An automatic guided vehicle scheduling system, method and traffic control device

By introducing traffic management equipment into the dispatching system of the automatic guide vehicle, the passage authority of the automatic guide vehicle in the preset conflict area is managed, and the problems of high collision risk and low transportation efficiency of the automatic guide vehicle in the conflict area are solved, and more efficient passage and transportation efficiency are achieved.

CN119918896BActive Publication Date: 2025-07-01HANGZHOU HIKROBOT TECH CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202510400196.1
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2025-03-31
Publication Date
2025-07-01
Estimated Expiration
2045-03-31

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In the operating environment of automatic guide vehicles, especially in preset conflict areas such as intersections, narrow roads and doorways, the collision risk between automatic guide vehicles is high, resulting in low transportation efficiency. The existing centralized scheduling system relies on the stability and real-time nature of wireless network communication, and in the case of insufficient wireless network coverage, it is impossible to effectively dispatch the automatic guided vehicle, which increases the risk of collision.

Method used

An automatic guide vehicle dispatching system is provided, including a traffic management device pre-installed in a preset conflict area and a plurality of automatic guide vehicles. When the automatic guide vehicle approaches the target preset conflict area, it sends an application for access to the traffic management equipment. Traffic management equipment records the application for access permissions, and decides whether to allocate access permissions based on the current application for access permissions to be allocated and the driving direction of the automatic guide vehicle with assigned permissions to avoid the risk of conflict.

Benefits of technology

By reducing the collision probability of the automatic guide vehicle in the preset conflict area, the efficiency of the automatic guide vehicle passing through the conflict area is improved, the adaptability and robustness of the system is enhanced, and the automatic guide vehicle can pass through the preset conflict area in an orderly manner and improve transportation efficiency.

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Abstract

An embodiment of the present application provides an automatic guided vehicle scheduling system, method, and traffic management device, which relate to the field of robot technology. The automatic guided vehicle approaches a target preset conflict area and sends a request for passing permission to the traffic management device in this area; if it receives the passing permission allocated by the traffic management device and passes through this area, it sends a request for canceling the passing permission to the traffic management device after passing; otherwise, it stops and waits; the traffic management device determines whether there is a conflict risk between the driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the driving direction of the second automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the currently pending passing permission request; if there is no conflict risk, it allocates passing permission to the second automatic guided vehicle, and if there is a conflict risk, it refuses to allocate passing permission to the second automatic guided vehicle; in response to the request for canceling the passing permission, it deletes the passing permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the request for canceling the passing permission. Applying the embodiment of the present application can reduce the collision probability between AGVs and improve the transportation efficiency.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of robotics, and particularly to an automated guided vehicle scheduling system, method, and traffic control device. Background Art

[0002] An AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) is an industrial vehicle that automatically or manually loads goods, travels automatically along a set route to a designated location, and then loads and unloads goods automatically or manually. With the improvement of industrial automation, AGVs have become key tools for efficient handling and production automation. In the working environment of AGVs, there are usually multiple AGVs operating together. During the driving process of AGVs, they can avoid obstacles through their own obstacle avoidance sensors. However, in areas such as intersections, narrow roads, and doorways, the risk of collision between AGVs is relatively high. Once an AGV collides, it cannot transport goods in a timely manner, and may even cause road congestion, and subsequent AGVs cannot transport goods in a timely manner, resulting in low transportation efficiency of AGVs. For ease of description, areas such as intersections, narrow roads, and doorways are referred to as preset conflict areas.

[0003] In related technologies, a centralized scheduling system is used to manage the operation of each AGV to ensure that there is as little conflict and collision as possible in the preset conflict area. However, this solution has centralized computing power and relies on the stability and real-time performance of wireless network communication. The autonomy of AGVs is poor. For scenarios with a small number of AGVs and a large working area, the deployment cost performance is too low. And if the wireless network cannot cover the working area of AGVs, the centralized scheduling system cannot effectively schedule each AGV, and there is still a potential collision risk for each AGV, still resulting in low transportation efficiency of AGVs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an automated guided vehicle scheduling system, method, and traffic control device to reduce the collision probability between AGVs and improve the transportation efficiency of AGVs. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0005] In the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, an automated guided vehicle scheduling system is provided. The system includes at least one traffic control device pre-set in a preset conflict area and multiple automated guided vehicles, wherein the operating map, and the corresponding relationship between the preset conflict area and the traffic control device are pre-stored in the automated guided vehicles;

[0006] The automatic guided vehicle is configured to, in response to approaching a target preset conflict area, send a traffic permission application to the traffic control device corresponding to the target preset conflict area; if the traffic permission is received from the traffic control device within a preset first time after sending the traffic permission application, pass through the target preset conflict area, otherwise, stop and wait; after passing through the target preset conflict area, send a cancellation traffic permission application to the traffic control device; wherein, the traffic permission application is used to indicate the first driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the cancellation traffic permission application is used to indicate the traffic permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0007] The traffic control device is configured to, in response to the traffic permission application, record the traffic permission application; determine a current traffic permission application to be allocated from the recorded traffic permission applications and determine the first driving direction included in the current traffic permission application to be allocated; determine the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle; if there is no conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocate traffic permission to the second automatic guided vehicle, where the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sends the current traffic permission application to be allocated; if there is a conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, refuse to execute the step of allocating traffic permission to the second automatic guided vehicle; in response to the cancellation traffic permission application, delete the traffic permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the cancellation traffic permission application.

[0008] In a possible implementation manner, the traffic control device is specifically configured to, in response to the traffic permission application, record the traffic permission application and the first moment corresponding to the traffic permission application, where the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends the traffic permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the traffic permission application; determine the traffic permission application with the earliest order in the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated according to the sequence of the first moments; or

[0009] The traffic control device is specifically configured to determine the traffic permission application with the highest task priority among the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated; wherein, the traffic permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle; or

[0010] The traffic control device is specifically configured to determine the traffic permission application with the same second driving direction as the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission among the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the traffic control device is specifically configured to, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first moment corresponding to the access permission application, where the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application, and the access permission application further includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle;

[0012] The traffic control device is specifically configured to weight the first moment corresponding to each recorded access permission application, the task priority of the task currently executed by each automated guided vehicle, and the number of access permission applications in the first driving direction to obtain the score of each access permission application; and determine the access permission application with the highest score as the currently to-be-allocated access permission application.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the traffic control device is specifically configured to determine the access permission application in the recorded access permission applications whose driving direction is the same as the second driving direction as the currently to-be-allocated access permission application;

[0014] The traffic control device is further configured to, if the access permission is sent to the automated guided vehicle with the second driving direction for a preset number of consecutive times, determine the access permission application with the earliest first moment and a driving direction different from the second driving direction among the access permission applications that have not been allocated access permission as the currently to-be-allocated access permission application.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the automated guided vehicle is further configured to obtain the current position and the preset destination position of the automated guided vehicle; in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to the preset first duration threshold, plan a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and drive along the first driving route.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the automated guided vehicle is specifically configured to, in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to the preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route of the automated guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position; determine whether the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area; if the second driving route does not pass through the target preset conflict area, use the second driving route as the first driving route and drive along the first driving route; if the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area, continue to park and wait.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the traffic control device is specifically configured to record the access permission application and the first moment corresponding to the access permission application in a pre-established access permission application record in response to the access permission application. The access permission application further includes an identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application;

[0018] The automatic guided vehicle is further configured to re-send an access permission application to the traffic control device in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset second duration threshold, where the preset second duration threshold is less than the preset first duration threshold;

[0019] The automatic guided vehicle is specifically configured to plan a second travel route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position in response to the time since first sending the access permission being equal to a preset first duration threshold;

[0020] The traffic control device is specifically configured to update the access permission application record according to the access permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the access permission application, and the first moment, and determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the order of the first moments in the updated access permission application record.

[0021] In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, an automatic guided vehicle scheduling method is provided, which is applied to an automatic guided vehicle scheduling system. The system includes at least one traffic control device pre-set in a preset conflict area and multiple automatic guided vehicles, where the automatic guided vehicles pre-store the corresponding relationship between the operation map, the preset conflict area, and the traffic control device;

[0022] The method includes:

[0023] The automatic guided vehicle sends an access permission application to the traffic control device corresponding to the target preset conflict area in response to approaching the target preset conflict area; if it receives the access permission allocated by the traffic control device within a preset first time after sending the access permission application, it passes through the target preset conflict area, otherwise, it stops and waits; after passing through the target preset conflict area, it sends a cancellation access permission application to the traffic control device; where the access permission application is used to indicate the first travel direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the cancellation access permission application is used to indicate the access permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle;

[0024] In response to the passage permission application, the traffic control device records the passage permission application; determines a currently pending passage permission application among the recorded passage permission applications and determines a first driving direction included in the currently pending passage permission application; determines a first automated guided vehicle with a currently allocated permission and a second driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle; if there is no risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocates a passage permission to a second automated guided vehicle, where the second automated guided vehicle is the automated guided vehicle that sends the currently pending passage permission application; if there is a risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, refuses to execute the step of allocating a passage permission to the second automated guided vehicle; in response to the cancellation of the passage permission application, deletes the passage permission allocated to the automated guided vehicle corresponding to the cancellation of the passage permission application.

[0025] In one possible implementation manner, the step of recording the passage permission application in response to the passage permission application includes:

[0026] In response to the passage permission application, records the passage permission application and a first moment corresponding to the passage permission application, where the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends the passage permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the passage permission application;

[0027] The step of determining a currently pending passage permission application among the recorded passage permission applications includes:

[0028] Determines the passage permission application with the earliest order in the passage permission applications that have not been allocated passage permissions according to the order of the first moments as the currently pending passage permission application;

[0029] Or,

[0030] The step of determining a currently pending passage permission application among the recorded passage permission applications includes:

[0031] Determines the passage permission application with the highest task priority among the passage permission applications that have not been allocated passage permissions as the currently pending passage permission application; where the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle is also included in the passage permission application;

[0032] Or,

[0033] The step of determining a currently pending passage permission application among the recorded passage permission applications includes:

[0034] Determines, as the currently pending passage permission application, one passage permission application among the passage permission applications that have not been allocated passage permissions and that has the same second driving direction as the first automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission.

[0035] In a possible implementation manner, recording the access permission application in response to the access permission application includes:

[0036] In response to the access permission application, recording the access permission application and a first moment corresponding to the access permission application, where the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application, and the access permission application further includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle;

[0037] Determining a currently to-be-allocated access permission application from the recorded access permission applications includes:

[0038] Weighting the first moment corresponding to each of the recorded access permission applications, the task priority of the task currently executed by each automated guided vehicle, and the number of access permission applications in the first driving direction to obtain the scores of each access permission application;

[0039] Determining the access permission application with the highest score as the currently to-be-allocated access permission application.

[0040] In a possible implementation manner, determining a currently to-be-allocated access permission application from the recorded access permission applications includes:

[0041] Determining the access permission applications in the recorded access permission applications whose driving directions are the same as the second driving direction as the currently to-be-allocated access permission applications;

[0042] The method further includes:

[0043] If the traffic control device continuously sends the access permissions to a preset number of automated guided vehicles with the second driving direction, determining the access permission application with the earliest first moment and a driving direction different from the second driving direction among the access permission applications for which the access permissions have not been allocated as the currently to-be-allocated access permission application.

[0044] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

[0045] The automated guided vehicle obtains the current position and the preset destination position of the automated guided vehicle; in response to the time from the moment of sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and driving along the first driving route.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the step of, in response to the time from sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and driving along the first driving route includes:

[0047] In response to the time from sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position;

[0048] Determine whether the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area;

[0049] If the second driving route does not pass through the target preset conflict area, use the second driving route as the first driving route and drive along the first driving route;

[0050] If the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area, continue to park and wait.

[0051] In a possible implementation manner, the step of, in response to the access permission application, recording the access permission application includes:

[0052] In response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first moment corresponding to the access permission application in a pre-established access permission application record. The access permission application further includes an identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application;

[0053] The method further includes:

[0054] The automatic guided vehicle, in response to the time from sending the access permission application being equal to a preset second duration threshold, re-sends the access permission application to the traffic control device, where the preset second duration threshold is less than the preset first duration threshold;

[0055] The step of, in response to the time from sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position includes:

[0056] In response to the time from first sending the access permission being equal to a preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position;

[0057] The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated in the recorded access permission applications includes:

[0058] Update the access permission application record according to the access permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the access permission application, and the first moment, and determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the order of the first moments in the updated access permission application record.

[0059] In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a traffic management device is provided. The traffic management device is disposed in a target preset conflict area. The traffic management device is used for:

[0060] In response to an access permission application, record the access permission application, where the access permission application is sent by an automatic guided vehicle to the traffic management device in response to approaching the target preset conflict area, and the corresponding relationship between the operation map, the preset conflict area, and the traffic management device is pre-stored in the automatic guided vehicle;

[0061] Determine a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications and determine the first driving direction included in the current access permission application to be allocated;

[0062] Determine the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle;

[0063] If there is no conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocate access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle, where the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sends the current access permission application to be allocated;

[0064] If there is a conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, reject the step of allocating access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle;

[0065] In response to a cancellation of an access permission application, delete the access permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the cancellation of the access permission application, where the cancellation of the access permission application is sent by the automatic guided vehicle to the traffic management device after passing through the target preset conflict area.

[0066] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute any one of the above-mentioned automatic guided vehicle scheduling methods.

[0067] Advantages of the embodiments of the present application:

[0068] An automatic guided vehicle scheduling system, method, and traffic control device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The scheduling system includes at least one traffic control device and multiple automatic guided vehicles. Each preset conflict area is pre-set with a traffic control device. When an automatic guided vehicle approaches a target preset conflict area, it will first send a traffic permission application to the traffic control device. Since the traffic permission application is used to indicate the driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, after determining the currently pending traffic permission application, the traffic control device can determine whether there is a conflict risk between the second automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automatic guided vehicle to be passed according to the driving directions of the second automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automatic guided vehicle to be passed. When there is no conflict risk between the second automatic guided vehicle and the first automatic guided vehicle, the first automatic guided vehicle can also enter and pass through the target preset conflict area. That is to say, there is no collision risk or a relatively low collision risk between the automatic guided vehicles entering the preset conflict area at the same time. Therefore, the collision probability of the automatic guided vehicle in the preset conflict area can be reduced, and further the efficiency of the automatic guided vehicle passing through the conflict area can be improved. And, since the automatic guided vehicle will apply to the traffic control device to cancel the traffic permission application after passing through the target preset conflict area, the traffic control device will delete the traffic permission of the automatic guided vehicle that has passed through the target preset conflict area, which can avoid the automatic guided vehicle occupying the traffic permission in one direction for a long time and causing the automatic guided vehicles in other directions conflicting with this direction to be unable to pass through the target preset conflict area all the time, so that each automatic guided vehicle can pass through the target preset conflict area orderly, and further improve the transportation efficiency of the automatic guided vehicle.

[0069] Of course, implementing any product or method of the present application does not necessarily require achieving all the above-mentioned advantages at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other embodiments can also be obtained according to these drawings.

[0071] Figure 1 It is an example diagram of a distributed intersection management strategy;

[0072] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the automatic guided vehicle scheduling system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0073] Figure 3 It is an example diagram of the topological map provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Figure 4 It is an example diagram of the preset conflict area provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Figure 5 An exemplary diagram of the relative position between the automatic guided vehicle provided in the embodiment of the present application and the preset conflict area;

[0076] Figure 6 A first exemplary diagram of the preset conflict area and the traveling directions of each automatic guided vehicle provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0077] Figure 7 A second exemplary diagram of the preset conflict area and the traveling directions of each automatic guided vehicle provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 8 A third exemplary diagram of the preset conflict area and the traveling directions of each automatic guided vehicle provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the automatic guided vehicle scheduling method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 10 An exemplary diagram of the automatic guided vehicle scheduling method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device provided in the embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0082] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0083] Topological map: A directed graph composed of points and edges, where the coordinates included in the nodes correspond to positions in the actual physical world, and the edges correspond to the routes for the AGV to run;

[0084] Dijkstra algorithm: Dijkstra's algorithm, a classic shortest path algorithm, used to find the shortest paths from a starting point to all other nodes in a graph (directed or undirected graph).

[0085] A Algorithm: A heuristic search algorithm with the A algorithm as the core, which finds the optimal path by comprehensively considering the actual cost and estimated cost of the nodes.

[0086] With the improvement of industrial automation, automated guided vehicles have become key tools for efficient material handling and production automation. However, due to the operation of many automated guided vehicles in the actual material handling scenarios, automated guided vehicles moving in a straight line can achieve good obstacle avoidance through obstacle sensors and will not collide. However, the control of automated guided vehicles at intersections is relatively complex, making it a very difficult and challenging task to enable automated guided vehicles to drive orderly according to unified traffic rules.

[0087] In related technologies, a centralized scheduling system is adopted to implement the scheduling of automated guided vehicles. The centralized scheduling system is a software system used to manage and coordinate the efficient operation of multiple automated guided vehicles in the working area. Its main task is to reasonably allocate and adjust the work tasks of automated guided vehicles according to production requirements and real-time conditions to ensure that automated guided vehicles operate without collision and efficiently in the driving path. However, the computing power of this solution is centralized, and the communication between automated guided vehicles and the centralized scheduling system is achieved through wireless networks. Therefore, this solution relies on the stability and real-time performance of wireless network communication. If the centralized scheduling system fails, all automated guided vehicles cannot work properly. Moreover, in some scenarios with a small number of automated guided vehicles and a large site, the cost performance of deploying a centralized scheduling system is too low, and this solution cannot be implemented in some special confidential scenarios where wireless networks cannot be used.

[0088] To make up for the deficiencies of the above-mentioned centralized scheduling system, a distributed intersection management strategy is adopted in related technologies, such as Figure 1 The figure shows an example diagram of the distributed intersection management strategy. A single-chip microcomputer is installed at each crossroads, and one first optical communication machine is installed at each of the four directions of each crossroads (i.e., Figure 1 the first optical communication machine A, the first optical communication machine B, the first optical communication machine C, and the first optical communication machine D in ). Vehicle 1 sends a passing request to the single-chip microcomputer through the second optical communication machine on vehicle 1 before the crossroads. When the single-chip microcomputer receives the passing request, it detects whether there is a vehicle passing through the current crossroads. If there is a vehicle 2 passing through the current crossroads, it sets the traffic status to blocked, and the single-chip microcomputer sends the passing situation of vehicle 2 to vehicle 1 through the first optical communication machine A so that vehicle 1 performs a waiting action. After the tail of vehicle 2 passes through the crossroads (such as Figure 1 vehicle 2' in ), vehicle 2 will send a passed signal to the single-chip microcomputer through the second optical communication machine on vehicle 2. After the single-chip microcomputer receives the passed signal, it will set the traffic status to the unblocked state and send the passing situation of vehicle 2 to vehicle 1 through the first optical communication machine A so that vehicle 1 performs the action of passing through the crossroads. It can be understood that in this example, the vehicle refers to an automated guided vehicle.

[0089] However, in the actual handling scenario, the number of automated guided vehicles is large. Since only one automated guided vehicle can preempt the crossroads in this solution, the traffic efficiency of the automated guided vehicles is reduced, and further the transportation efficiency of the automated guided vehicles is reduced.

[0090] In order to improve the transportation efficiency of automated guided vehicles, this application provides an automated guided vehicle scheduling system, method and traffic control device. The automated guided vehicle scheduling system, method and traffic control device provided by this application will be described below through specific embodiments.

[0091] In the first aspect of the embodiments of this application, an automated guided vehicle scheduling system is first provided. As Figure 2 shown in the structural schematic diagram of the automated guided vehicle scheduling system provided by the embodiments of this application, the system includes at least one traffic control device 202 preset in a preset conflict area and multiple automated guided vehicles 201. The corresponding relationship between the operation map, the preset conflict area and the traffic control device is prestored in each automated guided vehicle 201.

[0092] The preset conflict area refers to the area where the automated guided vehicles may collide or deadlock in the operation map. The preset conflict area is set by the user according to the actual road conditions and experience. For example, the merging section, crossroads, T-junctions, etc. can all be set as the preset conflict area.

[0093] There can be one or multiple preset conflict areas included in the operation map. The operation map of the automated guided vehicle can be a topological map, a grid map, or a geometric feature map. The embodiments of this application do not limit this. At least one traffic control device is set in each preset conflict area, and the traffic control devices set in different preset conflict areas are different. The number of traffic control devices set in different preset conflict areas can be the same or different. For example, there is one traffic control device set in a preset conflict area, and three traffic control devices are set in another preset conflict area. The number of traffic control devices in each preset conflict area is set by the user according to their own needs and actual experience. The embodiments of this application do not limit this. It can be understood that the traffic control device in each preset conflict area can be set at any position in the preset conflict area that does not affect the normal passage of the automated guided vehicle. The embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0094] When multiple traffic management devices are set in a preset conflict area, for the multiple traffic management devices set in the same preset conflict area, the data in each traffic management device is synchronized. In this case, it can be that one of the traffic management devices in the preset conflict area receives a communication permission application, receives and records a passing permission application, determines whether there is a conflict risk between the first automatic guided vehicle and the second automatic guided vehicle, and allocates a passing permission for the automatic guided vehicle. Other traffic management devices in the preset conflict area serve as backup traffic management devices, and when the current traffic management device fails, a traffic management device is selected from the backup traffic management devices as the new current traffic management device; or it can be that three traffic management devices are set in the preset conflict area, which are respectively denoted as the first traffic management device, the second traffic management device, and the third traffic management device. The first traffic management device receives a communication permission application, the second traffic management device receives and records a passing permission application, and the third traffic management device determines whether there is a conflict risk between the first automatic guided vehicle and the second automatic guided vehicle and allocates a passing permission for the automatic guided vehicle.

[0095] For the convenience of description, the figure only shows that the automatic guided vehicle scheduling system includes one traffic management device 202 and three automatic guided vehicles 201, and the present application does not limit the number of automatic guided vehicles.

[0096] The automatic guided vehicle 201 is configured to, in response to approaching a target preset conflict area, send a passing permission application to the traffic management device corresponding to the target preset conflict area; if a passing permission allocated by the traffic management device is received within a preset first time after sending the passing permission application, pass through the target preset conflict area, otherwise, stop and wait; after passing through the target preset conflict area, send a cancellation passing permission application to the traffic management device.

[0097] Wherein, the target preset conflict area is any preset conflict area. The passing permission application is used to indicate the first driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the cancellation passing permission application is used to indicate the passing permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0098] The traffic management device 202 is configured to, in response to a passing permission application, record the passing permission application; determine a current passing permission application to be allocated in the recorded passing permission applications and determine the first driving direction included in the current passing permission application to be allocated; determine the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle; if there is no conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocate a passing permission for the second automatic guided vehicle; if there is a conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, reject the step of allocating a passing permission for the second automatic guided vehicle; in response to a cancellation passing permission application, delete the passing permission allocated for the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the cancellation passing permission application.

[0099] Wherein, the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sends the current passing permission application to be allocated.

[0100] The conflict risk refers to the possibility that an automated guided vehicle may collide or deadlock. Users can preset pairs of driving directions with conflict risks based on actual experience and requirements. For example, the east-west and north-south directions at a crossroads are pairs of driving directions with conflict risks. After the traffic control device determines the first driving direction included in the current application for allocated right of way and the second driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated right of way, if the first driving direction and the second driving direction match the preset pair of driving directions, it indicates that there is a conflict risk between the first automated guided vehicle and the second automated guided vehicle.

[0101] Exemplarily, assume that the preset pairs of driving directions with conflict risks are: north-south - east-west, that is, there is a possibility of collision or deadlock between automated guided vehicles traveling from south to north or from north to south and those traveling from east to west or from west to east. If an automated guided vehicle traveling from west to east and an automated guided vehicle traveling from south to north pass through an intersection at the same time, the traffic control device determines the driving directions of these two automated guided vehicles as: from west to east and from south to north, which match the pair of driving directions with conflict risks, then there is a conflict risk between these two automated guided vehicles; for another example, assume that the preset pair of driving directions with conflict risks is: from south to north - turn left from west to east at the crossroads. At a crossroads, if an automated guided vehicle that turns left from west to east after reaching the crossroads and an automated guided vehicle traveling from south to north pass through the crossroads at the same time, the traffic control device determines the driving directions of these two automated guided vehicles as: from south to north - turn left from west to east at the crossroads, which match the pair of driving directions with conflict risks, then there is also a conflict risk between these two automated guided vehicles.

[0102] Applying the embodiments of the present application, the scheduling system includes at least one traffic management device pre-set in a preset conflict area and multiple automated guided vehicles. Each preset conflict area is pre-set with a traffic management device. When an automated guided vehicle approaches a target preset conflict area, it will first send a request for passage permission to the traffic management device of the target preset conflict area. Since the request for passage permission includes the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle, after determining the current request for passage permission to be allocated, the traffic management device can determine whether there is a conflict risk between the second automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automated guided vehicle waiting to pass according to the driving directions of the second automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automated guided vehicle waiting to pass. When there is no conflict risk between the second automated guided vehicle and the first automated guided vehicle, the first automated guided vehicle can also enter and pass through the target preset conflict area. That is to say, there is no collision risk between the automated guided vehicles entering the preset conflict area at the same time. Therefore, the collision probability of the automated guided vehicle in the preset conflict area can be reduced, and the efficiency of the automated guided vehicle passing through the conflict area can be improved. Moreover, since the automated guided vehicle will apply to the traffic management device to cancel the request for passage permission after passing through the target preset conflict area, the traffic management device will delete the passage permission of the automated guided vehicle that has passed through the target preset conflict area, which can prevent the automated guided vehicle from occupying the passage permission in one direction for a long time and causing the automated guided vehicles in other directions conflicting with this direction to be unable to pass through the target preset conflict area all the time, enabling each automated guided vehicle to pass through the target preset conflict area orderly, and further improving the transportation efficiency of the automated guided vehicle.

[0103] Still taking the crossroads in the above text Figure 1 as an example, in the present application, the traffic management device will determine whether there may be a conflict risk between the automated guided vehicles passing through the crossroads according to the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle in progress and the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle waiting to be allocated passage permission. If there is no conflict risk between the automated guided vehicle in progress and the automated guided vehicle waiting to be allocated passage permission, passage permission will be allocated to the automated guided vehicle waiting to be allocated passage permission, without waiting for the automated guided vehicle with the already allocated passage permission to completely pass through the preset conflict area before allocating permission to the automated guided vehicle waiting to be allocated passage permission, improving the efficiency of the automated guided vehicle passing through the conflict area and reducing the probability of collision of each automated guided vehicle in the preset conflict area, and further improving the transportation efficiency of the automated guided vehicle.

[0104] Next, taking the operation map as a topological map as an example, the scheduling process of the above automated guided vehicle scheduling system for automated guided vehicles will be described in detail in combination with specific embodiments:

[0105] As Figure 3 shown in the example diagram of the topological map provided by the embodiments of the present application, Figure 3 each edge 100 in it represents the line on which the automated guided vehicle runs, and the node 200 represents the preset conflict area. Figure 30 to 9 respectively represent a preset conflict area, and the arrows on each side indicate the directions in which the automated guided vehicle can travel on this route.

[0106] The size and shape of the preset conflict area are both set by the user according to requirements and actual experience. Figure 3 For the sake of convenience in description, the preset conflict area is shown as a circle, but it does not limit the shape of the preset conflict area. In the operation map, there can be only one preset conflict area, or there can be multiple. When there are multiple preset conflict areas in the operation map, the types of preset conflict areas can be only one type, or there can be multiple types. For example Figure 3 In the shown topological map, there are different types of conflict areas, such as the merge intersection 10, crossroads 20, T-junction 30, and two-way one-way road 40. It can be understood that the conflict areas in this application can also be other types.

[0107] For the sake of convenient description, in the following, taking one traffic management device is set in each preset conflict area as an example, the automated guided vehicle scheduling method provided by this application will be described for one of the preset conflict areas in the operation map.

[0108] The automated guided vehicle's response to approaching the target preset conflict area can mean that the automated guided vehicle immediately obtains its own position information to determine, according to its own position information, the target preset conflict area that is on the forward route of the automated guided vehicle's current driving route and is the closest to the automated guided vehicle, and the distance between the automated guided vehicle and the target preset conflict area is equal to the preset first distance threshold; it can also mean that a preset range is set in advance for each preset conflict area in the operation map, and when the automated guided vehicle detects that its geographical location in the operation map enters the preset range of the target preset conflict area, it is considered to be approaching the target preset conflict area; the shape of the preset range can be any shape that takes the range of the preset conflict area as the center and is larger than the preset conflict area in all directions. Assuming the target preset conflict area is Figure 3 the crossroads represented by area 20 in, then the preset range set for the crossroads is as shown by the Figure 4 dashed rectangular frame in.

[0109] Taking the preset conflict area as the Figure 4 shown crossroads as an example, assuming the traffic management device 202 is set at the position shown in this crossroads as Figure 4 shown, when the automated guided vehicle enters the preset range 300, the automated guided vehicle 201 sends a request for passing permission to the traffic management device 202 in the preset conflict area 200 within the target preset range 300. If the automated guided vehicle 201 receives the passing permission allocated by the traffic management device 202 within the preset first time after sending the request for passing permission, it passes through the preset conflict area 200.

[0110] Among them, the automatic guided vehicle entering the preset range may refer to the front of the automatic guided vehicle entering the preset range, or it may refer to the entire body of the automatic guided vehicle entering the preset range. This application does not limit this.

[0111] When the automatic guided vehicle responds to approaching the target preset conflict area, it may immediately stop and send a request for passing permission to the traffic control device in the target preset conflict area, or it may send a request for passing permission to the traffic control device while continuing to move forward at the current speed, or it may send a request for passing permission to the traffic control device while decelerating and moving forward.

[0112] The preset first time is set according to actual experience, and this application does not limit this. It can be understood that if the automatic guided vehicle sends a request for passing permission to the traffic control device while continuing to move forward when approaching the target preset conflict area, the automatic guided vehicle will not enter the target preset conflict area after traveling a certain distance within the preset first time.

[0113] If the automatic guided vehicle 201 does not receive the passing permission allocated by the traffic control device 202 for the automatic guided vehicle within the preset first time after sending the request for passing permission to the traffic control device 202, the automatic guided vehicle 201 stops and waits. Exemplarily, as Figure 5 shown in the example diagram of the relative position between the automatic guided vehicle and the preset conflict area provided by the embodiment of this application. Assume that the automatic guided vehicle 201 sends a request for passing permission to the traffic control device 202 at position A and continues to move forward at the same time. The automatic guided vehicle travels from position A to position B within the preset first time after sending the request for passing permission. If the automatic guided vehicle does not receive the passing permission allocated by the traffic control device for it during the process of traveling from position A to position B, it stops and waits at position B and does not enter the preset conflict area 200.

[0114] In order to facilitate the traffic control device to judge whether there is a conflict risk in the driving directions of each automatic guided vehicle, the request for passing permission of the automatic guided vehicle includes the driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle. When the traffic control device receives the request for passing permission and allocates passing permission to the automatic guided vehicle, it can determine whether to allocate passing permission to the currently waiting automatic guided vehicle according to whether there is a conflict risk between the driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle currently passing through the preset conflict area or the driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle that has been allocated passing permission and is about to pass through the preset conflict area in the preset conflict area where the traffic control device is located and the driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle for which passing permission is currently to be allocated.

[0115] Exemplarily, as Figure 6FIG. 0 shows a first example diagram of a preset conflict area and the driving directions of each automatic guided vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application. After receiving a traffic right application 1 sent by a first automatic guided vehicle P, a traffic control device 202 set in the preset conflict area 200 determines that the driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle P is from north to south, and determines that the driving direction of a second automatic guided vehicle Q that has been allocated a traffic right is from south to north and then from west to east after reaching the preset conflict area, and then determines whether there is a conflict between the driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle P and the driving direction of the second automatic guided vehicle Q.

[0116] Taking Figure 6 the actual roads corresponding to the lines in as an example of two-way single lanes, if the first automatic guided vehicle P and the second automatic guided vehicle Q arrive at the preset conflict area 200 at the same time and the driving direction of the second automatic guided vehicle Q conflicts with that of the first automatic guided vehicle P, at this time, the traffic control device 202 should allocate a traffic right to the first automatic guided vehicle P after the second automatic guided vehicle Q passes through the preset conflict area 200 so that the first automatic guided vehicle P can pass through the preset conflict area 200.

[0117] To avoid the automatic guided vehicle using the traffic right to occupy the preset conflict area for a long time, after the automatic guided vehicle passes through the preset conflict area, it will send a traffic right cancellation application to the traffic control device in the preset conflict area. The traffic right cancellation application is used to indicate the traffic right application sent by the automatic guided vehicle. After receiving the traffic right cancellation application, the traffic control device deletes the traffic right allocated to the automatic guided vehicle. Exemplarily, assume that the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic right application to the traffic control device after passing through the preset conflict area, the traffic control device allocates a traffic right to the automatic guided vehicle, the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic right cancellation application to the traffic control device after passing through the preset conflict area, the traffic right cancellation is used to indicate the traffic right application sent by the automatic guided vehicle, and after receiving the traffic right cancellation application, the traffic control device deletes the traffic right allocated to the automatic guided vehicle.

[0118] The above has described how the traffic control device determines whether to allocate a communication right to the automatic guided vehicle currently waiting to be allocated a traffic right according to the driving directions of each automatic guided vehicle. The following describes the process of how the traffic control device determines the current traffic right application waiting to be allocated.

[0119] It can be understood that for any preset conflict area, when there is no automated guided vehicle waiting to pass through the preset conflict area, each time the traffic control device receives a traffic permission application sent by an automated guided vehicle, the traffic permission application is regarded as the current traffic permission application to be allocated; and if there are multiple automated guided vehicles waiting to pass through the preset conflict area, the traffic control device may, according to the time of receiving the traffic permission application, periodically or in response to deleting the allocated traffic permission, determine the traffic permission application with the highest priority among the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated, or may, periodically or in response to deleting the allocated traffic permission, randomly select one from the received traffic permission applications and determine it as the current traffic permission application to be allocated, or may also determine the current traffic permission application to be allocated in other ways.

[0120] The following describes the method for the traffic control device in the embodiment of the present application to determine the current traffic permission application to be allocated:

[0121] Method 1: Determine the current traffic permission application to be allocated according to the time of the traffic permission applications of each automated guided vehicle.

[0122] In this method, the traffic control device is specifically configured to, in response to a traffic permission application, record the traffic permission application and the first moment corresponding to the traffic permission application, and determine the traffic permission application with the highest priority among the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated according to the sequence of the first moments.

[0123] Among them, the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the traffic permission application.

[0124] Exemplarily, as Figure 7 shown in the second exemplary diagram of the preset conflict area and the driving directions of each automated guided vehicle provided by the embodiment of the present application, the traffic control device 202 set in the preset conflict area 200 receives the traffic permission application 1 sent by the first automated guided vehicle P at 10:01, receives the traffic permission application 2 sent by the third automated guided vehicle R at 10:02, and receives the traffic permission application 3 sent by the fourth automated guided vehicle S at 10:03, records the time of receiving each traffic permission application as the first moment corresponding to each traffic permission application, and records the driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle P as from north to south, the driving direction of the second automated guided vehicle Q as from south to north and then from west to east after reaching the preset conflict area, the driving direction of the third automated guided vehicle R as from west to east and then from south to north after reaching the preset conflict area, and the driving direction of the fourth automated guided vehicle S as from west to east.

[0125] Then, first determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission to be allocated. Determine whether there is a conflict in the driving directions of the first automated guided vehicle P and the second automated guided vehicle Q, and then determine whether to allocate the access permission to the first automated guided vehicle P. After allocating the access permission to the first automated guided vehicle P, determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission to be allocated. Determine whether to allocate the access permission to the third automated guided vehicle R based on the driving directions of the automated guided vehicles with the already allocated access permissions and the third automated guided vehicle R. After allocating the access permission to the third automated guided vehicle R, determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission to be allocated. Determine whether to allocate the access permission to the fourth automated guided vehicle S based on the driving directions of the automated guided vehicles with the already allocated access permissions and the fourth automated guided vehicle S.

[0126] Method 2: Determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the task priorities of the tasks currently executed by each automated guided vehicle:

[0127] In this method, the access permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle. The traffic management device is specifically configured to determine the access permission application with the highest task priority among the access permission applications for which the access permission has not been allocated as the current access permission application to be allocated.

[0128] Still taking Figure 7 as an example, assuming that the access permission has been allocated to the second automated guided vehicle Q, and the task priorities of the tasks currently executed by the first automated guided vehicle P, the third automated guided vehicle R, and the fourth automated guided vehicle S are, from high to low, the third automated guided vehicle R > the first automated guided vehicle P > the fourth automated guided vehicle S. Then, first determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission application to be allocated. Determine whether to allocate the access permission to the third automated guided vehicle R based on the driving directions of the automated guided vehicles with the already allocated access permissions and the third automated guided vehicle R. After allocating the access permission to the third automated guided vehicle R, determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission application to be allocated. Determine whether to allocate the access permission to the first automated guided vehicle P based on the driving directions of the automated guided vehicles with the already allocated access permissions and the first automated guided vehicle P. After allocating the access permission to the first automated guided vehicle P, determine the current access permission application to be allocated as the current access permission application to be allocated. Determine whether to allocate the access permission to the fourth automated guided vehicle S based on the driving directions of the automated guided vehicles with the already allocated access permissions and the fourth automated guided vehicle S.

[0129] Method 3: Determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated access permission:

[0130] In this method, the traffic control device is specifically configured to determine, as the current pending traffic permission application, one traffic permission application in the traffic permission applications without allocated traffic permissions that has the same second driving direction as the first automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permissions.

[0131] Exemplarily, as Figure 8 shown in the third example diagram of the preset conflict area and the driving directions of each automated guided vehicle provided by the embodiment of the present application, assume that the traffic control device 202 in the preset conflict area 200 has allocated traffic permissions to the second automated guided vehicle Q, and the driving directions of the first automated guided vehicle P, the second automated guided vehicle Q, the third automated guided vehicle R, and the fourth automated guided vehicle S are as Figure 8 shown. The driving directions of the first automated guided vehicle P and the second automated guided vehicle Q are both from north to south. The driving direction of the third automated guided vehicle R is from west to east to the preset conflict area and then from north to south. The driving direction of the fourth automated guided vehicle S is from west to east.

[0132] Since the driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle P is the same as that of the second automated guided vehicle Q with the allocated traffic permissions, the traffic permission application sent by the first automated guided vehicle P is determined as the current pending traffic permission application.

[0133] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, the traffic control device can orderly determine the current pending traffic permission application in any manner, and determine whether to allocate traffic permissions to the automated guided vehicle based on whether the driving directions conflict, reducing the probability of collisions of the automated guided vehicles in the preset conflict area, improving the traffic capacity of the preset conflict area, and thus enhancing the overall traffic efficiency.

[0134] It can be understood that if the above method three is adopted to determine the current pending traffic permission application, continuously allocating traffic permissions to too many automated guided vehicles in the same driving direction will result in too long a traffic time in the same direction, which may cause serious congestion of automated guided vehicles in other driving directions that conflict with the current traffic direction. For example, if the traffic control device continuously allocates traffic permissions to automated guided vehicles driving from west to east, then the automated guided vehicles driving from south to north, from north to south, and from east to west that conflict with the driving direction from west to east will be congested outside the preset conflict area for a long time.

[0135] To solve this problem, in a possible implementation manner, the traffic control device is further configured to, if continuously sending traffic permissions to a preset number of automated guided vehicles with a second driving direction, determine, as the current pending traffic permission application, the traffic permission application that is the earliest at the first moment and has a driving direction different from the second driving direction among the traffic permission applications without allocated traffic permissions.

[0136] Among them, the preset number is set according to actual experience and user requirements, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. Exemplarily, assuming that the second driving direction is from west to east and the preset number is 5, after the traffic control device continuously allocates the passing authorities to 5 automatic guided vehicles with the driving direction from west to east, the passing authority application with the earliest first moment and a driving direction not from west to east is determined from the passing authority applications that have not been allocated passing authorities as the current passing authority application to be allocated, and the passing authority is allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the current passing authority application to be allocated.

[0137] It can be understood that when determining the new current passing authority application to be allocated after allocating the passing authority to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the current passing authority application to be allocated, the new current passing authority application can be determined according to the time of the passing authority applications of each automatic guided vehicle, or according to the task priorities of the tasks currently executed by each automatic guided vehicle, or according to the driving directions of the automatic guided vehicles that have been allocated passing authorities currently. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0138] By adopting the embodiments of the present application, after the traffic control device continuously sends the passing authorities to a preset number of automatic guided vehicles with the second driving direction, the passing authority application with the earliest first moment and a driving direction different from the second driving direction among the passing authority applications that have not been allocated passing authorities is determined as the current passing authority application to be allocated, which can avoid serious congestion in other driving directions conflicting with the second driving direction, ensure that the automatic guided vehicles in each driving direction can pass through the preset conflict area orderly, and thus improve the overall scheduling efficiency.

[0139] However, in the actual application scenario, it lacks flexibility and adaptability for the traffic control device to determine the current passing authority application to be allocated only by any one of the above methods 1 to 3. Once the user requirements change, such as the user originally set to allocate passing rights to each automatic guided vehicle according to the driving direction of each automatic guided vehicle, and now wants to pay more attention to the task priority, the traffic control device may not be able to adjust in time.

[0140] Based on this, in a possible implementation manner, the traffic control device is specifically configured to record the passing authority application and the first moment corresponding to the passing authority application in response to the passing authority application;

[0141] The traffic control device is specifically configured to weight the first moment corresponding to each recorded passing authority application, the task priorities of the tasks currently executed by each automatic guided vehicle, and the number of passing authority applications in the first driving direction to obtain the scores of each passing authority application; and determine the passing authority application with the highest score as the current passing authority application to be allocated.

[0142] Among them, the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the traffic permission application. The traffic permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0143] The first weight corresponding to the first moment of each traffic permission application, the second weight of the task priority of the task currently executed by each automatic guided vehicle, and the third weight of the number of traffic permission applications in the first driving direction can be equal or unequal. The values of the first weight, the second weight, and the third weight are set according to user requirements and actual experience. If the user attaches more importance to the first moment corresponding to each traffic permission application, the value of the first weight is greater than the values of the second weight and the third weight; if the user attaches more importance to the task priority, the value of the second weight is greater than the values of the first weight and the third weight; if the user attaches more importance to the driving direction, the value of the third weight is greater than the values of the first weight and the second weight.

[0144] In a specific embodiment, assume that the value of the first weight is a, the value of the second weight is b, and the value of the third weight is c. The traffic control device receives traffic permission applications 1-3 and records their corresponding first moments t1~t3, task priorities d1~d3. The driving direction in traffic permission application 1 is from west to east, the driving direction in traffic permission application 2 is from south to north, and the driving direction in traffic permission application 3 is from south to north. It can be seen that the number of driving directions from west to east is 1, and the number of driving directions from south to north is 2. For traffic permission applications 1~3, the scores are calculated as follows: For traffic permission application 1, the score is: a×t1 + b×d1 + c×1; for traffic permission application 2, the score is: a×t2 + b×d2 + c×2; for traffic permission application 3, the score is: a×t3 + b×d3 + c×2. Assume that the value of a×t3 + b×d3 + c×2 is the largest, then traffic permission application 3 is determined as the current traffic permission application to be allocated.

[0145] By using the embodiment of the present application, by weighting the first moment corresponding to each recorded traffic permission application, the task priority of the task currently executed by each automatic guided vehicle, and the number of traffic permission applications in the first driving direction, the scores of each traffic permission application are obtained, and the traffic permission application with the highest score is determined as the current traffic permission application to be allocated. The weight values can be flexibly adjusted according to user requirements and traffic environment to adapt to different traffic environments and task requirements, so that the scheduling system can better handle emergencies and changes, and improve the adaptability and robustness of the overall scheduling system.

[0146] The driving route of the automatic guided vehicle can be planned by the host computer according to the current position and the preset destination position of the automatic guided vehicle and sent to the automatic guided vehicle, or can be planned by the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position of the automatic guided vehicle.

[0147] It is understandable that if the automated guided vehicle does not receive the passing permission within a long time after sending the passing permission application to the traffic control device, it indicates that there may be severe congestion in the current preset conflict area. The automated guided vehicle can re-plan the driving route based on its current position and the preset destination position to bypass the preset conflict area. The automated guided vehicle plans the route according to the operation map, the current position and the preset destination position, and can use the Dijkstra algorithm or the A algorithm, or other algorithms can also be used. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this

[0148] Based on this, in a possible implementation manner, the automated guided vehicle is further configured to obtain its current position and the preset destination position; in response to the time since sending the passing permission application being equal to the preset first duration threshold, plan a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and drive along the first driving route.

[0149] Among them, the first duration threshold is set according to user requirements and actual experience. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0150] Exemplarily, assume that the preset first duration threshold is 5 minutes. The automated guided vehicle sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device at 10:00. If it has not received the passing permission at 10:05, it plans a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and drives along the first driving route. In this way, it can avoid the congested target preset conflict area and select other relatively unobstructed driving routes, thereby effectively shortening the driving time of the automated guided vehicle and improving the passing efficiency of the automated guided vehicle.

[0151] When the automated guided vehicle re-plans the driving route according to the current position and the preset destination position, it can directly plan the first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area by taking not passing through the target preset conflict area as a planning condition, or it can first plan at least one second driving route according to the current position and the preset destination position, and then screen out the driving route that does not pass through the target preset conflict area from the second driving routes as the first driving route.

[0152] If the automated guided vehicle cannot plan a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area by taking not passing through the target preset conflict area as a planning condition, or all the second driving routes pass through the target preset conflict area, it is considered that the automated guided vehicle cannot bypass the target preset conflict area and can only continue to wait until the traffic control device in the target preset conflict area assigns a passing permission to it.

[0153] With the embodiment of the present application, if the newly planned route cannot bypass the target preset conflict area, the automatic guided vehicle continues to wait, avoiding the additional time consumption caused by blindly changing the driving route when the target preset conflict area cannot be bypassed.

[0154] It can be understood that after the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application to the traffic control device, it can resend the traffic permission application to the traffic control device every preset second time threshold. Exemplarily, assuming that the second time threshold is 2 minutes, the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application to the traffic control device at 10:00. If the traffic permission has not been received at 10:02, the traffic permission is sent to the traffic control device again at 10:02, and so on.

[0155] The preset second time threshold is less than the preset first time threshold. If the time from the moment when the automatic guided vehicle first sends the traffic permission application is equal to the preset first time threshold, the second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle is re-planned according to the current position and the preset destination position. Exemplarily, assuming that the first preset time threshold is 5 minutes and the second time threshold is 2 minutes, the automatic guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application to the traffic control device at 10:00. If the traffic permission has not been received at 10:02, the traffic permission is sent to the traffic control device again at 10:02. If the traffic permission has not been received at 10:04, the traffic permission is sent to the traffic control device again at 10:04. If the traffic permission has not been received at 10:05, the automatic guided vehicle re-plans the second driving route according to the current position and the preset destination position of the automatic guided vehicle, and filters out the first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area in the second driving route, and drives according to the first driving route.

[0156] To facilitate the traffic control device to manage each traffic permission application, a traffic permission application record is pre-established in the traffic control device. After the traffic control device receives the traffic permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle each time, it records the traffic permission application, the first moment corresponding to the traffic permission application, and the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle in the traffic permission application record.

[0157] Since the automatic guided vehicle may send multiple traffic permission applications to the traffic control device while waiting, the traffic control device is specifically used to update the traffic permission application record according to the traffic permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the traffic permission application, and the first moment, and determine the current traffic permission application to be allocated according to the order of the first moments in the updated traffic permission application record.

[0158] It can be understood that the first moment can refer to the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device each time or the moment when the traffic control device receives a passing permission application each time. It can also refer to the moment when the automatic guided vehicle first sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device first receives the passing permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to each identifier.

[0159] In the case where the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device each time or the moment when the traffic control device receives a passing permission application each time, when the traffic control device updates the passing permission application record according to the passing permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the passing permission application, and the first moment, the first moment corresponding to each passing permission application will be updated to the moment when the automatic guided vehicle most recently sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device most recently receives the passing permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0160] Exemplarily, assume that the first automatic guided vehicle sends passing permission application 1 to the traffic control device at 10:00. Then the traffic control device records passing permission application 1, the identifier 1 of the first automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment 10:00 corresponding to the first automatic guided vehicle in the passing permission application record. The second automatic guided vehicle sends passing permission application 2 to the traffic control device at 10:01. Then the traffic control device records passing permission application 2, the identifier 2 of the second automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment 10:01 corresponding to the second automatic guided vehicle in the passing permission application record. If the passing permission application of the first automatic guided vehicle is received at 10:02 and the passing permission application of the second automatic guided vehicle is received at 10:03, then the passing permission application record is updated to passing permission application 1, the identifier 1 of the first automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment 10:02 corresponding to the first automatic guided vehicle, passing permission application 2, the identifier 2 of the second automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment 10:03 corresponding to the second automatic guided vehicle, and the current passing permission application to be allocated is determined as passing permission application 1 according to the order of the first moments in the updated passing permission application record.

[0161] In the case where the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle first sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device first receives the passing permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to each identifier, when the traffic control device updates the passing permission application record according to the passing permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the passing permission application, and the first moment, the first moment corresponding to each passing permission application will be updated to the moment when the automatic guided vehicle first sends a passing permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device first receives the passing permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0162] Exemplarily, assume that the first automated guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application 1 to the traffic control device at 10:00. Then, the traffic control device records the traffic permission application 1, the identifier 1 of the first automated guided vehicle, and the corresponding first time 10:00 of the first automated guided vehicle in the traffic permission application record. The second automated guided vehicle sends a traffic permission application 2 to the traffic control device at 10:01. Then, the traffic control device records the traffic permission application 2, the identifier 2 of the second automated guided vehicle, and the corresponding first time 10:01 of the second automated guided vehicle in the traffic permission application record. If a traffic permission application from the first automated guided vehicle is received at 10:02 and a traffic permission application from the second automated guided vehicle is received at 10:03, then update the traffic permission application record to traffic permission application 1, the identifier 1 of the first automated guided vehicle, the corresponding first time 10:00 of the first automated guided vehicle, traffic permission application 2, the identifier 2 of the second automated guided vehicle, and the corresponding first time 10:01 of the second automated guided vehicle, and determine the currently pending traffic permission application to be traffic permission application 1 according to the chronological order of the respective first times in the updated traffic permission application record.

[0163] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, during the process of the automated guided vehicle waiting for the traffic control device to allocate traffic permissions to it, by regularly sending traffic permission applications to the traffic control device, the traffic control device can update the traffic permission application record, so that the traffic control device can dynamically adjust the traffic permission allocation strategy according to the updated traffic permission application record to avoid congestion and conflicts.

[0164] It can be understood that in the above embodiment, establishing a communication connection between the automated guided vehicle and the traffic control device can be achieved by using a short-range hardware communication and processing device, such as optical communication or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) combined with a processor, or by using platform software to run the traffic control service corresponding to the preset conflict area on the platform server, and the automated guided vehicle uses a wireless network to communicate with the traffic control service. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the communication method between the automated guided vehicle and the traffic control device.

[0165] Corresponding to the foregoing first aspect, a second aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides an automated guided vehicle scheduling method, which is applied to the automated guided vehicle scheduling system of the foregoing first aspect. The system includes at least one traffic control device preset in a preset conflict area and multiple automated guided vehicles. Among them, the corresponding relationship between the operation map, the preset conflict area, and the traffic control device is pre-stored in the automated guided vehicle;

[0166] As Figure 9 shown in the schematic diagram of the automated guided vehicle scheduling method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the method includes the following steps:

[0167] Step S101: When the automatic guided vehicle responds to approaching a target preset conflict area, it sends a request for passing permission to the traffic control device corresponding to the target preset conflict area; if it receives the passing permission allocated by the traffic control device within a preset first time after sending the request for passing permission, it passes through the target preset conflict area, otherwise, it stops and waits; after passing through the target preset conflict area, it sends a request for canceling the passing permission to the traffic control device.

[0168] Among them, the request for passing permission is used to indicate the first driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the request for canceling the passing permission is used to indicate the request for passing permission sent by the automatic guided vehicle.

[0169] Step S102: The traffic control device responds to the request for passing permission and records the request for passing permission; determines a currently pending passing permission request among the recorded requests for passing permission and determines the first driving direction included in the currently pending passing permission request; determines the first automatic guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle; if there is no conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, it allocates passing permission to the second automatic guided vehicle; if there is a conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, it refuses to execute the step of allocating passing permission to the second automatic guided vehicle; in response to the request for canceling the passing permission, it deletes the passing permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the request for canceling the passing permission.

[0170] Among them, the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sends the currently pending passing permission request.

[0171] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, the scheduling system includes at least one traffic control device and multiple automated guided vehicles. Each preset conflict area is pre-set with a traffic control device. When an automated guided vehicle approaches a target preset conflict area, it will first send a traffic permission application to the traffic control device. Since the traffic permission application includes the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle, after the traffic control device determines the current traffic permission application to be allocated, it can determine whether there is a conflict risk between the second automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automated guided vehicle to pass through currently, based on the driving directions of the second automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated permission and the first automated guided vehicle to pass through currently. When there is no conflict risk between the second automated guided vehicle and the first automated guided vehicle, the first automated guided vehicle can also enter and pass through the target preset conflict area, improving the efficiency of the automated guided vehicle passing through the conflict area. Moreover, since the automated guided vehicle will apply to the traffic control device to cancel the traffic permission application after passing through the target preset conflict area, the traffic control device will delete the traffic permission of the automated guided vehicle that has passed through the target preset conflict area, which can avoid the problem that the automated guided vehicle directly enters the target preset conflict area without applying for traffic permission to the traffic control device when passing through the target preset conflict area next time, resulting in a collision of the automated guided vehicle, enabling each automated guided vehicle to pass through the target preset conflict area in an orderly manner, reducing the probability of collision of each automated guided vehicle in the target preset conflict area, and improving the transportation efficiency of the automated guided vehicle.

[0172] In a possible implementation manner, in response to the traffic permission application, recording the traffic permission application includes:

[0173] In response to the traffic permission application, recording the traffic permission application and the first moment corresponding to the traffic permission application, where the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends the traffic permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the traffic permission application;

[0174] Determining a current traffic permission application to be allocated among the recorded traffic permission applications includes:

[0175] Determining the traffic permission application with the earliest order in the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated according to the sequence of the first moments;

[0176] Or,

[0177] Determining a current traffic permission application to be allocated among the recorded traffic permission applications includes:

[0178] Determining the traffic permission application with the highest task priority among the traffic permission applications that have not been allocated traffic permission as the current traffic permission application to be allocated; where the traffic permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle;

[0179] Or,

[0180] Determine a currently to-be-allocated access right application among the recorded access right applications, including:

[0181] Determine, as the currently to-be-allocated access right application, an access right application among the access right applications without allocated access rights that has the same second driving direction as the first automated guided vehicle with the currently allocated rights.

[0182] In a possible implementation manner, in response to an access right application, record the access right application, including:

[0183] In response to an access right application, record the access right application and the first moment corresponding to the access right application, where the first moment is the moment when the automated guided vehicle sends the access right application to the traffic management device or the moment when the traffic management device receives the access right application, and the access right application further includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle;

[0184] Determine a currently to-be-allocated access right application among the recorded access right applications, including:

[0185] Weight the first moment corresponding to each recorded access right application, the task priority of the task currently executed by each automated guided vehicle, and the number of access right applications in the first driving direction to obtain the scores of each access right application;

[0186] Determine the access right application with the highest score as the currently to-be-allocated access right application.

[0187] In a possible implementation manner, determine a currently to-be-allocated access right application among the recorded access right applications, including:

[0188] Determine, as the currently to-be-allocated access right application, the access right application among the recorded access right applications that has the same driving direction as the second driving direction;

[0189] The method further includes:

[0190] If the traffic management device continuously sends access rights to a preset number of automated guided vehicles with the second driving direction, determine, as the currently to-be-allocated access right application, the access right application among the access right applications without allocated access rights that has the earliest first moment and a driving direction different from the second driving direction.

[0191] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

[0192] The automatic guided vehicle obtains its current position and a preset destination position; in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, it plans a first driving route that does not include a target preset conflict area based on the current position and the preset destination position and drives according to the first driving route.

[0193] In a possible implementation manner, in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a first driving route that does not include a target preset conflict area based on the current position and the preset destination position and driving according to the first driving route includes:

[0194] In response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route for the automatic guided vehicle based on the current position and the preset destination position;

[0195] Determine whether the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area;

[0196] If the second driving route does not pass through the target preset conflict area, use the second driving route as the first driving route and drive according to the first driving route;

[0197] If the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area, continue to stop and wait.

[0198] In a possible implementation manner, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application, including:

[0199] In response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first moment corresponding to the access permission application in a pre-established access permission application record. The access permission application also includes the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, and the first moment is the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application;

[0200] The method further includes:

[0201] The automatic guided vehicle re-sends an access permission application to the traffic control device in response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset second duration threshold, where the preset second duration threshold is less than the preset first duration threshold;

[0202] In response to the time since sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a second driving route for the automatic guided vehicle based on the current position and the preset destination position includes:

[0203] In response to the time since first sending the access permission being equal to a preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route for the automatic guided vehicle based on the current position and the preset destination position;

[0204] Determine a current access permission application to be allocated in the recorded access permission applications, including:

[0205] Update the access permission application record according to the access permission application record, the identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, the access permission application, and the first moment, and determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the sequence of the first moments in the updated access permission application record.

[0206] To more clearly illustrate the automatic guided vehicle scheduling method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following will be described in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0207] As Figure 10 shown in the example diagram of the automatic guided vehicle scheduling method provided by the embodiments of the present application. During the process of the automatic guided vehicle driving along the driving route, the automatic guided vehicle obtains its own real-time position in real time, and determines whether the automatic guided vehicle is close to the conflict area (i.e., the target preset conflict area mentioned above) according to its own real-time position. If it is not close to the conflict area, it continues to drive along the driving route. If it is close to the preset conflict area, it applies for access permission to the traffic control device in the preset conflict area (i.e., sends an access permission application to the traffic control device).

[0208] Then determine whether the application is approved (i.e., whether the access permission allocated by the traffic control device is received). If the application is approved (i.e., the access permission is received), it passes through the conflict area and applies to the traffic control device for canceling the access permission after passing through; if the application is not approved (i.e., the access permission is not received), it waits in place (i.e., stops and waits).

[0209] When the waiting time of the automatic guided vehicle reaches the threshold (i.e., in response to the time from sending the access permission application being equal to the preset first duration threshold), re-plan the route. If the planning is successful (i.e., a driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area is planned), it drives along the new route. If the planning is not successful (i.e., a driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area is not planned), it continues to stop and wait.

[0210] Corresponding to the foregoing first aspect and second aspect, the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application further provides a traffic control device, which is arranged in the target preset conflict area; the traffic control device is used for:

[0211] In response to the access permission application, record the access permission application, wherein the access permission application is sent by the automatic guided vehicle in response to approaching the target preset conflict area, and the corresponding relationship between the operation map, the preset conflict area, and the traffic control device is pre-stored in the automatic guided vehicle;

[0212] Determine a current access permission application to be allocated in the recorded access permission applications and determine the first driving direction included in the current access permission application to be allocated;

[0213] Determine whether there is a risk of conflict between the first automated guided vehicle with currently allocated permissions and the second driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle;

[0214] If there is no risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocate passing permissions to the second automated guided vehicle, where the second automated guided vehicle is the automated guided vehicle that sends the current application for passing permissions to be allocated;

[0215] If there is a risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, reject the step of allocating passing permissions to the second automated guided vehicle;

[0216] In response to the application for canceling passing permissions, delete the passing permissions allocated to the automated guided vehicle corresponding to the application for canceling passing permissions, where the application for canceling passing permissions is sent by the automated guided vehicle to the traffic control device after passing through the target preset conflict area.

[0217] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, a traffic control device is preset in each preset conflict area. When the automated guided vehicle approaches the target preset conflict area, it will first send an application for passing permissions to the traffic control device. Since the application for passing permissions includes the driving direction of the automated guided vehicle, after determining the current application for passing permissions to be allocated, the traffic control device can determine whether there is a risk of conflict between the second automated guided vehicle with currently allocated permissions and the first automated guided vehicle to pass through according to the driving direction of the second automated guided vehicle with currently allocated permissions and the driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle to pass through currently. When there is no risk of conflict between the second automated guided vehicle and the first automated guided vehicle, the first automated guided vehicle can also enter and pass through the target preset conflict area. That is to say, there is no collision risk or the collision risk is relatively low between the automated guided vehicles entering the preset conflict area at the same time. Therefore, the collision probability of the automated guided vehicle in the preset conflict area can be reduced, and then the efficiency of the automated guided vehicle passing through the conflict area can be improved. And, since the automated guided vehicle will apply to the traffic control device for canceling the passing permissions after passing through the target preset conflict area, the traffic control device will delete the passing permissions of the automated guided vehicle that has passed through the target preset conflict area, which can avoid the automated guided vehicle occupying the passing permissions in one direction for a long time and causing the automated guided vehicles in other directions conflicting with this direction to be unable to pass through the target preset conflict area all the time, so that each automated guided vehicle can pass through the target preset conflict area orderly, and then the transportation efficiency of the automated guided vehicle can be improved.

[0218] The embodiment of the present application also provides an electronic device, as Figure 11 shown, including:

[0219] A memory 1101 for storing a computer program;

[0220] A processor 1102 for implementing the steps of any of the above automated guided vehicle scheduling methods when executing the program stored in the memory 1101.

[0221] The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), or may also include a Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), such as at least one disk memory. Optionally, the memory may also be at least one storage device located far from the aforementioned processor.

[0222] The aforementioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0223] In another embodiment provided by the present application, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of any of the above automatic guided vehicle scheduling methods are implemented.

[0224] In another embodiment provided by the present application, there is also provided a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute any of the automatic guided vehicle scheduling methods in the above embodiments.

[0225] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a solid-state disk (SSD), etc.

[0226] It should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements that are not explicitly listed, or elements that are inherent to such process, method, article, or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including one..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or device that includes the element.

[0227] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. The same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, and the differences between each embodiment and other embodiments are emphasized. In particular, for the method and traffic control device embodiments, since they are basically similar to the system embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiments.

[0228] The foregoing are only the preferred embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application are all included within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An automatic guided vehicle dispatching system, characterized in that: The system comprises at least one traffic control device pre-set in a preset conflict area and a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, wherein the automatic guided vehicles pre-store a corresponding relationship between an operation map, the preset conflict area and the traffic control device; The automatic guided vehicle is used to, in response to approaching a target preset conflict area, send a pass permission application to a traffic control device corresponding to the target preset conflict area; if the pass permission assigned by the traffic control device is received within a preset first time after sending the pass permission application, the vehicle passes through the target preset conflict area, otherwise, the vehicle stops and waits; after passing through the target preset conflict area, the vehicle sends a pass permission cancellation application to the traffic control device; wherein the pass permission application is used to indicate a first driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the pass permission cancellation application is used to indicate the pass permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle; The traffic control device is used to, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application; determine a current access permission application to be allocated in the recorded access permission application and determine the first driving direction included in the current access permission application to be allocated; determine the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle to which the permission is currently allocated and the first automatic guided vehicle, and determine whether the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit a preset driving direction pair; if there is no conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocate access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle, wherein the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sent the current access permission application to be allocated; if the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit the preset driving direction pair, there is a conflict risk between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, and the step of allocating access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle is refused to execute; in response to the access cancellation application, delete the access permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the access cancellation application.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The traffic control device is specifically used to, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first moment corresponding to the access permission application, the first moment being the moment when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the moment when the traffic control device receives the access permission application; determine the access permission application with the highest priority among the access permission applications that have not yet been allocated access permission as the current access permission application to be allocated in the order of the first moments; or The traffic control device is specifically used to determine the access permission application with the highest task priority among the access permission applications that have not yet been allocated access permission as the current access permission application to be allocated; wherein the access permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle; or The traffic control device is specifically used to determine, among the access permission applications that have not yet been allocated access permission, an access permission application with the same second driving direction as the first automatic guided vehicle that has currently been allocated access permission as the current access permission application to be allocated.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The traffic control device is specifically used to, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first time corresponding to the access permission application, wherein the first time is the time when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the time when the traffic control device receives the access permission application, and the access permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle; The traffic control device is specifically used to weight the first moment corresponding to each of the recorded access permission applications, the task priority of the task currently performed by each of the automatic guided vehicles, and the number of access permission applications in the first driving direction to obtain a score for each of the access permission applications; and determine the access permission application with the highest score as the current access permission application to be allocated.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The traffic control device is specifically used to determine the access permission application with the same driving direction as the second driving direction in the recorded access permission application as the current access permission application to be allocated; The traffic control equipment is also used to, if the access permission is sent continuously to a preset number of automatic guided vehicles with a second driving direction, determine the access permission application that is the earliest at the first moment among the access permission applications that have not yet been allocated access permission and whose driving direction is different from the second driving direction as the current access permission application to be allocated.

5. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The automatic guided vehicle is also used to obtain the current position and preset destination position of the automatic guided vehicle; in response to the time when the distance to send the access permission application is equal to the preset first duration threshold, plan a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position, and drive according to the first driving route.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that The automatic guided vehicle is specifically configured to, in response to the time when the distance to the time of sending the access permission application being equal to a preset first duration threshold, plan a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position; determining whether the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area; If the second driving route does not pass through the target preset conflict area, taking the second driving route as the first driving route and driving according to the first driving route; If the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area, continue to stop and wait.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The traffic control device is specifically used to, in response to the access permission application, record the access permission application and the first time corresponding to the access permission application in a pre-established access permission application record, wherein the access permission application also includes an identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, and the first time is the time when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the time when the traffic control device receives the access permission application; The automatic guided vehicle is further configured to, in response to a time interval from when the access permission application is sent being equal to a preset second time threshold, resend the access permission application to the traffic control device, wherein the preset second time threshold is less than the preset first time threshold; The automatic guided vehicle is specifically configured to, in response to a time when the distance from the first sending of the access permission being equal to a preset first time threshold, plan a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position; The traffic control device is specifically used to update the access permission application record according to the access permission application record, the identification of the automatic guided vehicle, the access permission application and the first moment, and determine the current access permission application to be allocated according to the sequence of the first moments in the updated access permission application record.

8. An automatic guided vehicle dispatching method, characterized in that: Applied to an automatic guided vehicle dispatching system, the system comprises at least one traffic control device pre-set in a preset conflict area and a plurality of automatic guided vehicles, wherein the automatic guided vehicles pre-store a corresponding relationship between an operation map, the preset conflict area and the traffic control device; The method comprises: In response to approaching a preset target conflict area, the automatic guided vehicle sends a pass permission application to a traffic control device corresponding to the preset target conflict area; if the pass permission assigned by the traffic control device is received within a preset first time after sending the pass permission application, the automatic guided vehicle passes through the preset target conflict area, otherwise, the automatic guided vehicle stops and waits; after passing through the preset target conflict area, the automatic guided vehicle sends a pass permission cancellation application to the traffic control device; wherein the pass permission application is used to indicate a first driving direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and the pass permission cancellation application is used to indicate the pass permission application sent by the automatic guided vehicle; The traffic control device records the access permission application in response to the access permission application; determines a current access permission application to be allocated in the recorded access permission application and determines the first driving direction included in the current access permission application to be allocated; determines the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle to which the access permission is currently allocated and the first automatic guided vehicle, and determines whether the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit a preset driving direction pair; if there is no risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, allocates access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle, wherein the second automatic guided vehicle is the automatic guided vehicle that sends the current access permission application to be allocated; if the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit the preset driving direction pair, there is a risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, and the step of allocating access permission to the second automatic guided vehicle is refused to be executed; in response to the access cancellation application, deletes the access permission allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the access cancellation application.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The step of recording the access permission application in response to the access permission application comprises: In response to the access permission application, recording the access permission application and a first time corresponding to the access permission application, the first time being a time when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or a time when the traffic control device receives the access permission application; The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: According to the order of the first moment, the most prioritized access permission application among the access permission applications that have not yet been allocated access permission is determined as the current access permission application to be allocated; or, The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: Determine the access permission application with the highest task priority among the access permission applications that have not yet been assigned access permission as the current access permission application to be assigned; wherein the access permission application also includes the task priority of the task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle; or, The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: Among the access permission applications for which access permission has not yet been allocated, an access permission application for the same direction as the second driving direction of the first automatic guided vehicle for which access permission has currently been allocated is determined as the current access permission application to be allocated.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The step of recording the access permission application in response to the access permission application comprises: In response to the access permission application, recording the access permission application and a first time corresponding to the access permission application, wherein the first time is the time when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or the time when the traffic control device receives the access permission application, and the access permission application also includes a task priority of a task currently executed by the automatic guided vehicle; The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: Weighting the first time corresponding to each of the recorded access permission applications, the task priority of each task currently executed by the automated guided vehicle, and the number of access permission applications in the first driving direction to obtain a score for each of the access permission applications; The access permission application with the highest score is determined as the access permission application currently to be allocated.

11. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: Determine the access permission application whose driving direction in the recorded access permission application is the same as the second driving direction as the current access permission application to be allocated; The method further comprises: If the traffic control equipment continuously sends the access permission to a preset number of automatic guided vehicles with a second driving direction, the access permission application that has not yet been allocated the access permission and has the earliest first moment and a driving direction different from the second driving direction will be determined as the current access permission application to be allocated.

12. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: The automatic guided vehicle obtains the current position and the preset destination position of the automatic guided vehicle; in response to the time when the distance to send the access permission application is equal to the preset first duration threshold, a first driving route that does not include the preset conflict area of ​​the target is planned according to the current position and the preset destination position, and the vehicle travels along the first driving route.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The time of sending the access permission application in response to the distance being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a first driving route that does not include the target preset conflict area according to the current position and the preset destination position and driving according to the first driving route, including: In response to the time when the access permission application is sent being equal to a preset first duration threshold, planning a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position; determining whether the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area; If the second driving route does not pass through the target preset conflict area, taking the second driving route as the first driving route and driving according to the first driving route; If the second driving route passes through the target preset conflict area, continue to stop and wait.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The step of recording the access permission application in response to the access permission application comprises: In response to the access permission application, recording the access permission application and a first time corresponding to the access permission application in a pre-established access permission application record, wherein the access permission application also includes an identifier of the automatic guided vehicle, and the first time is a time when the automatic guided vehicle sends the access permission application to the traffic control device or a time when the traffic control device receives the access permission application; The method further comprises: The automatic guided vehicle resends the access permission application to the traffic control device in response to the time when the distance from the time of sending the access permission application is equal to the preset second time threshold, wherein the preset second time threshold is less than the preset first time threshold; The step of responding to the time when the distance to send the access permission application is equal to a preset first duration threshold, and planning a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position, comprises: In response to the time when the passage permission is first sent being equal to a preset first time threshold, planning a second driving route of the automatic guided vehicle according to the current position and the preset destination position; The step of determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications comprises: The access permission application record is updated according to the access permission application record, the identification of the automatic guided vehicle, the access permission application and the first moment, and the current access permission application to be allocated is determined according to the sequence of the first moments in the updated access permission application record.

15. A traffic control device, characterized in that: The traffic control device is arranged in a target preset conflict area; the traffic control device is used for: In response to a pass permission application, recording the pass permission application, wherein the pass permission application is sent by the automatic guided vehicle to the traffic control device in response to approaching a target preset conflict area, and the automatic guided vehicle pre-stores a correspondence between an operation map, the preset conflict area, and the traffic control device; Determining a current access permission application to be allocated from the recorded access permission applications and determining a first driving direction included in the current access permission application to be allocated; Determine a first automated guided vehicle to which authority is currently assigned and a second driving direction of the first automated guided vehicle, and determine whether the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit a preset driving direction pair; If there is no risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, assigning a traffic permission to a second automated guided vehicle, wherein the second automated guided vehicle is the automated guided vehicle that sent the current traffic permission application to be assigned; If the first driving direction and the second driving direction hit the preset driving direction pair, there is a risk of conflict between the first driving direction and the second driving direction, and the step of allocating the passage authority to the second automated guided vehicle is refused to be executed; In response to an application for cancellation of access authority, the access authority allocated to the automatic guided vehicle corresponding to the application for cancellation of access authority is deleted, wherein the application for cancellation of access authority is sent to the traffic control device after the automatic guided vehicle passes through the target preset conflict area.

Citation Information

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