel coils loaded on the truck bed, D N is the diameter of the next steel coil;

[0064] 4) Determine whether there is space on the truck flatbed to place the next steel coil, that is, determine whether the target placement coordinate of the next steel coil is less than the coordinate of the tail of the truck flatbed. If so, the unmanned vehicle executes the instruction to place the next steel coil. If not, the loading is completed. The details are as follows:

[0065] Y N >(Y B +L+T);

[0066] In the above formula, Y N Place coordinates for the next coil target, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of edge point B, L is the distance from the head of the truck flatbed to the tail of the flatbed (fixed value), and T is the distance between the truck cab and the truck flatbed (fixed value).

[0067] Example

[0068] The existing flatbed truck is parked at a designated location in the warehouse area and needs to perform the outbound task of 6 volumes, as follows:

[0069] 1. Truck Information

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] 2. Outbound Steel Coil Information

[0073] Serial number Coil No. Coil diameter 1 S001 1000mm 2 S002 950mm 3 S003 1200mm 4 S004 800mm 5 S005 1500mm 6 S006 1200mm

[0074] 3. Scanning position coordinates of the unmanned vehicle: 27.00mm, the offset between the scanner installation position and the center position of the vehicle: 2m, and the scanner installation height: 5m;

[0075] The outbound instructions for steel coils are generated by the warehouse management system, and the management system of the unmanned vehicle interacts with the warehouse management system in real time;

[0076] The steps for unmanned crane lifting steel coils are as follows:

[0077] 1) The warehouse management system sends the outbound instruction of S001 steel coil to the management system of the unmanned vehicle, and sets S001 steel coil as the first steel coil;

[0078] 2) After the warehouse management system grabs the S001 steel coil, please combine Figure 5 As shown, the unmanned vehicle 100 drives to the parking position of the truck 200 (fixed scanning position, Y axis coordinate: 27.00m), and the scanner 1 performs a scan. The scanning results are as follows:

[0079] Scan Point Scanning angle (°) Feedback distance(mm) Calculated height value (mm) P1 40 6527 5 P2 30 1735 3502 P3 20 1597 3499 P4 10 3557 1501 P5 0 3500 1500 P6 -10 3554 1496

[0080] The installation height of scanner 1 is fixed at 5000mm. The calculated height value of each point = 5000-(feedback distance*cosθ 角度 );

[0081] 3) According to the change of height value, point P3 is judged to be the edge point between the cab and the flatbed;

[0082] 4) Calculate the coordinate value Y of the edge point 边 and the rear coordinate value Y of the truck 200 尾 :

[0083] Y 边 =YL P3 *sinθ P3 =25000-1597*0.342=24453mm;

[0084] Y 尾 =Y 边 +L+T=24453+6000+500=30953mm;

[0085] In the above formula, Y 边 is the Y-axis coordinate value of the edge point, L P3 is the feedback distance of point P3, θ P3 is the scanning angle of point P3, Y is the Y-axis coordinate value of the scanner = the current position coordinate of the trolley – the offset of the scanner installation position = 27000 – 2000 = 25000mm;

[0086] 5) Calculate the target drop position coordinate Y1 of the first steel coil (S001):

[0087] Y1=Y 边 +T+D1 / 2=24453+500+1000 / 2=25453mm;

[0088] 6) The unmanned vehicle 100 lifts the S001 steel coil onto the flatbed of the truck 200 according to the coordinate value Y1;

[0089] 7) Calculate the target drop position coordinates (absolute coordinates) of the S002 steel coil:

[0090] Y2=Y 边 +T+SUM(D)+D2 / 2=24453+500+1000+950 / 2=26428mm;

[0091] 8) Determine whether there is space on the truck's flatbed to place the S002 steel coil:

[0092] Since Y2<Y 尾 , indicating that there is still space for S002 steel coil on the flatbed, and the unmanned vehicle 100 lifts the S002 steel coil to the flatbed of the truck 200 according to the coordinate value Y2;

[0093] 9) Calculate the target drop position coordinates (absolute coordinates) of the S003 steel coil:

[0094] Y3=Y 边 +T+SUM(D)+D3 / 2=24453+500+1950+1200 / 2=27503mm;

[0095] 10) Determine whether there is space on the truck bed to put down the S003 steel coil:

[0096] Since Y3<Y 尾 , indicating that there is still space on the flatbed for placing the S003 steel coil, and the unmanned vehicle 100 lifts the S003 steel coil onto the flatbed of the truck 200 according to the coordinate value Y3;

[0097] 11) Calculate the target drop position coordinates (absolute coordinates) of the S004 steel coil:

[0098] Y4=Y 边 +T+SUM(D)+D4 / 2=24453+500+3150+800 / 2=28503mm;

[0099] 12) Determine whether there is space on the truck bed to put down the S004 steel coil:

[0100] Since Y4<Y 尾, indicating that there is still space on the flatbed for placing the S004 steel coil, and the unmanned vehicle 100 lifts the S004 steel coil onto the flatbed of the truck 200 according to the coordinate value Y4;

[0101] 13) Calculate the target drop position coordinates (absolute coordinates) of the S005 steel coil:

[0102] Y5=Y 边 +T+SUM(D)+D5 / 2=24453+500+3950+1500 / 2=29653mm;

[0103] 14) Determine whether there is space on the truck bed to put down the S005 steel coil:

[0104] Since Y5<Y 尾 , indicating that there is still space on the flatbed for placing the S005 steel coil, and the unmanned vehicle 100 lifts the S005 steel coil onto the flatbed of the truck 200 according to the coordinate value Y5;

[0105] 15) Calculate the target drop position coordinates (absolute coordinates) of the S006 steel coil:

[0106] Y6=Y 边 +T+SUM(D)+D6 / 2=24453+500+5450+1200 / 2=31003mm;

[0107] 16) Determine whether there is space on the truck bed to put down the S006 steel coil:

[0108] Since Y6>Y 尾 , indicating that there is no space on the flat plate to put down the S006 steel coil, and the loading is completed.

[0109] The method for unmanned vehicle lifting steel coils to flatbed trucks of the present invention first scans the trucks with a scanner and identifies the boundary coordinate points of the cab, then uses the relative fixed form between the cab and the flatbed to give the first coil drop coordinates, and based on this, combines the diameter data of the steel coils to sequentially calculate the drop coordinates of subsequent steel coils. The method of the present invention can be put into use in the storage management involved in the steel industry, and has great application and promotion value.

[0110] Those skilled in the art should recognize that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. As long as they are within the spirit of the present invention, any changes or modifications to the above embodiments will fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for lifting steel coils to a flatbed truck by an unmanned vehicle, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: 1) Using a scanner installed on an unmanned vehicle to continuously scan the truck and calculate the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck; 2) calculating the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of the truck; 3) Calculate the target drop coordinates for the next coil; 4) Determine whether there is space on the flatbed of the truck to place the next steel coil, that is, determine whether the target placement coordinate of the next steel coil is less than the coordinate of the tail of the flatbed of the truck. If so, the unmanned vehicle executes the instruction to place the next steel coil. If not, the loading is completed. The scanner is mounted above the clamp of the unmanned vehicle. In step 1), the scanner continuously scans the truck and calculates the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck, as follows: According to the distance AC between the position point A of the scanner and the scanning point C of the truck cab and the scanning angle θ c , we can calculate: The vertical distance value AH between the position point A of the scanner and the vertical point H of the scanning point C of the truck's cab is AC*cosθ c ; According to the fixed height h of the scanner from the ground, the height value Hc of the scanning point C of the truck cab is calculated: Hc=h-AH; The scanning data of the scanner are calculated in sequence according to the calculation method of the height value Hc, from which the edge point B between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck is determined, and the scanning angle θ of the edge point B is determined according to the scanning angle θ of the edge point B. B and the current coordinates of the scanner, calculate the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, which is the Y-axis coordinate of the cab of the truck, The Y-axis coordinate calculation of the edge point B is as follows: AND B =Y-AB*sinθ B ; In the above formula, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, θ B is the scanning angle of the edge point B, and Y is the current coordinate of the scanner.

2. The method for lifting steel coils to flatbed trucks by unmanned vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 2), the target drop coordinates for placing the first steel coil on the flatbed of the truck are calculated as follows: Y1=Y B +T+D1 / 2; In the above formula, Y1 is the target drop coordinate of the first steel coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck, and D1 is the outer diameter of the first steel coil.

3. The method for lifting steel coils to flatbed trucks by unmanned vehicles according to claim 2, characterized in that: In step 3), the target drop coordinates of the next coil are calculated as follows: Y N =Y B +T+SUM(D)+D N / 2; In the above formula, Y N The target coordinates for the next coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck, SUM(D) is the sum of the diameters of all the steel coils loaded on the flatbed of the truck, D N The diameter of the next steel coil.

4. The method for lifting steel coils to flatbed trucks by unmanned vehicles according to claim 3, characterized in that: In step 3), it is determined whether the target drop coordinate of the next steel coil is less than the flatbed tail coordinate of the truck, specifically as follows: Y N >(Y B +L+T); In the above formula, Y N The target coordinates for the next coil, Y B is the Y-axis coordinate of the edge point B, L is the distance from the head of the flatbed to the tail of the flatbed, and T is the distance between the cab of the truck and the flatbed of the truck.

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