Material box carrying system and method

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a workbin carrying system and method. The workbin carrying system comprises a workbin robot, a conveying belt, an elevator, a fluent goods shelf, a latent robot and a control subsystem. The control subsystem is used for acquiring first warehouse-out order information; a first carrying task is generated, and the first carrying task is issued to the workbin robot; the material box robot is used for responding to the first carrying task and carrying the first material box to the conveying belt; the control subsystem is further used for controlling the first elevator to lift the first material box on the conveying belt to the first fluency goods shelf. After the first fluency goods shelf is fully loaded or the last material box of the first warehouse-out order information is loaded to the first fluency goods shelf, a first transfer task is generated, and the first transfer task is issued to the latent robot; and the latent robot is used for responding to the first transfer task and transferring the first fluency goods shelf to the first production line. No manual work participates in material box sorting in the whole process, the labor cost is reduced, unmanned work of material box carrying is achieved, and the material box carrying efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of automated logistics, and particularly to a bin handling system and method. Background Art

[0002] Currently, in the bin sorting scenario, a common method is that a bin robot transports bins from a storage area to a conveyor line device. The conveyor line device transports the bins to a sorting workstation, and then workers sort the bins manually. Finally, a latent robot transports the sorted bins to the side of the production line. Since manual sorting is required to transport the bins to the side of the production line finally, the bin handling efficiency is low. The second method is that the bin robot transports bins from the storage area to a temporary storage rack in a transfer area according to the system outbound order instruction. Then, the latent robot transports the temporary storage rack to a swing arm mechanism or a hoist in the sorting area. The swing arm mechanism or the hoist places the bins on the temporary storage rack onto the conveyor line. The conveyor line device transports the bins to the sorting workstation, and then workers sort the bins manually. The second method also requires manual participation in sorting, resulting in low bin handling efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the embodiments of this application is to provide a bin handling system and method to improve the bin handling efficiency. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0004] In a first aspect, this application provides a bin handling system, and the system includes:

[0005] A bin robot, a conveyor belt, a hoist, a flow rack, a latent robot, and a control subsystem;

[0006] The control subsystem is configured to obtain first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates transporting a first bin to a first production line; generate a first handling task, and send the first handling task to the bin robot, where the first handling task indicates transporting the first bin to the conveyor belt;

[0007] The bin robot is configured to, in response to the first handling task, transport the first bin to the conveyor belt;

[0008] The control subsystem is further configured to control a first hoist to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to a first flow rack, where the first flow rack is used to carry the bins of the first outbound order information; after the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate a first transfer task, and send the first transfer task to the latent robot, where the first transfer task indicates transferring the first flow rack to the first production line;

[0009] The AGV robot is configured to transfer the first flow rack to the first production line in response to the first transfer task.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the control subsystem is further configured to obtain second outbound order information and third outbound order information, where the second outbound order information indicates that the second bin is to be transported to the second production line, and the third outbound order information indicates that the third bin is to be transported to the third production line; generate a second handling task and issue the second handling task to the bin robot, where the second handling task indicates transporting the second bin and the third bin to the conveyor belt;

[0011] The bin robot is configured to transport the second bin and the third bin to the conveyor belt in response to the second handling task;

[0012] The control subsystem is further configured to control a second elevator to lift the second bin on the conveyor belt to the second flow rack, where the second flow rack is used to hold the bin corresponding to the second outbound order information; after the second flow rack is full or the last bin corresponding to the second outbound order information is loaded onto the second flow rack, generate a second transfer task and issue the second transfer task to the AGV robot, where the second transfer task indicates transferring the second flow rack to the second production line; control a third elevator to lift the third bin on the conveyor belt to the third flow rack, where the third flow rack is used to hold the bin corresponding to the third outbound order information; after the third flow rack is full or the last bin corresponding to the third outbound order information is loaded onto the third flow rack, generate a third transfer task and issue the third transfer task to the AGV robot, where the third transfer task indicates transferring the third flow rack to the third production line;

[0013] The AGV robot is configured to transfer the second flow rack to the second production line in response to the second transfer task; and transfer the third flow rack to the third production line in response to the third transfer task.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the control subsystem includes a robot subsystem and a sorting control subsystem;

[0015] The robot subsystem is configured to obtain first outbound order information; generate a first handling task and issue the first handling task to the bin robot;

[0016] The sorting control subsystem is configured to control a first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack;

[0017] The robot subsystem is also used to generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the AGV robot.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the robot subsystem is further configured to detect in real time whether a first live rack is docked with the first elevator. If not, dispatch the AGV robot to transport the first live rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator; or, in the case of receiving a first live rack acquisition request sent by the first elevator, dispatch the AGV robot to transport the first live rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the conveyor belt is a loop conveyor belt;

[0020] The sorting control subsystem is specifically configured to determine the working condition of the first elevator; if the first elevator can currently lift the first bin, control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first live rack; if the first elevator cannot currently lift the first bin, the loop conveyor belt continues to transport the first bin. After the first bin circulates one week on the loop conveyor belt, re-determine the working condition of the first elevator.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the loop conveyor belt includes an abnormal exit. The sorting control subsystem is further configured to, in the case of conveyor belt congestion, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit, and / or, in the case of a failure of the first elevator, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the sorting control subsystem is specifically configured to determine the number of bins that can be accommodated on each layer of the first live rack according to the size information of the first bin and the size information of each layer of the first live rack; when the same layer of the first live rack is full, control the first elevator to lift the first bin to another layer of the first live rack until the first live rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first live rack.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the bin robot is specifically configured to obtain the first bin from the storage area, and the storage area is located on one side of the long side of the conveyor belt;

[0024] The latent robot is specifically used to transfer the first flow rack to a buffer area when the first production line cannot accommodate the first flow rack. The buffer area is located between the elevator and the production line. The buffer area, the elevator, and the production line are on the other side of the long side of the conveyor belt and are arranged opposite to the storage area around the conveyor belt.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner, the entrance of the conveyor belt includes a straight line route leading to the elevator.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for handling a bin, the method including:

[0027] Obtain first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates that the first bin is to be transported to the first production line;

[0028] Generate a first handling task and send the first handling task to the bin robot. The first handling task indicates that the first bin is to be transported to the conveyor belt;

[0029] Control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack. Among them, the first flow rack is used to carry the bins of the first outbound order information;

[0030] After the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the latent robot. Among them, the first transfer task indicates that the first flow rack is to be transferred to the first production line.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

[0032] Obtain second outbound order information and third outbound order information. The second outbound order information indicates that the second bin is to be transported to the second production line, and the third outbound order information indicates that the third bin is to be transported to the third production line;

[0033] Generate a second handling task and send the second handling task to the bin robot. The second handling task indicates that the second bin and the third bin are to be transported to the conveyor belt;

[0034] Control the second elevator to lift the second bin on the conveyor belt to the second flow rack, where the second flow rack is used to carry the bins of the second outbound order information; after the second flow rack is full or the last bin of the second outbound order information is loaded onto the second flow rack, generate a second transfer task and send the second transfer task to the latent robot, where the second transfer task represents transferring the second flow rack to the second production line;

[0035] Control the third elevator to lift the third bin on the conveyor belt to the third flow rack, where the third flow rack is used to carry the bins of the third outbound order information; after the third flow rack is full or the last bin of the third outbound order information is loaded onto the third flow rack, generate a third transfer task and send the third transfer task to the latent robot, where the third transfer task represents transferring the third flow rack to the third production line.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0037] Detect in real time whether a first flow rack is docked with the first elevator. If not, dispatch the latent robot to carry the first flow rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator;

[0038] Or, in the case of receiving a first flow rack acquisition request sent by the first elevator, dispatch the latent robot to carry the first flow rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the conveyor belt is a circular conveyor belt;

[0040] The control of the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack includes:

[0041] Determine the working condition of the first elevator; if the first elevator can currently lift the first bin, control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack; if the first elevator cannot currently lift the first bin, the circular conveyor belt continues to transport the first bin, and when the first bin circulates one week on the circular conveyor belt, re-determine the working condition of the first elevator.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the circular conveyor belt includes an abnormal exit, and the method further includes:

[0043] In the case of congestion of the conveyor belt, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit, and / or, in the case of a failure of the first elevator, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit.

[0044] In a possible implementation manner, the controlling the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack includes:

[0045] Determine the number of bins that can be accommodated on each layer of the first flow rack according to the size information of the first bin and the size information of each layer of the first flow rack; when the same layer of the first flow rack is full, control the first elevator to lift the first bin to another layer of the first flow rack until the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the entrance of the conveyor belt includes a straight line route leading to the elevator.

[0047] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute the above bin handling method.

[0048] Advantages of the embodiment of the present application:

[0049] In the embodiment of the present application, the bin handling system includes a bin robot, a conveyor belt, a hoist, a flow rack, a latent robot, and a control subsystem; the control subsystem is configured to obtain first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information represents moving a first bin to a first production line; generate a first handling task and send the first handling task to the bin robot, where the first handling task represents moving the first bin to the conveyor belt; the bin robot is configured to, in response to the first handling task, move the first bin to the conveyor belt; the control subsystem is further configured to control a first hoist to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to a first flow rack, where the first flow rack is used to carry the bin of the first outbound order information; after the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the latent robot, where the first transfer task represents transferring the first flow rack to the first production line; the latent robot is configured to, in response to the first transfer task, transfer the first flow rack to the first production line. The bins are transported to the corresponding hoist through the conveyor belt, then the hoist lifts the bins to the flow rack, and then the latent robot transfers the flow rack to the production line. The whole process does not require manual participation in bin sorting, reducing labor costs, realizing unmanned operation of bin handling, and improving the efficiency of bin handling.

[0050] Of course, implementing any product or method of the present application does not necessarily require achieving all of the above advantages simultaneously. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] 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 for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present application, and those of ordinary skill in the art can also obtain other embodiments based on these drawings.

[0052] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a bin robot;

[0053] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a latent robot;

[0054] Figure 3a A front view schematic diagram of a flow rack;

[0055] Figure 3b A side view schematic diagram of a flow rack;

[0056] Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of the bin handling system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a scenario of material box transportation in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0060] First, some of the terms used in this application are explained as follows:

[0061] Bin robot: see Figure 1 It is an intelligent logistics handling equipment that can realize the intelligent picking, storage, retrieval and handling of multiple material boxes at the same time, and through the unified scheduling and management of the information system, it can realize small-batch, multi-batch, high-turnover warehousing, picking and other operations.

[0062] Lurking robot: see Figure 2 It is an automated logistics equipment that can realize autonomous loading, lifting and transportation. It is characterized by being equipped with a lifting device that can lurk at the bottom of the carrying device and lift the device from the ground to a higher position to achieve the handling task.

[0063] Flow rack: see Figure 3a and Figure 3b When the handling equipment puts the goods into the flow rack, the goods are transported from the distribution end to the pickup end through the flow rack rollers. The goods slide down automatically with the help of gravity to achieve "first in, first out" operation. The principle is that the goods are placed on a sloped slide and slide down automatically with the help of the gravity of the goods. This kind of shelf can be replenished once and picked up multiple times, and is widely used in scenarios where it is used in conjunction with cartons and turnover boxes.

[0064] Currently, in the bin sorting scenario, one common method is that the bin robot transports the bin from the storage area to the conveyor equipment. The conveyor equipment transports the bin to the sorting workstation, and then the bin is sorted manually. Finally, the AGV robot transports the sorted bin to the side of the production line. Since manual sorting is required to transport the bin to the side of the production line finally, the bin handling efficiency is low. The second method is that the bin robot transports the bin from the storage area to the temporary storage shelf in the transfer area according to the system outbound order instruction. Then, the AGV robot transports the temporary storage shelf to the swing arm mechanism or elevator in the sorting area. The swing arm mechanism or elevator places the bin on the temporary storage shelf onto the conveyor line. The conveyor equipment transports the bin to the sorting workstation, and then the bin is sorted manually. The second method also requires manual participation in sorting, resulting in low bin handling efficiency.

[0065] To improve the bin handling efficiency, on the one hand, referring to Figure 4 , this application provides a bin handling system, which includes:

[0066] Bin robot 101, conveyor belt 102, elevator 103, flow rack 104, AGV robot 105, control subsystem 106.

[0067] The control subsystem is used to obtain the first outbound order information, and the first outbound order information indicates that the first bin is to be transported to the first production line; generate the first handling task and send the first handling task to the bin robot, where the first handling task indicates transporting the first bin to the conveyor belt;

[0068] The bin robot is used to transport the first bin to the conveyor belt in response to the first handling task;

[0069] The control subsystem is further used to control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack, where the first flow rack is used to carry the bin of the first outbound order information; after the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate the first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the AGV robot, where the first transfer task indicates transferring the first flow rack to the first production line;

[0070] The AGV robot is used to transfer the first flow rack to the first production line in response to the first transfer task.

[0071] In one example, the control subsystem includes a robot subsystem and a sorting control subsystem;

[0072] The robot subsystem is used to obtain the first outbound order information; generate a first handling task, and send the first handling task to the bin robot;

[0073] The sorting control subsystem is used to control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack;

[0074] The robot subsystem is also used to generate a first transfer task, and send the first transfer task to the AGV robot.

[0075] The robot subsystem is mainly responsible for generating bin handling tasks, scheduling bin robots to handle bins, and scheduling AGV robots to handle flow racks; the sorting control subsystem is mainly responsible for controlling the elevator to lift the bins on the conveyor belt to the flow racks.

[0076] After the bin robot transports the first bin to the conveyor belt, the robot subsystem will also send the first outbound order information to the sorting control subsystem. The sorting control subsystem controls the conveyor belt to sort the bins to different elevators, and at the same time controls the elevator to lift the bins on the conveyor belt to the flow racks, so as to realize the automatic sorting of bins.

[0077] When there is an outbound demand, the outbound order information can be sent to the robot subsystem manually or by the upper-level system. The outbound order information can reflect which materials need to be shipped out. The robot system records the corresponding relationship between the bin number and the material number. For example, there are one hundred catties of apples stored in bin No. 1, bin No. 8, and bin No. 10. The robot system can allocate bin handling tasks to the bin robots according to the material number. For example, the bins corresponding to some material numbers are allocated to the same bin robot, and the bin robot transports the bins to the conveyor belt.

[0078] The first outbound order information includes information such as order number, material number, quantity, production line feeding station (i.e., the first production line), etc. The bins on the first outbound order are all to be transported to the same production line feeding station.

[0079] The quantity of the first bin can be one or more.

[0080] According to the outbound order flow, the conveyor belt may include multiple docking interfaces for the bin robots to place bins. The robot subsystem allocates bins to the bin robots according to the principle of the highest bin outbound efficiency, schedules the bin robots to go to the warehouse to pick up goods, and transports the bins to different docking interfaces of the conveyor belt. The principle of the highest efficiency means that the robot subsystem executes multiple orders simultaneously, allocates the materials of different orders in the same warehouse aisle to the same bin robot, reduces the moving distance of the bin robot, and improves the loading rate of the bin robot; in one example, a bin robot can load 8 bins at a time, then the robot subsystem can place 8 bins in the same warehouse aisle on one bin robot, and this one bin robot transports the 8 bins to the same warehouse aisle at one time; the robot subsystem preferentially selects the transmission line with idle tasks to avoid congestion or queuing of the bin robots, and then selects the docking interface with the shortest handling distance. When the bin is placed on the conveyor belt, it will move along with the conveyor belt. When it reaches the elevator, the elevator can lift the bin to the flow rack. After the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, the robot subsystem will schedule the AGV to transfer the first flow rack to the first production line.

[0081] The conveyor belt is docked with the elevator, and the elevator is docked with the conveyor belt and the flow rack. When the conveyor belt transports the bin to the elevator, the control subsystem controls the elevator to drop the bin into the multi-layer flow rack.

[0082] In the embodiment of the present application, the bin handling system includes a bin robot, a conveyor belt, a hoist, a flow rack, an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), and a control subsystem. The control subsystem is configured to obtain first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates that a first bin is to be transported to a first production line; generate a first handling task and send the first handling task to the bin robot, where the first handling task indicates that the first bin is to be transported to the conveyor belt; the bin robot is configured to, in response to the first handling task, transport the first bin to the conveyor belt; the control subsystem is further configured to control a first hoist to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to a first flow rack, where the first flow rack is used to carry the bins of the first outbound order information; after the first flow rack is full or after the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the AGV, where the first transfer task indicates that the first flow rack is to be transferred to the first production line; the AGV is configured to, in response to the first transfer task, transfer the first flow rack to the first production line. The bins are transported to the corresponding hoist through the conveyor belt, and then the hoist lifts the bins to the flow rack, and then the AGV transfers the flow rack to the production line. The whole process does not require manual participation in bin sorting, reducing labor costs, realizing unmanned operation of bin handling, and improving the efficiency of bin handling.

[0083] Currently, in the scenario of bin handling, there is also a common method 3 where the bin robot transports the bin directly from the storage area to the multi-layer flow rack according to the system outbound order instruction and directly puts the bin into the flow rack, and then the AGV transports the multi-layer flow rack to the side of the production line. However, because the bin robot transports the bin directly to the multi-layer rack for feeding, a bin robot can only execute one outbound order task at a time, resulting in low operation efficiency of the bin robot.

[0084] In one example, the control subsystem is further configured to obtain second outbound order information and third outbound order information, where the second outbound order information indicates that a second bin is to be transported to a second production line, and the third outbound order information indicates that a third bin is to be transported to a third production line; generate a second handling task and send the second handling task to the bin robot, where the second handling task indicates that the second bin and the third bin are to be transported to the conveyor belt;

[0085] The bin robot is configured to, in response to the second handling task, transport the second bin and the third bin to the conveyor belt;

[0086] The control subsystem is further configured to control the second elevator to lift the second bin on the conveyor belt to the second flow rack, where the second flow rack is used to carry the bins of the second outbound order information; after the second flow rack is full or the last bin of the second outbound order information is loaded onto the second flow rack, generate a second transfer task and send the second transfer task to the autonomous mobile robot, where the second transfer task represents transferring the second flow rack to the second production line; control the third elevator to lift the third bin on the conveyor belt to the third flow rack, where the third flow rack is used to carry the bins of the third outbound order information; after the third flow rack is full or the last bin of the third outbound order information is loaded onto the third flow rack, generate a third transfer task and send the third transfer task to the autonomous mobile robot, where the third transfer task represents transferring the third flow rack to the third production line;

[0087] The autonomous mobile robot is configured to, in response to the second transfer task, transfer the second flow rack to the second production line; in response to the third transfer task, transfer the third flow rack to the third production line.

[0088] The second outbound order information includes information about the second bin to be transported to the second production line, and the third outbound order information includes information about the third bin to be transported to the third production line. Since the destination production lines of the second bin and the third bin are different, the second bin and the third bin need to be placed on different flow racks so that the autonomous mobile robot can transfer the flow racks with the same destination production line to the side of the production line.

[0089] For the second bin and the third bin with different destination production lines, the bin robot places them all on the conveyor belt, and these bins will move along with the conveyor belt. There is a corresponding relationship between the flow rack and the elevator. Placing the second bin and the third bin on different flow racks means transporting the second bin and the third bin to different elevators. Therefore, when the bin is transported to the corresponding elevator, the elevator will lift the bin into the flow rack. After the bins with different destination production lines fill their respective flow racks (the flow rack is full or all the bins destined for the same production line are loaded onto the flow rack), the autonomous mobile robot will transfer the flow rack to the side of the production line.

[0090] In this way, the bin robot can execute multiple orders at a time. The bin robot places the bins with different destination production lines on the conveyor belt, and the conveyor belt transports the bins to different elevators. Different elevators lift the bins to the corresponding flow racks. The resulting flow racks are a collection of bins with the same destination production line, greatly improving the operating efficiency of the bin robot without manual participation in bin sorting.

[0091] In one example, the robot subsystem is further configured to detect in real time whether a first flow rack is docked with the first elevator. If not, the AGV robot is scheduled to carry the first flow rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator; or, in the case of receiving a first flow rack acquisition request sent by the first elevator, the AGV robot is scheduled to carry the first flow rack to the first elevator and dock it with the first elevator.

[0092] While the robot subsystem schedules the bin robot to carry bins, it also detects in real time whether the flow rack docked with the elevator is empty. If it is empty, it means that the elevator is not docked with a flow rack. At this time, the AGV robot is scheduled to carry the empty flow rack to the elevator and dock it with the elevator.

[0093] If the flow rack docked with the elevator is full, or the elevator is not docked with a flow rack, the elevator can also send a flow rack acquisition request to the robot subsystem. After receiving the flow rack acquisition request, the robot subsystem will schedule the AGV robot to carry the empty flow rack to the elevator and dock it with the elevator.

[0094] In one example, see Figure 5 , the conveyor belt is a loop conveyor belt; the sorting control subsystem is specifically configured to determine the working condition of the first elevator; if the first elevator can currently lift the first bin, control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack; if the first elevator cannot currently lift the first bin, the loop conveyor belt continues to convey the first bin. After the first bin circulates one week on the loop conveyor belt, the working condition of the first elevator is determined again.

[0095] The sorting control subsystem controls the flow direction of the bins on the loop conveyor belt. Finally, the loop conveyor belt conveys the bins of different orders to different elevators according to the order classification. To ensure the bin handling efficiency, if the bins of a certain elevator are full, that is, the elevator cannot currently lift bins anymore, the bins do not need to queue at the elevator, but are continuously conveyed by the loop conveyor belt for loop conveying. When the bin circulates one week on the loop conveyor belt and reaches the elevator again, if the elevator can lift the bin, the elevator will lift the bin to the flow rack. If it still cannot, the bin will continue to be conveyed until the elevator can lift the bin to the flow rack. The loop conveyor belt can be regarded as a buffer area before the bins are conveyed to the elevator. When the handling efficiency of the bin robot is greater than the lifting efficiency of the elevator, the bins are circulated and transported on the loop conveyor belt to ensure that the conveyor belt is not blocked.

[0096] In one example, see Figure 5The circular conveyor belt includes an abnormal exit, and the sorting control subsystem is further used to control the conveyor belt to transport the first material box away from the conveyor belt from the abnormal exit when the conveyor belt is congested, and / or control the conveyor belt to transport the first material box away from the conveyor belt from the abnormal exit when the first elevator fails.

[0097] In order to prevent the untimely replenishment of empty flow shelves / too many boxes placed on the conveyor belt, resulting in a backlog of boxes on the conveyor belt, causing congestion in the circular conveyor belt, and / or a failure of the elevator, resulting in the boxes idling on the conveyor belt, an abnormal outlet for the conveyor belt is set. When the above abnormal situation occurs, the boxes can be discharged from the abnormal outlet. Specifically, it is possible to determine whether the conveyor belt is congested by detecting whether the number of boxes on the conveyor belt or the weight of the boxes exceeds a threshold. When the boxes are transported away from the conveyor belt from the abnormal outlet of the conveyor belt, they are manually sorted and put into different flow shelves. Lurking robots carry the flow shelves to the production line to ensure the efficiency of the production line.

[0098] In one example, the sorting control subsystem is specifically used to determine the number of boxes accommodated in each layer of the first flow rack based on the size information of the first box and the size information of each layer of the first flow rack; when the same layer of the first flow rack is fully loaded, control the first elevator to lift the first box to another layer of the first flow rack until the first flow rack is fully loaded or the last box of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack.

[0099] From the first delivery of a material box to the flow rack, the sorting control subsystem calculates the delivery quantity and position according to the material box size and the capacity of each layer of the flow rack. For example, the capacity of each layer of the flow rack is equal to the size of each layer of the flow rack divided by the size of a single material box and rounded down, which can be an integer such as 5, 6, 7, etc. The elevator can first lift the material box to the first layer (i.e., the bottom layer) of the flow rack in order from bottom to top. When the capacity of each layer of the flow rack is 5 material boxes, since the principle of the flow rack is that the material box is placed on a sloped slide and automatically slides down with the help of the gravity of the material box, the elevator can place 5 material boxes at the same position and deliver them to the flow rack. When the first layer is full, the elevator will deliver the subsequent material boxes to the second layer. For example, the sixth material box will be delivered to the second layer of the flow rack by the elevator until the first flow rack is full or the last material box of the first outbound order information is loaded to the first flow rack.

[0100] When the flow rack is full, the sorting control subsystem reports the full box signal and the order signal to the robot subsystem, telling the robot subsystem which flow rack is full, what bin the full flow rack carries, and where the destination production line is. In this way, the robot subsystem can dispatch the AGV robot to transfer the full flow rack to the corresponding destination production line.

[0101] In one example, refer to Figure 5 , the bin robot is specifically configured to obtain a first bin from the storage area, and the storage area is located on one side of the long side of the conveyor belt;

[0102] The AGV robot is specifically configured to transfer the first flow rack to the buffer area when the first production line cannot accommodate the first flow rack. The buffer area is located between the elevator and the production line. The buffer area, the elevator, and the production line are located on the other side of the long side of the conveyor belt, and are arranged around the conveyor belt on the opposite side of the storage area.

[0103] The storage area is used to store bins. After the bin robot obtains a bin from the storage area, it transports the bin to the conveyor belt.

[0104] Both the buffer area and the production line can place flow racks. If the production line is full, the AGV robot will transport the flow rack to the buffer area for temporary storage. The buffer area is located between the elevator and the production line. The buffer area, the elevator, and the production line are all located on the same side of the conveyor belt.

[0105] In one example, refer to Figure 5 , the entrance of the conveyor belt includes a straight line route leading to the elevator.

[0106] The entrance of the conveyor belt (i.e., the docking interface mentioned above) is generally on the same side of the conveyor belt as the storage area. The purpose of this setting is to facilitate the bin robot to transport the bin to the conveyor belt after obtaining the bin from the storage area. However, the elevator is generally set on the other side of the conveyor belt, not on the same side as the storage area. The purpose of this setting is to make full use of the space around the conveyor belt. As many entrances as possible can be set on one side of the conveyor belt, and as many elevators as possible can be set on the other side. This can also ensure the maximum number of bins transported.

[0107] Since the elevator and the entrance of the conveyor belt are arranged on opposite sides, adding a direct route from the entrance of the conveyor belt to the elevator can enable the bin to quickly reach the elevator through this straight line route without affecting the operation of the conveyor belt.

[0108] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a method for transporting bins, and the method includes:

[0109] Obtain the first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates moving the first bin to the first production line;

[0110] Generate a first handling task and send the first handling task to the bin robot, where the first handling task indicates moving the first bin to the conveyor belt;

[0111] Control the first elevator to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack, where the first flow rack is used to carry the bins of the first outbound order information;

[0112] After the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the latent robot, where the first transfer task indicates transferring the first flow rack to the first production line.

[0113] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0114] Obtain the second outbound order information and the third outbound order information, where the second outbound order information indicates moving the second bin to the second production line, and the third outbound order information indicates moving the third bin to the third production line;

[0115] Generate a second handling task and send the second handling task to the bin robot, where the second handling task indicates moving the second bin and the third bin to the conveyor belt;

[0116] Control the second elevator to lift the second bin on the conveyor belt to the second flow rack, where the second flow rack is used to carry the bins of the second outbound order information; after the second flow rack is full or the last bin of the second outbound order information is loaded onto the second flow rack, generate a second transfer task and send the second transfer task to the latent robot, where the second transfer task indicates transferring the second flow rack to the second production line;

[0117] Control the third elevator to lift the third bin on the conveyor belt to the third flow rack, where the third flow rack is used to carry the bins of the third outbound order information; after the third flow rack is full or the last bin of the third outbound order information is loaded onto the third flow rack, generate a third transfer task and send the third transfer task to the latent robot, where the third transfer task indicates transferring the third flow rack to the third production line.

[0118] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0119] Real-time detect whether a first lift is docked with a first flow rack. If not, dispatch the latent robot to carry the first flow rack to the first lift and dock it with the first lift;

[0120] Or, in the case of receiving a first flow rack acquisition request sent by the first lift, dispatch the latent robot to carry the first flow rack to the first lift and dock it with the first lift.

[0121] In a possible implementation manner, the conveyor belt is a loop conveyor belt;

[0122] The control for the first lift to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack includes:

[0123] Determine the working condition of the first lift; if the first lift can currently lift the first bin, control the first lift to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack; if the first lift cannot currently lift the first bin, the loop conveyor belt continues to transport the first bin. After the first bin circulates one week on the loop conveyor belt, re-determine the working condition of the first lift.

[0124] In a possible implementation manner, the loop conveyor belt includes an abnormal exit, and the method further includes:

[0125] In the case of conveyor belt congestion, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit, and / or, in the case of a failure of the first lift, control the conveyor belt to transport the first bin away from the conveyor belt at the abnormal exit.

[0126] In a possible implementation manner, the control for the first lift to lift the first bin on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack includes:

[0127] According to the size information of the first bin and the size information of each layer of the first flow rack, determine the number of bins that can be accommodated on each layer of the first flow rack; when the same layer of the first flow rack is full, control the first lift to lift the first bin to another layer of the first flow rack until the first flow rack is full or the last bin of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack.

[0128] In a possible implementation manner, the entrance of the conveyor belt includes a straight line route leading to the lift.

[0129] The embodiments of the present application also provide an electronic device, as Figure 6 shown, including:

[0130] A memory 201 for storing a computer program;

[0131] A processor 202, which, when executing the program stored on the memory 201, implements the above-mentioned bin handling method.

[0132] And the above-mentioned electronic device may further include a communication bus and / or a communication interface. The processor 202, the communication interface, and the memory 201 complete communication with each other through the communication bus.

[0133] The communication bus mentioned in the above-mentioned electronic device may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. This communication bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For the sake of representation, only a thick line is used in the figure, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0134] The communication interface is used for communication between the above-mentioned electronic device and other devices.

[0135] 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.

[0136] The above-mentioned 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.

[0137] In another embodiment provided by the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is further provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the above-mentioned bin handling method is implemented.

[0138] In another embodiment provided by the present application, a computer program product including instructions is further provided. When it runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the above-mentioned bin handling method.

[0139] In the above embodiment, 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. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that the computer can access 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.

[0140] 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 term "including", "comprising", or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article, or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements 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 including the element.

[0141] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. The same or similar parts among the embodiments can be referred to each other, and the differences between each embodiment and other embodiments are emphasized. In particular, for method embodiments, since they are basically similar to system embodiments, they are described relatively simply, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description of the system embodiments.

[0142] The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection 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 scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A material box handling system, characterized in that: The system comprises: Material box robot, conveyor belt, elevator, flow rack, lurking robot, control subsystem; The control subsystem is used to obtain first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates that the first material box is transported to the first production line; generate a first transport task, and issue the first transport task to the material box robot, where the first transport task indicates that the first material box is transported to the conveyor belt; The material box robot is used for, in response to the first handling task, carrying the first material box to the conveyor belt; The control subsystem is further used to control the first elevator to lift the first material box on the conveyor belt to the first flow rack, wherein the first flow rack is used to carry the material box of the first outbound order information; after the first flow rack is fully loaded or the last material box of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack, a first transfer task is generated, and the first transfer task is issued to the lurking robot, wherein the first transfer task indicates transferring the first flow rack to the first production line; The lurking robot is used to transfer the first flow rack to the first production line in response to the first transfer task.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The control subsystem is further used to obtain second outbound order information and third outbound order information, wherein the second outbound order information indicates that the second material box is transported to the second production line, and the third outbound order information indicates that the third material box is transported to the third production line; generate a second transport task, and issue the second transport task to the material box robot, wherein the second transport task indicates that the second material box and the third material box are transported to the conveyor belt; The material box robot is used for, in response to the second handling task, carrying the second material box and the third material box to the conveyor belt; The control subsystem is also used to control the second elevator to lift the second material box on the conveyor belt to the second flow shelf, wherein the second flow shelf is used to carry the material box of the second outbound order information; after the second flow shelf is fully loaded or the last material box of the second outbound order information is loaded onto the second flow shelf, a second transfer task is generated, and the second transfer task is issued to the latent robot, wherein the second transfer task indicates that the second flow shelf is transferred to the second production line; control the third elevator to lift the third material box on the conveyor belt to the third flow shelf, wherein the third flow shelf is used to carry the material box of the third outbound order information; after the third flow shelf is fully loaded or the last material box of the third outbound order information is loaded onto the third flow shelf, a third transfer task is generated, and the third transfer task is issued to the latent robot, wherein the third transfer task indicates that the third flow shelf is transferred to the third production line; The latent robot is used to transfer the second flow rack to the second production line in response to the second transfer task; and to transfer the third flow rack to the third production line in response to the third transfer task.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The control subsystem includes a robot subsystem and a sorting control subsystem; The robot subsystem is used to obtain the first outbound order information; Generate a first handling task, and issue the first handling task to the material box robot; The sorting control subsystem is used to control the first elevator to lift the first material box on the conveyor belt to the first flow shelf; The robot subsystem is further used to generate a first transfer task and send the first transfer task to the lurking robot.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The robot subsystem is also used to detect in real time whether the first elevator is docked with the first smooth rack. If not, the latent robot is dispatched to carry the first smooth rack to the first elevator and dock with the first elevator; or, upon receiving a first smooth rack acquisition request sent by the first elevator, the latent robot is dispatched to carry the first smooth rack to the first elevator and dock with the first elevator.

5. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The conveyor belt is an annular conveyor belt; The sorting control subsystem is specifically used to determine the working condition of the first elevator; if the first elevator is currently capable of lifting the first material box, control the first elevator to lift the first material box on the conveyor belt to the first flow shelf; if the first elevator is currently unable to lift the first material box, the circular conveyor belt continues to transport the first material box, and when the first material box circulates once on the circular conveyor belt, re-determine the working condition of the first elevator.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that The circular conveyor belt includes an abnormal exit, and the sorting control subsystem is further used to control the conveyor belt to transport the first material box away from the conveyor belt from the abnormal exit when the conveyor belt is congested, and / or to control the conveyor belt to transport the first material box away from the conveyor belt from the abnormal exit when the first elevator fails.

7. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The sorting control subsystem is specifically used to determine the number of boxes accommodated in each layer of the first flow rack according to the size information of the first box and the size information of each layer of the first flow rack; when the same layer of the first flow rack is fully loaded, control the first elevator to lift the first box to another layer of the first flow rack until the first flow rack is fully loaded or the last box of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow rack.

8. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The material box robot is specifically used to obtain a first material box from a storage area, and the storage area is located on one side of the long side of the conveyor belt; The lurking robot is specifically used to transfer the first flow rack to a cache area when the first production line cannot accommodate the first flow rack. The cache area is located between the elevator and the production line. The cache area, the elevator and the production line are located on the other side of the long side of the conveyor belt and are arranged around the opposite side of the conveyor belt with the storage area.

9. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The entrance to the conveyor includes a straight path leading to the elevator.

10. A material box handling method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Acquire first outbound order information, where the first outbound order information indicates that the first material box is transported to the first production line; Generate a first transport task, and issue the first transport task to the material box robot, where the first transport task indicates transporting the first material box to a conveyor belt; Controlling the first elevator to lift the first material box on the conveyor belt to a first flow rack, wherein the first flow rack is used to carry the material box of the first outbound order information; After the first flow shelf is fully loaded or the last box of the first outbound order information is loaded onto the first flow shelf, a first transfer task is generated and issued to the lurking robot, wherein the first transfer task indicates transferring the first flow shelf to the first production line.

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