Path planning method for automatically achieving cold box door adjustment through horizontal transportation robot

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of container wharf intelligent equipment, and particularly relates to a path planning method for a horizontal transportation robot to automatically realize cold box door adjustment, which comprises the following steps: S1, setting a cold box door adjustment area meeting the cold box door adjustment operation requirement in a horizontal transportation scheduling system; s2, a cold box door adjusting instruction in the TOS is distributed to ART participating in cold box door adjusting operation; and S3, after the ART receives the instruction, the horizontal transportation scheduling system automatically plans a reasonable cold box door adjusting path and distributes the path to the ART for execution. According to the method, the automatic operation degree of the automatic container wharf with the horizontally-arranged storage yard can be improved, the labor cost is reduced, the operation efficiency is improved, and the increasing cold box operation pressure is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of intelligent equipment for container terminals, and in particular relates to a path planning method for a horizontal transport robot to automatically adjust doors of a refrigerated container. Background Art

[0002] A refrigerated container is a special container with good insulation and the ability to maintain a certain low temperature, suitable for the transportation and storage of various perishable foods. On one side of the refrigerated container body is a door, and on the other side is a refrigerated box motor. The door side is the same as that of an ordinary container, both of which are entrances and exits for loading and unloading goods. The motor on the other side is used to connect to the power supply for refrigeration and observation of the refrigerated box status in the refrigerated box yard and on the ship. On a container ship, each loading bay generally has a refrigerated box power supply on only one side, so there are requirements for the door direction of the refrigerated box when loading.

[0003] In recent years, the volume of container transportation has continued to grow, and the transportation volume of various types of goods has been rising. Among them, the volume of goods with special requirements for storage temperature, such as fruits, meat, and medicines, has been rising year by year. Therefore, container terminals are currently facing huge pressure on the collection and distribution of cold boxes. In addition, whether in traditional manual container terminals or automated container terminals, there are situations where the motor direction of the cold box collected at the port is different from the motor direction of the cold box loaded on the ship, and when the pressure of the cold box stored on site is too high, the direction of the cold box door needs to be turned, and the site needs to be sorted for centralized stacking. Therefore, it is necessary to turn the direction of the motor (door) of the cold box on site. This operating condition is called the cold box door adjustment operation.

[0004] The traditional way of adjusting the door of a refrigerated container is to have a head truck collect the container at the site, go to the machine operation site, use a reach stacker to adjust the door direction, and then return to the site to deliver the container. This method is inefficient, requires manual participation, has high labor costs, cannot be automated, and does not meet the production needs of automated terminals. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a path planning method for a horizontal transport robot to automatically realize the door adjustment of a cold box, so as to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a path planning method for a horizontal transport robot to automatically realize the door adjustment of a cold box, comprising the following steps: S1: Set up the cold box door adjustment area that meets the requirements of this cold box door adjustment operation in the horizontal transportation scheduling system; S2: Send the cold box door adjustment instruction in TOS to the ART involved in the cold box door adjustment operation; S3: After ART receives the instruction, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically plan a reasonable cold container door transfer path and dispatch it to ART for execution; During the cold container door adjustment operation, ART needs to deliver the container in the reverse direction to achieve the purpose of door adjustment. In the reverse state, ART can still perform the alignment-locking-operation process normally with ARMG (automated rail-mounted gantry crane).

[0007] Preferably, the S1 comprises the following steps: S11. Determine whether it is a door for transferring containers in the same field or a door for transferring containers across fields. The door for transferring containers across fields needs to lock the area between the fields and its automated lanes; S12. After the cold box door area is set up, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically send the temporarily parked vehicles that interfere with operations in the area to other areas for temporary parking.

[0008] Preferably, S3 comprises the following steps: S31. Determine whether it is a same-field container door or a cross-field container door. In the cross-field cold box door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan a U-shaped route; in the same-field cold box door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan an 8-shaped route; S32. After the cold box door adjustment instruction is completed, ART automatically stops after executing the turning path, and the cold box door adjustment is completed.

[0009] Preferably, the cold box switching door area is divided into two types: same-field switching door and cross-field switching door. The cross-field cold box switching door requires the area between the spanning sites and its automated lanes; the same-field cold box switching door requires the operating site and its three adjacent sites and their automated lanes.

[0010] Preferably, after the cold box door adjustment operation area is delineated, this area will automatically prohibit ARTs without cold box door adjustment tasks from generating paths to this area.

[0011] Preferably, after the cold box swivel door operation area is delineated, if there are temporarily parked vehicles in the area that affect the cold box swivel door, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will automatically send these vehicles routes to other idle areas for temporary parking.

[0012] Compared with the methods in the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The method can improve the degree of automation of automated container terminals with horizontal yard layout, reduce labor costs, improve operating efficiency, and solve the growing pressure of cold box operations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 Delineate the operation flow chart for the operation area in the present invention; Figure 2 It is a flowchart of executing instruction operations in the present invention; Figure 3 A flow chart of the operation of issuing instructions for the present invention; Figure 4 It is the overall flow chart of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the cross-field cold box door adjustment operation in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the cold box door adjustment operation in the same field in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0015] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

[0016] In the description of the invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "install", "connect", "connect", "fixed connection" and "fixed connection" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0017] The specific implementation of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments.

[0018] like Figure 1As shown in the figure, a method for automatically planning the path of the cold box door adjustment by a horizontal transport robot is used. Using ART (Artificial Intelligence Robot of Transportation), the horizontal transport scheduling system will plan the reverse route within the area. The operation process of demarcating the operation area is as follows ( Figure 1 ): S1. Set up the cold box door adjustment area in the horizontal transport dispatching system that meets the requirements of this cold box door adjustment operation.

[0019] S11. Determine whether it is a same-site container transfer door or a cross-site container transfer door. The cross-site cold container transfer door needs to lock the area between the cross-sites and its automated lanes.

[0020] S12. After the cold box door area is set up, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically send the temporarily parked vehicles that interfere with operations in the area to other areas for temporary parking.

[0021] S2. Send the cold container door adjustment instruction in TOS (Terminal Operating System) to the ART involved in the cold container door adjustment operation.

[0022] TOS generates and distributes instructions. The user generates a box-adjustment door instruction on the business side and sets whether to cross the field, and distributes the instruction to the ART in the specified device pool. The specific process is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0023] S3. After ART receives the instruction, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically plan a reasonable cold box door transfer path and send it to ART for execution. The specific process is as follows: Figure 3 shown.

[0024] The details are as follows: S31. Determine whether it is a same-yard container switching door or a cross-yard container switching door. In the cross-yard cold box container switching door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan a U-shaped route; in the same-yard cold box container switching door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan an 8-shaped route.

[0025] The difference between the same-field door and the cross-field door: Based on the usage of the terminal site and the berthing position of the ship, there are two requirements or methods for the refrigerated container switching door. When the site usage rate is low and the berthing position of the ship is close to the site, the same-site switching door is used, that is, the front and rear positions of the switching door are in the same site. Otherwise, the cross-site switching door is used.

[0026] Since the front and rear positions of the switch box door are different, and the bicycle must return to the normal operating direction after the switch box door operation is completed, two different operation routes are designed to meet the switch box door business and enable the bicycle to return to the normal driving direction after the switch box door operation is completed (such as Figure 5 , Figure 6 , within the venue, the normal direction of bicycle travel is from left to right).

[0027] S32. After the cold box door adjustment instruction is completed, ART automatically stops after executing the turning path, and the cold box door adjustment is completed.

[0028] See the general flow chart of the box door adjustment Figure 4 First, set up the cold box door adjustment area that meets the requirements of this cold box door adjustment operation in the horizontal transportation scheduling system; then distribute the cold box door adjustment instruction in T0S to the ART involved in the cold box door operation; after the ART receives the instruction, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will automatically plan a reasonable cold box door adjustment path and distribute it to the ART for execution; finally, after the ART executes the U-turn path, it will automatically stop and the cold box door adjustment is completed.

[0029] The specific implementation is as follows: The present invention provides a path planning of a horizontal transportation scheduling system for a cold box door using an ART (Artificial Intelligence Robot of Transportation). In the cold box door operation area, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan a reverse route in the area, and its path characteristics are: like Figure 5 As shown in the figure, in the cross-yard cold box door switching operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan a U-shaped route; taking the cross-yard cold box door switching operation from 7C to 8C as an example, the 7C-8C area of ​​C yard and its automated lanes are set as the cold box door switching operation area. The ART will drive forward into 7C to receive the box, then go straight to the 7C exit, turn downward, drive in the opposite direction to the 8C yard to deliver the box, and after the delivery of the box is completed, continue to drive in the opposite direction to the 8C entrance, turn upward, and drive forward to the 7C yard. At this point, a complete cold box door switching operation cycle is completed. Similarly, if the ART drives forward into 8C to receive the box, it will go straight to the 8C exit, turn upward, drive in the opposite direction to 7C to deliver the box, and after the delivery of the box is completed, continue to drive in the opposite direction to the 7C entrance, turn downward, and drive forward to the 8C yard. At this point, a complete cold box door switching operation cycle is completed.

[0030] like Figure 6As shown in the figure, in the cold box door switching operation in the same yard, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan an 8-shaped route. Taking the cold box door switching operation in the same yard of 8A as an example, the 5A-6A-7A-8A area of ​​​​A yard and its automated lanes are set as the cold box door switching operation area. The ART will drive forward to the 8A yard to receive the box, then go straight to the 8A exit and turn downward, drive to the 6A exit position and drive in the opposite direction to the 6A yard, continue to drive in the opposite direction to the 6A entrance position and turn upward to the 5A entrance, then turn to the 5A yard, continue to drive forward to the 5A exit and turn downward, drive in the opposite direction to the 8A exit and drive in the opposite direction to 8A to deliver the box, and after the delivery of the box is completed, continue to drive in the opposite direction to the 8A entrance and turn upward, and then drive to the 7A entrance position and turn forward to enter the 7A yard. At this point, a complete cold box door switching operation cycle is completed.

[0031] It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for automatically planning the path of a cold box door by a horizontal transport robot, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1: Set up the cold box door adjustment area that meets the requirements of this cold box door adjustment operation in the horizontal transportation scheduling system; S2: Send the cold box door adjustment instruction in TOS to the ART involved in the cold box door adjustment operation; S3: After ART receives the instruction, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically plan a reasonable path for the cold box door adjustment and dispatch it to ART for execution; During the cold container door adjustment operation, ART needs to deliver the container in the reverse direction to achieve the purpose of door adjustment. In the reverse state, ART can still perform the alignment-locking-operation process normally with ARMG.

2. The method for automatically realizing the path planning of the cold box door by the horizontal transport robot according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The S1 comprises the following steps: S11. Determine whether it is a door for transferring containers in the same field or a door for transferring containers across fields. The door for transferring containers across fields needs to lock the area between the fields and its automated lanes; S12. After the cold box door area is set up, the horizontal transportation dispatching system will automatically send the temporarily parked vehicles that interfere with operations in the area to other areas for temporary parking.

3. The path planning method for automatically realizing the cold box door adjustment by the horizontal transport robot according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The S3 comprises the following steps: S31. Determine whether it is a same-field door or a cross-field door. In the cross-field cold box door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan a U-shaped route; in the same-field cold box door operation, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will plan an 8-shaped route; S32. After the cold box door adjustment instruction is completed, ART automatically stops after executing the turning path, and the cold box door adjustment is completed.

4. The method for automatically realizing the path planning of cold box door adjustment by a horizontal transport robot according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The cold box switching door area is divided into two types: same-site switching door and cross-site switching door. The cross-site cold box switching door requires the area between the cross-sites and its automated lane; the same-site cold box switching door requires the operating site and its three adjacent sites and its automated lane.

5. The method for automatically realizing the path planning of cold box door adjustment by a horizontal transport robot according to claim 4 is characterized in that: After the cold box door adjustment operation area is delineated, this area will automatically prohibit ARTs without cold box door adjustment tasks from generating paths to this area.

6. The path planning method for automatically realizing the cold box door adjustment by the horizontal transport robot according to claim 4 is characterized in that: After the cold box shunting door operation area is delineated, if there are vehicles parked temporarily in the area that affect the cold box shunting door, the horizontal transportation scheduling system will automatically send routes for these vehicles to go to other idle areas for temporary parking.

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