A dispatching control method, device and electronic equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application discloses a scheduling control method, device and electronic device. This embodiment selects the robot switching position by analyzing the topological relationship between the first position where the first robot currently has an abnormality, the third position (the end position of the task) and the fourth position (the position used to eliminate the abnormality of the first robot), so that the robot switching position finally selected can change according to the changes of the above positions, and is the position with the lowest real robot switching cost, and finally realizes the scientific and reasonable determination of the robot switching position, effectively reducing the robot switching cost; further, in this embodiment, the scheduling device can improve the automation and intelligence of the scheduling system by controlling the automatic switching of the first robot and the second robot, thereby bringing a certain efficiency improvement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robots, and in particular to a scheduling control method, device and electronic equipment. Background Art

[0002] In applications, many robots may encounter some abnormal situations during the execution of tasks. These abnormal situations will cause the robot to no longer be suitable for continuing to perform tasks. Take the Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) as an example. During the transportation of goods, the AGV may encounter low power, parts with safety risks (such as damage, etc.) and need to be repaired. These abnormal situations will affect the AGV's ability to continue to transport the current goods.

[0003] A common method is to arrange other robots to go to corresponding locations such as charging areas or maintenance areas to take over the abnormal robot and continue to perform tasks. However, this method often generates a certain robot switching cost, and sometimes the robot switching cost is too high due to the influence of the robot switching position. Therefore, a scientific and reasonable selection of robot switching positions and reducing the robot switching cost are technical issues that need to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application discloses a scheduling control method, device and electronic equipment to scientifically and rationally determine the robot switching position and effectively reduce the robot switching cost.

[0005] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a scheduling control method is provided, the method being applied to a scheduling device, the scheduling device being used to schedule multiple robots in a specified area; the method comprising:

[0006] When a first robot that is performing a task in the designated area is detected to be abnormal, a second robot is determined from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot to continue working;

[0007] Determine the robot switching position according to the topological relationship between the first position, the third position and the fourth position where the first robot is currently located; the third position refers to the end position of the task; the fourth position refers to the position used to eliminate the abnormality of the first robot;

[0008] The first robot and the second robot are controlled to switch at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

[0009] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a device is provided, which is applied to a scheduling device, wherein the scheduling device is used to schedule multiple robots in a specified area; the device includes:

[0010] A detection unit, used to detect whether an abnormality occurs in the first robot that is performing a task in the designated area;

[0011] The scheduling unit is used to determine, when an abnormality occurs in a first robot that is performing a task in the designated area, a second robot from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot to continue working; and to determine a robot switching position according to a topological relationship among a first position, a third position, and a fourth position currently located by the first robot; the third position refers to an end position of the transport task; and the fourth position refers to a position used to eliminate the abnormality that occurs in the first robot;

[0012] The control unit is used to control the first robot and the second robot to switch the handling tasks at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

[0013] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided an electronic device, the electronic device comprising: a processor and a memory;

[0014] The memory is used to store machine executable instructions;

[0015] The processor is used to read and execute the machine executable instructions stored in the memory to implement the method as described above.

[0016] The technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application may have the following beneficial effects:

[0017] This embodiment selects the robot switching position by analyzing the topological relationship between the first position, the third position and the fourth position, so that the robot switching position finally selected can change according to the changes of the above positions, and is the position with the lowest robot switching cost, and finally realizes the scientific and reasonable determination of the robot switching position, effectively reducing the robot switching cost;

[0018] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the dispatching device can improve the automation and intelligence of the dispatching system by controlling the automatic switching of the first robot and the second robot, thereby bringing about a certain efficiency improvement.

[0019] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the specification and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the specification.

[0021] Figure 1 is a flow chart of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2 is a flowchart for implementing step 102 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 3 is a scene diagram for determining a robot switching position provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 4 is another scene graph for determining a robot switching position provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 6 The embodiment of this application provides Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the hardware structure of the device shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0028] The terms used in this application are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and are not intended to limit this application. The singular forms of "a", "said" and "the" used in this application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates other meanings. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0029] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in the present application to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of the present application, the first information may also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at the time of" or "when" or "in response to determining".

[0030] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application and to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0031] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 The method flow chart provided in the embodiment of the present application. As an embodiment, Figure 1 The process shown can be applied to a scheduling device, which is used to schedule multiple robots in a specified area. For example, in an automatic warehouse application, the scheduling device can be a platform scheduling system (RCS: Robot Control System), the specified area can be a warehouse, and the robot can be an AGV. This embodiment does not specifically limit the scheduling device, the specified area, and the above-mentioned robots.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the process may include the following steps:

[0033] Step 101: When it is detected that a first robot that is performing a task in the designated area is abnormal, a second robot is determined from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot and continue to work.

[0034] In this embodiment, the scheduling device can monitor the status of each robot that is performing a task in a designated area at a fixed time or in real time. Once a robot (referred to as the first robot) is found to be abnormal based on the status, the second robot to replace the first robot to continue working will be determined from the currently idle candidate robots in a timely manner as described in step 101. In this embodiment, the first robot and the second robot are named for the convenience of description and are not intended to be limiting.

[0035] As an embodiment, in this step 101, there are many ways to determine the second robot from the currently idle robots to replace the first robot to continue working. For example, for each currently idle candidate robot, according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot, the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot is calculated; according to the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot, the second robot to replace the robot to continue working is determined from the currently idle candidate robots; and so on. This embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0036] As an embodiment, there are many implementation methods for determining the second robot to replace the first robot from the currently idle candidate robots based on the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot. For example, from the currently idle candidate robots, select the candidate robot with the smallest robot switching cost with the first robot, determine the selected candidate robot as the second robot to replace the first robot to continue working, and so on. This embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0037] Step 102, determining the robot switching position according to the topological relationship among the first position, the third position and the fourth position where the first robot is currently located; the third position refers to the task end position; the fourth position refers to the position used to eliminate the abnormality occurring in the first robot.

[0038] Here, the first position, the third position, and the fourth position are named only for the convenience of description and are not intended to be limiting.

[0039] Taking the task of transporting goods as an example, the task end position referred to by the third position may be the destination of the goods.

[0040] Taking the above-mentioned abnormality of insufficient power, such as power lower than the preset first power threshold, as an example, the fourth position may be the charging area; taking the above-mentioned abnormality of safety risk of robot components as an example, the fourth position may be the component maintenance area.

[0041] In this embodiment, the robot switching position is selected by analyzing the topological relationship between the first position, the third position, and the fourth position. The robot switching position selected in this way can ensure that the robot switching position changes according to the changes of the above positions, and is the position with the lowest cost of the real robot switching, and finally realizes the scientific and reasonable determination of the robot switching position. As for how to analyze the topological relationship between the first position, the third position, and the fourth position to select the robot switching position, an example will be described below, and it will not be repeated here.

[0042] Step 103: Control the first robot and the second robot to switch at the robot switching position, so that the second robot replaces the first robot to continue working.

[0043] Optionally, in this embodiment, the scheduling device may send the robot switching position to the first robot and the second robot, instructing the first robot and the second robot to reach the robot switching position along the shortest path to switch, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot. That is, the first robot and the second robot are finally controlled to switch at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

[0044] Based on the fact that the robot switching position described above is the position where the actual robot switching cost is the lowest, this embodiment controls the first robot and the second robot to switch at the robot switching position, which can effectively reduce the robot switching cost.

[0045] So far, completed Figure 1 The process shown.

[0046] pass Figure 1 It can be seen from the process shown that this embodiment selects the robot switching position by analyzing the topological relationship between the first position, the third position and the fourth position, so that the robot switching position finally selected can change according to the changes of the above positions, and is the position with the lowest robot switching cost. Finally, the robot switching position is scientifically and reasonably determined, and the robot switching cost is effectively reduced.

[0047] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the dispatching device can improve the automation and intelligence of the dispatching system by controlling the automatic switching of the first robot and the second robot, thereby bringing about a certain efficiency improvement.

[0048] The following describes how to determine the second robot to replace the first robot and continue to work from the currently idle candidate robots through a specific embodiment:

[0049] For robots such as AGVs, low battery power to perform tasks such as moving shelves can easily cause the robot to go off track and accelerate battery loss, so other normal robots need to be replaced in time to continue to perform tasks. Based on this, as an embodiment, the above-mentioned abnormality refers to: when the current battery power of the first robot is lower than the preset first battery power threshold, the remaining time required for the first robot to complete the remaining task is predicted to be greater than the preset time threshold.

[0050] For example, taking the first robot as AGV1, when AGV1 is carrying a shelf and is low on power (i.e., the current power is lower than a preset first power threshold), the remaining time for AGV1 to perform the task is predicted. The first power threshold can be set according to actual needs and is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0051] As an embodiment, the remaining time is calculated by the following formula 1:

[0052]

[0053] Among them, T re represents the remaining time mentioned above, v represents the average walking speed of AGV1 when performing the handling task, and s is the sum of the distances between the starting point and the end point of each remaining handling task of AGV1.

[0054] As an embodiment, because the robot switching itself also has a certain time cost, the robot switching will be performed to avoid the remaining time being too short. In this embodiment, the above-calculated remaining time will be compared with the preset time threshold. If the remaining time is greater than the above-mentioned time threshold, it is determined that the above-mentioned abnormality has occurred. Here, the time threshold is set based on actual needs, and it can be set as the time threshold for executing the robot switching function provided in this embodiment. Of course, once AGV1 is low on power (that is, the current power is lower than the preset first power threshold) when performing a handling task with the shelf on its back, it can also be directly identified as the above-mentioned abnormality, and this embodiment will not be described one by one with examples.

[0055] Corresponding to the above exception, in this embodiment, a candidate robot can be searched in the above specified area that is idle and whose difference in power between the robot and the first robot is greater than or equal to a preset second power threshold (generally at least 20% of the power in a fully charged state).

[0056] If the number of candidate robots is m, then as an embodiment, a weighted calculation can be performed on the power difference and distance between each candidate robot and the first robot to obtain the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot. The calculation formula is as follows:

[0057] C i =ΔS i -kΔP i ,0≤i≤m-1 (1)

[0058] Among them, C i represents the robot switching cost between the ith robot and the first robot, ΔS represents the distance between the ith robot and the first robot, ΔP i represents the power difference between the ith robot and the first robot, k is the control coefficient, and in one example, K can be a positive number.

[0059] It can be seen from formula 1 that the greater the distance, the greater the cost, and the greater the power difference, the smaller the cost. Finally, through the above formula 1, it can be determined that the candidate robot with the smallest robot switching cost replaces the first robot to continue working, and the first robot performs the charging operation.

[0060] As another embodiment, the above-mentioned abnormality may also refer to: at least one component of the first robot currently has a safety risk (repair is required at this time). Corresponding to this abnormality, each robot that is idle in the above-mentioned designated area can be used as a candidate robot for the first robot. If the number of candidate robots is m, as an embodiment, the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot can be determined based on the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot. The calculation formula is as follows:

[0061] C i =ΔS i (Formula 2)

[0062] It can be seen from Formula 2 that the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot is positively correlated with the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot.

[0063] Finally, through the above formula 2, it can be determined that the candidate robot with the smallest robot switching cost replaces the first robot to continue working, while the first robot performs the charging operation.

[0064] The above describes how to determine the second robot to replace the first robot and continue to work from the currently idle candidate robots through two different exceptions.

[0065] The following describes how to determine the robot switching position according to the topological relationship between the first position, the third position and the fourth position where the first robot is currently located:

[0066] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 The step 102 provided in the embodiment of the present application is implemented as a flowchart. Figure 2 As shown, the process may include the following steps:

[0067] Step 201, determine whether there is an overlapping area between the first path and the second path. If there is at least one overlapping area between the first path and the second path, execute step 202; if there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, execute step 203; the first path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the third position, and the second path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the fourth position.

[0068] for example Figure 3 As shown, the first position is P31 and the third position is P30, then the first path is the following two equivalent paths:

[0069] Path 1: P31 → P32 → P33 → P34 → P35 → P30;

[0070] Path 2: P31→P32→P36→P37→P38→P30.

[0071] If the fourth position is P39, the second path is: P31→P32→P33→P36→P38→P39.

[0072] By comparison, it is found that there are overlapping regions between the first path and the second path: P31→P32→P33 and P31→P32→P33→P36. If there is at least one overlapping region between the first path and the second path, the following step 202 is executed.

[0073] For example, Figure 4 As shown, the first position is P41, the third position is P40, and the first path is P41→P42→P43→P44→P45→P40. If the fourth position is P411, the second path is P41→P48→P49→P410→P411. By comparison, it is found that there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path. If there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, the following step 203 is executed.

[0074] Step 202, determining a designated position in the overlapping area as the switching position of the robot; wherein, compared with other positions in the overlapping area, the reachable path from the designated position to the third position is the shortest.

[0075] Still Figure 3 For example, there are overlapping areas between the first path and the second path: P31→P32→P33 and P31→P32→P33→P36. Since P36 is closer to the third position, P36 is selected as the robot switching position. Of course, assuming Figure 3 If the connectivity between P36 and P30 does not exist, P33 is selected as the robot switching position.

[0076] Step 203, determining the robot switching position according to the intersection between the third path and the first path; the third path refers to the optimal reachable path between the second position and the third position.

[0077] Here, the designated intersection between the third path and the first path can be determined as the robot switching position; wherein, when there is an intersection between the third path and the first path, the designated intersection is an intersection between the third path and the first path; when the number of intersections between the third path and the first path is greater than 1, the designated intersection is the intersection closest to the third position among all intersections.

[0078] Still Figure 4 For example, if there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, it is assumed that the paths from the second position to the third position are: P46→P45→P40, P46→P47→P44→P45→P40; the intersection points of these two paths with the first path are P44 and P45 respectively. If the path P46→P47→P44→P45→P40 is shorter than the path P46→P45→P40, P44 should be selected as the robot switching position, otherwise, P45 should be selected as the robot switching position.

[0079] So far, completed Figure 2 The process shown.

[0080] pass Figure 2The process shown finally realizes selecting the robot switching position with the minimum robot switching cost according to the topological relationship of the above four positions.

[0081] The above describes the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The following describes the device provided in the embodiment of the present application:

[0082] See also Figure 5 , Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the device is applied to a scheduling device, and the device includes:

[0083] A detection unit, used to detect whether an abnormality occurs in the first robot that is performing a task in the designated area;

[0084] The scheduling unit is used to determine, when an abnormality occurs in a first robot that is performing a task in the designated area, a second robot from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot to continue working; and to determine a robot switching position according to a topological relationship among a first position, a third position, and a fourth position currently located by the first robot; the third position refers to an end position of the transport task; and the fourth position refers to a position used to eliminate the abnormality that occurs in the first robot;

[0085] The control unit is used to control the first robot and the second robot to switch the handling tasks at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

[0086] As an embodiment, the scheduling unit determines, from currently idle robots, a second robot to replace the first robot to continue working, including:

[0087] For each currently idle candidate robot, calculating a robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot;

[0088] Determine, from each currently idle candidate robot, a second robot for replacing the first robot to continue working according to the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot;

[0089] As an embodiment, determining the second robot used to replace the first robot to continue working from the currently idle candidate robots according to the robot switching cost between the candidate robots and the first robot includes: selecting a candidate robot having the smallest robot switching cost with the first robot from the currently idle candidate robots, and determining the selected candidate robot as the second robot used to replace the first robot to continue working;

[0090] As an embodiment, the abnormality refers to: when the current power of the first robot is lower than a preset first power threshold, it is predicted that the time required for the first robot to complete the remaining handling task is greater than a preset time threshold;

[0091] The difference between the power of any candidate robot and the power of the first robot is greater than or equal to a preset second power threshold;

[0092] The calculating the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot includes: calculating the robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot according to the following formula: C i =ΔS i -kΔP i Among them, C i represents the robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔS i represents the distance between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔP i represents the power difference between the ith robot and the first robot, and k is the control coefficient;

[0093] As an embodiment, the abnormality refers to: at least one component of the first robot currently has a safety risk;

[0094] The distance between the candidate robot and the first robot is positively correlated with the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot;

[0095] As an embodiment, the scheduling unit determines the robot switching position according to the topological relationship between the first position, the third position and the fourth position where the first robot is currently located, including: judging whether there is an overlapping area between the first path and the second path; the first path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the third position, and the second path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the fourth position; if there is at least one overlapping area between the first path and the second path, then determining a designated position in the overlapping area as the robot switching position; wherein, compared with other positions in the overlapping area, the reachable path from the designated position to the third position is the shortest; if there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, then determining the robot switching position according to the intersection between the third path and the first path; the third path refers to the optimal reachable path from the second position to the third position;

[0096] Wherein, determining the robot switching position based on the intersection between the third path and the first path includes: determining a designated intersection between the third path and the first path as the robot switching position; wherein, when there is an intersection between the third path and the first path, the designated intersection is an intersection between the third path and the first path; when the number of intersections between the third path and the first path is greater than 1, the designated intersection is the intersection closest to the third position among all intersections.

[0097] So far, completed Figure 5 A block diagram of an embodiment of the device shown.

[0098] Correspondingly, the embodiment of the present application also provides a hardware structure diagram of an electronic device, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, the electronic device may be a device for implementing the above method. Figure 6 As shown, the hardware structure includes: a processor and a memory.

[0099] Wherein, the memory is used to store machine executable instructions;

[0100] The processor is used to read and execute the machine executable instructions stored in the memory to implement the method embodiment shown above.

[0101] As an embodiment, the memory may be any electronic, magnetic, optical or other physical storage device that may contain or store information, such as executable instructions, data, etc. For example, the memory may be: a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory or a similar storage medium. Specifically, the memory may be a RAM (Random Access Memory), a flash memory, a storage drive (such as a hard disk drive), a solid state drive, any type of storage disk (such as a CD, a DVD, etc.), or a similar storage medium, or a combination thereof.

[0102] So far, completed Figure 6 Description of the electronic device shown.

[0103] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A dispatching control method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a scheduling device, wherein the scheduling device is used to schedule multiple robots in a specified area; the method comprises: When a first robot that is performing a task in the designated area is detected to be abnormal, a second robot is determined from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot to continue working; Determine whether there is an overlapping area between the first path and the second path; the first path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the third position where the first robot is currently located, and the second path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the fourth position; the third position refers to the end position of the task; the fourth position refers to the position used to eliminate the abnormality of the first robot; if there is at least one overlapping area between the first path and the second path, determine a designated position in the overlapping area as the robot switching position; wherein, compared with other positions in the overlapping area, the reachable path from the designated position to the third position is the shortest; if there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, determine the robot switching position based on the intersection between the third path and the first path; the third path refers to the optimal reachable path from the second position to the third position where the second robot is currently located; The first robot and the second robot are controlled to switch at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of determining, from among currently idle robots, a second robot for replacing the first robot to continue working, comprises: For each currently idle candidate robot, calculating a robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot; According to the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot, a second robot for replacing the first robot to continue working is determined from each currently idle candidate robot.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The abnormality refers to: when the current power of the first robot is lower than a preset first power threshold, the remaining time required for the first robot to complete the remaining task is predicted to be greater than a preset time threshold; The difference between the power level of any candidate robot and the power level of the first robot is greater than or equal to a preset second power threshold.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The calculating the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot comprises: The robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot is calculated according to the following formula: C i =ΔS i -kΔP i ; Among them, C i represents the robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔS i represents the distance between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔP i represents the power difference between the ith robot and the first robot, and k is the control coefficient.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The abnormality means that: at least one component of the first robot currently has a safety risk; The distance between the candidate robot and the first robot is positively correlated with the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determining the robot switching position according to the intersection point between the third path and the first path includes: determining a designated intersection point between the third path and the first path as a switching position of the robot; Among them, when there is an intersection between the third path and the first path, the designated intersection is an intersection between the third path and the first path; when the number of intersections between the third path and the first path is greater than 1, the designated intersection is the intersection closest to the third position among all intersections.

7. A dispatching control device, characterized in that: The device is applied to a scheduling device, and the scheduling device is used to schedule multiple robots in a specified area; the device comprises: A detection unit, used to detect whether an abnormality occurs in the first robot that is performing a task in the designated area; A scheduling unit, used for determining a second robot from currently idle candidate robots to replace the first robot to continue working when an abnormality occurs in the first robot that is performing a task in the designated area; determining whether there is an overlapping area between the first path and the second path; the first path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the third position where the first robot is currently located, and the second path refers to the optimal reachable path from the first position to the fourth position; the third position refers to the end position of the task; the fourth position refers to the position used to eliminate the abnormality of the first robot; if there is at least one overlapping area between the first path and the second path, determining a designated position in the overlapping area as the robot switching position; wherein, compared with other positions in the overlapping area, the reachable path from the designated position to the third position is the shortest; if there is no overlapping area between the first path and the second path, determining the robot switching position based on the intersection between the third path and the first path; the third path refers to the optimal reachable path from the second position where the second robot is currently located to the third position; The control unit is used to control the first robot and the second robot to switch the handling tasks at the robot switching position, so that the second robot continues to work instead of the first robot.

8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that The scheduling unit determines, from currently idle robots, a second robot to replace the first robot to continue working, including: For each currently idle candidate robot, calculating a robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot; Determine, from each currently idle candidate robot, a second robot for replacing the first robot to continue working according to the robot switching cost between each candidate robot and the first robot; The determining, from the currently idle candidate robots, the second robot used to replace the first robot to continue working according to the robot switching cost between the candidate robots and the first robot comprises: selecting, from the currently idle candidate robots, a candidate robot having the smallest robot switching cost with the first robot, and determining the selected candidate robot as the second robot used to replace the first robot to continue working; and / or, The abnormality refers to: when the current power of the first robot is lower than a preset first power threshold, it is predicted that the time required for the first robot to complete the remaining handling task is greater than a preset time threshold; The difference between the power of any candidate robot and the power of the first robot is greater than or equal to a preset second power threshold; The calculating the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot according to the distance between the candidate robot and the first robot includes: calculating the robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot according to the following formula: C i =ΔS i -kΔP i Among them, C i represents the robot switching cost between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔS i represents the distance between the i-th robot and the first robot, ΔP i represents the power difference between the ith robot and the first robot, and k is the control coefficient; or, The abnormality means that: at least one component of the first robot currently has a safety risk; The distance between the candidate robot and the first robot is positively correlated with the robot switching cost between the candidate robot and the first robot; and / or, Determining the robot switching position based on the intersection between the third path and the first path includes: determining a designated intersection between the third path and the first path as the robot switching position; wherein, when there is an intersection between the third path and the first path, the designated intersection is an intersection between the third path and the first path; when the number of intersections between the third path and the first path is greater than 1, the designated intersection is the intersection that is closest to the third position among all intersections.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that: The electronic device includes: a processor and a memory; The memory is used to store machine executable instructions; The processor is configured to read and execute the machine executable instructions stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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