A high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing

Abstract

The present invention discloses a high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing, comprising the following steps: S1. setting an entrance docking robot, an unloading robot, a palletizing robot, a handling robot, an exit docking robot, a master control robot, and an inventory robot; S2. for items to be shipped out, when a truck arrives at the warehouse entrance, the entrance docking robot directs the truck to dock with the warehouse door; S3. After docking is completed, the unloading robot unloads the goods; S4. After docking is completed, the palletizing robot palletizes; S5. The master control robot determines the cargo location of the items, and a forklift begins handling; S6. for items to be shipped out, when a truck arrives at the warehouse exit, the forklift carries the items to the warehouse exit, the exit docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse exit, and after alignment, the handling robot carries the items. The present invention distributes the overall computing tasks to other robots, reducing the burden on the master control robot and improving computing efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot management method, in particular to a high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing. Background Art

[0002] In traditional warehouse environments, logistics and transportation have long relied on a combination of manual labor and simple mechanical equipment. For example, the handling of raw materials typically relies on forklift drivers operating forklifts, which frequently travel back and forth between the warehouse and the production floor, transferring goods from storage shelves to the start of the production line. Within the workshop, small parts are delivered either by workers pushing carts or on fixed conveyor belts. This traditional model played a key role in the early stages of factory production. However, with the continued expansion of warehouses, rising production efficiency standards, and the increasing complexity of product types, its shortcomings have become increasingly apparent.

[0003] During manual handling and traditional transportation operations, errors are frequent because they rely primarily on humans to record and identify attribute information. Furthermore, the large number of manual workers involved in logistics and transportation contributes to a significant proportion of labor costs in a factory's total operating costs. With rising wages in the labor market, labor cost pressures are becoming increasingly severe, leading warehouses to gradually adopt robots for logistics management. Since factory logistics and transportation encompass numerous processes, if they are to be managed entirely by robots without human intervention, multiple functions must be integrated into each robot's control chip, requiring the control chip to possess powerful computing power. However, existing chips have performance shortcomings. When running multiple algorithms in parallel, the computational efficiency is low, making it difficult to meet the stringent chip performance requirements of fully automated warehouse logistics management. This significantly limits the efficient application and promotion of robots in logistics, transportation, and warehousing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing to solve the problem of low computing efficiency when implementing factory robot management in the prior art.

[0005] The object of the present invention is achieved like this:

[0006] A high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing includes the following steps:

[0007] S1. An entrance docking robot is installed above the warehouse entrance, an unloading robot is installed at the entrance, a palletizing robot is installed at the end of the conveyor belt, a handling robot is installed at the exit, and an exit docking robot is installed above the exit; a master control robot is installed in the control room, an inventory robot is installed next to the shelves, and an order dispatch terminal is installed on the forklift;

[0008] S2. When a truck arrives at the warehouse entrance for incoming items, the entrance docking robot aligns the truck with the warehouse entrance gate. Once aligned, it sends a docking completion message to the master control robot.

[0009] S3. The master control robot sends an unloading instruction to the unloading robot. The unloading robot unloads the items on the truck onto the conveyor belt, identifies the attribute information of the items, counts the number of items, and sends the results to the master control robot;

[0010] S4. The master control robot sends a palletizing instruction to the palletizing robot. The palletizing robot palletizes the items on the conveyor belt on the pallet and sends the attribute information and the number of items on the pallet to the master control robot.

[0011] S5. The master control robot determines the corresponding storage location for the items on the pallet based on the item attributes and quantity sent by the palletizing robot. It then sends a transport message to the dispatch terminal. The forklift driver then uses the forklift to transport the items on the pallet to the corresponding storage location according to the dispatch terminal's instructions.

[0012] S6. For items waiting to be shipped out, when the truck arrives at the warehouse exit, the exit docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse exit gate. Once alignment is complete, a docking completion message is sent to the master control robot. The forklift then transports the items to the warehouse exit. The master control robot then sends a transport instruction to the transport robot, which then transports the items from the forklift to the truck.

[0013] Furthermore, in step S2, the specific method in which the entrance docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse entrance gate is:

[0014] S2a-1. The entrance docking robot obtains the video stream of the truck;

[0015] S2a-2 entrance docking robot based on the obtained video stream of the truck, determine the center line of the truck and the center line of the entrance gate;

[0016] S2a-3. Determine whether the centerline of the truck coincides with the centerline of the entrance gate;

[0017] S2a-4. If they do not overlap, the entrance docking robot calculates the offset direction and offset amount of the truck and outputs a voice command based on the offset direction and offset amount. If they overlap, it directly issues a voice command of "backwards" until the rear of the truck is aligned with the warehouse entrance gate.

[0018] Furthermore, in step S5, the specific method of determining the cargo location corresponding to the items on the pallet is:

[0019] S5a-1. Determine the shelf corresponding to the item on the pallet according to the category of the item;

[0020] S5a-2. According to the information of the items on the shelf, determine the idle cargo space on the shelf;

[0021] S5a-3. Determine the storage location of the items on the pallet based on the idle storage locations.

[0022] Furthermore, the specific method of determining the cargo location of the item in step S5a-3 is:

[0023] S5a-3-1. Prioritize the price, volume, and production date of items;

[0024] S5a-3-2. If the storage location of items is determined by price, the prices of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively high prices is an idle storage location at a high position; if the storage location of items is determined by volume, the volumes of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively large volumes is an idle storage location at a high position; if the items are sorted from latest to earliest by production date, the production dates of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively late production dates is an idle storage location at a high position.

[0025] Furthermore, the method further includes step S7 in which the master control robot sends an inventory instruction to the inventory counting robot, the inventory counting robot counts the items on the cargo location, and sends the inventory result to the master control robot.

[0026] Furthermore, the specific method for the inventory robot to inventory the items on the shelf is as follows:

[0027] S7a-1. The inventory robot obtains the video stream of the cargo space, identifies the information of the items on the cargo space, counts the attribute information of the items on each cargo space, and sends it to the master control robot;

[0028] S7a-2. The inventory robot inputs the acquired video stream into the cargo damage identification model to determine whether the item is damaged. If damaged, the attribute information and location of the damaged item and the corresponding video stream are sent to the master control robot.

[0029] Furthermore, the inventory counting robot also performs sound monitoring of items in the warehouse:

[0030] The inventory robot collects sounds in the warehouse and determines whether any items have fallen based on the collected sounds.

[0031] Furthermore, an inspection terminal is provided, which is used to receive inspection instructions sent by the master control robot. The inspection terminal receives the instructions from the master control robot and sends inspection personnel to conduct inspections.

[0032] This invention breaks down the overall computing tasks and assigns them to individual robots in the warehouse. By distributing computing tasks across multiple robots, tasks can be processed in parallel, reducing computation time and overall costs. The master control robot is solely responsible for processing information sent by robots in the warehouse, improving information processing efficiency. Each robot handles only its corresponding task, eliminating the need for high-performance chips to process information, thus improving computing efficiency.

[0033] The present invention deploys robots performing different tasks within the warehouse, with a master control robot located in the main control room. The robots within the warehouse receive instructions from the master control robot and transmit information on completed tasks to the master control robot. Simply by receiving information from the robots within the warehouse, the master control robot can monitor the overall warehouse operation, including inventory layout, the scheduling of incoming and outgoing goods, and the operating status of each robot. The master control robot also determines the storage location of items based on their attributes, optimizing warehouse storage space. Within the warehouse, the master control robot verifies item attributes both before and after entry, further improving the accuracy of warehouse inventory management. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The present invention is described in further detail below.

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0037] Warehouses are used to store items and have an entrance and exit. The entrance is where items enter the warehouse, and the exit is where items leave the warehouse. When a truck needs to deliver items to the warehouse, it needs to stop at the entrance. When a truck needs to move items out of the warehouse, it needs to stop at the exit. A conveyor belt leading to the interior is installed at the entrance, and items on the truck can be placed onto the conveyor belt from the entrance. Pallets are installed at the end of the conveyor belt, and items on the conveyor belt can be stacked onto the pallets. Shelves are also installed inside the warehouse, and forklifts can be used to transport items from pallets to the shelves for storage.

[0038] S1. An entrance docking robot is installed above the warehouse entrance, an unloading robot is located at the entrance, a palletizing robot is located at the end of the conveyor belt, a handling robot is located at the exit, and an exit docking robot is located above the exit. A master control robot is located in the control room, an inventory robot is located next to the shelves, and an order dispatch terminal is installed on the forklift. The master control robot is used to manage the other robots.

[0039] The entrance docking robot, unloading robot, stacking robot, handling robot, exit docking robot and inventory robot are all equipped with cameras, controllers and network transmission modules. The master control robot is equipped with a controller and network transmission module. The unloading robot, handling robot, stacking robot and inventory robot all include manipulators.

[0040] Industrial Wireless Networks are used for data transmission in warehouses.

[0041] When a truck carrying items arrives at the warehouse entrance by reversing, the entrance docking robot observes whether the truck is aligned with the warehouse door and directs the truck to dock accurately with the warehouse door; the unloading robot moves the items from the truck to the conveyor belt and counts them; the stacking robot stacks the items on the conveyor belt onto pallets; the handling robot moves the items from the forklift to the truck at the warehouse exit; the inventory robot counts the items on the shelves and sends the inventory results to the master control robot.

[0042] Each robot controls the network transmission module through its internal controller to receive and transmit information, facilitating information exchange between the master control robot and each robot in the warehouse; robots equipped with manipulators control the movements of the manipulators through their controllers to grab objects; robots equipped with cameras control the cameras to capture video streams through their controllers.

[0043] S2. For items waiting to be stored, when a truck arrives at the warehouse entrance, the entrance docking robot directs the truck to dock with the warehouse entrance gate. After docking is complete, the entrance docking robot sends a docking completion message to the master control robot.

[0044] Before the truck arrives at the warehouse entrance, the master control robot has already received the purchase order. The purchase order of the master control robot can be sent by an external system, for example, the supplier's system.

[0045] The master control robot sends the truck's identification information to the entrance docking robot based on the purchase order. When a truck arrives at the warehouse entrance, the entrance docking robot's controller controls the camera to obtain the truck's video stream, recognizes the truck's identification information, such as the license plate number, and checks whether the recognized license plate number is consistent with the truck's identification information sent by the master control robot. If they are consistent, the entrance docking robot opens the warehouse door by controlling the button on the warehouse door and directs the truck to dock with the warehouse door.

[0046] The entrance docking robot obtains the video stream of the truck and uses an image processing algorithm to determine the center line of the truck and the center line of the warehouse entrance gate. Based on the center lines of the two, it calculates the offset direction and offset amount between the truck and the warehouse entrance gate. Based on the calculation results, the entrance docking robot issues voice commands, such as "adjust left", "adjust right", etc.; until the center line of the truck and the center line of the warehouse entrance gate are in a straight line, at this time, the truck driver is instructed to reverse through voice commands, such as "start reversing" and "stop reversing", so that the rear of the truck is aligned with the warehouse entrance gate.

[0047] After the alignment is completed, the entrance docking robot sends a docking completion message to the master control robot so that the master control robot can direct the next stage of robot work.

[0048] S3. The master control robot sends an unloading instruction to the unloading robot. The unloading robot unloads the items on the truck onto the conveyor belt, identifies the attribute information of the items, counts the number of items, and sends the result to the master control robot.

[0049] The items in this invention are typically standard parts, such as rectangular or cube-shaped boxes. Attribute labels are affixed to the outside of the boxes. Unloading and palletizing robots use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to identify the attribute information on the attribute labels. Attribute information typically includes item category, item name, price, production date, manufacturer, and box size.

[0050] After the master control robot receives the information that the entrance docking robot has completed the docking task, the master control robot sends an unloading instruction to the unloading robot. The unloading robot unloads the items from the truck to the conveyor belt, identifies the attribute tags of the unloaded items, and counts the number of items during the unloading process.

[0051] The unloading robot sends the counting results and attribute information of the items unloaded from the truck to the master control robot. The master control robot checks the counting results, attribute information of the items and the information of the purchase order, and issues an alarm when there is inconsistency in the category or quantity of the items.

[0052] After the unloading robot grabs the items on the truck with its manipulator and places them on the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt starts working until the items on it are transported to the end, waiting for the palletizing robot to grab and palletize them.

[0053] S4. The master control robot sends a palletizing instruction to the palletizing robot. The palletizing robot palletizes the items on the conveyor belt on the pallet and sends the attribute information and quantity of the items on the pallet to the master control robot.

[0054] After the master control robot sends an unloading instruction to the unloading robot, it then sends a palletizing instruction to the stacking robot. The stacking robot identifies the attribute tags of the items on the conveyor belt, obtains the attribute information of the items, and stacks items of the same category on the same pallet. When the items on the pallet are fully stacked, the attribute information of the stacked items is sent to the master control robot. Because the types of items on the truck can vary, multiple pallets are usually set up at the end of the conveyor belt. Items of the same category are placed on the same pallet, and items of different categories are stacked on different pallets. The number of items stacked on the same pallet can be determined by the stacking height. For example, when the height of the stacked items on a pallet reaches the set height, a different pallet should be used for stacking, even if there are still items of the same category on the conveyor belt.

[0055] S5. The master control robot determines the corresponding cargo location of the items based on the attribute information of the palletized items sent by the palletizing robot, and sends the transportation information to the dispatch terminal. The forklift then transports the items to the designated cargo location.

[0056] When palletizing is completed, the palletizing robot sends a palletizing completion message and the attributes of the palletized items to the master control robot. The master control robot determines the shelf and layer number corresponding to the item based on the item's attributes.

[0057] When determining the storage location for items, the master control robot first identifies unused storage spaces on the shelves. Then, based on the attributes of the items stacked on the pallet, it prioritizes placing items from the same pallet on the same shelf, ensuring that existing items on the shelf and the items to be placed are of the same type as possible. For different shelf levels, the robot arranges items according to the principle of placing valuable items upwards, i.e., relatively expensive items are placed in high, unused storage spaces; placing items with earlier production dates downwards, i.e., relatively late production dates are placed in high, unused storage spaces; and placing larger items downwards, i.e., relatively larger items are placed in high, unused storage spaces. Items with the same price, production date, and volume are randomly arranged. If at least two of the parameters, price, production date, or volume, differ, the priority of the parameters determines which attribute should be used for placement. For example, price can be the first level, production date as the second level, and volume as the third level. Then, when the volume is the same but the price and production date are different, the items should be placed according to their value, that is, high-priced items should be placed at the top and low-priced items should be placed at the bottom.

[0058] After the master control robot determines the placement of the items on the pallet, it sends the handling information to the dispatch terminal. The forklift driver uses the forklift to transport the items on the pallet to the shelf according to the instructions of the dispatch terminal on the forklift, and places the items on the corresponding shelf as required.

[0059] When the handling is completed, the forklift driver operates on the dispatch terminal and sends a message of task completion to the master control robot.

[0060] S6. For items waiting to be shipped out, when the truck arrives at the warehouse exit, the exit docking robot verifies the truck. Once the verification is correct, the exit docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse exit gate. Once the alignment is complete, a docking completion message is sent to the master control robot. The forklift then transports the items to the warehouse exit. The master control robot then sends a transport instruction to the transport robot, which then transports the items from the forklift to the truck.

[0061] Before a truck arrives at the warehouse exit, the master control robot has already received a shipping order. This shipping order can be sent from an external system, such as a distributor's system. When the truck arrives at the warehouse exit, it sends its identification information to the exit docking robot. The exit docking robot verifies the truck's identification information, namely the license plate number. Once verified, it notifies the master control robot of the truck's arrival. The exit docking robot then aligns the truck's rear end with the warehouse exit, using the same method as the entrance docking robot. Once docking is complete, the master control robot sends a docking completion message to the master control robot. After receiving the truck arrival message from the exit docking robot, the master control robot determines the items to be shipped based on the shipping order. The master control robot then sends the item's attributes and location to the dispatch terminal on the forklift. The forklift driver, following the instructions on the dispatch terminal, uses the forklift to move the items from the shelf to the warehouse exit and sends a task message to the master control robot via the dispatch terminal confirming the items have been moved to the exit.

[0062] When the master control robot receives the docking completion information sent by the export docking robot and receives the task information sent by the dispatch terminal that the items have been moved to the export, the master control robot sends an instruction to start moving to the transport robot. The transport robot moves the items from the forklift to the truck and counts them, and sends the transport results and counting results to the master control robot. The master control robot checks the counting results with the shipping order. If the verification is correct, the transport results will be saved. If the verification is incorrect, an alarm message will be issued.

[0063] The master control robot summarizes the warehouse's throughput daily, generating records for incoming and outgoing goods. To build a digital twin model of the warehouse, the master control robot uses the warehouse's dimensions, the location, size, and number of shelves, and the width and length of aisles as the model's foundational geometric data. The robot collects data from robots in the warehouse and simulates their movements within the digital twin. Based on the item attribute information sent by robots, the master control robot constructs item models within the digital twin model. The robot also updates the digital twin model in real time, providing a timely understanding of the warehouse's situation.

[0064] In the present invention, an exit docking robot and an entrance docking robot are used to direct the alignment of the truck with the warehouse door, thereby avoiding accidents when personnel are directing the alignment of the truck with the warehouse door.

[0065] S7. The master control robot sends a start-of-work instruction to the inventory counting robot. The inventory counting robot counts the items on the storage location and sends the counted information to the master control robot.

[0066] The master control robot determines whether there is a forklift carrying out transportation in the warehouse. Specifically, a camera can be installed in the warehouse. The master control robot obtains the video stream in the warehouse through the camera, identifies the video stream, and determines whether there is a forklift carrying out transportation in the warehouse; the master control robot can also determine whether there is a forklift carrying out transportation in the warehouse by obtaining the information sent by the dispatch terminal. When the dispatch terminal has no unfinished tasks, it means that the forklift has stopped carrying transportation; otherwise, it means that the forklift is still carrying transportation in the warehouse.

[0067] When there is no forklift moving in the warehouse, the master control robot sends an inventory command to the inventory robot. The inventory robot counts the items on the shelf and sends the statistical information to the master control robot. It also obtains the video stream of the shelf to determine whether there are any damaged items. If there are damaged items, the damaged items are placed in the damaged cargo area, and the attribute information and location of the damaged items and the corresponding video stream are sent to the master control robot.

[0068] The inventory robot identifies whether an item is damaged based on a cargo damage recognition model. The cargo damage model is pre-trained. Specifically, video streams of various damaged items are used as samples and input into the model for training to obtain a cargo damage recognition model.

[0069] The master control robot determines whether there are any problems with missing goods or misplaced items based on the statistical information sent by the inventory robot and the previously recorded information about the items at each storage location in the warehouse. If there are misplaced items, staff will be sent to check.

[0070] Furthermore, the inventory robot can also recognize sounds. When an item falls next to the shelf, the inventory robot can hear the sound of the item falling in time, issue an alarm, and upload it to the master control robot.

[0071] The robots in the warehouse are also equipped with warning lights, which will light up when an alarm is sounded.

[0072] Furthermore, an inspection terminal is provided. The inspection terminal is used to receive inspection instructions sent by the master control robot and dispatch inspection personnel. The master control robot sends the inspection instructions to the inspection terminal. The inspection personnel hold the inspection terminal and conduct inspections according to the inspection instructions received by the inspection terminal. After the inspection is completed, they click "Complete" on the inspection terminal, and the inspection terminal sends the completion information to the master control robot.

Claims

1. A high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing, characterized in that: The steps include: S1. An entrance docking robot is installed above the warehouse entrance, an unloading robot is installed at the entrance, a palletizing robot is installed at the end of the conveyor belt, a handling robot is installed at the exit, and an exit docking robot is installed above the exit; a master control robot is installed in the control room, an inventory robot is installed next to the shelves, and an order dispatch terminal is installed on the forklift; S2. When a truck arrives at the warehouse entrance for incoming items, the entrance docking robot aligns the truck with the warehouse entrance gate. Once aligned, it sends a docking completion message to the master control robot. S3. The master control robot sends an unloading instruction to the unloading robot. The unloading robot unloads the items on the truck onto the conveyor belt, identifies the attribute information of the items, counts the number of items, and sends the results to the master control robot; S4. The master control robot sends a palletizing instruction to the palletizing robot. The palletizing robot palletizes the items on the conveyor belt on the pallet and sends the attribute information and the number of items on the pallet to the master control robot. S5. The master control robot determines the corresponding storage location for the items on the pallet based on the item attributes and quantity sent by the palletizing robot. It then sends a transport message to the dispatch terminal. The forklift driver then uses the forklift to transport the items on the pallet to the corresponding storage location according to the dispatch terminal's instructions. S6. For items waiting to be shipped, when the truck arrives at the warehouse exit, the exit docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse exit gate. Once aligned, it sends a docking completion message to the master control robot. The forklift then carries the items to the warehouse exit. The master control robot then sends a carry instruction to the transport robot, which then transfers the items from the forklift to the truck. S7. The master control robot sends an inventory command to the inventory robot. The inventory robot counts the items on the shelf and sends the inventory results to the master control robot. The specific way for the inventory robot to count the items on the shelf is as follows: S7a-1. The inventory robot obtains the video stream of the cargo space, identifies the information of the items on the cargo space, counts the attribute information of the items on each cargo space, and sends it to the master control robot; S7a-2. The inventory robot inputs the acquired video stream into the cargo damage recognition model to determine whether the item is damaged. If damaged, the damaged item's attribute information and location, as well as the corresponding video stream, are sent to the master control robot. The inventory counting robot also performs acoustic monitoring of items in the warehouse: The inventory robot collects sounds in the warehouse and determines whether any items have fallen based on the collected sounds.

2. The high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, the specific method in which the entrance docking robot directs the truck to align with the warehouse entrance gate is: S2a-1. The entrance docking robot obtains the video stream of the truck; S2a-2 entrance docking robot based on the obtained video stream of the truck, determine the center line of the truck and the center line of the entrance gate; S2a-3. Determine whether the centerline of the truck coincides with the centerline of the entrance gate; S2a-4. If they do not overlap, the entrance docking robot calculates the truck's offset direction and offset amount, and outputs a voice command based on the offset direction and offset amount. If they overlap, it directly issues a "backward" voice command until the rear of the truck is aligned with the warehouse entrance gate.

3. The high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The specific method of determining the cargo location corresponding to the items on the pallet in step S5 is: S5a-1. Determine the shelf corresponding to the item on the pallet according to the category of the item; S5a-2. According to the information of the items on the shelf, determine the idle cargo space on the shelf; S5a-3. Determine the storage location of the items on the pallet based on the idle storage locations.

4. The high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing according to claim 3, characterized in that: The specific method of determining the cargo location of the item in step S5a-3 is: S5a-3-1. Prioritize the price, volume, and production date of items; S5a-3-2. If the storage location of items is determined by price, the prices of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively high prices is an idle storage location at a high position; if the storage location of items is determined by volume, the volumes of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively large volumes is an idle storage location at a high position; if the items are sorted from latest to earliest by production date, the production dates of the items on the pallet are compared, and the storage location of items with relatively late production dates is an idle storage location at a high position.

5. The high-efficiency distributed robot cluster management method for supply chain warehousing according to claim 1, characterized in that: An inspection terminal is also provided, which is used to receive inspection instructions sent by the master control robot. The inspection terminal receives the instructions from the master control robot and sends inspection personnel to conduct inspections.

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