An online hybrid palletizing method, device and apparatus

Abstract

The application provides an online mixed stacking method, device and equipment, the method comprising: determining the idle space of the stacked box on the carrier, determining a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the idle space; for each reference placement position, determining the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position; the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position represents the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position; based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, selecting a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions, and controlling the robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position. Through the application scheme, automatic and efficient online mixed stacking is realized, the stability of the stack type is improved, the volume rate of the stack type is improved, and the stacking efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of palletizing, in particular to an online mixed palletizing method, device and equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the logistics and warehousing scene, palletizing is an important application with a large number of application requirements. In the palletizing process, mixed palletizing (i.e., mixed palletizing) is to palletize (stack) box bodies of different size specifications one by one on a carrier (such as a pallet or a tray, etc.). Mixed palletizing can include online mixed palletizing and offline mixed palletizing. Online mixed palletizing refers to a palletizing process in which the palletizing order cannot be known in advance, and the palletizing position is planned in real time according to the box body. Offline mixed palletizing refers to a palletizing process in which the palletizing order is known in advance, and the stacking type position is planned in advance according to the box body. For box bodies of multiple size specifications in the palletizing order, how to realize online mixed palletizing of these box bodies, i.e., how to realize automatic and efficient online mixed palletizing, has not been effectively implemented in the related art. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application provides an online mixed palletizing method, which comprises: determining, for a target box body to be palletized on a carrier, an idle space of a palletized box body on the carrier, and determining a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box body based on the idle space; for each reference placement position, determining a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on box attribute information of the target box body, box attribute information of a reference palletized box body around the reference placement position, and a relative attribute between the target box body and the reference placement position; wherein the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position represents a matching degree of the target box body and the reference placement position; selecting a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and controlling a robot to palletize the target box body on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0004] The present application provides an online mixed palletizing device, which comprises: a determination module configured to determine, for a target box body to be palletized on a carrier, an idle space of a palletized box body on the carrier, and determine a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box body based on the idle space; a processing module configured to determine, for each reference placement position, a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on box attribute information of the target box body, box attribute information of a reference palletized box body around the reference placement position, and a relative attribute between the target box body and the reference placement position; wherein the target matching degree represents a matching degree of the target box body and the reference placement position; and a placement module configured to select a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and control a robot to palletize the target box body on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0005] The application provides a control device, comprising a processor and a machine readable storage medium, the machine readable storage medium stores machine executable instructions capable of being executed by the processor; the processor is used for executing the machine executable instructions to realize the online mixed stacking method of the above examples of the application.

[0006] The application provides a control system for online mixed stacking, the control system comprises a control device and a robot; wherein the control device is used for executing the online mixed stacking method of the above examples to obtain a target placement position corresponding to a target box; the control device is also used for sending a scheduling instruction for the target box to the robot, the scheduling instruction comprising the target placement position; the robot is used for obtaining the target placement position from the scheduling instruction after receiving the scheduling instruction, and stacking the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0007] The application provides a machine readable storage medium, the machine readable storage medium stores machine executable instructions capable of being executed by a processor; wherein the processor is used for executing the machine executable instructions to realize the online mixed stacking method of the above examples of the application.

[0008] The application provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program, the computer program is executed by a processor to realize the online mixed stacking method of the above examples of the application.

[0009] From the above technical solutions, in the embodiments of the application, when stacking a target box (i.e. a box of multiple size specifications in an order is sequentially taken as a target box) on a carrier, the idle space of the stacked box on the carrier is determined, and the multiple reference placement positions of the target box are determined based on the idle space. Based on the attribute information of the target box and the attribute information of the stacked box around each reference placement position, a target placement position is selected from the multiple reference placement positions, and the robot is controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position, thereby realizing automatic and efficient online mixed stacking of boxes of multiple size specifications, saving labor and improving logistics turnover efficiency. It can improve the stability of the stack, improve the volume rate of the stack, improve the stacking efficiency, and improve the production efficiency. Improve the safety, practicality and stability of the actual mixed stacking. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the online mixed stacking method in an embodiment of the application;

[0011] Figure 2 is a flowchart of the online mixed stacking method in an embodiment of the application;

[0012] Figure 3A This is a schematic diagram of three-dimensional spatial updating in one embodiment of this application;

[0013] Figure 3B and Figure 3C This is a schematic diagram of multiple placement positions in one embodiment of this application;

[0014] Figure 4A This is a schematic diagram of spurious support and non-spurious support in one embodiment of this application;

[0015] Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram of the support area corresponding to the four corner supports in one embodiment of this application;

[0016] Figure 4C This is a schematic diagram of the support area corresponding to the two corner supports in one embodiment of this application;

[0017] Figure 4D This is a schematic diagram of the stack height difference in one embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 5A and Figure 5B This is a schematic diagram of type matching in one embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 5C This is a schematic diagram of the spatial boundary in one embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an online hybrid palletizing method according to one embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an online hybrid palletizing device according to one embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 8 This is a hardware structure diagram of the control device in one embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0023] This application proposes an online hybrid palletizing method, which can be applied to control equipment. See [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 1 The diagram shown is a flowchart of the online hybrid palletizing method, which may include:

[0024] Step 101: For the target box to be stacked on the carrier, determine the free space of the stacked boxes on the carrier, and determine multiple reference placement positions of the target box based on the free space.

[0025] In step 102, for each reference placement position, a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position. The target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position represents the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position.

[0026] For example, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position is used to reflect the spatial matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position. The better the spatial matching degree reflected by the relative attribute, the better the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position.

[0027] For example, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position can include a bottom surface height. The meaning of the bottom surface height can be referred to subsequent embodiments. Optionally, in addition to the bottom surface height, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position can also include a similarity. The meaning of the similarity can be referred to subsequent embodiments. Optionally, in addition to the bottom surface height, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position can also include a remaining space area. The meaning of the remaining space area can be referred to subsequent embodiments.

[0028] In step 103, a target placement position is selected from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and the robot is controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0029] For example, determining the plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the idle space can include but is not limited to: determining a plurality of placement positions of the target box in the idle space; wherein the target box can be aligned with a plurality of corners of the idle space to obtain a plurality of placement positions, and after the target box is rotated by 90 degrees in a plane, the target box can be aligned with a plurality of corners of the idle space to obtain a plurality of placement positions. For example, rotating the target box by 90 degrees in a plane means rotating the target box by 90 degrees around a point in a plane. The point is called a rotation center, and the rotation center can be any position point of the target box, such as a vertex of the target box as the rotation center.

[0030] For each placement position, if the placement position meets the configured constraint condition, the placement position is determined as the reference placement position of the target box; or, if the placement position does not meet the configured constraint condition, the placement position is prohibited to be determined as the reference placement position of the target box.

[0031] For example, the constraint condition can include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a size constraint condition, a support area constraint condition, a height difference constraint condition, a load bearing constraint condition. Wherein, if the target box is in the placement position, the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable length range of the load bearing, and the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable width range of the load bearing, and the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable height range of the load bearing, the placement position satisfies the size constraint condition.

[0032] For example, the maximum allowable length range of the load bearing refers to the outward expansion length threshold in the length direction of the load bearing (i.e. the outward expansion length threshold in both directions of the length), and for the load bearing without boundaries on the four sides such as a pallet, the length threshold can be greater than 0, and for the load bearing with boundaries on the four sides such as a material box, the length threshold can be equal to 0, and the range after the outward expansion length threshold is the maximum allowable length range. On this basis, if the target box is in the placement position, it can be judged whether the target box exceeds the maximum allowable length range of the load bearing. For example, the load bearing is outwardly expanded by 5 cm in the length direction, and the target box is in the placement position, the target box is located within the range of outward expansion by 5 cm, and does not exceed the maximum allowable length range, and the target box is located outside the range of outward expansion by 5 cm, and exceeds the maximum allowable length range.

[0033] For example, the maximum allowable width range of the load bearing refers to the outward expansion width threshold in the width direction of the load bearing (i.e. the outward expansion width threshold in both directions of the width). The maximum allowable height range of the load bearing refers to the outward expansion height threshold in the height direction of the load bearing (i.e. the outward expansion height threshold above the height). In addition, if the target box is in the placement position, the ratio of the bottom surface support area to the bottom area of the target box is greater than the proportion threshold, the placement position satisfies the support area constraint condition; the bottom surface support area can be the overlapping area of the bottom of the target box and the upper surface of the first stacked box.

[0034] For example, the first stacked box is the first non-false support stacked box below the target box. If all the corners of the stacked box are support corners (in this case, the stacked box is completely supported by the adjacent stacked box below the stacked box), the stacked box as a non-false support stacked box, the support corner represents the corner in contact with the adjacent stacked box below the stacked box. Or, if the stacked box is supported by the load bearing, the stacked box as a non-false support stacked box. For example, the stacked box is a cuboid, the stacked box has four corners, for each corner, if the corner is in contact with the adjacent stacked box below the stacked box, the corner is a support corner.

[0035] In addition, if the target box is in the placement position, and a stack height difference is less than a height difference threshold, the placement position satisfies a height difference constraint condition. The stack height difference can be a difference between a maximum height and a minimum height of an upper surface of a stacked box when the target box is in the placement position. The maximum height can be a height between the upper surface of the target box and the support surface when the target box is in the placement position.

[0036] In addition, if the target box is in the placement position, and a weight value of the target box is not greater than a target bearing value corresponding to each stacked box below the target box, the placement position satisfies a bearing constraint condition. For each stacked box, the target bearing value corresponding to the stacked box is a difference between a maximum bearing value (i.e., a real bearing value, which represents a total weight value that can be placed on the stacked box) of the stacked box and a weight value of each box placed on the stacked box.

[0037] For example, for the support area constraint condition, the proportion threshold is determined based on a number of support angles between the target box and the adjacent stacked box below the target box. The more the number of support angles, the smaller the proportion threshold. In this embodiment, "adjacent" means contact, i.e., the target box is in contact with the adjacent stacked box below the target box. In addition, the support angle represents an angle at which the target box is in contact with the stacked box.

[0038] For example, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position can include a bottom surface height, which is a height difference between a bottom of the target box and the support surface when the target box is in the reference placement position. Based on this, determining the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position can include but is not limited to: determining a first score value based on the bottom surface height; determining a second score value based on the box attribute information of the target box and the box attribute information of the reference stacked box; determining a first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the first score value and the second score value; wherein the greater the bottom surface height, the smaller the first score value; if the box attribute information of the target box is the same as the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, the second score value can be a first value, otherwise, the second score value can be a second value, which is less than the first value; the box attribute information can include a box length, a box width, and a box height.

[0039] Selecting the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position can include but is not limited to: if the target matching degree includes a first matching degree, the reference placement position with the largest first matching degree can be selected as the target placement position.

[0040] Exemplarily, the selecting the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position can include but is not limited to: if the target matching degree includes the second matching degree, and there are M reference placement positions with the maximum first matching degree, M can be a positive integer greater than 1, then based on the second matching degree corresponding to the M reference placement positions, the reference placement position with the maximum second matching degree can be taken as the target placement position. Wherein: the determination process of the second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position can include but is not limited to: the second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position can be determined based on at least two of the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area, the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity, the fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area, and the sixth score value corresponding to the height matching value.

[0041] The adjacent area is the lateral overlapping area of the target box and the reference stacked box; the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area is determined based on the ratio of the adjacent area to the area of the target box.

[0042] The similarity is the average of the length similarity and the width similarity, the length similarity is determined based on the length of the target box and the length of the reference placement position, and the width similarity is determined based on the width of the target box and the width of the reference placement position; the greater the similarity, the greater the fourth score value.

[0043] The remaining space area is the remaining space area in the idle space of the reference placement position except the target box; the greater the remaining space area, the greater the fifth score value.

[0044] The height matching value is the difference between the upper surface height of the target box and the upper surface height of the reference stacked box; if the height matching value is less than a threshold value, the sixth score value is a third value, if the height matching value is not less than the threshold value, the sixth score value is a fourth value, and the fourth value is less than the third value.

[0045] Exemplarily, the selecting the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position can include but is not limited to: if the target matching degree includes the third matching degree, if there are M reference placement positions with the maximum first matching degree, and there are N reference placement positions with the maximum second matching degree in the M reference placement positions, N is a positive integer greater than 1, then based on the third matching degree corresponding to the N reference placement positions, the reference placement position with the maximum third matching degree is taken as the target placement position. Wherein: the determination process of the third matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position can include but is not limited to: the third matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the edge matching value of the target box and the reference stacked box; the edge matching value is the sum of the first matching value, the second matching value, the third matching value and the fourth matching value.

[0046] If the length direction starting point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the length of the center point connection in the width direction satisfies the length constraint, the first matching value is the fifth value; otherwise, the first matching value is the sixth value. If the length direction ending point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the length of the center point connection in the width direction satisfies the length constraint, the second matching value is the fifth value; otherwise, the second matching value is the sixth value. If the width direction starting point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the length of the center point connection in the length direction satisfies the length constraint, the third matching value is the fifth value; otherwise, the third matching value is the sixth value. If the width direction ending point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the length of the center point connection in the length direction satisfies the length constraint, the fourth matching value is the fifth value; otherwise, the fourth matching value is the sixth value. The sixth value is less than the fifth value.

[0047] According to the technical solution, when a target box is stacked on a carrier, the idle space of the stacked box on the carrier is determined, and the multiple reference placement positions of the target box are determined based on the idle space. The target placement position is selected from the multiple reference placement positions based on the attribute information of the target box and the attribute information of the stacked box around each reference placement position. The robot is controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position, so that the multiple size specifications of the box are automatically and efficiently mixed and stacked online, saving labor and improving logistics turnover efficiency. The stability of the stack type, the stack volume rate, the stacking efficiency, and the production efficiency are improved. The safety, practicality, and stability of actual mixed stacking are improved.

[0048] The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application is described below in combination with specific application scenarios.

[0049] In a logistics storage scenario, mixed stacking (i.e., mixed stacking) is to stack (stack) different size specifications of boxes one by one on a carrier (such as a pallet or a tray, etc.). Mixed stacking includes online mixed stacking and offline mixed stacking. Online mixed stacking refers to a stacking process that cannot be known in advance. The stacking position is planned in real time according to the box condition. For multiple size specifications of boxes in a stacking order, how to implement online mixed stacking of these boxes, i.e., how to implement automatic and efficient online mixed stacking, there is no effective implementation method in related technologies.

[0050] In view of the above finding, an online mixed stacking method is proposed in the embodiments of the present application, which can automatically and efficiently implement online mixed stacking of multiple size specifications of boxes, and improve the stability of the stack type.

[0051] The online mixed stacking method can be applied to a control device, which can be a control device of a robot (such as a robot used to implement a stacking function), used to control the robot to stack target boxes on a carrier, or other devices, which are not limited.

[0052] Referring to Figure 2 As shown in the flowchart of the online mixed stacking method, the method can include:

[0053] Step 201, determining a target box that needs to be stacked on a carrier.

[0054] For example, a stacking order can be obtained, which can include information of multiple boxes (such as unique identification of a box, size specification of a box, etc., which are not limited to the information of the box), and the size specifications (such as length, width, and height, etc.) of different boxes can be the same or different. For each box in the stacking order, the box needs to be stacked on the carrier. In order to distinguish and facilitate, the box that needs to be stacked on the carrier is referred to as a target box. Since the stacking process of each target box is the same, for the convenience of description, the stacking process of one target box is taken as an example.

[0055] Step 202, for the target box to be stacked on the carrier, determining the free space of the stacked box on the carrier, which can be used as the available space of the target box.

[0056] For example, after stacking the target box a1 on the carrier, the target box a1 as the stacked box a1 on the carrier can determine the free space of the stacked box a1 based on the occupied space of the stacked box a1 (i.e., the available space around the occupied space of the stacked box a1), and the free space of the stacked box a1 as the available space of the target box a2, i.e., determining the target placement position of the target box a2 based on the free space of the stacked box a1, and stacking the target box a2 on the carrier based on the target placement position. After stacking the target box a2 on the carrier, the target box a2 as the stacked box a2 on the carrier can determine the free space of the stacked box a3 based on the occupied space of the stacked box a2 (i.e., the target placement position of the target box a2), and then stack the target box a3 on the carrier, and so on.

[0057] Obviously, when the target box needs to be stacked on the carrier, the free space of the last target box (which has been stacked on the carrier as a stacked box) can be determined (i.e., the available space around the occupied space of the stacked box), which can be used as the available space of the target box.

[0058] For example, after a target box is stacked on a carrier, the target box as a stacked box on the carrier needs to determine the occupied space of the stacked box. For example, refer to Figure 3A Fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional space update. Item 1 is a stacked box on a carrier. The stacked box Item 1 can be converted into a cuboid in a space description manner, and the occupied area of the cuboid (i.e., the red area in Figure 3A Fig. 1) is the occupied space of the stacked box Item 1. Regarding the cuboid of the stacked box Item 1, the cuboid is determined based on the size specifications (such as length, width, and height) of the stacked box Item 1, that is, the length of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the length of the cuboid, the width of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the width of the cuboid, and the height of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the height of the cuboid.

[0059] After the stacked box Item 1 is stacked on the carrier, the initial space is determined based on the occupied space of the stacked box Item 1, that is, the stacked box Item 1 can generate five initial spaces. In summary, each time a stacked box is filled in the space, a plurality of new initial spaces can be generated.

[0060] Fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional space update. Item 1 is a stacked box on a carrier. The stacked box Item 1 can be converted into a cuboid in a space description manner, and the occupied area of the cuboid (i.e., the red area in Figure 3A Fig. 1) is the occupied space of the stacked box Item 1. Regarding the cuboid of the stacked box Item 1, the cuboid is determined based on the size specifications (such as length, width, and height) of the stacked box Item 1, that is, the length of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the length of the cuboid, the width of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the width of the cuboid, and the height of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the height of the cuboid. Figure 3A Fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional space update. Item 1 is a stacked box on a carrier. The stacked box Item 1 can be converted into a cuboid in a space description manner, and the occupied area of the cuboid (i.e., the red area in Fig. 1) is the occupied space of the stacked box Item 1. Regarding the cuboid of the stacked box Item 1, the cuboid is determined based on the size specifications (such as length, width, and height) of the stacked box Item 1, that is, the length of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the length of the cuboid, the width of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the width of the cuboid, and the height of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the height of the cuboid.

[0061] Fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional space update. Item 1 is a stacked box on a carrier. The stacked box Item 1 can be converted into a cuboid in a space description manner, and the occupied area of the cuboid (i.e., the red area in Fig. 1) is the occupied space of the stacked box Item 1. Regarding the cuboid of the stacked box Item 1, the cuboid is determined based on the size specifications (such as length, width, and height) of the stacked box Item 1, that is, the length of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the length of the cuboid, the width of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the width of the cuboid, and the height of the stacked box Item 1 is used as the height of the cuboid.

[0062] For each initial space, if the distance between the initial space and the adjacent occupied space (i.e. the space occupied by the stacked box) is less than a threshold value (which can be configured according to experience) or the distance between the initial space and the adjacent occupied space is negative, it indicates that the initial space cannot bear the target box, and thus the initial space meets the filtering condition and can be filtered. On the contrary, if the distance between the initial space and the adjacent occupied space is not less than the threshold value and the distance between the initial space and the adjacent occupied space is not negative, the initial space does not meet the filtering condition and can be retained.

[0063] In addition, in the above idle space generation manner, the spaces overlap, which may result in repeated spaces after multiple iterations, and the repeated spaces need to be judged and removed to improve the calculation efficiency. Therefore, for each initial space, it is also necessary to judge whether the initial space is a repeated space. If yes, the initial space meets the filtering condition and can be filtered.

[0064] Step 203, for each idle space, determining a plurality of placement positions of the target box in the idle space.

[0065] For example, after determining the idle space (such as one or more idle spaces) of the stacked box on the bearing object, for each idle space, the target box is respectively aligned with a plurality of corners of the idle space to obtain a plurality of placement positions. The target box plane is rotated by a first angle (the first angle can be 90 degrees, or other angles such as 85 degrees, etc., which is not limited, and taken as 90 degrees for example), and after the target box plane is rotated by 90 degrees, the target box is respectively aligned with a plurality of corners of the idle space to obtain a plurality of placement positions.

[0066] For example, referring to FIG. 6, which is a schematic view of a plurality of placement positions, the target box can be aligned with the upper left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the upper right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the lower left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, and the target box can be aligned with the lower right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position. Figure 3B Then, the target box plane can be rotated by 90 degrees, and after the target box plane is rotated by 90 degrees, referring to FIG. 7, which is a schematic view of a plurality of placement positions, the target box can be aligned with the upper left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the upper right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the lower left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, and the target box can be aligned with the lower right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position. Figure 3C Then, the target box plane can be rotated by 90 degrees, and after the target box plane is rotated by 90 degrees, referring to FIG. 7, which is a schematic view of a plurality of placement positions, the target box can be aligned with the upper left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the upper right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, the target box can be aligned with the lower left corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position, and the target box can be aligned with the lower right corner of the idle space to obtain a placement position.

[0067] In summary, for each idle space, 8 placement positions of the target box in the idle space can be determined, and 40 placement positions corresponding to the target box can be obtained assuming that there are 5 idle spaces.

[0068] In step 204, a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box are selected from the plurality of placement positions corresponding to the target box. For example, for each placement position, if the placement position meets the configured constraint condition, the placement position is determined as a reference placement position of the target box; or if the placement position does not meet the configured constraint condition, the placement position is prohibited from being determined as a reference placement position of the target box.

[0069] For example, after obtaining 40 placement positions corresponding to the target box, for each placement position, it is determined whether the placement position meets the constraint condition. If yes, the placement position is determined as a reference placement position of the target box. If no, the placement position is not determined as a reference placement position of the target box. After the above processing is performed on each placement position, a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box can be obtained.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the constraint condition can include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a size constraint condition, a support area constraint condition, a height difference constraint condition, and a load bearing constraint condition. For example, if the constraint condition includes the size constraint condition, the support area constraint condition, the height difference constraint condition, and the load bearing constraint condition, if the placement position meets the size constraint condition, the support area constraint condition, the height difference constraint condition, and the load bearing constraint condition at the same time, the placement position is determined as a reference placement position of the target box. If the placement position does not meet at least one of the size constraint condition, the support area constraint condition, the height difference constraint condition, and the load bearing constraint condition, the placement position is not determined as a reference placement position of the target box.

[0071] Case 1: size constraint condition, the size constraint condition is used to indicate whether the target box can be placed at the current placement position, that is, whether the current placement position can accommodate the size of the target box.

[0072] For the size constraint condition, considering the visual recognition error relationship in actual use, a size tolerance and a height tolerance are introduced to make the stacking process closer to the actual needs, that is, two variables, such as an allowed load size exceeding size and an allowed stack type exceeding height, are introduced to expand the placement position and improve the stack volume rate.

[0073] The allowed load size exceeding size can be a size tolerance, the size tolerance can include a length threshold value and a width threshold value, the length threshold value is configured according to experience, and the width threshold value is configured according to experience. The allowed stack type exceeding height can be a height tolerance, the height tolerance can include a height threshold value, and the height threshold value is configured according to experience.

[0074] On this basis, for each placement position, if the target box does not exceed the maximum allowed length range of the carrier (extends out a length threshold in the length direction of the carrier), and the target box does not exceed the maximum allowed width range of the carrier (extends out a width threshold in the width direction of the carrier), and the target box does not exceed the maximum allowed height range of the carrier (extends out a height threshold in the height direction of the carrier) when the target box is at the placement position, then the placement position satisfies the size constraint condition. Otherwise, if at least one of the following conditions is true: the target box exceeds the maximum allowed length range of the carrier, the target box exceeds the maximum allowed width range of the carrier, and the target box exceeds the maximum allowed height range of the carrier, then the placement position does not satisfy the size constraint condition.

[0075] The maximum allowed length range can be the sum of the length range of the carrier and the length threshold, the length range of the carrier represents the length area inside the carrier, and the length threshold represents the length area outside the carrier. For a carrier such as a pallet that has no boundaries around the periphery, the length threshold can be greater than 0. For a carrier such as a tote that has boundaries around the periphery, the length threshold can be equal to 0. In this way, the target box can be allowed to extend out of the length range of the carrier. The maximum allowed width range can be the sum of the width range of the carrier and the width threshold, the width range of the carrier represents the width area inside the carrier, and the width threshold represents the width area outside the carrier. In this way, the target box can be allowed to extend out of the width range of the carrier. The maximum allowed height range can be the sum of the height range of the carrier and the height threshold, the height range of the carrier represents the height area inside the carrier, and the height threshold represents the height area outside the carrier. In this way, the target box can be allowed to extend out of the height range of the carrier.

[0076] Case 2: Support area constraint condition, the support area constraint condition is used to indicate whether the bottom surface support meets the requirements when the target box is placed at the current placement position, that is, whether the bottom surface can support the target box.

[0077] For example, for each placement position, if the ratio of the bottom surface support area to the bottom area of the target box is greater than the proportion threshold when the target box is at the placement position, then the placement position satisfies the support area constraint condition; if the ratio of the bottom surface support area to the bottom area of the target box is not greater than the proportion threshold when the target box is at the placement position, then the placement position does not satisfy the support area constraint condition.

[0078] In order to determine whether the placement position satisfies the support area constraint condition, the bottom surface support area, the bottom area of the target box, and the proportion threshold are involved. Regarding the bottom area of the target box, it is the area of the lower surface of the target box, which is not limited. The bottom surface support area and the proportion threshold are described below.

[0079] For example, regarding the bottom support area, the bottom support area can be the overlapping area of ​​the bottom (lower surface) of the target box and the upper surface of the first stacked box. The first stacked box can be a stacked box adjacent to the target box on its lower side. Alternatively, the first stacked box is the first non-dummy-support stacked box on the lower side of the target box. For instance, for a non-dummy-support stacked box, if the stacked box is fully supported by the stacked box adjacent to its lower side, or if the stacked box is supported by a load, then the stacked box is considered a non-dummy-support stacked box. Wherein, if all corners of the stacked box are support corners, and a support corner represents the corner in contact with the stacked box adjacent to its lower side, then the stacked box is fully supported by the stacked box adjacent to its lower side.

[0080] For example, see Figure 4A The diagram illustrates spurious and non-spurious supports. The upper box (the target box) is denoted as box b1, the middle box (the stacked box adjacent to the target box below it) is denoted as box b2, and the lower box (the stacked box not adjacent to the target box below it) is denoted as box b3. Based on this, if the first stacked box is the stacked box adjacent to the target box below it (box b2), then the bottom support area can be the overlapping area of ​​the lower surface of box b1 and the upper surface of box b2. Alternatively, if the first stacked box is the first non-spurious supported stacked box below the target box (box b3), then the bottom support area can be the overlapping area of ​​the lower surface of box b1 and the upper surface of box b3.

[0081] For example, since box b2 is not fully supported by the adjacent box b3 below it (i.e., the two right corners of box b2 are not in contact with box b3 and are not supporting corners), box b2 is a falsely supported stacked box, meaning it is not the first stacked box. Since box b3 is supported by the load, box b3 is a non-falsely supported stacked box and can be considered the first stacked box.

[0082] For example, box b3 is used as the first stacked box instead of box b2 because box b3 supports 80% of the bottom surface of box b2, and box b2 supports 80% of the bottom surface of box b1. Therefore, the total support from box b3 to box b1 is much less than 80%. Placing box b1 on top of box b2 would result in poor stack stability. To address this, the first stacked box with genuine support below the target box is used as the first stacked box. The overlapping area between the bottom surface of the target box and the top surface of the first stacked box is calculated, and this overlapping area is used as the bottom support area to determine the placement of the target box.

[0083] In summary, when calculating the actual bottom support area of ​​box b1, the intersection area of ​​the support space between the lower surface of box b1 and the upper surface of box b3 is calculated, but the intersection area of ​​the support space between the lower surface of box b1 and the upper surface of box b2 is not calculated.

[0084] For example, the ratio threshold can be configured empirically, or it can be determined based on the number of support corners between the target box and the adjacent stacked boxes below it. For instance, a higher number of support corners results in a lower ratio threshold, and vice versa. For example, if the number of support corners is 4, the ratio threshold is threshold 1; if the number of support corners is 2, the ratio threshold is threshold 2, where threshold 1 is less than threshold 2. For example, considering practical considerations, the minimum allowable support area ratio differs with different numbers of support corners; therefore, different ratio thresholds can be determined based on different numbers of support corners.

[0085] See Figure 4B The diagram shows the support area corresponding to the four corner supports. Regarding the placement of the yellow box, all four corners of the yellow box are above the other boxes and are therefore supported. (See also...) Figure 4C The diagram shows the support area corresponding to the two corner supports. Regarding the placement of the yellow box, its two corners are above the other boxes. Clearly, Figure 4B The bottom support is more robust, allowing for a smaller bottom support area. Based on this principle, the proportional threshold can be determined based on the number of support angles between the target box and the adjacent stacked boxes below it; that is, the more support angles there are, the smaller the proportional threshold.

[0086] Scenario 3: Height Difference Constraint. This constraint ensures that placing the target container in its current position should not result in an excessively large stack height difference; specifically, the stack height difference must be less than a height difference threshold. This constraint helps address efficiency issues in palletizing planning. For example, without a height difference constraint, placing items at lower levels of the stack might require crossing higher levels, increasing the difficulty of path planning and reducing efficiency.

[0087] For example, for each placement location, if the stack height difference is less than a height difference threshold (which can be configured empirically) when the target box is in that location, then the placement location satisfies the height difference constraint. If the stack height difference is not less than the height difference threshold, then the placement location does not satisfy the height difference constraint.

[0088] For example, the stack height difference can be the difference between the highest height and the lowest height of the upper surface of the stacked box, and the highest height can be the height between the upper surface of the target box and the load when it is in the placement position.

[0089] For the maximum height, when the target container is in this placement position, the height between the top surface of the target container and the load can be determined, and this height can be taken as the maximum height. For the minimum height of the top surface of the stacked containers, the exposed surfaces of all stacked containers can be identified, and the height of the top surface of each exposed surface can be determined. Then, the minimum value among these heights is selected as the minimum height of the top surface of the stacked container. After obtaining the maximum height and the minimum height of the top surface of the stacked containers, the difference between the two can be taken as the stack height difference.

[0090] For each palletized box, if the percentage of the upper surface of the palletized box covered (i.e., the ratio of the covered area to the total area of ​​the upper surface) is less than a threshold (which can be configured empirically, such as 50%), then the palletized box is a surface-exposed palletized box. If the percentage of the upper surface of the palletized box covered is not less than the threshold, then the palletized box is not a surface-exposed palletized box.

[0091] See Figure 4D The diagram illustrates the stack height difference. The brown box represents the target box, and the blue box represents the exposed stacked boxes. The height between the top surface of the target box and the load is the maximum height, and the height of the exposed top surface of the stacked boxes is the minimum height. The difference between the maximum and minimum heights is the stack height difference. If the stack height difference is less than the height difference threshold, the placement position meets the height difference constraint. If the stack height difference is not less than the height difference threshold, the placement position does not meet the height difference constraint.

[0092] Case 4: Load-bearing constraint condition. This load-bearing constraint condition is used to indicate that the target box needs to meet the attribute requirements (such as load-bearing requirements). That is, when the target box has load-bearing requirements, the target box cannot exceed the load-bearing value.

[0093] For each placement location, if the weight of the target box is not greater than the target load-bearing value of any of the stacked boxes below it when the target box is in that location, then the placement location meets the load-bearing constraint condition. If the weight of the target box is greater than the target load-bearing value of any of the stacked boxes below it when the target box is in that location, then the placement location does not meet the load-bearing constraint condition.

[0094] Specifically, for each stacked box, the target load-bearing value corresponding to the stacked box is the difference between the maximum load-bearing value of the stacked box and the weight of each box already placed on top of the stacked box.

[0095] For example, see Figure 4A As shown, the upper box (i.e., the target box) is denoted as box b1, the middle box as box b2, and the lower box as box b3. Since box b2 only supports box b1, the load-bearing value of box b2 is its maximum load capacity, and the load-bearing value of box b3 is the difference between its maximum load capacity and the weight of box b2. If the weight of box b1 is not greater than the load capacity of box b2, and the weight of box b1 is not greater than the load capacity of box b3, then the current placement position meets the load-bearing constraint conditions.

[0096] If the weight of box b1 is greater than the load-bearing value of box b2, and / or the weight of box b1 is greater than the load-bearing value of box b3, then the current placement position does not meet the load-bearing constraint conditions.

[0097] Step 205: After obtaining multiple reference placement positions of the target box, for each reference placement position, determine the first score value corresponding to that reference placement position based on the bottom height corresponding to that reference placement position.

[0098] For example, regarding the bottom height corresponding to the reference placement position, this bottom height is the height difference between the bottom (i.e., lower surface) of the target container and the load when the target container is in that reference placement position. Obviously, when the target container is in that reference placement position, the bottom height corresponding to that reference placement position can be determined.

[0099] After the bottom surface height corresponding to the reference placement position is obtained, a first score value corresponding to the reference placement position can be determined based on the bottom surface height. For example, the greater the bottom surface height, the smaller the first score value, and the smaller the bottom surface height, the greater the first score value. That is, the greater the bottom surface height, the less likely the reference placement position is to be the target placement position, and the reference placement position with a large bottom surface height should not be the target placement position.

[0100] A function relationship (or a mapping curve) between the bottom surface height and the first score value can be pre-configured. After the bottom surface height corresponding to the reference placement position is obtained, the bottom surface height can be substituted into the function relationship to obtain the first score value corresponding to the bottom surface height. The function relationship can be configured according to experience, and the function relationship is not limited as long as it can satisfy that the greater the bottom surface height, the smaller the first score value.

[0101] For example, the bottom surface height can represent a relative attribute between the target box body and the reference placement position. Obviously, when the first score value corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the bottom surface height corresponding to the reference placement position, the first score value is determined based on the relative attribute between the target box body and the reference placement position.

[0102] In step 206, for each reference placement position, a second score value corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the box body attribute information of the target box body and the box body attribute information of the reference stacked box bodies around the reference placement position (the stacked box bodies around the reference placement position are referred to as reference stacked box bodies).

[0103] For example, the box body attribute information of the target box body can include at least one of the box body length, the box body width, and the box body height of the target box body, and the box body attribute information of the reference stacked box bodies can include at least one of the box body length, the box body width, and the box body height of the reference stacked box bodies.

[0104] For example, if the box body attribute information of the target box body includes the box body length of the target box body, the box body attribute information of the reference stacked box bodies includes the box body length of the reference stacked box bodies. If the box body attribute information of the target box body includes the box body width of the target box body, the box body attribute information of the reference stacked box bodies includes the box body width of the reference stacked box bodies. If the box body attribute information of the target box body includes the box body height of the target box body, the box body attribute information of the reference stacked box bodies includes the box body height of the reference stacked box bodies.

[0105] For example, if the box attribute information of the target box is the same as the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, then the second score value corresponding to the reference placement position can be the first value. If the box attribute information of the target box is different from the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, then the second score value corresponding to the reference placement position can be the second value, and the second value can be less than the first value.

[0106] For example, the first value can be configured based on experience, such as 1, 0.9, 0.8, etc., and the second value can be configured based on experience, such as 0, 0.1, 0.2, etc.

[0107] For example, the process of determining the second score value based on the box attribute information can also be called the type matching process. Type matching is to determine the size matching relationship between the target box and the reference stacked box.

[0108] See Figure 5A The diagram illustrates type matching, with yellow boxes representing the target boxes and blue boxes representing the reference stacked boxes. The target box's attributes include its length and width, while the reference stacked box's attributes include its length and width. If the target box's length and width are the same as the reference stacked box's, the second score is the first value. If the target box's length and width are different from the reference stacked box's, the second score is the second value.

[0109] See Figure 5B The diagram illustrates type matching, with yellow boxes representing the target boxes and blue boxes representing the reference stacked boxes. The target box's attributes include its height and width, while the reference stacked box's attributes include its height and width. If the target box's height and width are the same as the reference stacked box's height and width, the second score is the first value. If the target box's height and width are different from the reference stacked box's height, and / or different from the reference stacked box's width, the second score is the second value.

[0110] Step 207, for each reference placement position, determining a first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the first score value and the second score value corresponding to the reference placement position, wherein the first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position represents a matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position. Obviously, the greater the first matching degree, the better the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position.

[0111] The first score value and the second score value can be weighted to obtain the first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position. For example, the first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position can be determined by the following formula: T1=S1*W1+S2*W2. T1 represents the first matching degree, S1 represents the first score value, S2 represents the second score value, W1 represents the weighting coefficient of the first score value, and W2 represents the weighting coefficient of the second score value. W1 and W2 can be configured arbitrarily, W1 is greater than W2, W1 is equal to W2, or W1 is less than W2.

[0112] Step 208, based on the first matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, if there is a reference placement position with the largest first matching degree, the reference placement position with the largest first matching degree is taken as the target placement position, and the robot is controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0113] For example, after obtaining the target placement position, the robot (such as a stacking robot) can be controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position, that is, to stack the target box on the target placement position of the carrier. The stacking process of the robot is not limited in this embodiment.

[0114] Step 209, based on the first matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, if there are M reference placement positions with the largest first matching degree, M is a positive integer greater than 1, for each of the M reference placement positions, at least two of the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area, the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity, the fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area, and the sixth score value corresponding to the height matching value are determined.

[0115] For example, the third score value and the fourth score value can be determined. The third score value and the fifth score value are determined. The third score value, the fourth score value, and the fifth score value are determined, and so on. This is not limited. As long as at least two of the third score value, the fourth score value, the fifth score value, and the sixth score value are determined, and the third score value, the fourth score value, the fifth score value, and the sixth score value are taken as examples in the following.

[0116] Case 1: The third score value corresponding to the adjacent area is determined.

[0117] For example, the adjacent area is a side overlap area of the target box and the reference stacked box; the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area is determined based on a ratio of the adjacent area to the area of the target box.

[0118] For example, for each of the M reference placement positions, the reference stacked box around the reference placement position can be obtained, and the side overlap area of the target box and the reference stacked box when the target box is in the reference placement position is determined. The side overlap area of the target box and the reference stacked box can be used as the adjacent area. For example, the target box has four sides (such as the front side, the rear side, the left side, and the right side), if the front side of the target box is in contact with the reference stacked box, the side overlap area of the front side of the target box and the reference stacked box (i.e., the contact area of the front side of the target box and the reference stacked box) is obtained, if the front side of the target box is in contact with the reference stacked box, the side overlap area of the front side of the target box and the reference stacked box is 0. If the rear side of the target box is in contact with the reference stacked box, the side overlap area of the rear side of the target box and the reference stacked box is obtained, if the left side of the target box is in contact with the reference stacked box, the side overlap area of the left side of the target box and the reference stacked box is obtained, if the right side of the target box is in contact with the reference stacked box, the side overlap area of the right side of the target box and the reference stacked box is obtained.

[0119] The adjacent area includes the side overlap area of the front side of the target box and the reference stacked box (front side overlap area), the side overlap area of the rear side of the target box and the reference stacked box (rear side overlap area), the side overlap area of the left side of the target box and the reference stacked box (left side overlap area), and the side overlap area of the right side of the target box and the reference stacked box (right side overlap area).

[0120] If the ratio of the front side overlapping area to the total area of the front side of the target container is greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the front side is the seventh value, and if the ratio of the front side overlapping area to the total area of the front side of the target container is not greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the front side is the eighth value. If the ratio of the rear side overlapping area to the total area of the rear side of the target container is greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the rear side is the seventh value, and if the ratio of the rear side overlapping area to the total area of the rear side of the target container is not greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the rear side is the eighth value. If the ratio of the left side overlapping area to the total area of the left side of the target container is greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the left side is the seventh value, and if the ratio of the left side overlapping area to the total area of the left side of the target container is not greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the left side is the eighth value. If the ratio of the right side overlapping area to the total area of the right side of the target container is greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the right side is the seventh value, and if the ratio of the right side overlapping area to the total area of the right side of the target container is not greater than the threshold value, the score value corresponding to the right side is the eighth value.

[0121] The seventh value and the eighth value can be configured according to experience, and the eighth value is less than the seventh value. For example, the seventh value can be 0.25, 0.24, 0.26, etc., and the eighth value can be 0, 0.01, 0.02, etc.

[0122] The third score value corresponding to the adjacent area can be the sum of the score value corresponding to the front side, the score value corresponding to the rear side, the score value corresponding to the left side, and the score value corresponding to the right side. Obviously, if the seventh value is 0.25, and if the target container has effective contact with the reference stacked container in four directions, i.e., the score value of the four directions is the seventh value, then the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area can be 1.

[0123] Case 2: Determine the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity.

[0124] For example, the similarity can represent the relative attribute between the target container and the reference placement position. Obviously, when the fourth score value corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the similarity corresponding to the reference placement position, the fourth score value is determined based on the relative attribute between the target container and the reference placement position.

[0125] For example, the similarity can be the average of the length similarity and the width similarity (or, the length similarity and the width similarity are weighted to obtain the similarity).

[0126] The length similarity can be determined based on the length of the target container and the length of the reference placement position, and the width similarity can be determined based on the width of the target container and the width of the reference placement position.

[0127] For example, for each of the M reference placement positions, a length similarity is determined based on the length of the target box and the length of the reference placement position, for measuring the similarity between the length of the target box and the length of the reference placement position. For example, the length similarity is determined by the following formula:

[0128]

[0129] In the above formula, sim can represent the length similarity, pkg_length can represent the length of the target box, and ept_length can represent the length of the reference placement position. Of course, the above formula is only an example.

[0130] A width similarity is determined based on the width of the target box and the width of the reference placement position, for measuring the similarity between the width of the target box and the width of the reference placement position. The determination of the width similarity is similar to the above formula, and the length of the target box is replaced by the width of the target box, and the length of the reference placement position is replaced by the width of the reference placement position. This embodiment will not be repeated.

[0131] For example, after obtaining the length similarity and the width similarity, the average of the length similarity and the width similarity can be determined, and this average represents the similarity of the reference placement position. Then, the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity is determined. For example, the fourth score value is proportional to the similarity, and the greater the similarity, the greater the fourth score value. The determination method is not limited as long as the above relationship is met.

[0132] Case 3: The fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area.

[0133] For example, the remaining space area can represent the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position. When the fifth score value corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the remaining space area corresponding to the reference placement position, the fifth score value is determined based on the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position.

[0134] For example, for each of the M reference placement positions, the remaining space area is the remaining space area in the free space where the reference placement position is located except the target box. The remaining space area can also be referred to as the remaining space size. The remaining space area is the area size of the new free space generated in the free space where the reference placement position is located after the target box is placed in the reference placement position.

[0135] For example, after the target box is placed in the reference placement position, the free space where the reference placement position is located will generate space boundaries, such as left boundary, right boundary, upper boundary and lower boundary, as shown in FIG. 2. Figure 5CAs shown, it is a schematic diagram of the space boundary. The red rectangular area is the position of the target box, the size of the idle space where the reference placement position is located is x_len and y_len, and the four boundaries of the target box can be xs, xe, ys, and ye, Figure 5C The area of the shaded part in the above formula is the remaining space area, and the calculation method can be represented as: (xs-min_x) x y_len, (max_x-xe) x y_len, (ys-min_y) x x_len, and (max_y-ye) x x_len.

[0136] After obtaining the above four areas, for each area, if the area is greater than the threshold value, it indicates that the area can place a new box, and the area needs to be reserved, if the area is not greater than the threshold value, it indicates that the area cannot place a new box, and the area needs to be filtered. On this basis, the sum of the filtered remaining areas is the remaining space area corresponding to the reference placement position. Then, the fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area is determined. For example, the fifth score value is proportional to the remaining space area, and the larger the remaining space area, the larger the fifth score value. The determination method is not limited as long as the above relationship is met.

[0137] Case 4: The sixth score value corresponding to the height matching value.

[0138] For example, for each of the M reference placement positions, the reference stacked boxes around the reference placement position can be obtained, and when the target box is in the reference placement position, the difference between the upper surface height of the target box and the upper surface height of the reference stacked box can be determined, and the difference is the height matching value, so that whether the height difference is within the height tolerance is measured by the height matching value.

[0139] For example, after obtaining the height matching value, if the height matching value is less than the threshold value, it indicates that the height difference of the reference placement position is within the height tolerance, therefore, the sixth score value can be the third value, if the height matching value is not less than the threshold value, it indicates that the height difference of the reference placement position is not within the height tolerance, therefore, the sixth score value can be the fourth value, and the fourth value can be less than the third value.

[0140] For example, the third value can be configured according to experience, such as 1, 0.9, 0.8, etc., and the fourth value can be configured according to experience, such as 0, 0.1, 0.2, etc.

[0141] In step 210, for each of the M reference placement positions, a second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on the third score value, the fourth score value, the fifth score value and the sixth score value corresponding to the reference placement position. The second matching degree represents a matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position. The greater the second matching degree is, the better the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position is.

[0142] For example, the third score value, the fourth score value, the fifth score value and the sixth score value can be subjected to a weighted operation to obtain the second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position. For example, the second matching degree can be determined by using the following formula: T2=S3*W3+S4*W4+S5*W5+S6*W6. T2 represents the second matching degree, S3 represents the third score value, S4 represents the fourth score value, S5 represents the fifth score value, S6 represents the sixth score value, W3 represents a weighting coefficient of the third score value, W4 represents a weighting coefficient of the fourth score value, W5 represents a weighting coefficient of the fifth score value, and W6 represents a weighting coefficient of the sixth score value.

[0143] In step 211, based on the second matching degree corresponding to each of the reference placement positions, if there is one reference placement position with the greatest second matching degree, the one reference placement position with the greatest second matching degree is taken as a target placement position, and the target box is stacked on the carrier based on the target placement position. For example, a robot (such as a stacking robot) can be controlled to stack the target box on the carrier at the target placement position.

[0144] In step 212, based on the second matching degree corresponding to each of the reference placement positions, if there are N reference placement positions with the greatest second matching degree, N is a positive integer greater than 1, for each of the N reference placement positions, an edge matching value of the target box and the reference stacked box around the reference placement position is determined. The edge matching value is the sum of the first matching value, the second matching value, the third matching value and the fourth matching value. For example, the edge matching value can also be referred to as an edge matching parameter, and the edge matching value is used to measure the alignment of the edge of the reference stacked box when the target box is at the reference placement position.

[0145] For example, for the first matching value, if the target box and the reference stacked box have the same length direction starting point, and the length of the line connecting the center points of the target box and the reference stacked box in the width direction satisfies a length constraint (for example, the length of the line connecting the center points is equal to the average of the width of the target box and the width of the reference stacked box), the first matching value can be the fifth value. Otherwise, if the length direction starting points are different, and / or the length of the line connecting the center points does not satisfy the length constraint, the first matching value can be the sixth value.

[0146] For example, the center point connecting line is a connecting line between a center point in the width direction of the target box and a center point in the width direction of the reference stacked box. The center point connecting line length is the length of the center point connecting line.

[0147] For example, for the second matching value, if the length direction end point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the center point connecting line length of the target box and the reference stacked box in the width direction satisfies the length constraint (for example, the center point connecting line length is equal to the average of the width of the target box and the width of the reference stacked box), the second matching value can be the fifth value, otherwise, if the length direction end points are different, and / or the center point connecting line length does not satisfy the length constraint, the second matching value can be the sixth value.

[0148] For example, for the third matching value, if the width direction start point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the center point connecting line length of the target box and the reference stacked box in the length direction satisfies the length constraint (for example, the center point connecting line length is equal to the average of the length of the target box and the length of the reference stacked box), the third matching value can be the fifth value, otherwise, if the width direction start points are different, and / or the center point connecting line length does not satisfy the length constraint, the third matching value can be the sixth value.

[0149] For example, the center point connecting line is a connecting line between a center point in the length direction of the target box and a center point in the length direction of the reference stacked box. The center point connecting line length is the length of the center point connecting line.

[0150] For example, for the fourth matching value, if the width direction end point of the target box is the same as that of the reference stacked box, and the center point connecting line length of the target box and the reference stacked box in the length direction satisfies the length constraint (for example, the center point connecting line length is equal to the average of the length of the target box and the length of the reference stacked box), the fourth matching value can be the fifth value, otherwise, if the width direction end points are different, and / or the center point connecting line length does not satisfy the length constraint, the fourth matching value can be the sixth value.

[0151] For example, the sixth value is less than the fifth value, and the fifth value and the sixth value can be configured according to experience, for example, the fifth value can be 1, 0.9, 0.8, etc., and the sixth value can be 0, 0.1, 0.2, etc.

[0152] After obtaining the first matching value, the second matching value, the third matching value and the fourth matching value, the sum of the first matching value, the second matching value, the third matching value and the fourth matching value can be taken as the edge matching value.

[0153] Step 213, for each of the N reference placement positions, determining a third matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the edge matching value corresponding to the reference placement position, the third matching degree representing a matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position. The greater the third matching degree, the better the matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position. For example, the edge matching value can be taken as the third matching degree, or the edge matching value can be converted to obtain the third matching degree, which is not limited.

[0154] Step 214, based on the third matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, if there is a reference placement position with the greatest third matching degree, taking the reference placement position with the greatest third matching degree as the target placement position, and controlling the robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0155] Alternatively, if there are multiple reference placement positions with the greatest third matching degree, a reference placement position is randomly selected from the multiple reference placement positions with the greatest third matching degree, the randomly selected reference placement position is taken as the target placement position, and the robot is controlled to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0156] In a possible implementation, after obtaining the multiple reference placement positions of the target box (step 204), for each reference placement position, the first matching degree, the second matching degree and the third matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position can be determined (the determination manner is not described again), then the first matching degree, the second matching degree and the third matching degree can be weighted to obtain the total matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position, so that the reference placement position with the greatest total matching degree can be taken as the target placement position.

[0157] When performing the weighting operation, the weighting coefficients of the matching degrees can be configured according to experience, and the weighting coefficients of the matching degrees are not limited. For example, the weighting coefficient of the first matching degree can be greater than the weighting coefficient of the second matching degree, and the weighting coefficient of the second matching degree can be greater than the weighting coefficient of the third matching degree.

[0158] From the above technical solutions, in the embodiments of the present application, the automatic and efficient online mixed coding of box bodies of various sizes and specifications is realized, manpower is saved, and logistics turnover efficiency is improved. The stability of the stack type, the volume rate of the stack type, the efficiency of the stacking, and the production efficiency are improved. The safety, practicality, and stability during actual mixed coding and stacking are improved. For the fields of intelligent logistics and robot stacking, mixed stacking of boxes of multiple sizes is realized, the optimal mixed coding placement position is determined based on space generation and placement scheme, and through the introduction of size error, actual support processing, and stack type relative height difference judgment, the stability of the stack type is improved on the basis of improving the volume rate of the stack type. By considering the actual application scenario and visual recognition error, the stack type has strong stability and high practicality, avoiding poor actual stacking effect caused by recognition error and avoiding the appearance of stack types that cannot be used in actual production. The stack type height difference is used to solve the problems of unstable stack type and poor planability.

[0159] In the embodiments of the present application, an online mixed stacking method is provided, as shown in Figure 6 The method comprises the following steps:

[0160] Step 601, initialization process. In the initialization process, the information of the target box body (such as attribute information), the information of the idle space (the space allowed to be used by the target box body), and the tolerance parameter can be obtained. The tolerance parameter includes the configuration information involved in the online mixed stacking, such as the threshold value involved in the constraint condition, the threshold value involved in the first matching degree, the threshold value involved in the second matching degree, and the threshold value involved in the third matching degree.

[0161] Step 602, each idle space is traversed in turn, and for the currently traversed idle space, it is determined whether the number of the idle space is greater than the number of idle spaces. If not, step 603 is executed, and if yes, step 608 is executed.

[0162] For example, if there are 5 idle spaces for the target box body, the number of the first traversed idle space is 1, which is not greater than the number of idle spaces, so step 603 is executed. Similarly, the number of the sixth traversed idle space is 6, which is greater than the number of idle spaces, so step 608 is executed.

[0163] Step 603, placeability judgment process. In the placeability judgment process, the multiple placement positions (such as 8 placement positions) of the target box body in the idle space can be determined. This process is described in step 203.

[0164] Step 604, whether the placement is possible judgment process. In the whether the placement is possible judgment process, it is necessary to determine whether each placement position can place the target box body. If yes, the placement position can be used as a reference placement position, and if no, the placement position is not used as a reference placement position. This process is described in step 204.

[0165] Step 605, a matching degree calculation process. In the matching degree calculation process, the matching degree of the reference placement position, such as the first matching degree, the second matching degree, and the third matching degree, needs to be calculated.

[0166] Step 606, determining whether the matching degree of the reference placement position is better than the optimal matching degree. For example, if the matching degree of the reference placement position is greater than the optimal matching degree, it means that the matching degree of the reference placement position is better than the optimal matching degree, and step 607 is executed. If the matching degree of the reference placement position is not greater than the optimal matching degree, it means that the reference placement position is not better than the optimal matching degree, and the next idle space is traversed, the number of idle spaces is increased by 1, and step 602 is returned to determine whether the number of idle spaces is greater than the number of idle spaces.

[0167] Step 607, updating the optimal matching degree, that is, taking the matching degree of the reference placement position as the optimal matching degree. After updating the optimal matching degree, the next idle space can be traversed, the number of idle spaces is increased by 1, and then step 602 is returned to determine whether the number of idle spaces is greater than the number of idle spaces.

[0168] Step 608, calculating the target placement position according to the optimal matching degree (taking the reference placement position with the optimal matching degree as the target placement position), and controlling the robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0169] Step 609, after the target box is stacked on the carrier, the idle space can be updated.

[0170] Based on the same application concept as the above method, an online hybrid stacking device is proposed in the embodiments of the present application, as shown in Figure 7 The device can include:

[0171] The determining module 71 is configured to determine, for a target box to be stacked on a carrier, an idle space of a stacked box on the carrier, and determine a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the idle space. The processing module 72 is configured to determine, for each reference placement position, a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on box attribute information of the target box, box attribute information of a reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and a relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position. The target matching degree represents the matching degree between the target box and the reference placement position. The placing module 73 is configured to select a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and control a robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0172] Specifically, the determining module 71 determines the reference placement position of the target box based on the idle space, and specifically includes: determining a plurality of placement positions of the target box in the idle space; wherein, a plurality of placement positions are obtained by aligning the target box with a plurality of corners of the idle space respectively, and a plurality of placement positions are obtained by aligning the target box with a plurality of corners of the idle space respectively after rotating the target box by 90 degrees in the plane; for each placement position, if the placement position meets the configured constraint condition, the placement position is determined as the reference placement position of the target box; or, if the placement position does not meet the configured constraint condition, the placement position is prohibited to be determined as the reference placement position of the target box.

[0173] Specifically, the constraint condition includes at least one of the following: a size constraint condition, a support area constraint condition, a height difference constraint condition, and a load bearing constraint condition; wherein, if the target box is in the placement position, the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable length range of the load carrier, the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable width range of the load carrier, and the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable height range of the load carrier, the placement position meets the size constraint condition.

[0174] If the ratio of the bottom surface support area to the bottom area of the target box is greater than a proportion threshold when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position meets the support area constraint condition; the bottom surface support area is the overlapping area of the bottom of the target box and the upper surface of the first stacked box which supports the target box; wherein, the first stacked box is the first non-false support stacked box on the lower side of the target box; if all the corners of the stacked box are support corners, and a support corner represents the contact with the stacked box adjacent to the lower side of the stacked box, the stacked box is a non-false support stacked box, or if the stacked box is supported by the load carrier, the stacked box is a non-false support stacked box.

[0175] If the stack type height difference is less than a height difference threshold when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position meets the height difference constraint condition; the stack type height difference is the difference between the highest height and the lowest height of the upper surface of the stacked box, and the highest height is the height between the upper surface of the target box and the load carrier when the target box is in the placement position.

[0176] If the weight value of the target box is not greater than the target load bearing value of each stacked box on the lower side of the target box when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position meets the load bearing constraint condition; wherein, for each stacked box, the target load bearing value corresponding to the stacked box is the difference between the maximum load bearing value of the stacked box and the weight value of each box placed on the stacked box.

[0177] For example, the ratio threshold is determined based on a number of support angles between the target box and a stacked box adjacent to a lower side of the target box, and the ratio threshold is smaller when the number of support angles is larger.

[0178] For example, the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position includes a bottom surface height, which is a height difference between a bottom of the target box and the carrier when the target box is in the reference placement position; when the processing module 72 determines the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position, the processing module 72 is specifically configured to: determine a first score value based on the bottom surface height; determine a second score value based on the box attribute information of the target box and the box attribute information of the reference stacked box; determine a first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the first score value and the second score value; wherein the first score value is smaller when the bottom surface height is larger; the second score value is a first value when the box attribute information of the target box is the same as the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, otherwise, the second score value is a second value, and the second value is smaller than the first value; the box attribute information includes a box length, a box width, and a box height; when the placement module 73 selects the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, the placement module 73 is specifically configured to: if the target matching degree includes the first matching degree, the reference placement position with the largest first matching degree is taken as the target placement position.

[0179] For example, the placing module 73 is specifically configured to: if the target matching degree includes the second matching degree, and there are M reference placing positions with the maximum first matching degree, M is a positive integer greater than 1, and based on the second matching degrees of the M reference placing positions, the reference placing position with the maximum second matching degree is selected as the target placing position; the determination process of the second matching degree of the reference placing position includes: determining the second matching degree of the reference placing position based on at least two of the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area, the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity, the fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area, and the sixth score value corresponding to the height matching value; the adjacent area is the lateral overlapping area of the target box and the reference stacked box; the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area is determined based on the ratio of the adjacent area to the area of the target box; the similarity is the average of the length similarity and the width similarity, the length similarity is determined based on the length of the target box and the length of the reference placing position, and the width similarity is determined based on the width of the target box and the width of the reference placing position; the greater the similarity, the greater the fourth score value; the remaining space area is the remaining space area in the idle space of the reference placing position except the target box; the greater the remaining space area, the greater the fifth score value; the height matching value is the difference between the upper surface height of the target box and the upper surface height of the reference stacked box; if the height matching value is less than a threshold value, the sixth score value is a third value, and if the height matching value is not less than the threshold value, the sixth score value is a fourth value, and the fourth value is less than the third value.

[0180] Specifically, the placing module 73 is specifically configured to: if the target matching degree includes the third matching degree, if there are M reference placing positions with the maximum first matching degree, and there are N reference placing positions with the maximum second matching degree in the M reference placing positions, N is a positive integer greater than 1, and then the reference placing position with the maximum third matching degree is selected as the target placing position based on the third matching degrees of the N reference placing positions.

[0181] Based on the same application concept as the above method, the embodiment of the present application proposes a control device, as shown in Figure 8 The control device includes a processor 81 and a machine-readable storage medium 82, the machine-readable storage medium 82 stores machine executable instructions that can be executed by the processor 81; the processor 81 is used to execute the machine executable instructions to implement the online mixed stacking method disclosed in the above examples of the present application.

[0182] Based on the same application concept as the above method, the embodiment of the present application proposes a control system for online mixed stacking, the control system includes a control device and a robot; wherein the control device is used to execute the online mixed stacking method disclosed in the above examples to obtain the target placing position corresponding to the target box; the control device is also used to send a scheduling instruction for the target box to the robot, and the scheduling instruction includes the target placing position.

[0183] The robot is configured to obtain the target placement position from the scheduling instruction after receiving the scheduling instruction, and to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position.

[0184] Based on the same application concept as the above method, the embodiments of the present application further provide a machine readable storage medium, wherein the machine readable storage medium stores a plurality of computer instructions, and the computer instructions are executed by a processor to implement the online hybrid stacking method disclosed in the above examples of the present application.

[0185] The machine readable storage medium can be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device, and can contain or store information such as executable instructions, data, and the like. For example, the machine readable storage medium can be a RAM (Random Access Memory), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a flash memory, a storage drive (such as a hard disk drive), a solid state drive, any type of storage disk (such as an optical disk, a DVD, etc.), or similar storage medium, or a combination thereof.

[0186] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can be in the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can be in the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0187] The above only describes the embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes to the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. An online mixing palletizing method, characterized by, The method comprises: For a target box to be stacked on a carrier, determining free spaces of stacked boxes on the carrier, and determining a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the free spaces; For each reference placement position, determining a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on box attribute information of the target box, box attribute information of a reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and a relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position; wherein the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position represents a matching degree of the target box and the reference placement position; Based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, selecting a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions, and controlling a robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position; The relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position comprises a bottom surface height, which is a height difference between a bottom of the target box and the carrier when the target box is in the reference placement position; The determining of the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position comprises: determining a first score value based on the bottom surface height; determining a second score value based on the box attribute information of the target box and the box attribute information of the reference stacked box; and determining a first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the first score value and the second score value; wherein the first score value is smaller if the bottom surface height is larger; the second score value is a first value if the box attribute information of the target box is the same as the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, otherwise, the second score value is a second value, and the second value is smaller than the first value; the box attribute information comprises a box length, a box width, and a box height; The selecting of the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position comprises: if the target matching degree comprises the first matching degree, taking a reference placement position with the largest first matching degree as the target placement position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The determining of the plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the free spaces comprises: determining a plurality of placement positions of the target box in the free spaces; wherein a plurality of placement positions are obtained by aligning the target box with a plurality of corners of the free spaces respectively, and a plurality of placement positions are obtained by aligning the target box with a plurality of corners of the free spaces respectively after rotating the target box by 90 degrees in a plane; For each placement position, if the placement position meets a configured constraint condition, the placement position is determined as a reference placement position of the target box; or, if the placement position does not meet the configured constraint condition, the placement position is prohibited to be determined as the reference placement position of the target box.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The constraint conditions include at least one of the following: a size constraint condition, a support area constraint condition, a height difference constraint condition, and a load bearing constraint condition. If the target box does not exceed the maximum allowable length range of the carrier, does not exceed the maximum allowable width range of the carrier, and does not exceed the maximum allowable height range of the carrier when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position satisfies the size constraint condition. If the ratio of the bottom surface support area to the bottom area of the target box is greater than a proportion threshold value when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position satisfies the support area constraint condition. The bottom surface support area is the overlapping area of the bottom of the target box and the upper surface of the first stacked box. The first stacked box is the first non-false support stacked box on the lower side of the target box. If all the corners of a stacked box are support corners, and a support corner represents the contact with an adjacent stacked box on the lower side of the stacked box, the stacked box is a non-false support stacked box. If a stacked box is supported by a carrier, the stacked box is a non-false support stacked box. If the stack type height difference is less than a height difference threshold value when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position satisfies the height difference constraint condition. The stack type height difference is the difference between the highest height and the lowest height of the upper surface of the stacked box. The highest height is the height between the upper surface of the target box and the carrier when the target box is in the placement position. If the weight value of the target box is not greater than the target load bearing value of each stacked box on the lower side of the target box when the target box is in the placement position, the placement position satisfies the load bearing constraint condition. For each stacked box, the target load bearing value corresponding to the stacked box is the difference between the maximum load bearing value of the stacked box and the weight value of each box placed on the stacked box.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, For the support area constraint condition, the proportion threshold value is determined based on the number of support corners between the target box and the stacked box adjacent to the lower side of the target box. The more the number of support corners, the smaller the proportion threshold value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The target placement position is selected from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, including: If the target matching degree includes a second matching degree, and there are M reference placement positions with the maximum first matching degree, M is a positive integer greater than 1, the reference placement position with the maximum second matching degree is selected as the target placement position based on the second matching degree corresponding to the M reference placement positions; wherein: The determination process of the second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position includes: determining the second matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on at least two of the third score value corresponding to the adjacent area, the fourth score value corresponding to the similarity, the fifth score value corresponding to the remaining space area, and the sixth score value corresponding to the height matching value. The adjacent area is a side overlapping area of the target box and a reference stacked box; a third score value corresponding to the adjacent area is determined based on a ratio of the adjacent area to the target box area; The similarity is a mean value of a length similarity and a width similarity, the length similarity is determined based on a length of the target box and a length of the reference placement position, and the width similarity is determined based on a width of the target box and a width of the reference placement position; the fourth score value is greater if the similarity is greater; The remaining space area is a remaining space area in the idle space of the reference placement position except the target box; the fifth score value is greater if the remaining space area is greater; The height matching value is a difference between an upper surface height of the target box and an upper surface height of the reference stacked box; if the height matching value is less than a threshold value, the sixth score value is a third value, and if the height matching value is not less than the threshold value, the sixth score value is a fourth value, the fourth value being less than the third value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The target placement position is selected from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and the target matching degree includes the third matching degree, if there are M reference placement positions with the greatest first matching degree, and there are N reference placement positions with the greatest second matching degree in the M reference placement positions, N being a positive integer greater than 1, the reference placement position with the greatest third matching degree is selected as the target placement position based on the third matching degree corresponding to the N reference placement positions. The third matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position is determined based on an edge matching value of the target box and the reference stacked box; the edge matching value is a sum of the first matching value, the second matching value, the third matching value and the fourth matching value; If the length direction starting point of the target box and the reference stacked box is the same, and the length of the center point connection in the width direction satisfies the length constraint, the first matching value is a fifth value, otherwise, the first matching value is a sixth value; if the length direction ending point of the target box and the reference stacked box is the same, and the length of the center point connection in the width direction satisfies the length constraint, the second matching value is a fifth value, otherwise, the second matching value is a sixth value; if the width direction starting point of the target box and the reference stacked box is the same, and the length of the center point connection in the length direction satisfies the length constraint, the third matching value is a fifth value, otherwise, the third matching value is a sixth value; if the width direction ending point of the target box and the reference stacked box is the same, and the length of the center point connection in the length direction satisfies the length constraint, the fourth matching value is a fifth value, otherwise, the fourth matching value is a sixth value; The device comprises: A determination module is configured to determine, for a target box to be stacked on a carrier, an idle space of a stacked box on the carrier, and determine a plurality of reference placement positions of the target box based on the idle space.

7. An on-line mixing palletizing apparatus characterized by comprising: ​ ​ The processing module is configured to determine, for each reference placement position, a target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and a relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position, where the target matching degree represents a matching degree between the target box and the reference placement position. The placement module is configured to select a target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, and control the robot to stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position. The relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position includes a bottom surface height, where the bottom surface height is a height difference between a bottom of the target box and the carrier when the target box is in the reference placement position. When the processing module determines the target matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the box attribute information of the target box, the box attribute information of the reference stacked box around the reference placement position, and the relative attribute between the target box and the reference placement position, the processing module is specifically configured to: determine a first score value based on the bottom surface height; determine a second score value based on the box attribute information of the target box and the box attribute information of the reference stacked box; and determine a first matching degree corresponding to the reference placement position based on the first score value and the second score value, where the first score value is smaller if the bottom surface height is larger; the second score value is a first value if the box attribute information of the target box is the same as the box attribute information of the reference stacked box, otherwise, the second score value is a second value, and the second value is smaller than the first value; and the box attribute information includes a box length, a box width, and a box height. When the placement module selects the target placement position from the plurality of reference placement positions based on the target matching degree corresponding to each reference placement position, the placement module is specifically configured to: if the target matching degree includes the first matching degree, select the reference placement position with the largest first matching degree as the target placement position.

8. A control device characterized by comprising: The control system includes a control device and a robot, where the control device is configured to execute the method described in any one of claims 1-6 to obtain a target placement position corresponding to a target box, and the control device is further configured to send a scheduling instruction for the target box to the robot, where the scheduling instruction includes the target placement position. The robot is configured to obtain the target placement position from the scheduling instruction after receiving the scheduling instruction, and stack the target box on the carrier based on the target placement position. ​ 9. A control system for online mixed palletizing, characterized by ​ ​

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