A delivery method, system, device and storage medium of a robot

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of robot distribution method, system, device and storage medium, belong to robot technical field.The robot distribution method includes: obtaining the state of distribution order in the first warehouse box of robot;According to the state of distribution order, determine whether there is a stranded single in the first warehouse box;If there is, then according to the number of stranded single of the first warehouse box and the state of the second warehouse box in the distribution station Warehouse box Whether the second warehouse box and the first warehouse box can improve robot transport capacity after exchange, the distribution station is used to store multiple warehouse boxes;If yes, then the first warehouse box and the second warehouse box are exchanged, so that the first warehouse box with stranded single is stored in the distribution station.The application can effectively avoid the waste of robot transport capacity caused by stranded single, improve the distribution efficiency of robot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of robotics, and more particularly to a robot delivery method, system, device, and storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, there are various intelligent delivery robots on the domestic market, most of which adopt the form of a robot screen, a main robot frame, and a four-compartment container connecting the main body. In building delivery scenarios, the delivery person places the item into the compartment, the robot delivers the item to the designated location, and the recipient then retrieves the item from the robot compartment, thus completing the delivery task. If the recipient fails to retrieve the item in time, the item will remain in the robot compartment.

[0003] Currently, in scenarios where robots deliver items within buildings, there are instances where items remain in the robot's compartment for extended periods due to recipients' failure to pick them up promptly; these items are known as "overdue slips." During peak delivery times, these overdue slips occupy the robot's storage space, resulting in wasted storage capacity and ultimately a loss of the robot's overall transport capacity. One solution is to manually remove the items and store them elsewhere to free up the space occupied by the overdue slips. However, this solution has significant drawbacks. If building operations staff remove the overdue slips, the recipients lose the benefit of robot delivery; furthermore, manual handling increases operating costs.

[0004] If the recipient still needs the robot to deliver the package again, then the order needs to be entered by personnel again, which increases labor costs, makes the delivery process more cumbersome, and reduces the robot's delivery efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a robot delivery method, system, device, and storage medium, which can effectively improve the robot's carrying capacity and delivery efficiency.

[0006] This application provides a robot delivery method, including:

[0007] Obtain the status of delivery orders within the robot's first storage box;

[0008] Determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order;

[0009] If so, the number of pending orders in the first warehouse box and the status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station are used to determine whether exchanging the second warehouse box with the first warehouse box can improve the robot's carrying capacity. The delivery station is used to store multiple warehouse boxes.

[0010] If so, the first storage box and the second storage box are exchanged so that the first storage box is stored at the distribution station.

[0011] Furthermore, determining whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order includes:

[0012] If the status of the delivery order is that all delivery orders in the first warehouse box have been picked up or the delivery order is in the normal delivery process, then it is determined that there are no outstanding orders in the first warehouse box.

[0013] If the pickup status is that there is a delivery order in the first warehouse box that has not been picked up and has exceeded the pickup time threshold, then it is determined that there is a pending order in the first warehouse box.

[0014] Furthermore, the first and second storage boxes have the same structure, each including multiple storage compartments for storing items, and each storage compartment corresponds to one delivery order;

[0015] The step of determining whether exchanging the second and first warehouse boxes can improve robot carrying capacity based on the number of outstanding orders in the first warehouse box and the storage status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station includes:

[0016] The number of first compartments in the first compartment that can perform tasks is determined based on the number of pending orders in the first compartment.

[0017] The number of second compartments in the second compartment that can perform tasks is determined based on the status of the second compartment in the delivery station;

[0018] If the number of second compartments for an executable task is greater than the number of first compartments for an executable task, then it is determined that the second compartment can improve the robot's carrying capacity, i.e., the second compartment meets the exchange condition; if the number of second compartments for an executable task is less than the number of first compartments for an executable task, then it is determined that the second compartment cannot improve the robot's carrying capacity, i.e., the second compartment does not meet the exchange condition.

[0019] Furthermore, the delivery method of the robot also includes:

[0020] If there are multiple second storage boxes in the delivery station that meet the requirements for improving robot carrying capacity, then the priority of the multiple second storage boxes is sorted according to a preset sorting rule;

[0021] The first compartment box is swapped with the second compartment box, which has the highest priority.

[0022] Furthermore, the step of sorting the priorities of the multiple second compartments according to a preset sorting rule includes:

[0023] According to the sorting rules: Priority value V = (time of initiating the resend task - current time) + a * number of empty slots expected to be obtained - b * time taken to exchange slots, the priorities of the multiple third slots are sorted.

[0024] Wherein, 'a' is a preset parameter used to adjust the weight of the expected number of empty bays; and 'b' is a preset parameter between 0 and 1 used to adjust the weight of the time taken to exchange bays.

[0025] Furthermore, the delivery station includes a support frame storing the second bin and a robotic arm;

[0026] The step of exchanging the first compartment box with the second compartment box includes:

[0027] Control the robot to move into the workspace of the robotic arm;

[0028] Control the robotic arm to grab the first bin onto the bracket and grab the second bin onto the robot at the storage position corresponding to the first bin.

[0029] Furthermore, after exchanging the first compartment with the second compartment, the robot's delivery method further includes:

[0030] Receive a resend task initiated by the recipient corresponding to the overdue slip;

[0031] After the robot replaces the second storage box containing the delayed order in the delivery station based on the re-delivery task, the robot is controlled to execute the re-delivery task.

[0032] This application also provides a robot delivery device, including:

[0033] The acquisition unit is used to acquire the status of delivery orders within the robot's first storage compartment.

[0034] A determining unit is used to determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order;

[0035] The judgment unit is used to determine, when the determining unit determines that there is a backlogged order, whether the robot's carrying capacity can be improved after the second warehouse box is exchanged with the first warehouse box based on the number of backlogged orders in the first warehouse box and the warehouse box status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station. The delivery station is used to store multiple warehouse boxes.

[0036] An execution unit is configured to, when the judgment result of the judgment unit is yes, exchange the first storage box with the second storage box so that the first storage box is stored in the distribution station.

[0037] This application also provides a robot delivery device, including:

[0038] Central processing unit, memory, input / output interface, wired or wireless network interface, power supply;

[0039] The memory is either a short-term storage memory or a persistent storage memory;

[0040] The central processing unit is configured to communicate with the memory and execute instructions in the memory on the control plane functional entity to perform the robot's delivery method.

[0041] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the aforementioned robot delivery method.

[0042] As can be seen from the above technical solutions, the embodiments of this application have the following advantages:

[0043] This application provides a robot delivery method, including: obtaining the status of delivery orders in a first storage box of the robot; determining whether there are any backlogged orders in the first storage box based on the status of the delivery orders; if so, determining whether exchanging the second storage box with the first storage box can improve the robot's carrying capacity based on the number of backlogged orders in the first storage box and the status of the second storage box in the delivery station, wherein the delivery station is used to store multiple storage boxes; if so, exchanging the first storage box with the second storage box so that the first storage box is stored in the delivery station, which can effectively avoid the waste of robot carrying capacity caused by backlogged orders and improve the robot's delivery efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0044] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0045] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a robot delivery method disclosed in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present application that discloses a method for improving robot carrying capacity.

[0047] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a robot delivery method disclosed in an embodiment of this application;

[0048] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a robot delivery system disclosed in an embodiment of this application;

[0049] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a robot disclosed in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0050] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0051] Currently, in scenarios where robots deliver items within buildings, items may remain in the robot's storage compartment for extended periods due to recipients' failure to pick them up promptly; these items are known as "delayed delivery slips." During peak delivery times, these delayed slips occupy the robot's storage space, resulting in wasted storage capacity and ultimately a waste of the robot's overall transport capacity. Therefore, this application provides a robot delivery method that effectively avoids wasted robot capacity due to delayed delivery slips and improves delivery efficiency. Figure 1 The following are the specific steps of a robot delivery method shown:

[0052] 101. Obtain the status of delivery orders in the robot's first storage box.

[0053] Before determining whether there are any outstanding orders in the robot's first delivery compartment, the robot's delivery system needs to obtain the status of the delivery orders within the first compartment. The delivery process typically involves the robot receiving the delivery task, the robot starting delivery, the robot arriving at the delivery address, the robot waiting for the user to pick up the goods, and the user completing the pickup. The status of the delivery order also includes outstanding orders where the user fails to pick up the goods in time. It is understood that the robot includes at least a main robot frame and a detachable first compartment, which can refer to one or more compartments; the specific form of the robot's compartments is not limited here. The first compartment stores the items corresponding to the delivery order. The robot can execute the delivery task according to the delivery order and deliver the ordered items. The status of the delivery order can also refer to whether the ordered items have been picked up by the recipient after the robot executes the delivery task; that is, whether the delivery order has been picked up. The delivery system can use cameras or gravity sensors to obtain the pickup status of delivery orders in the first compartment, or it can determine the pickup status of delivery orders through cloud data; the specific method is not limited here.

[0054] 102. Determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order. If yes, proceed to step 103; otherwise, proceed to step 105.

[0055] The robot's delivery system can determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first delivery box based on the status of the orders within it. Specifically, it determines whether there are outstanding orders in the first delivery box based on the status of the orders: if the status of the orders in the first delivery box indicates that all orders have been picked up or are in the normal delivery process, then there are no outstanding orders in the first delivery box; if the status of the orders in the first delivery box indicates that there are outstanding orders that have not been picked up and have exceeded the pickup time threshold, then there are outstanding orders in the first delivery box. For example, the pickup time threshold can be 20 seconds or 30 seconds, and the specific time is not limited here. It can be understood that if a delivery order in the first delivery box is not picked up by the recipient in time while the robot is performing the delivery task, the corresponding order items can be marked as outstanding orders.

[0056] The "exceeding the pickup time" refers to a situation where the robot sends a pickup notification to the user within a certain time threshold, but the user fails to pick up the item within that time threshold. After sending the notification, the robot will wait for the user to pick up the item at a designated location. If the timeout is exceeded, it is considered that the item has not been picked up, and the robot will then perform the delivery of other orders or return to the location to improve efficiency.

[0057] 103. Determine whether exchanging the second and first bins in the delivery station can improve the robot's carrying capacity. If yes, proceed to step 104; otherwise, proceed to step 105.

[0058] The robot's delivery system can determine whether a second warehouse meets the conditions for increasing robot capacity based on the number of outstanding orders in the first warehouse and the status of the second warehouse in the delivery station. This delivery station is used to store multiple warehouses. Specifically... Figure 2 As shown, the first and second storage boxes have the same structure, each including multiple compartments for storing items, and each compartment corresponds to a delivery order (delivery waybill).

[0059] The status of the warehouse boxes in the delivery station includes empty warehouse, warehouse containing items, and items with re-delivery tasks. The items can be pending orders or other items awaiting delivery.

[0060] When the number of pending orders on the robot and the status of the delivery boxes in the delivery station meet certain conditions, the robot automatically initiates a request to increase its delivery capacity. Specifically, the number of first-stage delivery slots in the first delivery box that can perform tasks is determined based on the number of pending orders in the first delivery box; the number of second-stage delivery slots in the second delivery box that can perform tasks is determined based on the storage status of the second delivery box in the delivery station. If the number of second-stage delivery slots that can perform tasks is greater than the number of first-stage delivery slots that can perform tasks, then the second delivery box is determined to increase the robot's delivery capacity; if the number of second-stage delivery slots that can perform tasks is less than the number of first-stage delivery slots that can perform tasks, then the second delivery box is determined not to increase the robot's delivery capacity. It can be understood that increasing the robot's delivery capacity includes: if the robot obtains a greater number of empty delivery slots than it already has by exchanging its own delivery boxes with those in the delivery station, then the robot initiates a request to increase its delivery capacity. The expected number of empty delivery slots includes cases where the recipient has already initiated a re-delivery task for the pending orders stored in the delivery station. That is, after the robot exchanges its bins with the station, the number of slots in the new bin that can perform tasks is greater than the number of tasks that the robot could perform in its original bins. A pending order is considered as a task that cannot be performed; however, re-delivery of a pending order, item delivery, and empty bins are all considered as having a task-performing status.

[0061] 104. Exchange the first compartment box with the second compartment box.

[0062] When it's determined that a second storage box in the delivery station can improve the robot's carrying capacity, the robot's first storage box is exchanged with the second storage box. This allows the first storage box to be stored at the delivery station, effectively storing any overdue orders. It's understandable that if a robot's storage slot has overdue orders, that slot cannot accept new tasks, making delivery difficult and reducing the robot's overall carrying capacity, especially during peak periods. Through this exchange, the robot can place overdue orders within the delivery station and continue performing delivery tasks using the second storage box. If the second storage box has a repeat delivery slot, the robot will perform that repeat delivery. After completing the repeat delivery, it can continue to accept other delivery tasks. If the second storage box has an empty slot, it can accept and execute new tasks based on that empty slot.

[0063] Furthermore, if there are multiple second storage boxes in the delivery station that can improve the robot's carrying capacity, the priorities of these second storage boxes are sorted according to a preset sorting rule. Then, the first storage box is exchanged with the second storage box with the highest priority. It can be understood that the preset sorting rule could be that the earlier the re-delivery task is initiated, the higher the priority, or the more empty storage spaces are expected to be obtained, the higher the priority; the specific rule is not limited here. Preferably, the priorities of the multiple third storage boxes can be sorted according to the sorting rule: Priority value V = (Re-delivery task initiation time - Current time) + a * Expected number of empty storage spaces - b * Storage box exchange task time; where 'a' is a preset parameter used to adjust the weight of the expected number of empty storage spaces; and 'b' is a preset parameter between 0 and 1 used to adjust the weight of the storage box exchange task time. If there are no pending orders to be resent in the second warehouse of the delivery station, the time to initiate the resentment task is equal to the current task time; the expected number of empty warehouse slots includes the expected number of empty warehouse slots after the pending orders are resent; the quantity priority values ​​are sorted from largest to smallest, and the higher the V value, the higher the priority, and the higher the priority is.

[0064] For example, when the robot and the first warehouse in the delivery station have 2 slots, since the expected number of empty slots can only be integer values ​​of [0,2], let parameter a be 10 and parameter b be 0.5. When there are five warehouses in the delivery station that meet the conditions for increasing robot capacity (exchange conditions), if user A initiates a re-delivery task for their waybill / item (located in warehouse number 01) at 13:30:00, and the other slot in warehouse 01 has no waybill. User B initiates a re-delivery task for their item (located in warehouse number 02) at 13:32:00, and user B's item occupies two slots in warehouse 02. After receiving the task to go to the station to exchange the warehouse containing the overdue order, the robot arrives at the station at 13:35:00 and begins the warehouse exchange task. At this time, there are five warehouse boxes in the station. Warehouse box 01 has one waybill and a re-delivery task, and the time to exchange warehouse boxes is 10 seconds. Warehouse box 02 has two waybills, both of which have re-delivery tasks, and the time to exchange warehouse boxes is 12 seconds. Warehouse box 03 has one waybill but no re-delivery task, and the time to exchange warehouse boxes is 15 seconds. Warehouse box 04 has no waybill, and the time to exchange warehouse boxes is 15 seconds. Warehouse box 05 has no waybill, and the time to exchange warehouse boxes is 20 seconds. Therefore, the priority value V1 of box 01 is (13:35:00-13:30:00)+10*2-0.5*10=315; the priority value V2 of box 02 is (13:35:00-13:32:00)+10*2-0.5*10=195; the priority value V3 of box 03 is (13:35:00-13:35:00)+10*1-0.5*15=2.5; the priority value V4 of box 04 is (13:35:00-13:35:00)+10*2-0.5*15=12.5; and the priority value V5 of box 05 is (13:35:00-13:35:00)+10*2-0.5*20=10. The priority order is: V1>V2>V4>V5>V3. Station will then swap out the highest priority box, 01. Under the same conditions, the box that initiated the retransmission task first will be swapped first; the box expected to gain the most empty slots will be swapped first; the box expected to gain the most executable tasks will be swapped first; and the box with the shortest swapping time will be swapped first. By adjusting the values ​​of 'a' and 'b', the proportion of the expected number of empty slots and the swapping time in the decision-making process can be adjusted. Overall, the principle of swapping the box that initiated the retransmission task first is followed.

[0065] Furthermore, the delivery station (which may be referred to as an intelligent carrier, intelligent delivery station, or Station) includes at least a hatch allowing robots to enter and exit, a bracket for placing robot bins, and a robotic arm for grasping robot bins. The delivery station can be an intelligent entity including a robotic arm, robot entrances and exits, and bin retrieval ports, capable of autonomously grasping bins and replacing bins on the robot. The bracket can be used to store a second bin. When the robot enters the delivery station to exchange bins, the delivery system can control the robot to move into the robotic arm's workspace; then, it controls the robotic arm to grasp the first bin onto the bracket and the second bin onto the robot at the storage location corresponding to the first bin. It is understood that the robotic arm can also use other existing transmission or exchange methods for bin exchange, and this application does not limit this; it is understood that items corresponding to overdue slips are transferred from the robot to the Station shelf. The robot acquires bins from the station, increasing the overall storage space of the robot. After leaving the Station, the robot can continue to perform subsequent delivery tasks.

[0066] Furthermore, after exchanging the first and second delivery boxes, the delivery system can also receive a re-delivery task initiated by the recipient of the delayed order. Based on the re-delivery task, the system controls a robot to replace the second delivery box containing the delayed order in the delivery station and executes the re-delivery task. It's understood that the robot here refers to any robot other than those just involved in the box exchange. Generally, the robot executing the re-delivery task has a delivery box with an empty slot. By exchanging this empty slot with the second delivery box containing the delayed order in the delivery station, the robot stores the second delivery box containing the delayed order and then executes the re-delivery task for that delayed order. Specifically, the recipient can initiate a re-delivery task (re-delivery task) for their delayed order on the mobile application where their robot delivers the order. Any delivery robot receiving the re-delivery task for the delayed order can accept the task, go to the station to replace the delivery box containing the delayed order, and complete the re-delivery task.

[0067] 105. Control the robot to move to the standby point.

[0068] If there are no outstanding orders in the robot's bin after the bin exchange, the delivery system controls the robot to move to the standby point to perform subsequent delivery tasks; if there are no bins in the delivery station that meet the conditions for increasing the robot's carrying capacity, the delivery system controls the robot to move to the standby point to perform subsequent delivery tasks or to perform subsequent re-delivery tasks of outstanding orders.

[0069] This application provides a robot delivery method, including: obtaining the status of delivery orders in a first storage box of the robot; determining whether there are any outstanding orders in the first storage box based on the status of the delivery orders; if so, determining whether exchanging the second storage box with the first storage box can improve the robot's carrying capacity based on the number of outstanding orders in the first storage box and the status of the second storage box in the delivery station, wherein the delivery station is used to store multiple storage boxes; if so, exchanging the first storage box with the second storage box so that the first storage box is stored in the delivery station, which can effectively avoid the waste of robot carrying capacity caused by outstanding orders and improve the robot's delivery efficiency. This application provides a method for transferring outstanding items in robot delivery tasks to a delivery station that supports real-time robot access through non-human intervention, thereby realizing unmanned delivery in building scenarios, reducing labor costs, improving delivery efficiency, and rationally allocating social resources. It efficiently solves the problem of robot carrying capacity waste caused by outstanding orders that may occur during peak periods of robot delivery services, and improves the overall carrying capacity of robots during that period. Furthermore, because this method does not require human intervention, it simplifies the process of the recipient initiating a re-delivery task for outstanding orders, effectively avoiding the waste of manpower. In one feasible solution, offline personnel can manually remove the items left in the robot's bin and place them at another location agreed upon with the recipient. When the recipient needs the robot to deliver the item again, the offline personnel need to find a robot with an empty bin, re-enter the delivery order into the system, put the item into the robot's bin, and initiate the delivery task. The robot can then deliver the leftover order again.

[0070] Furthermore, the robot's delivery system can include a cloud (server-side) and a C-end (user-side), which communicate with each other, and the cloud and C-end can communicate with the robot and the delivery station respectively. Figure 3As shown, the specific delivery process is as follows: When the robot arrives at the pickup point of the delivery order, the pickup code is displayed on the C-end, and it is determined whether the user has picked up the goods. If not, the item is left behind and a re-delivery button is displayed on the C-end, and the user can click the re-delivery button to re-deliver the task. If yes, the pickup is completed on the C-end, and then it is determined whether the robot has any unfinished tasks. If the robot has unfinished tasks, it is controlled to move to the next task point. If the robot has no unfinished tasks, it is determined whether there are any backlogged orders. If not, the robot returns to the standby point. If yes, the robot initiates a request to increase delivery capacity to the cloud. The cloud determines whether the warehouse boxes in the delivery station meet the conditions for increasing delivery capacity, that is, to increase the robot's power. If not, the order status and delivery status of the robot's current warehouse are synchronized to the cloud, and the robot is controlled to return to the standby point. If yes, the robot is controlled to go to the delivery station to exchange warehouse boxes, and a warehouse box exchange task is sent to the robot and the delivery station. The robot exchanges warehouse boxes with the delivery station, and the warehouse boxes for backlogged orders are exchanged to the delivery station. When a user clicks "redeliver," the cloud platform determines the location of the delayed order by querying the order status. If the delayed order is with the robot, the user can confirm and schedule the robot for redelivery on the consumer's (C) end. If the delayed order is with the delivery station, the user can confirm and initiate a delivery task to the delivery station. The delivery station then schedules a robot to exchange the delayed order with the corresponding storage box and redeliver it. After receiving the order, the robot executes the redelivery task and displays "Robot Delivery in Progress" on the consumer's (C) end. It's understood that after pickup, there are no delayed orders in the currently picked-up storage box. A robot itself can include multiple storage boxes (i.e., individual cells). For example, a robot can have two groups of four storage boxes, each group being a storage box. Each storage box is separated by partitions, making each storage box an independent space with identical dimensions and space. This allows for smooth exchange between the robot and storage boxes within the station. Each exchange can complete the exchange of one group of two storage boxes. Alternatively, the robot's storage compartments can be in the form of independent unit boxes, i.e., one compartment per group. When using independent unit boxes, the compartments to be exchanged can be those with repeat delivery or delivery tasks, as well as empty compartments. Therefore, the specific form of the compartments is not limited. Each compartment corresponds to one order. After a delivery task is completed, the robot first continues to execute unfinished tasks. If there are no unfinished tasks, it checks whether there are any pending orders in other compartments. If so, a compartment exchange is performed.

[0071] This application provides a robot delivery device, such as... Figure 4 As shown, it includes:

[0072] Acquisition unit 401 is used to acquire the status of delivery orders in the robot's first compartment;

[0073] Determining unit 402 is used to determine whether there is a backlog order in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order;

[0074] The judgment unit 403 is used to determine whether the robot's carrying capacity can be improved after the second warehouse box is exchanged with the first warehouse box, based on the number of the first warehouse box and the storage status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station, when the determination unit 402 determines that there is a backlog order. The delivery station is used to store multiple warehouse boxes.

[0075] The execution unit 404 is configured to exchange the first storage box and the second storage box when the judgment result of the judgment unit 403 is yes, so that the first storage box is stored in the distribution station.

[0076] As an example, when the robot's delivery device performs the exchange of boxes with overdue slips, it can adopt the specific steps of the robot's delivery method in any of the above embodiments.

[0077] This application provides a robot delivery device 500, such as... Figure 5 As shown, it includes:

[0078] Central processing unit 501, memory 502, input / output interface 503, wired or wireless network interface 504, power supply 505;

[0079] The memory 502 is a short-term storage memory or a persistent storage memory;

[0080] The central processing unit 501 is configured to communicate with the memory 502 and execute instructions in the memory 502 on the control plane functional entity to perform the robot delivery method in any of the above embodiments.

[0081] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0082] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the above-described delivery method.

[0083] This application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the robot delivery method in any of the above embodiments.

[0084] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units through some interfaces, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0085] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0086] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0087] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

Claims

1. A delivery method using a robot, characterized in that, include: Obtain the status of delivery orders within the robot's first storage box; Determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order; If so, the number of pending orders in the first warehouse box and the status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station are used to determine whether exchanging the second warehouse box with the first warehouse box can improve the robot's carrying capacity. The delivery station is used to store multiple warehouse boxes. The first and second storage boxes have the same structure, each including multiple storage compartments for storing items, and each compartment corresponds to a delivery order. The step of determining whether exchanging the second and first storage boxes can improve robot capacity based on the number of pending orders in the first storage box and the storage status of the second storage box in the delivery station includes: determining the number of first storage compartments in the first storage box capable of executing tasks based on the number of pending orders in the first storage box; determining the number of second storage compartments in the second storage box capable of executing tasks based on the storage status of the second storage box in the delivery station; if the number of second storage compartments capable of executing tasks is greater than the number of first storage compartments capable of executing tasks, then the second storage box is determined to meet the exchange conditions; otherwise, the second storage box is determined not to meet the exchange conditions. If so, the first storage box will be exchanged with the second storage box in the distribution station.

2. The delivery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order includes: If the status of the delivery order is that all delivery orders in the first warehouse box have been picked up or the delivery order is in the normal delivery process, then it is determined that there are no outstanding orders in the first warehouse box. If the status of the delivery order is that there is a delivery order in the first warehouse box that has not been picked up and has exceeded the pickup time threshold, then it is determined that there is a pending order in the first warehouse box.

3. The delivery method of the robot according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, If there are multiple second storage boxes in the delivery station that meet the requirements for improving robot carrying capacity, then the priority of the multiple second storage boxes is sorted according to a preset sorting rule; The first compartment box is swapped with the second compartment box, which has the highest priority.

4. The delivery method of the robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of sorting the priorities of the multiple second compartments according to a preset sorting rule includes: According to the sorting rules: Priority value V = (Time of initiating the resend task - Current time) + a * Expected number of empty slots obtained - b * Time consumed by the swapping of slots, the priorities of multiple second slots are sorted. Wherein, 'a' is a preset parameter used to adjust the weight of the expected number of empty bays; and 'b' is a preset parameter between 0 and 1 used to adjust the weight of the time taken to exchange bays.

5. The delivery method of the robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The delivery station includes a support frame storing the second bin and a robotic arm; The step of exchanging the first compartment box with the second compartment box includes: Control the robot to move into the workspace of the robotic arm; Control the robotic arm to grab the first bin onto the bracket and grab the second bin onto the robot at the storage position corresponding to the first bin.

6. The delivery method of the robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, After exchanging the first compartment box with the second compartment box, the robot's delivery method further includes: Receive a resend task initiated by the recipient corresponding to the overdue slip; Based on the re-delivery task, the robot is controlled to replace the second storage box containing the delayed order in the delivery station, and the robot is controlled to execute the re-delivery task.

7. A robot delivery system, characterized in that, include: The acquisition unit is used to acquire the status of delivery orders within the robot's first storage compartment. A determining unit is used to determine whether there are any outstanding orders in the first warehouse box based on the status of the delivery order; A judgment unit is configured to, when the determining unit determines the existence of the backlogged order, determine whether exchanging the second warehouse box with the first warehouse box can improve the robot's carrying capacity based on the number of backlogged orders in the first warehouse box and the warehouse box status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station. The delivery station stores multiple warehouse boxes; the first and second warehouse boxes have the same structure, each including multiple storage compartments for storing items, and each compartment corresponds to one delivery order. The determination of whether exchanging the second warehouse box with the first warehouse box can improve the robot's carrying capacity based on the number of backlogged orders in the first warehouse box and the warehouse box storage status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station includes: determining the number of first compartments in the first warehouse box capable of executing tasks based on the number of backlogged orders in the first warehouse box; determining the number of second compartments in the second warehouse box capable of executing tasks based on the warehouse box status of the second warehouse box in the delivery station; if the number of second compartments capable of executing tasks is greater than the number of first compartments capable of executing tasks, then the second warehouse box is determined to meet the exchange condition; otherwise, the second warehouse box is determined not to meet the exchange condition. An execution unit is configured to exchange the first storage box with the second storage box in the distribution station when the judgment result of the judgment unit is yes.

8. A robot, characterized in that, include: Central processing unit, memory, input / output interface, wired or wireless network interface, power supply; The memory is either a short-term storage memory or a persistent storage memory; The central processing unit is configured to communicate with the memory and execute instructions in the memory on a control plane functional entity to perform the delivery method of the robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the delivery method of the robot as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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