A collaborative control method of a picking basket separation robot

Abstract

The application provides a collaborative control method of a picking basket separation robot, relates to the technical field of goods picking, and comprises the following steps: a controller controls a picking basket integrated robot and a fork robot to move to a corresponding goods shelf according to goods information in a picking order; then the controller controls the fork robot to fork out whole-pallet goods on the goods shelf; then the controller controls the picking basket integrated robot to pick goods from the top of the forked-out whole-pallet goods and put the goods into a goods basket mechanism; when it is judged that the goods basket mechanism is full, the current picking process is interrupted, the picking basket integrated robot is controlled to move to a goods unloading location to unload goods, then the picking basket integrated robot returns to the current goods shelf to continue the picking process, and when it is judged that the picking is completed according to the picking order, the optimal fork robot is dispatched to the next goods shelf, then the picking basket integrated robot continues the picking process. The beneficial effect is that the problems of omission and wrong selection in manual picking are avoided, the goods are automatically picked, the work efficiency is improved, and the personal safety hazard is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of goods picking technology, and in particular to a collaborative control method for a picking fork basket separation robot. Background Technology

[0002] Warehousing refers to the activities of storing, preserving, and managing goods or materials in warehouses. Warehousing is a crucial link in logistics, as it can adjust the time lag between production and consumption, reduce inventory costs, and improve logistics efficiency.

[0003] In existing technologies, goods storage generally involves placing goods on shelves. However, the process of moving goods onto and from the shelves is usually done manually, or by manually operating forklifts to remove goods from the shelves and then from the top of the stack. This has several drawbacks:

[0004] Manual handling is inefficient, unable to move large or high-rise goods, and is prone to damage, loss, or misdelivery, affecting the quality and efficiency of warehousing.

[0005] Manual handling is tedious, prone to errors and omissions, and requires a lot of manual data entry and verification, which increases the difficulty and cost of management.

[0006] Manual handling requires high physical strength and skills, which can easily lead to work-related injuries, fatigue, occupational diseases, and other problems, affecting the health and safety of employees.

[0007] Manual handling is ill-suited to the trends of large-scale, automated, and intelligent warehousing, thus limiting innovation and optimization in warehousing. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the problems existing in the prior art, this invention provides a collaborative control method for a picking fork and basket separation robot. The picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking basket integrated robot and multiple forklift robots. Each picking basket integrated robot and each forklift robot is connected to a controller. The picking basket integrated robot is equipped with a basket mechanism. The collaborative control method includes:

[0009] Step S1: The controller controls the picking basket robot and any of the forklift robots to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and controls the current forklift robot to fork out the whole pallet of goods on the current shelf.

[0010] Step S2: The controller controls the integrated picking robot to pick goods from the forked pallet and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process.

[0011] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3;

[0012] If not, proceed to step S3;

[0013] Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0014] If so, proceed to step S4;

[0015] If not, return to step S2;

[0016] Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0017] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0018] If not, then based on the working status of all the forklift robots, the optimal forklift robot is scheduled to go to the next shelf in the picking order and fork off the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, while the picking basket robot is controlled to go to the next shelf, and then the process returns to step S2.

[0019] Preferably, step S4 includes:

[0020] Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0021] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0022] If not, proceed to step S42;

[0023] Step S42: The controller controls the current forklift robot to fork the entire pallet of goods back to the current shelf, and simultaneously checks if there is a forklift robot in an idle state.

[0024] If so, the forklift robot that takes the shortest time to reach the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate forklift robot, and then proceed to step S43.

[0025] If not, then control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf after forking the goods back to the current shelf, and then control the forklift robot to fork out the whole pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2;

[0026] Step S43, the controller determines whether the total time taken by the current forklift robot to fork the entire pallet of goods back onto the shelf and then move it to the next shelf is greater than the time taken by the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf:

[0027] If so, control the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot, then control the optimal forklift robot to remove the pallet of goods from the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2.

[0028] If not, then control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot after forking the goods back to the current shelf, and then control the optimal forklift robot to fork off the entire pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S4.

[0029] Preferably, both the picking robot and the forklift robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules, the picking order includes at least one set of goods information, the controller stores a warehouse map containing the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse, and the forklift robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Then, step S1 includes:

[0030] Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking robot and the forklift robot to generate the shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information corresponding to the goods closest to the current position in each group of goods information as the endpoint.

[0031] Step S12: During the process of controlling the basket-picking robot and the forklift robot to move to the corresponding shelf position along the shortest route, the controller determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path.

[0032] If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the position of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route;

[0033] If not, return to step S12;

[0034] Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots on the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots.

[0035] If so, control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf;

[0036] If not, control the forklift robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf.

[0037] Preferably, the integrated picking robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and the end of the picking robotic arm is equipped with a camera. Then, step S2 includes:

[0038] Step S21: The controller takes a picture of the basket mechanism using the camera to identify whether there is an empty space in the basket mechanism.

[0039] If so, the camera identifies the goods on top of the pallet and controls the picking robotic arm to pick up the goods and place them in the empty space, then returns to step S21;

[0040] If not, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3.

[0041] The present invention also provides a collaborative control method for a picking fork and basket separation robot, wherein the picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking fork integrated robot and multiple basket robots, the picking fork integrated robot and each of the basket robots are respectively connected to a controller, and each basket robot is provided with a basket mechanism; then the collaborative control method includes:

[0042] Step S1: The controller controls the picking forklift robot and any of the basket robots to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and then controls the picking forklift robot to fork out the entire pallet of goods on the current shelf.

[0043] Step S2: The controller controls the picking robot to pick goods from the forked pallet and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process.

[0044] If so, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all the basket robots, and then proceed to step S3;

[0045] If not, proceed to step S3;

[0046] Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0047] If so, proceed to step S4;

[0048] If not, return to step S2;

[0049] Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0050] If so, control the current basket robot to proceed to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0051] If not, control the picking robot to move to the next shelf in the picking order and fork out the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the next shelf according to the working status of all the basket robots, and then return to step S2.

[0052] Preferably, the picking robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and a camera is located at the end of the picking robotic arm. Step S2 includes:

[0053] Step S21: The controller takes a picture of the basket mechanism using the camera to identify whether there is an empty space in the basket mechanism.

[0054] If so, the camera identifies the goods on top of the pallet and controls the picking robot arm to pick up the goods and place them in the empty space, then returns to step S21;

[0055] If not, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all basket robots, and then proceed to step S3.

[0056] Preferably, step S2, which involves scheduling the optimal basket robot based on the working status of all the basket robots, includes:

[0057] Step A1: The controller checks if there is a basket robot with an idle status.

[0058] If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the picking robot and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step A2.

[0059] If not, then the current basket robot will be moved to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot after unloading the goods at the unloading location;

[0060] Step A2, the controller determines whether the total time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the unloading location and then to the current shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf:

[0061] If so, then control the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot;

[0062] If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot.

[0063] Preferably, step S4 includes:

[0064] Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0065] If so, control the current basket robot to proceed to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0066] If not, control the picking robot to move to the next shelf in the picking order and fork off the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, then proceed to step S42;

[0067] Step S42, the controller checks if there is a basket robot with an idle status:

[0068] If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step S43.

[0069] If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal shelf robot after unloading the goods to the unloading location, and then proceed to step S2;

[0070] Step S43, the controller determines whether the time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the next shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the next shelf:

[0071] If so, the candidate basket robot is controlled to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then the process proceeds to step S2;

[0072] If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then proceed to step S2.

[0073] Preferably, both the picking robot and the basket robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules, the picking order includes at least one set of goods information, the controller stores a warehouse map containing the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse, and the picking robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Then, step S1 includes:

[0074] Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking forklift robot and the basket robot to generate a shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information corresponding to the goods closest to the current starting point in each group of goods information as the endpoint.

[0075] Step S12: During the process of the controller controlling the picking robot and the basket robot to move to the corresponding shelf position according to the shortest route, it determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path.

[0076] If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the position of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route;

[0077] If not, return to step S12;

[0078] Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots on the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots.

[0079] If so, control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf;

[0080] If not, control the picking robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf.

[0081] The above technical solution has the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0082] 1) The collaborative control system controls the picking basket separation robot to automatically pick according to the picking order, avoiding problems such as omissions and incorrect selections that may occur during manual picking;

[0083] 2) Controlling the picking basket separation robot to pick up and select goods can realize the handling and picking of large items, solving the problem that large items and high-rise goods cannot be handled by manpower;

[0084] 3) No human intervention is required; the picking process is fully automated, improving work efficiency and avoiding personal safety hazards, thus achieving large-scale, automated, and intelligent development. Attached Figure Description

[0085] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a collaborative control method for a picking basket separation robot, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0086] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a sub-process of step S4 in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0087] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a sub-process of step S1 in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0088] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated basket picking robot and forklift robot in Example 1;

[0089] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a collaborative control method for a picking basket separation robot, as shown in another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0090] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the picking robot and the basket robot in Example 2. Detailed Implementation

[0091] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment; other embodiments that conform to the spirit of the present invention may also fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0092] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, based on the aforementioned problems existing in the prior art, a collaborative control method for a picking fork and basket separation robot is provided. The picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking basket integrated robot and multiple forklift robots. Each picking basket integrated robot and each forklift robot are respectively connected to a controller. The picking basket integrated robot is equipped with a basket mechanism. Figure 1 As shown, the cooperative control method includes:

[0093] Step S1: The controller controls the picking robot and any forklift robot to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and controls the current forklift robot to fork out the whole pallet of goods on the current shelf.

[0094] Step S2: The controller controls the picking robot to pick goods from the forked pallet and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process.

[0095] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3;

[0096] If not, proceed to step S3;

[0097] Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0098] If so, proceed to step S4;

[0099] If not, return to step S2;

[0100] Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0101] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0102] If not, then based on the working status of all forklift robots, schedule the optimal forklift robot to go to the next shelf in the picking order and fork off the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, while controlling the picking basket robot to go to the next shelf, and then return to step S2.

[0103] In this embodiment, as Figure 2 As shown, step S4 includes:

[0104] Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0105] If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0106] If not, proceed to step S42;

[0107] Step S42: The controller instructs the current forklift robot to return the entire pallet of goods to the current shelf, and simultaneously checks if there is a forklift robot with an idle status.

[0108] If so, the forklift robot that takes the shortest time to reach the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate forklift robot, and then proceed to step S43.

[0109] If not, control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf after forking the goods back to the current shelf, then control the forklift robot to fork out the entire pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2;

[0110] Step S43: The controller determines whether the total time taken for the current forklift robot to move the entire pallet of goods back to the shelf and then to the next shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf.

[0111] If so, control the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot, then control the optimal forklift robot to remove the entire pallet of goods from the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2.

[0112] If not, control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot after it has forked the goods back to the current shelf. Then control the optimal forklift robot to remove the entire pallet of goods from the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S4.

[0113] In this embodiment, both the picking robot and the forklift robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules. The picking order includes at least one set of goods information. The controller stores a warehouse map, which contains the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse. The forklift robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Figure 3 As shown, step S1 includes:

[0114] Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking robot and the forklift robot to generate the shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information of the goods closest to the current position in each group of goods information as the endpoint.

[0115] Step S12: During the process of controlling the picking robot and the forklift robot to move to the corresponding shelf position along the shortest route, the controller determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path.

[0116] If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the location of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route;

[0117] If not, return to step S12;

[0118] Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots at the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots.

[0119] If so, the fork mechanism is controlled to extend into the fork slot and remove the entire pallet of goods from the current rack;

[0120] If not, control the forklift robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and remove the entire pallet of goods from the current shelf.

[0121] In this embodiment, the integrated basket-picking robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and a camera is located at the end of the picking robotic arm. Step S2 includes:

[0122] Step S21: The controller uses a camera to take pictures of the basket mechanism to identify whether there are empty spaces in the basket mechanism.

[0123] If so, the camera identifies the top item of the pallet and controls the picking robot arm to pick up the item and place it in the empty space, then returns to step S21;

[0124] If not, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3.

[0125] Example 1:

[0126] In this embodiment, as Figure 4As shown, the picking basket separation robot includes a picking basket integrated robot and a fork robot. The picking basket integrated robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm and a basket mechanism, and the fork robot is equipped with a fork mechanism.

[0127] When the controller receives a picking order, the cloud system usually sends the picking order to the collaborative control system. The controller selects a set of picking robots and forklift robots from the waiting area of ​​the warehouse to process the current picking order. We have set up a waiting area in the warehouse. When there are no picking orders, the picking robots and forklift robots will automatically return to the waiting area to wait for the cloud to send the picking order.

[0128] The picking order includes multiple sets of goods to be picked, for example, 5 items of item A, 5 items of item B, and 4 items of item C;

[0129] Assuming that the distance from the shelves of goods A, B, and C to the waiting area increases sequentially, the collaborative control system calculates the shortest route from the waiting area to the shelf of goods A, and then controls the picking robot and the forklift robot to pick the goods from the shelf according to the shortest route.

[0130] During the movement, there may be obstacles such as temporarily placed goods or other robots blocking the way. Therefore, we have set up an obstacle avoidance vision module to detect obstacles in front of the picking robot and the forklift robot in real time. When it is detected that there is an obstacle in front that completely blocks the way and the road is impassable, the current road is marked as impassable and the route is replanned. When it is detected that there is an obstacle in front that partially blocks the way, the robot will bypass the obstacle and move forward (that is, when the width of the unobstructed road is wide enough to allow passage, the robot will pass through the side of the obstacle).

[0131] Subsequently, the forklift robot and the picking robot arrived at the shelf of item A;

[0132] At this point, although the picking robot has moved to the corresponding shelf, the forks of the forklift robot and the fork slots of the pallet are not perfectly aligned (the forklift robot moves in a direction parallel to the length of the shelf, and the forks and fork slots are perpendicular to the length of the shelf). The goods on the shelf are all placed on the pallet, and the pallet recognition module needs to identify the precise position of the fork slots of the pallet at the bottom of the entire pallet relative to the forks (there is only a distance difference between the forks and fork slots in the direction perpendicular to the length of the shelf).

[0133] The moving forklift robot then aligns the forks and fork slots (i.e., they are on the same straight line), and then controls the forks to extend into the fork slots and lift the entire pallet of goods off the shelf.

[0134] The picking process then proceeds. In this embodiment, the gripping mechanism is a picking robot arm, with a camera at the end of the arm. The picking robot arm moves the camera above the basket to take a picture and identify empty spaces. Then, the picking robot arm moves to the top of the pallet of goods to take a picture and identify the size and position of the goods. The picking robot arm then picks up the identified goods and places them in the empty spaces, completing one picking process (i.e., identifying empty spaces, identifying goods, picking goods, and placing them in empty spaces constitutes one complete picking process). If 5 pieces of goods A need to be picked, this picking process needs to be repeated 5 times. Then, the forklift robot is controlled to fork the pallet of goods A back onto the shelf, then moves it to the shelf corresponding to goods B, and the same picking process is used to pick goods A again. Goods C are picked in the same way.

[0135] It should also be noted that, since the forklift robot and the picking robot are separate, in this embodiment, while the picking arm is picking the last item from the top of the pallet (for example, if 5 items of item A need to be picked, then while picking the fifth item of item A), the forklift robot can be controlled to return the item to the next shelf to be picked, thus saving time. Alternatively, another forklift robot can be dispatched to the next shelf to pick the item, achieving flexible dispatching. Here, the optimal forklift robot is dispatched, which means minimizing the overall time. That is, by judging whether the total time of the current forklift robot returning the entire pallet to the shelf and then moving it to the next shelf is greater than the time of the candidate forklift robot moving to the next shelf (the candidate robot is selected by choosing an idle forklift robot that is closest to the next shelf; if there is no idle forklift robot, the current forklift robot is dispatched arbitrarily).

[0136] Furthermore, while picking up goods from the top of the stack and placing them into the basket, the integrated picking robot can move to the next shelf, which can also save time.

[0137] During the entire picking process, there may be situations where the basket is full but there are still goods to be picked. We use cameras to identify empty spaces in the basket, and when it is determined that there are no empty spaces, we interrupt the current picking process and control the basket picking robot to unload the goods at the designated unloading location, and then return to the previous picking location to continue picking up goods.

[0138] When the picking is completed (i.e., when 5 items of goods A, 5 items of goods B, and 4 items of goods C have been picked according to the picking order), the picking robot is controlled to go to the designated unloading location to unload the goods and return to the waiting area to wait for the next picking order.

[0139] Similarly, since the forklift robot and the picking basket robot are separate, in this embodiment, while the picking robotic arm is picking the last item of the current picking order from the top of the pallet (for example, if four items of item C need to be picked, then when picking the fourth item of item C), the forklift robot can be controlled to pick up the item and then move back to the waiting area to wait for the next picking order, which can save some time.

[0140] It should be noted that, as Figure 2 As shown, when the basket is a separate type with a certain height, the basket mechanism includes the basket and a lifting mechanism. When a picking order is received, the picking robot first goes to the basket storage area (or the basket location included in the picking order), extends the lifting mechanism into the space at the bottom of the basket, and then raises the lifting mechanism to lift the basket and take it away. When unloading, it goes to the unloading location and lowers the lifting mechanism to put the basket down (if the goods have been picked). Then it goes back to the basket storage area to get a new basket and returns to the shelf to continue picking goods (if the goods have not been picked).

[0141] The present invention also provides a collaborative control method for a picking fork and basket separation robot. The picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking fork integrated robot and multiple basket robots. The picking fork integrated robot and each basket robot are respectively connected to a controller. Each basket robot is equipped with a basket mechanism. Figure 5 As shown, the cooperative control method includes:

[0142] Step S1: The controller controls the picking robot and any basket robot to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and then controls the picking robot to remove the entire pallet of goods from the current shelf.

[0143] Step S2: The controller controls the picking robot to pick goods from the pallet of goods and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process.

[0144] If so, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all basket robots, and then proceed to step S3;

[0145] If not, proceed to step S3;

[0146] Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0147] If so, proceed to step S4;

[0148] If not, return to step S2;

[0149] Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0150] If so, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0151] If not, control the picking robot to move to the next shelf in the picking order and fork out the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf. Then, based on the working status of all basket robots, schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the next shelf, and then return to step S2.

[0152] In this embodiment, the picking fork integrated robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and a camera is located at the end of the picking robotic arm. Step S2 includes:

[0153] Step S21: The controller uses a camera to take pictures of the basket mechanism to identify whether there are empty spaces in the basket mechanism.

[0154] If so, the camera identifies the top of the pallet and controls the picking robot arm to pick up the goods and place them in the empty space, then returns to step S21.

[0155] If not, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all basket robots, and then proceed to step S3.

[0156] Preferably, step S2, which involves scheduling the optimal basket robot based on the working status of all basket robots, includes:

[0157] Step A1: The controller checks if there are any basket robots with an idle status.

[0158] If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the picking robot and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step A2.

[0159] If not, then move the current basket robot to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot after unloading the goods to the unloading location;

[0160] Step A2: The controller determines whether the total time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the unloading location and then to the current shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf.

[0161] If so, then control the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot;

[0162] If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot.

[0163] In this embodiment, step S4 includes:

[0164] Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order.

[0165] If so, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit;

[0166] If not, control the picking robot to move to the next shelf in the picking order and fork out the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S42;

[0167] Step S42, the controller checks if there is a basket robot with an idle status:

[0168] If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step S43.

[0169] If not, control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal shelf robot after unloading the goods to the unloading location, and then proceed to step S2;

[0170] Step S43: The controller determines whether the time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the next shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the next shelf.

[0171] If so, control the candidate basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then proceed to step S2;

[0172] If not, control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then proceed to step S2.

[0173] In this embodiment, both the picking robot and the basket robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules. The picking order includes at least one set of goods information. The controller stores a warehouse map, which contains the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse. The picking robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Then, step S1 includes:

[0174] Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking forklift robot and the basket robot to generate the shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information of the goods closest to the current starting point in each group of goods information as the endpoint.

[0175] Step S12: During the process of the controller controlling the picking robot and the basket robot to move to the corresponding shelf position along the shortest route, it determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path.

[0176] If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the location of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route;

[0177] If not, return to step S12;

[0178] Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots at the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots.

[0179] If so, the fork mechanism is controlled to extend into the fork slot and remove the entire pallet of goods from the current rack;

[0180] If not, control the picking robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and remove the entire pallet of goods from the current shelf.

[0181] Example 2:

[0182] In this embodiment, as Figure 6 As shown, the picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking fork integrated robot and a basket robot. The picking fork integrated robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm and a fork mechanism, and a camera is installed at the end of the picking robotic arm. The basket robot is equipped with a basket mechanism.

[0183] When the controller receives a picking order, the cloud system usually sends the picking order to the collaborative control system. The controller selects a set of picking robots and forklift robots from the waiting area of ​​the warehouse to process the current picking order. We have set up a waiting area in the warehouse. When there are no picking orders, the picking robots and forklift robots will automatically return to the waiting area to wait for the cloud to send the picking order.

[0184] The picking order includes multiple sets of goods to be picked, for example, 5 items of item A, 5 items of item B, and 4 items of item C;

[0185] Assuming that the distance from the shelves of goods A, B, and C to the waiting area increases sequentially, the collaborative control system plans the shortest route in the order of waiting area -> shelf of goods A, and then controls the picking robot and forklift robot to pick goods from each shelf according to the shortest route.

[0186] During the movement, there may be obstacles such as temporarily placed goods or other robots blocking the way. Therefore, we have set up an obstacle avoidance vision module to detect obstacles in front of the picking robot and the basket robot in real time. When it is detected that there is an obstacle completely blocking the way and the road is impassable, the current road is marked as impassable and the route is replanned. When it is detected that there is an obstacle partially blocking the way, the robot will bypass the obstacle and move forward (that is, when the width of the unobstructed road is wide enough to allow passage, the robot will pass through the side of the obstacle).

[0187] At this moment, the basket robot and the picking robot arrive at the shelf of item A;

[0188] At this point, although the picking robot has moved to the corresponding shelf, the forks of the picking robot and the fork slots of the pallet are not perfectly aligned (the moving direction of the picking robot is parallel to the length of the shelf, and the forks and fork slots are perpendicular to the length of the shelf). The goods on the shelf are all placed on the pallet, and the pallet recognition module needs to identify the precise position of the fork slots of the pallet at the bottom of the entire pallet of goods relative to the forks (there is only a distance difference between the forks and fork slots in the length direction perpendicular to the shelf).

[0189] Subsequently, the mobile picking robot aligns the forks and fork slots (i.e., they are on the same straight line), and then controls the forks to extend into the fork slots and pick up the entire pallet of goods from the shelf.

[0190] The picking process then proceeds. In this embodiment, the gripping mechanism is a picking robot arm, with a camera at the end of the arm. The robot arm moves the camera above the basket to take a picture and identify empty spaces. Then, it moves the robot arm above the pallet of goods to take a picture and identify the size and position of the goods. The robot arm then picks up the identified goods and places them in the empty spaces, completing one picking process (i.e., identifying empty spaces, identifying goods, picking goods, and placing them in empty spaces constitutes one complete picking process). If 5 pieces of goods A need to be picked, this picking process needs to be repeated 5 times. Then, the picking robot is controlled to fork the pallet of goods A back to the shelf, then moves it to the shelf corresponding to goods B, and the same picking process is used for goods A. Goods C are picked in the same way.

[0191] It should also be noted that, since the picking robot and the basket robot are separate, in this embodiment, while the picking robot arm is picking the last item of the current order from the top of the pallet (for example, if 5 items of item A need to be picked, then when the fifth item of item A is picked), the forklift robot can be controlled to fork the item back, which can save some time; and while the picking robot arm is placing the picked item into an empty space in the basket, it can move to the next shelf that needs to be picked and fork the item out, which can further save some time.

[0192] At this point, another basket robot can be dispatched to the next shelf where goods need to be picked to wait in advance for the picking forklift robot, while the current basket robot is controlled to unload at the unloading location, saving some time.

[0193] During the entire picking process, there may be situations where the basket is full but there are still goods to be picked. We use cameras to identify empty spaces in the basket and interrupt the current picking process when it is determined that there are no empty spaces. We then control the currently scheduled basket robot to go to the designated unloading location to unload the goods and then return to the previous picking location to continue picking up goods.

[0194] Another approach is to use a camera to identify empty spaces in the basket and interrupt the current picking process when no empty space is found. This allows the currently scheduled basket robot to be moved to the designated unloading location to unload the goods, while another basket robot is moved to the picking forklift robot to load the goods, saving the time that the basket robot spends traveling back and forth.

[0195] Of the two methods described above for replacing a full basket, the optimal method is selected. "Optimal" here refers to the shortest time. Specifically, when a basket needs to be replaced, the controller checks for an idle basket robot. The idle basket robot with the shortest time to move to the picking robot is selected as the candidate basket robot. The controller then determines whether the total time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current location to the unloading point and then to the current shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf.

[0196] If so, the candidate basket robot will be moved to the current shelf in the shortest time.

[0197] If not, then the current basket robot takes the shortest time to move to the current shelf, whichever is the optimal basket robot.

[0198] This same idea is used to select the optimal solution when it is necessary to move to the next shelf to pick another type of goods, which will not be elaborated here.

[0199] When the picking is completed (i.e., 5 items of goods A, 5 items of goods B, and 4 items of goods C have been picked according to the picking order), while the picking robot arm places the picked goods into the empty space in the basket (i.e., placing the 4th item of goods C into the empty space in the basket), the basket robot is controlled to go to the designated unloading location to unload the goods and return to the waiting area to wait for the next picking order. At the same time, the picking forklift robot is controlled to return to the waiting area to wait for the next picking order.

[0200] It should be noted that, as Figure 4 As shown, when the basket is a separate type with a certain height, the basket mechanism includes the basket and a lifting mechanism. When a picking order is received, the basket robot first goes to the basket storage area (or the basket location included in the picking order), and then raises the lifting mechanism to lift the basket and take it away after it extends into the space at the bottom of the basket. When unloading, it goes to the unloading location and lowers the lifting mechanism to put the basket down (if the goods have been picked). Then it goes back to the basket storage area to get a new basket and returns to the shelf to continue picking goods (if the goods have not been picked).

[0201] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the implementation methods and protection scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should recognize that any equivalent substitutions and obvious changes made using the content of this specification and illustrations should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cooperative control method for a picking basket separation robot, characterized in that, The picking basket separation robot includes a picking basket integrated robot and multiple forklift robots. Each picking basket integrated robot and each forklift robot are respectively connected to a controller. The picking basket integrated robot is equipped with a basket mechanism. The cooperative control method includes: Step S1: The controller controls the picking basket robot and any of the forklift robots to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and controls the current forklift robot to fork out the whole pallet of goods on the current shelf. Step S2: The controller controls the integrated picking robot to pick goods from the forked pallet and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process. If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3; If not, proceed to step S3; Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, proceed to step S4; If not, return to step S2; Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit; If not, then based on the working status of all the forklift robots, the optimal forklift robot is scheduled to go to the next shelf in the picking order and fork off the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, while simultaneously controlling the picking basket robot to go to the next shelf, and then returning to step S2; step S4 includes: Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit; If not, proceed to step S42; Step S42: The controller controls the current forklift robot to fork the entire pallet of goods back to the current shelf, and simultaneously checks if there is a forklift robot in an idle state. If so, the forklift robot that takes the shortest time to reach the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate forklift robot, and then proceed to step S43. If not, then control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf after forking the goods back to the current shelf, and then control the forklift robot to fork out the whole pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2; Step S43, the controller determines whether the total time taken by the current forklift robot to fork the entire pallet of goods back onto the shelf and then move it to the next shelf is greater than the time taken by the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf: If so, control the candidate forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot, then control the optimal forklift robot to remove the pallet of goods from the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S2. If not, then control the current forklift robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal forklift robot after forking the goods back to the current shelf, and then control the optimal forklift robot to fork off the entire pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S4.

2. The collaborative control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the picking robot and the forklift robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules. The picking order includes at least one set of goods information. The controller stores a warehouse map, which contains the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse. The forklift robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Therefore, step S1 includes: Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking robot and the forklift robot to generate the shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information corresponding to the goods closest to the current position in each group of goods information as the endpoint. Step S12: During the process of controlling the basket-picking robot and the forklift robot to move to the corresponding shelf position along the shortest route, the controller determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path. If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the position of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route; If not, return to step S12; Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots on the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots. If so, control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf; If not, control the forklift robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf.

3. The collaborative control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The integrated basket-picking robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and a camera is located at the end of the picking robotic arm. Therefore, step S2 includes: Step S21: The controller takes a picture of the basket mechanism using the camera to identify whether there is an empty space in the basket mechanism. If so, the camera identifies the goods on top of the pallet and controls the picking robotic arm to pick up the goods and place them in the empty space, then returns to step S21; If not, control the picking robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, then return to the current shelf, and then proceed to step S3.

4. A cooperative control method for a picking basket separation robot, characterized in that, The picking fork and basket separation robot includes a picking fork integrated robot and multiple basket robots. The picking fork integrated robot and each of the basket robots are respectively connected to a controller. Each basket robot is equipped with a basket mechanism. The collaborative control method includes: Step S1: The controller controls the picking forklift robot and any of the basket robots to move to the corresponding shelf according to the goods information in the picking order, and then controls the picking forklift robot to fork out the entire pallet of goods on the current shelf. Step S2: The controller controls the picking robot to pick goods from the forked pallet and place them into the basket mechanism, and determines whether the basket mechanism is full during the picking process. If so, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all the basket robots, and then proceed to step S3; If not, proceed to step S3; Step S3: The controller determines whether the current goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, proceed to step S4; If not, return to step S2; Step S4: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, control the current basket robot to proceed to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit; If not, control the picking robot to go to the next shelf in the picking order and fork out the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the next shelf according to the working status of all the basket robots, and then return to step S2; Step S4 includes: Step S41: The controller determines whether all goods have been picked based on the picking order. If so, control the current basket robot to proceed to the unloading location in the picking order to unload the goods, and then exit; If not, control the picking robot to move to the next shelf in the picking order and fork off the pallet of goods on the corresponding shelf, and then proceed to step S42; Step S42, the controller checks if there is a basket robot with an idle status: If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the next shelf and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step S43. If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal shelf robot after unloading the goods to the unloading location, and then proceed to step S2; Step S43, the controller determines whether the time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the next shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the next shelf: If so, the candidate basket robot is controlled to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then the process proceeds to step S2; If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the next shelf as the optimal basket robot, and then proceed to step S2.

5. The cooperative control method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The picking robot is equipped with a picking robotic arm, and a camera is located at the end of the picking robotic arm. Step S2 includes: Step S21: The controller takes a picture of the basket mechanism using the camera to identify whether there is an empty space in the basket mechanism. If so, the camera identifies the goods on top of the pallet and controls the picking robot arm to pick up the goods and place them in the empty space, then returns to step S21; If not, control the current basket robot to go to the unloading location in the picking order to unload, and schedule the optimal basket robot to move to the current shelf according to the working status of all basket robots, and then proceed to step S3.

6. The cooperative control method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The process of scheduling the optimal basket robot based on the working status of all the basket robots in step S2 includes: Step A1: The controller checks if there is a basket robot with an idle status. If so, the basket robot that takes the shortest time to move to the picking robot and is currently idle will be selected as the candidate basket robot, and then proceed to step A2. If not, then the current basket robot will be moved to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot after unloading the goods at the unloading location; Step A2, the controller determines whether the total time taken for the current basket robot to move from its current position to the unloading location and then to the current shelf is greater than the time taken for the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf: If so, then control the candidate basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot; If not, then control the current basket robot to move to the current shelf as the optimal basket robot.

7. The cooperative control method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Both the picking robot and the basket robot are equipped with visual obstacle avoidance modules. The picking order includes at least one set of goods information. The controller stores a warehouse map, which contains the location information of the shelves corresponding to each item in the warehouse. The picking robot is equipped with a pallet recognition module and a fork mechanism. Then, step S1 includes: Step S11: After receiving the picking order, the controller controls the picking forklift robot and the basket robot to generate a shortest route with the current position as the starting point and the shelf location information corresponding to the goods closest to the current position in each group of goods information as the endpoint. Step S12: During the process of the controller controlling the picking robot and the basket robot to move to the corresponding shelf position according to the shortest route, it determines whether there are obstacles in the environment blocking the forward path. If so, adjust the shortest route and then move to the position of each shelf according to the adjusted shortest route; If not, return to step S12; Step S13: The controller controls the pallet recognition module to identify the fork slots on the bottom of the pallet containing a full pallet of goods on the shelf, and determines whether the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slots. If so, control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf; If not, control the picking robot to move so that the fork mechanism is aligned with the fork slot, and then control the fork mechanism to extend into the fork slot and fork the entire pallet of goods out of the current shelf.

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