A multi-robot scheduling method, device, equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The present invention discloses a multi-robot scheduling method, device, equipment and storage medium, and the method includes: recording the fault location of the robot; obtaining the scheduling robot closest to the fault location and recording the task interruption location, controlling the scheduling robot to pull the faulty robot to the maintenance area; when the faulty robot is detected to be in a cargo moving state, updating the path task of the faulty robot to the current path task of the scheduling robot, controlling the scheduling robot to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot, and running a substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot to load and execute the historical path task of the scheduling robot; when the faulty robot is detected to be in a return state, controlling the scheduling robot to return to the task interruption location to continue execution, and running a substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot to load and execute the path task of the faulty robot. The present invention can perform effective and timely scheduling processing when a robot fails.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of robots, and in particular to a multi-robot scheduling method, device, equipment and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] When a robot fails during cargo handling that cannot be fixed on site, on-site staff usually need to enter the robot work area to remove the faulty robot and activate a new robot to continue the remaining work tasks of the faulty robot. However, when the staff moves the faulty robot out of the robot work area, they need to be careful to avoid other robots that are performing work tasks, so as not to affect the normal operation of other robots. This fault dispatching method is not flexible enough and requires too much manual intervention. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention provides a multi-robot scheduling method, device, equipment and storage medium to solve one or more technical problems existing in the prior art and at least provide a beneficial choice or create conditions.

[0004] In a first aspect, a multi-robot scheduling method is provided, the method comprising:

[0005] When a robot is detected to be in a fault state during cargo handling, the location where the fault occurred is recorded;

[0006] Obtain the dispatch robot closest to the fault location and record the corresponding task interruption location, and control the dispatch robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area. The dispatch robot is in a return state and does not load path tasks of other robots.

[0007] When it is detected that the faulty robot was in a cargo-carrying state before the fault occurred, the path task of the faulty robot is updated to the current path task of the dispatching robot, and the dispatching robot is controlled to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot; at the same time, a substitute strategy is run to select an auxiliary robot, and the historical path task of the dispatching robot is loaded to the auxiliary robot for execution;

[0008] Alternatively, when it is detected that the faulty robot was in a return state before the fault occurred, the scheduling robot is controlled to return to the task interruption position to continue execution; at the same time, the substitute strategy is run to select an auxiliary robot, and the path task of the faulty robot is loaded to the auxiliary robot for execution.

[0009] Furthermore, each robot serves a picking station and a storage station, and the path task of each robot includes a predetermined moving path and number of movements of the robot between the picking station and the storage station, and the path task is deleted when the robot completes a round trip movement.

[0010] Furthermore, controlling the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to a maintenance area includes:

[0011] Obtaining a moving path from the dispatching robot to the faulty robot, recorded as a first path;

[0012] Obtaining the intersection position between the first path and the predetermined moving paths of other robots, and when it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position and the distance between the robot and the dispatching robot is less than a preset threshold, controlling the robot to pause moving until it is detected again that the distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold;

[0013] Obtaining a moving path between the dispatching robot pulling the faulty robot to the maintenance area, recorded as a second path;

[0014] Obtain the intersection position between the second path and the established moving paths of other robots. When it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position and the distance between the robot and the faulty robot is less than the preset threshold, control the robot to pause moving until it is detected again that the distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold.

[0015] Furthermore, when it is detected that the distance between the robot and the faulty robot is less than the preset threshold, it should also be satisfied that the dispatching robot has passed the intersection position associated with the robot before the faulty robot.

[0016] Furthermore, the implementation process of the substitute strategy includes:

[0017] According to the path tasks of other robots, the shortest handling time required for each of the other robots is counted, and the minimum value and its corresponding robot are selected;

[0018] Determine whether the minimum value is less than a preset time threshold;

[0019] If so, the robot corresponding to the minimum value is used as the auxiliary robot, and the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the next path task to be executed by the auxiliary robot;

[0020] If not, a robot that has not loaded any path task is re-called as the auxiliary robot, and then the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the current path task of the auxiliary robot.

[0021] Furthermore, the calculation process of the shortest handling time required by each robot includes:

[0022] According to the predetermined moving path corresponding to the robot, the shortest duration required for the robot to perform an obstacle-free round-trip movement is obtained, which is recorded as the first duration;

[0023] The remaining number of moves is obtained from the path task of the robot, and the product of the first time duration and the remaining number of moves is output as the shortest transport time duration required by the robot.

[0024] Furthermore, the fault state includes a normal network disconnection state and an abnormal network disconnection state. The normal network disconnection state occurs when the robot is low on power, and the abnormal network disconnection state occurs when the robot is not powered off.

[0025] In a second aspect, a multi-robot scheduling device is provided, the device comprising:

[0026] A fault recording module is used to record the location of the fault when a fault state is detected in the robot during cargo handling;

[0027] A traction module is used to obtain the dispatching robot closest to the fault location and record the corresponding task interruption location, and control the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area. The dispatching robot is in a return state and has not loaded the path tasks of other robots;

[0028] The first scheduling module is used for, when it is detected that the faulty robot was in a cargo-carrying state before the fault occurred, updating the path task of the faulty robot to the current path task of the scheduling robot, and controlling the scheduling robot to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot; and for running a substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and loading the historical path task of the scheduling robot to the auxiliary robot for execution;

[0029] The second scheduling module is used to control the scheduling robot to return to the task interruption position to continue execution when it is detected that the faulty robot is in a return state before the fault occurs; and is used to run a substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot and load the path task of the faulty robot to the auxiliary robot for execution.

[0030] According to a third aspect, a computer device is provided, comprising:

[0031] at least one memory;

[0032] at least one processor;

[0033] The memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program such as the multi-robot scheduling method described in the first aspect.

[0034] In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the multi-robot scheduling method as described in the first aspect is implemented.

[0035] The present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: by utilizing the nearest dispatching robot to pull the faulty robot from the cargo handling area to the maintenance area, and utilizing the substitute strategy to obtain an auxiliary robot to timely load and execute the path task originally loaded by the faulty robot or the path task originally loaded by the dispatching robot, thereby ensuring that a single cargo handling task can be executed in an orderly manner; the above fault dispatching method proposed by the present invention is more flexible, and there is no need for staff to enter the cargo handling area to remove the faulty robot, thereby ensuring that each robot in the cargo handling area can operate normally. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solution of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the technical solution of the present invention and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a multi-robot scheduling method in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the composition of a multi-robot scheduling device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of the computer device in the embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0041] It should be noted that, although the functional modules are divided in the system schematic diagram and the logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in a different order than the module division in the system or the order in the flowchart. The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification, claims and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0042] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 1 is a flow chart of a multi-robot scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The method is mainly used for real-time monitoring and management of multi-robots by a background management system, and specifically includes the following steps:

[0043] S110, when it is detected that the robot is in a fault state during the cargo handling process, the fault location is recorded; wherein the fault location is the current location of the robot, and the robot is the faulty robot mentioned in other subsequent steps;

[0044] S120, obtaining the dispatch robot closest to the fault location and recording the corresponding task interruption location; wherein the task interruption location is the current location of the dispatch robot;

[0045] S130, controlling the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to a maintenance area, wherein the dispatching robot is in a return state and has not loaded a path task of other robots;

[0046] S140, detecting whether the faulty robot was in a cargo-carrying state or a return state before the fault occurred; if it was in a cargo-carrying state, it means that the faulty robot is currently loaded with cargo, and then executing step S150; if it was in a return state, it means that the faulty robot is currently unloaded, and then jumping to executing step S170;

[0047] S150, updating the path task of the faulty robot to the current path task of the dispatching robot, and controlling the dispatching robot to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot;

[0048] S160, running the substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and loading the historical path task of the scheduling robot to the auxiliary robot for execution;

[0049] S170, controlling the dispatching robot to return to the task interruption position to continue execution;

[0050] S180, running the substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and loading the path task of the faulty robot to the auxiliary robot for execution.

[0051] In the above step S110, the fault state includes an abnormal network disconnection state and a normal network disconnection state, wherein the normal network disconnection state actually refers to a power disconnection state caused by the robot's own low power, and the abnormal network disconnection state actually refers to a network disconnection state caused when the robot is not powered off, and the background management system itself will query and record the current power of each robot in real time; the embodiment of the present invention directly regards the network disconnection state as the fault state of the robot, because the background management system needs to be connected to each robot to realize the scheduling management function of each robot in the entire cargo handling process, and the background management system will control the robot in any of the above fault states to stay in place immediately, so that the fault location associated with the robot can be obtained.

[0052] In the embodiment of the present invention, each robot is of the same type and model. In theory, each robot only serves one picking station and a corresponding inventory station. When an external cargo transport vehicle transports a specific number of goods to a picking station, the staff at the picking station registers and checks each piece of goods, and then uses the corresponding robot to move each piece of goods to the corresponding inventory station inside the warehouse, and then the staff at the inventory station stores each piece of goods.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present invention, the path task of each robot actually includes a predetermined moving path for the robot to travel back and forth between the inventory station and the picking station, the number of movements of the robot between the inventory station and the picking station (one round trip is recorded as one movement), and the number of goods piled up at the picking station, wherein the number of goods is the same as the number of movements, and there is no two-way intersection of the predetermined moving paths corresponding to each robot prepared in advance by the technical staff according to the environmental information inside the warehouse; it should be noted that after the robot performs a round trip movement, the path task needs to be updated, and the current task execution progress of the robot (i.e., the percentage of uncompleted task) is recorded, wherein the update operation is performed as follows: the number of movements and the number of goods in the original path task are synchronously subtracted by one, indicating that the robot has completed the task of transporting one of the goods, thereby directly obtaining the remaining number of movements of the robot on its corresponding predetermined moving path.

[0054] In the above step S120, by selecting a dispatching robot that is closest to the faulty robot to provide traction assistance to it, it can be ensured that the faulty robot is handled promptly and effectively.

[0055] In the embodiment of the present invention, the specific implementation process of the above step S130 includes the following steps:

[0056] S131, obtaining a first path, where the first path is the path taken by the dispatching robot to move to the faulty robot, that is, the movement path of the dispatching robot from the task interruption position to the fault occurrence position;

[0057] S132, obtaining the intersection position between the first path and the predetermined moving paths of other robots except the dispatching robot and the faulty robot;

[0058] S133, when it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to the intersection position associated with it, that is, the distance between the robot and the intersection position associated with it falls within the preset threshold interval, and the distance between the dispatching robot and the robot is still less than the preset threshold value through dynamic detection, the robot is controlled to pause moving to wait for the dispatching robot to leave the intersection position associated with the robot first, that is, it is necessary to wait for the distance to be re-detected to be greater than or equal to the preset threshold value;

[0059] S134, obtaining a second path, where the second path is the path taken by the dispatching robot to pull the faulty robot to the maintenance area, that is, the path taken by the dispatching robot to move from the fault location to the maintenance area; wherein the maintenance area may be set inside or outside the warehouse;

[0060] S135, obtaining the intersection position between the second path and the predetermined moving paths of other robots except the dispatching robot and the faulty robot;

[0061] S136. When it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position, that is, the distance between the robot and the intersection position associated with it falls within the preset threshold interval, and the distance between the faulty robot and the robot is smaller than the preset threshold value through the dynamic detection method, and at the same time, it is ensured that the dispatching robot has passed the intersection position associated with the robot before the faulty robot, the robot is controlled to pause moving to wait for the faulty robot to be towed away from the intersection position associated with the robot by the dispatching robot, that is, it is necessary to wait for the distance to be re-detected to be greater than or equal to the preset threshold value.

[0062] It should be noted that the preset threshold interval and the preset threshold mentioned in the above step S133 and the above step S136 are set by technicians through preliminary experiments for the safety of the robot body. The embodiment of the present invention can ensure that the scheduling robot and the faulty robot will not collide during the mutual movement with the robot by controlling the robot to pause movement.

[0063] In the above step S134, it should be noted that each robot body is provided with a traction device and a passive hook, and the traction device includes a retractable traction rod and an active hook arranged at its end, wherein the passive hook is fixedly arranged on the outside of the robot body, and the active hook can be extended outward relative to the robot body through the extension movement of the traction rod; on this basis, the specific implementation process of the dispatching robot towing the faulty robot includes: when the dispatching robot moves to the vicinity of the fault location, it finds the position of its passive hook by moving around the faulty robot, and then the dispatching robot rotates itself so that its traction device is facing the passive hook of the faulty robot, and finally the dispatching robot controls its traction rod to extend so that its active hook can dock with the passive hook of the faulty robot.

[0064] In the above step S150, regarding the step of controlling the dispatching robot to return to the fault location, the specific implementation process includes: first, obtaining a third path, the third path is the path taken by the dispatching robot to move from the maintenance area to the fault location; secondly, obtaining the intersection position between the third path and the established moving paths of other robots except the dispatching robot and the faulty robot; finally, when it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position, that is, the distance between the robot and its associated intersection position falls within the preset threshold interval, and the distance between the dispatching robot and the robot is still less than the preset threshold through dynamic detection, the robot is controlled to pause moving to wait for the dispatching robot to leave the intersection position associated with the robot first, that is, it is necessary to wait for the distance to be re-detected to be greater than or equal to the preset threshold.

[0065] In an embodiment of the present invention, the specific implementation process of the above-mentioned step S170 includes: first, obtaining a fourth path, wherein the fourth path is the path taken by the scheduling robot to move from the maintenance area to the task interruption position; second, obtaining the intersection position between the fourth path and the established moving paths of other robots except the scheduling robot and the faulty robot; finally, when it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position, that is, the distance between the robot and its associated intersection position falls within the preset threshold interval, and the distance between the scheduling robot and the robot is still less than the preset threshold through dynamic detection, the robot is controlled to pause moving to wait for the scheduling robot to leave the intersection position associated with the robot first, that is, it is necessary to wait for the distance to be re-detected to be greater than or equal to the preset threshold.

[0066] In the embodiment of the present invention, the specific implementation process of the substitute strategy mentioned in the above step S160 or the above step S180 includes the following:

[0067] Step A1: Since the path task of each robot will be automatically updated during the cargo handling process, according to the path tasks of other robots except the dispatching robot and the faulty robot, the shortest handling time required for each of the other robots is counted, and the minimum value and its corresponding robot are selected;

[0068] Step A2, determining whether the minimum value is less than a preset time threshold, wherein the preset time threshold is determined by the technician by investigating the waiting time that the staff can accept at their respective workstations; if so, executing step A3; if not, executing step A4;

[0069] Step A3, taking the robot corresponding to the minimum value as the auxiliary robot; if the above step S160 is executed, loading the historical path task of the dispatching robot into the auxiliary robot as its next path task to be executed; if the above step S180 is executed, loading the path task of the faulty robot into the auxiliary robot as its next path task to be executed;

[0070] Step A4, re-call a robot that has not loaded any path task (i.e., it does not belong to the other robot mentioned in the above step A1) as the auxiliary robot; if when executing the above step S160, load the historical path task of the scheduling robot into the auxiliary robot as its current path task; if when executing the above step S180, load the path task of the faulty robot into the auxiliary robot as the current path task.

[0071] In the above step A1, the shortest handling time required by each robot actually represents the shortest time required for each robot to complete its loaded path task from the current start, and the corresponding calculation process includes: obtaining a first time, which is the shortest time required for the robot to perform an unobstructed round-trip movement on its corresponding predetermined moving path (that is, without being blocked by any scheduling robot or faulty robot); by querying the path task of the robot and obtaining the remaining number of movements therefrom, calculating the product of the remaining number of movements and the first time, and the product is the shortest handling time required by the robot.

[0072] It should be noted that, since the technicians have obtained the basic power consumption required by the robot to complete the corresponding entire path task through multiple tests in advance, recorded as the first basic power consumption, and similarly obtained the second basic power consumption required by the dispatching robot and the third basic power consumption required by the faulty robot, the embodiment of the present invention needs to limit the robot selected by the above step A1 to have sufficient power, and the corresponding judgment method includes the following steps:

[0073] (1) obtaining the current power of the robot and the current task execution progress, determining the power required by the robot to complete the remaining path tasks based on the current task execution progress and the first basic power consumption, and then determining the remaining power of the robot after completing the entire path task based on the subtraction result of the current power and the power consumption;

[0074] (2) When the robot needs to load the historical path task of the dispatching robot, the current task execution progress of the dispatching robot is obtained, and then the power consumption required by the dispatching robot to complete the remaining historical path tasks is determined in combination with the second basic power consumption, which is recorded as the first power consumption; finally, it is determined whether the remaining power is greater than the first power consumption; if so, it is considered that the robot has sufficient power; if not, it is considered that the robot does not have sufficient power;

[0075] Alternatively, when the robot needs to load the path task of the faulty robot, the current task execution progress of the faulty robot is obtained, and then the power consumption required by the faulty robot to complete the remaining path tasks is determined in combination with the third basic power consumption, which is recorded as the second power consumption; finally, it is determined whether the remaining power is greater than the second power consumption; if so, it is considered that the robot has sufficient power; if not, it is considered that the robot does not have sufficient power.

[0076] Taking the example that the shortest handling time required by robot X is the minimum value and the shortest handling time required by robot Y is the second minimum value from the statistics of the other robots, the following description is made: when robot X detects that the battery is insufficient through the above judgment method, the shortest handling time required by robot X is directly ignored; however, when robot Y detects that the battery is sufficient through the above judgment method, the shortest handling time required by robot Y is directly determined to be the minimum value.

[0077] In an embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the faulty robot was originally loaded with the first path task related to the first picking station and the first inventory station, and the scheduling robot was originally loaded with the second path task related to the second picking station and the second inventory station; after executing the above step S150, the scheduling robot is currently only loaded with the first path task and can be executed immediately; and after continuing to execute the above step S160, if the auxiliary robot was originally loaded with the third path task related to the third picking station and the third inventory station, then the auxiliary robot is currently loaded with the third path task and the second path task, and it is stipulated that the third path task must be executed before the second path task; if the auxiliary robot was not originally loaded with any path task, then the auxiliary robot is currently loaded with the second path task and can be executed immediately; at this time, the first path task originally loaded by the faulty robot has been cleared.

[0078] In the embodiment of the present invention, the staff of the maintenance area reloads the goods on the faulty robot onto the dispatching robot, and after the dispatching robot leaves the maintenance area, performs maintenance analysis on the faulty robot as follows:

[0079] Step B1: when it is found through the background management system that the faulty robot is in the normal disconnected state, jump to step B4; when it is found through the background management system that the faulty robot is in the abnormal disconnected state, execute step B2;

[0080] Step B2, restarting and reconnecting the faulty robot to detect whether the faulty robot can be restored to normal networking; if so, executing step B3; if not, notifying the technician to go to the maintenance area to take the faulty robot away for inspection and maintenance;

[0081] Step B3, detecting whether the current power of the faulty robot exceeds the power threshold value preset by the technician; if so, skipping to step B5; if not, executing step B4;

[0082] Step B4, using the charging device equipped in the maintenance area to charge the faulty robot on site until the faulty robot reaches a fully charged state, and then executing step B5;

[0083] Step B5: put the faulty robot into storage and update the robot management table stored in the background management system. Specifically, according to the fixed storage number of the faulty robot, the current power information, uncalled status and last called time of the faulty robot are recorded at the corresponding position in the robot management table.

[0084] It should be noted that the purpose of implementing the above step B3 is to avoid unnecessary repeated charging operations on the rechargeable battery inside the robot, thereby avoiding accelerated degradation of the original performance of the rechargeable battery; in addition, this also means that the current power levels of all robots recorded in the robot management table exceed the power threshold, where the power threshold can be set to 80%.

[0085] In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned step A4 mentions re-calling a robot that has not loaded any path task as the auxiliary robot, and the corresponding implementation process includes: by querying and filtering the robot management table, all robots that are currently in an uncalled state are obtained and an uncalled robot table is formed; if only one robot with the lowest current power is filtered out from the uncalled robot table, the robot is controlled to be shipped out of the warehouse to be used as the auxiliary robot; on the contrary, if multiple robots with the lowest current power are filtered out from the uncalled robot table, one robot with the longest recent call time is selected from the multiple robots, and the robot is controlled to be shipped out of the warehouse to be used as the auxiliary robot.

[0086] It should be noted that after completing each cargo handling task, the staff will query the power level of all robots used in the cargo handling task, and charge the robots whose current power level does not exceed the power threshold, so as to avoid increasing the failure rate of the next cargo handling task.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present invention, the faulty robot is towed from the cargo handling area to the maintenance area by utilizing the nearest dispatching robot, and at the same time, a substitute strategy is utilized to obtain an auxiliary robot to promptly load and execute the path task originally loaded by the faulty robot or the path task originally loaded by the dispatching robot, thereby ensuring that a single cargo handling task can be executed in an orderly manner; the above fault dispatching method proposed in the present invention is more flexible, and there is no need for staff to enter the cargo handling area to remove the faulty robot, thereby ensuring that each robot in the cargo handling area can operate normally.

[0088] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 1 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a multi-robot scheduling device provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the device comprising:

[0089] A fault recording module 210 is used to record the location where the fault occurs when a fault state is detected in the robot during cargo handling;

[0090] The traction module 220 is used to obtain the dispatching robot closest to the fault location and record the corresponding task interruption location, and then control the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area; at this time, the dispatching robot should be in the return state and has not been loaded into the path task of other robots;

[0091] The detection module 230 is used to detect whether the faulty robot is in a cargo-carrying state or a return state before the fault occurs; if it is in a cargo-carrying state, it means that the faulty robot is currently loaded with cargo, and the first scheduling module 240 is executed; if it is in a return state, it means that the faulty robot is currently unloaded, and the second scheduling module 250 is executed;

[0092] The first scheduling module 240 is used to update the path task of the faulty robot to the current path task of the scheduling robot, and then control the scheduling robot to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the goods on the faulty robot; the first scheduling module 240 is also used to run the substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and load the historical path task of the scheduling robot into the auxiliary robot;

[0093] The second scheduling module 250 is used to control the scheduling robot to return to the task interruption position to continue execution; the second scheduling module 250 is also used to run the substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and load the path task of the faulty robot into the auxiliary robot.

[0094] The contents of the above method embodiments are all applicable to the present device embodiments. The functions implemented by the present device embodiments are the same as those of the above method embodiments, and the beneficial effects achieved are the same as those of the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0095] In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the scheduling method of multiple robots in the above embodiment is implemented. Wherein, the computer-readable storage medium includes but is not limited to any type of disk (including floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, CD-ROM, and magneto-optical disk), ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), EPROM (EraSable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), flash memory, magnetic card or optical card. In other words, the storage device includes any medium that stores or transmits information in a readable form by a device (such as a computer, a mobile phone, etc.), which can be a read-only memory, a disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0096] also, Figure 3 3 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a computer device provided in an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the computer device includes a processor 320, a memory 330, an input unit 340, a display unit 350 and other devices. Those skilled in the art can understand that Figure 3 The device structure device shown does not constitute a limitation on all devices, and may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components. The memory 330 can be used to store the computer program 310 and various functional modules, and the processor 320 runs the computer program 310 stored in the memory 330, thereby executing various functional applications and data processing of the device. The memory can be an internal memory or an external memory, or include an internal memory and an external memory. The internal memory may include a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, or a random access memory. The external memory may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, a ZIP disk, a U disk, a magnetic tape, etc. The memory 330 disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention includes but is not limited to the above-mentioned types of memory. The memory 330 disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention is only an example and not a limitation.

[0097] The input unit 340 is used to receive the input of the signal and the keyword input by the user. The input unit 340 may include a touch panel and other input devices. The touch panel can collect the user's touch operation on or near it (such as the user's operation on or near the touch panel using any suitable object or accessory such as a finger, stylus, etc.), and drive the corresponding connection device according to a pre-set program; other input devices may include but are not limited to one or more of a physical keyboard, a function key (such as a playback control key, a switch key, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, etc. The display unit 350 can be used to display the information input by the user or the information provided to the user and various menus of the terminal device. The display unit 350 can be in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The processor 320 is the control center of the terminal device, which uses various interfaces and lines to connect various parts of the entire device, and executes various functions and processes data by running or executing software programs and / or modules stored in the memory 320, and calling data stored in the memory.

[0098] As an embodiment, the computer device includes at least one processor 320, at least one memory 330, and at least one computer program 310, wherein the at least one computer program 310 is stored in the at least one memory 330 and is configured to be executed by the at least one processor 320, and the at least one computer program 310 is configured to execute the multi-robot scheduling method in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0099] Although the description of the present application has been quite detailed and specifically describes several described embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to any of these details or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but should be regarded as providing a broad possible interpretation of these claims by reference to the attached claims, taking into account the prior art, so as to effectively cover the intended scope of the present application. In addition, the above description of the present application is based on the embodiments foreseeable by the inventor, and its purpose is to provide a useful description, and those non-substantial changes to the present application that have not yet been foreseen may still represent equivalent changes to the present application.

Claims

1. A multi-robot scheduling method, characterized in that: include: When a robot is detected to be in a fault state during cargo handling, the location where the fault occurred is recorded; Get the dispatch robot closest to the fault location and record the corresponding task interruption location. At the same time, control the dispatch robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area. The dispatch robot is in the return state and does not load the path tasks of other robots. When it is detected that the faulty robot was in the cargo moving state before the fault occurred, the path task of the faulty robot is updated to the current path task of the dispatching robot, and the dispatching robot is controlled to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot; at the same time, the substitute strategy is run to select an auxiliary robot, and the historical path task of the dispatching robot is loaded to the auxiliary robot for execution; Alternatively, when it is detected that the faulty robot was in a return state before the fault occurred, the dispatching robot is controlled to return to the task interruption position to continue execution; at the same time, the substitute strategy is run to select an auxiliary robot, and the path task of the faulty robot is loaded to the auxiliary robot for execution; The implementation process of the substitute strategy includes: According to the path tasks of other robots, the shortest handling time required by each of the other robots is counted, and the minimum value and its corresponding robot are selected; Determine whether the minimum value is less than a preset time threshold; If yes, the robot corresponding to the minimum value is used as the auxiliary robot, and the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the next path task to be executed by the auxiliary robot; If not, a robot that has not loaded any path task is called again as the auxiliary robot, and then the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the current path task of the auxiliary robot.

2. The multi-robot scheduling method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each robot serves a picking station and a storage station. The path task of each robot includes a predetermined moving path and number of movements of the robot between the picking station and the storage station, and the path task is deleted when the robot completes a round trip movement.

3. The multi-robot scheduling method according to claim 2, characterized in that: Control the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area, including: Obtain a moving path from the dispatching robot to the faulty robot, recorded as the first path; Obtaining the intersection position between the first path and the predetermined moving paths of other robots, and when it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to the intersection position associated with it and the distance between the robot and the dispatching robot is less than a preset threshold, controlling the robot to pause moving until it is detected again that the distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold; Obtain a moving path between the dispatching robot towing the faulty robot to the maintenance area, recorded as a second path; Obtain the intersection position between the second path and the established moving paths of other robots. When it is detected that any one of the other robots is close to its associated intersection position and the distance between the robot and the faulty robot is less than a preset threshold, control the robot to pause moving until it is detected again that the distance is greater than or equal to the preset threshold.

4. The multi-robot scheduling method according to claim 3, characterized in that: When it is detected that the distance between any one of the other robots and the faulty robot is less than a preset threshold, it should also be satisfied that the dispatching robot has passed the intersection position associated with any one of the other robots before the faulty robot.

5. The multi-robot scheduling method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The calculation process of the shortest handling time required by each of the other robots includes: According to the established moving path corresponding to any one of the other robots, the shortest duration required for any one of the other robots to perform an obstacle-free round-trip movement is obtained, which is recorded as the first duration; The remaining number of moves is obtained from the path task of any one of the other robots, and the product of the first duration and the remaining number of moves is output as the shortest transport duration required by any one of the other robots.

6. The multi-robot scheduling method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fault status includes normal network disconnection status and abnormal network disconnection status. The normal network disconnection status occurs when the robot is low on power, and the abnormal network disconnection status occurs when the robot is not powered off.

7. A multi-robot scheduling device, characterized in that: include: A fault recording module is used to record the location of the fault when a fault state is detected in the robot during cargo handling; The traction module is used to obtain the dispatching robot closest to the fault location and record the corresponding task interruption location. At the same time, it controls the dispatching robot to tow the faulty robot to the maintenance area. The dispatching robot is in the return state and does not load the path tasks of other robots. The first scheduling module is used to update the path task of the faulty robot to the current path task of the scheduling robot when it is detected that the faulty robot was in a cargo-moving state before the fault occurred, and control the scheduling robot to return to the fault location to continue execution after loading the cargo of the faulty robot; and to run the substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and load the historical path task of the scheduling robot to the auxiliary robot for execution; The second scheduling module is used to control the scheduling robot to return to the task interruption position to continue execution when it is detected that the faulty robot is in a return state before the fault occurs; and for running a substitute strategy to select an auxiliary robot, and loading the path task of the faulty robot to the auxiliary robot for execution; The implementation process of the substitute strategy includes: According to the path tasks of other robots, the shortest handling time required by each of the other robots is counted, and the minimum value and its corresponding robot are selected; Determine whether the minimum value is less than a preset time threshold; If yes, the robot corresponding to the minimum value is used as the auxiliary robot, and the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the next path task to be executed by the auxiliary robot; If not, a robot that has not loaded any path task is called again as the auxiliary robot, and then the historical path task of the scheduling robot or the path task of the faulty robot is used as the current path task of the auxiliary robot.

8. A computer device, characterized in that: include: at least one memory; at least one processor; The memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the multi-robot scheduling method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the multi-robot scheduling method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

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