Robot task optimization method and system

Abstract

The invention discloses a robot task optimization method and system, and the method comprises the steps: installing a client corresponding to a door lock in a mobile phone of a resident, making an appointment for mailing through the client, notifying a first resident robot to plan a mailing path after the appointment mailing time of the door lock of the first resident arrives, and transmitting the planned mailing path to the door lock of the first resident, a first resident door lock sends a sending notification message carrying a sending path to a multicast group, a first resident robot picks up an article needing to be sent and starts to walk along the sending path, and a second resident door lock receiving the sending notification message on the sending path continuously monitors broadcast frames sent by the first resident robot and sends the broadcast frames to the multicast group. And after the first resident robot is monitored, a mailing assistance request is sent to the first resident robot, and the first resident robot assists the second resident in mailing after receiving the mailing assistance request. The mailing efficiency, the resource utilization rate and the mailing success rate are remarkably improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of intelligent robotics technology, and in particular to a method and system for optimizing robotic tasks. Background Art

[0002] With the development of robotics technology, robots have developed strong intelligent capabilities and can now assist their owners with simple household tasks, such as sweeping and cooking robots. Robots with embodied intelligence learn and perform tasks through the interaction between their bodies and the environment. By mimicking human form and movement, they can accomplish tasks in complex and dynamic environments that are difficult for traditional robots to accomplish, and are gradually becoming essential life assistants for future families.

[0003] In serviced apartments, many residents on the same floor have purchased humanoid robots to assist their owners with various tasks. When work is less busy, they can take packages to a partnered delivery point. However, these robots typically serve only their own owners, and delivery delays often occur due to conflicting tasks. Robots belonging to other residents, while delivering packages for their own owners, fail to provide mutual assistance, reducing delivery efficiency. Furthermore, when robots collaborate with each other, there are security and user privacy issues that need to be addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a method and system for optimizing robot tasks. When multiple residents in a serviced apartment need to send express delivery, they can make a delivery reservation through the door lock. The robot of one of the residents can help other residents in the same time period to move the express delivery to the express delivery point while sending their own express delivery.

[0005] In order to achieve the above objectives, the technical solutions of this application are as follows:

[0006] A method for robot task optimization, comprising:

[0007] The resident installs the client corresponding to the door lock on their mobile phone and schedules the delivery through the client. The door lock caches the delivery information. After the scheduled delivery time arrives, the door lock periodically sends IGMP join messages carrying the resident's room ID and door lock ID to join the multicast group;

[0008] After the scheduled delivery time arrives, the first resident door lock notifies the first resident robot to prepare for delivery. If there is no task conflict, the first resident robot plans the delivery route and sends the planned delivery route to the first resident door lock. The first resident door lock then sends a delivery notification message containing the delivery route to the multicast group.

[0009] The first household robot obtains the sending information and performs the sending task, picks up the items to be sent according to the sending information, and starts to walk along the sending path;

[0010] The second household door lock receiving the sending announcement message on the sending path continuously monitors the broadcast frame sent by the first household robot, sends a sending help request to the first household robot after monitoring the first household robot, and the first household robot picks up the items of the second household after receiving the sending help request and continues to perform the sending task along the sending path.

[0011] As a preferred, the first household door lock sends the sending announcement message carrying the sending path to the multicast group, including:

[0012] The first household door lock sends the sending announcement message to the multicast group;

[0013] The router in the network receives the sending announcement message, queries the multicast forwarding table out interface, if the out interface is PIM neighbor, directly forwards from the interface; if the out interface is IGMP member interface, extracts the sending path in the sending announcement message, queries the household room ID passed by the sending path, and if the household room ID carried by the IGMP member interface is consistent with the household room ID passed by the sending path, forwards the sending announcement message to the member interface.

[0014] As a preferred, the second household door lock continuously monitors the broadcast frame sent by the first household robot, sends a sending help request to the first household robot after monitoring the first household robot, and the first household robot picks up the items of the second household after receiving the sending help request, including:

[0015] The second household door lock sends a sending help request to the first household robot, carrying the sending information;

[0016] The first household robot receives and waits at the second household door;

[0017] The second household door lock informs the second household robot to pick up the items, and the second household robot places the items at the second household door after picking up the items;

[0018] The second household door lock informs the first household robot to pick up the items, and the first household robot picks up the items of the second household.

[0019] As a preferred, the robot task optimization method further includes:

[0020] The household door lock informs the household robot to prepare for sending if the sending is not completed before the scheduled sending time ends;

[0021] The household robot suspends the task being performed if there is a task conflict, and prepares for sending.

[0022] As a preferred, the method of robot task optimization further comprises:

[0023] The resident door lock notifies the resident robot to prepare for delivery if the resident has not delivered the mail before the scheduled delivery time ends.

[0024] The resident robot sends a confirmation to the door lock client if there is a task conflict, and suspends the ongoing task to prepare for delivery after obtaining the confirmation.

[0025] As a preferred, the resident door lock is equipped with a camera, and the method of robot task optimization further comprises:

[0026] The second resident robot places the picked-up items at the second resident's door and notifies the second resident door lock camera to record a video, and the second resident door lock identifies that the items have been placed at the door and notifies the first resident robot to pick up the items.

[0027] The first resident robot picks up the second resident's items and sends a received message to the second resident door lock, and the second resident door lock camera stops recording.

[0028] As a preferred, the method of delivering the express further comprises:

[0029] The second resident door lock that receives the delivery notification message on the delivery path replies a reply message that the notification has been received.

[0030] If the router in the network does not receive the reply message, it sends the delivery notification message again, and if it does not receive the reply message after sending a preset number of times, it sends a notification message carrying the second resident room ID to the first resident door lock.

[0031] The first resident robot actively sends a delivery notification message to the second resident door lock when it passes the second resident's door that has not sent a reply message while performing the delivery task along the delivery path.

[0032] As a preferred, the method of delivering the express further comprises:

[0033] When the delivery is scheduled through the client, the delivery information further includes the item category, the door lock carries the item category in the periodically sent IGMP join packet after the scheduled delivery time arrives, and the router in the network records the item category in the out-interface of the multicast forwarding table.

[0034] The first resident robot sends a message that the second resident's items have been received to the multicast group after picking up the items.

[0035] The router in the network finds a matching door lock from the multicast forwarding table according to the article category recorded by the second resident's out-interface, and sends a reminder message, which is forwarded from the out-interface recording the same article category;

[0036] The door lock of the other resident receiving the reminder message only listens to the first resident's robot picking up the second resident's article.

[0037] The present application also provides a robot task optimization system for executing the steps of the above method.

[0038] The robot task optimization method and system provided by the present application effectively integrate the scattered resident robot resources in the serviced apartment based on the cooperative mechanism of multicast communication, path matching, near-field triggering and double verification, realize the sharing and mutual assistance of robot mailing tasks, significantly improve the mailing efficiency, resource utilization rate and mailing success rate, solve the delay problem caused by task conflicts of robots, and guarantee the operation convenience, safety and user privacy, thereby providing a high-efficiency, reliable and low-cost automated express delivery solution for the serviced apartment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 A flowchart of the robot task optimization method of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific examples described herein are only used to explain the present application and do not limit the present application.

[0041] A complete living community has been formed inside the large serviced apartment, and in terms of express service, there is a unified express service site cooperating with the serviced apartment, which can provide pick-up and mailing services. The door locks of the serviced apartment are installed by the apartment and are connected to each other through a network for communication.

[0042] The client corresponding to the door lock is a mobile phone APP installed on the resident's mobile phone, which has a function module of mailing express, can place an order to the receiving terminal of the cooperating express service site, and needs to take a photo of the article when placing an order for mailing (such as putting the article into a carton, which needs to be marked on the carton—such as number and photographed for distinction). The mobile phone APP uses asymmetric encryption technology to encrypt the sensitive information of the sender and the receiver, which can be decrypted by the express service site. The receiving terminal of the express service site pre-stores the resident room ID, door lock ID, and records the resident's robot ID and the resident's real name information. The resident robot and the resident door lock ID are mutually recognized, and the room ID is recorded.

[0043] The robot and the router in the network both pre-store the three-dimensional topological map of the hotel apartment, master the location of the express service station, and the key mail sending path nodes (such as stairs, elevators, doors, etc.) passed through to reach the location.

[0044] Embodiment 1 provides a method for robot task optimization, as shown in the accompanying drawings, comprising: Figure 1

[0045] Step S1, the resident installs a client corresponding to the door lock on the mobile phone, makes a reservation for mail sending through the client, the door lock caches the mail sending information, and after the arrival of the reserved mail sending time, the door lock periodically sends an IGMP join message carrying the resident room ID and the door lock ID to join the multicast group.

[0046] When the resident of the hotel apartment needs to send express, the resident can make a reservation for mail sending in advance through the door lock on the mobile phone APP. The specific method is: selecting the mail sending reservation on the mobile phone APP, and filling in the recipient, the sender, the mail content and the mail sending time (usually a time period). After the reservation for mail sending, the door lock caches the mail sending information, and the mail sending information includes the room ID, the door lock ID, the reservation number ID, the mail content (photo) and the mail sending time.

[0047] When the door lock arrives at the mail sending time, it actively sends a "mail sending application" message to the network periodically, which is an IGMP join message (for example, the destination address is 230.1.1.1), and additionally carries the room ID and the door lock ID on the basis of the original IGMP message, indicating that the resident of the room has express to be sent to the express service station for mail sending at this time. The "mail sending application" message will be sent periodically (once every 60 seconds) during the mail sending time period, and the sending of the "mail sending application" message will be stopped at the end of the time period.

[0048] ​For example, a hotel apartment has 5 households plan to send express in the morning. The arrangement is as follows: the household A owner needs to send express from 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning, A household makes delivery reservation in advance on the door lock APP, fills in the recipient, sender, delivery content, delivery time (9:00 to 10:00 in the morning), and door lock A enters the "delivery reservation" mode. When door lock A reaches 9:00 in the morning, it will automatically send an IGMP message of "delivery application" to the router in the network, and the message carries room ID (room A) and door lock ID (door lock A). The household B owner needs to send express from 8:30 to 10:30 in the morning, B household makes delivery reservation in advance on the door lock APP, fills in the recipient, sender, delivery content, delivery time (8:30 to 10:30 in the morning), and door lock B enters the "delivery reservation" mode. When door lock B reaches 8:30 in the morning, it will automatically send an IGMP message of "delivery application" to the router in the network, and the message carries room ID (room B) and door lock ID (door lock B). The household C owner needs to send express from 9:20 to 11:00 in the morning, C household makes delivery reservation in advance on the door lock APP, fills in the recipient, sender, delivery content, delivery time (9:20 to 11:00 in the morning), and door lock C enters the "delivery reservation" mode. When door lock C reaches 9:20 in the morning, it will automatically send an IGMP message of "delivery application" to the router in the network, and the message carries room ID (room C) and door lock ID (door lock C). The household D owner needs to send express from 9:30 to 11:30 in the morning, D household makes delivery reservation in advance on the door lock APP, fills in the recipient, sender, delivery content, delivery time (9:30 to 11:30 in the morning), and door lock D enters the "delivery reservation" mode. When door lock D reaches 9:30 in the morning, it will automatically send an IGMP message of "delivery application" to the router in the network, and the message carries room ID (room D) and door lock ID (door lock D). The household E owner needs to send express from 9:15 to 10:15 in the morning, E household makes delivery reservation in advance on the door lock APP, fills in the recipient, sender, delivery content, delivery time (9:15 to 10:15 in the morning), and door lock E enters the "delivery reservation" mode. When door lock E reaches 9:15 in the morning, it will automatically send an IGMP message of "delivery application" to the router in the network, and the message carries room ID (room D) and door lock ID (door lock D).

[0049] The door lock sends a "mail application" message in this embodiment, so that the residents who need to send mail at the same time join the same multicast group. In the subsequent steps, the robot sends a leave message to exit the multicast group after receiving the mail. Therefore, the residents in the multicast group are all residents who need to send mail, and they can help each other send mail. The residents who schedule different times to send mail are not in the multicast group because they do not send a mail application message or have already completed the mail sending and left the multicast group. In this way, the residents in the multicast group are all residents who schedule to send mail, so that mutual assistance of residents who schedule to send mail is realized through a multicast group.

[0050] In step S2, the first resident door lock notifies the first resident robot to prepare for mail sending after the scheduled mail sending time arrives. If there is no task conflict, the first resident robot plans a mail sending path, sends the planned mail sending path to the first resident door lock, and the first resident door lock sends a mail sending announcement message carrying the mail sending path to the multicast group.

[0051] Because the priority of the express delivery work is lower than other daily tasks of the robot, when the scheduled mail sending time of the resident arrives, the door lock notifies the robot of the resident to check its tasks and whether there is a task conflict that prevents the express delivery. If there is a task conflict, the high-priority task is completed first, and then the express delivery is performed.

[0052] If there is no task conflict, the robot starts to prepare for mail sending, plans a "mail sending path" according to the pre-stored 3D map of the apartment and key positions, and the path includes a starting point, a path connection point, and an ending point: the starting point is the location of the resident (determined by comparing the room ID on the map with the room ID recorded by the robot), the path connection point is, for example, an elevator entrance, a stair entrance, or an apartment entrance, and the ending point is the express delivery service station of the apartment.

[0053] The robot that completes the "mail sending path" planning unicasts a notification to the door lock (the door lock of the resident) to obtain the "mail sending path" information of the robot. After the door lock obtains the path, it replies to the robot that the path has been obtained, and sends a multicast message of "mail sending announcement" carrying the robot ID and the planned "mail sending path".

[0054] The members who join the multicast group in this embodiment can all receive the mail sending announcement message. The residents on the mail sending path request assistance for mail sending according to step S4, and the residents who are not on the mail sending path can also listen to the first resident robot, but they cannot assist in mail sending because the first resident robot does not pass in front of their doors and they cannot listen to the first resident robot. The robot that completes the mail sending preparation in this embodiment is called the first resident robot, and it also assists other residents in mail sending in the subsequent steps, which is also called the mutual assistance robot.

[0055] Step S3, the first resident robot acquires the sending information and performs the sending task, picks up the items to be sent according to the sending information, and starts walking along the sending path.

[0056] After receiving the acquired path message from the home door lock, the robot starts the "sending express" mode. At this time, the door lock will also send the sending express "sending reservation" data to the robot, including room ID, door lock ID, reservation number ID, sender and recipient information filled in by the resident when selecting the sending reservation on the door lock APP (the sender and recipient information are encrypted data, the robot has no private key and cannot decrypt the data content), sending content (with photo) and sending time period information. The robot extracts the item feature vector from the photo in the sending content, finds the item (usually placed by the homeowner in the express sending area near the door lock in the room for easy searching), and starts to carry and send. The door lock opens the door and sends an IGMP leave message with the destination address 230.1.1.1, leaving the multicast group, and the door lock exits the "sending reservation" mode and no longer tracks the reservation time period.

[0057] Step S4, the second resident door lock on the sending path receives the sending announcement message and continues to listen to the broadcast frame sent by the first resident robot. After listening to the first resident robot, it sends a help sending request to the first resident robot. After receiving the help sending request, the first resident robot picks up the second resident's items and continues to perform the sending task along the sending path.

[0058] The robot carries a Bluetooth tag and can communicate with nearby door locks that have turned on Bluetooth. The robot periodically sends BLE broadcast frames, which contain device ID, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), and other information. The door lock can listen to the robot by receiving the broadcast frame sent by the robot.

[0059] After the robot carries the items and walks along the sending path, the door lock that receives the "sending announcement" continues to track whether there are mobile Bluetooth devices sending BLE broadcast frames nearby. When receiving the BLE broadcast frame sent by the robot, it extracts the device ID in the message and compares it with the robot ID in the locally cached "sending announcement" message. If the IDs are consistent, it is determined that the sender is a "mutual assistance robot".

[0060] In a simple embodiment, the second resident on the sending path receives the sending announcement message and has placed the items at the resident's door. The second resident door lock sends a help sending request to the first resident robot, carrying the sending information. After receiving it, the first resident robot automatically picks up the items at the second resident's door and continues to perform the sending task along the sending path.

[0061] In a preferred embodiment, the second resident door lock continuously monitors the broadcast frames sent by the first resident robot, and after listening to the first resident robot, sends a help mail request to the first resident robot, and after the first resident robot receives the help mail request, picks up the second resident's items, including:

[0062] The second resident door lock sends a help mail request to the first resident robot, carrying the mail information;

[0063] The first resident robot receives and waits at the second resident's door;

[0064] The second resident door lock informs the second resident robot to pick up the items, and the second resident robot places the items at the second resident's door after picking up the items;

[0065] The second resident door lock informs the first resident robot to pick up the items, and the first resident robot picks up the second resident's items.

[0066] Specifically, the door lock sends its mail information to the "mutual aid robot", including room ID, door lock ID, appointment number ID, corresponding recipient, sender (recipient and sender information are encrypted data, robots cannot decrypt and obtain data content), mail content (with photo) and mail time period information. After receiving the message, the "mutual aid robot" stops and waits at the door of the room.

[0067] At the same time, the door lock sends a "moving goods" request to the robot, also carrying the mail information. At this time, the robot queries the appointment time period, judges whether there are multiple appointment number IDs in the current time, and queries the mail content (photo) in the corresponding appointment data one by one, and extracts the item feature vector, finds the item (usually also placed by the owner in advance in the express mail area near the door lock in the room, convenient to find) and completes the lifting, and returns the "completed mail item lifting" message to the door lock, the message content includes robot ID, appointment number ID, item lifting flag set to 1.

[0068] After receiving the "completed mail item lifting" message from the robot, the door lock opens the door and sends a message to the robot "hand over the mail item", the message content includes the robot ID, mutual aid robot ID, appointment number ID, item handover flag set to 1. After receiving the "hand over the mail item" message, the robot carries the mail item outside and places it on the ground outside the door.

[0069] The mutual aid robot extracts the item feature vector according to the appointment number ID and the sending content (with a photo) in the sending information previously sent by the door lock to itself, finds the item, completes the lifting (at the same time, the second verification is performed for the household, and the sending item and the appointment information can be correspondingly matched), and continues to move along the "sending path". The mutual aid robot sends a "express has been collected" message to the door lock of the household, and the message content includes the mutual aid robot ID, the appointment number, and the express has been collected flag set to 1. After receiving the "express has been collected" message, the door lock sends a "complete item handover" message to the self robot, and the message content includes the self robot ID, the appointment number, and the complete item handover flag set to 1. The robot returns to the room and closes the door. The door lock sends an IGMP leave message with the destination address 230.1.1.1 to leave the multicast group, and the door lock exits the "sending appointment" mode and no longer tracks the appointment time period.

[0070] In a preferred embodiment, the door lock is also attached with a camera, and the robot task optimization method further includes:

[0071] After the second household robot picks up the item and places the item at the door of the second household, the second household door lock camera is notified to record a video, and the first household robot is notified to pick up the item after the second household door lock identifies that the item has been placed at the door;

[0072] After the first household robot picks up the item of the second household, the second household door lock is sent an item has been collected message, and the second household door lock camera stops recording a video.

[0073] Specifically, after the door lock receives the "item has been lifted" message from the self robot, the camera starts video shooting and recording at the same time, and when it is identified that the item is safely placed on the ground, the door lock sends a pick up express request to the mutual aid robot, and the message content includes the mutual aid robot ID, the appointment number ID, and the pick up express flag set to 1. After receiving the "express has been collected" message, the door lock stops the camera recording.

[0074] Through the camera of the embodiment, the delivery process can be recorded to facilitate the investigation when the item is lost, and the safe delivery of the item is ensured. It should be noted that the door lock camera is always in working state, and the camera of the embodiment only records and identifies in this process, and does not mean that the camera is turned on or off.

[0075] It should be noted that the terms such as the first household door lock, the first household robot, the second household door lock, etc. in the embodiment are mainly used to distinguish the households and robots that provide mutual aid and accept mutual aid, and are not limited to only two households for mutual aid, which will not be repeated hereinafter.

[0076] The robot walks along the "mail sending path", reaches the express service site, the staff makes a Bluetooth connection between the mail receiving terminal and the robot, the robot uploads the locally stored "mail sending reservation" information (including the information of the current household and other households that help send express), since the express service site and the apartment are in a cooperative relationship, the private key stored in the mail receiving terminal of the service site can decrypt the encrypted data in the information uploaded by the robot. The staff verifies the data uploaded by the robot, manually checks the photos of the express items corresponding to the mail sending reservation number ID, confirms on the mail receiving terminal, and returns a "express receipt" message to the robot, the message content includes the robot ID, room ID, reservation number ID, and item information. The robot completes the mail sending and returns to the home room along the reverse path of the "mail sending path".

[0077] Embodiment 2, based on embodiment 1, when the first household lock sends the mail sending announcement message carrying the mail sending path to the multicast group, an improved technical solution is adopted. That is, the first household lock sends the mail sending announcement message carrying the mail sending path to the multicast group, which includes:

[0078] The first household lock sends the mail sending announcement message to the multicast group;

[0079] After the router in the network receives the mail sending announcement message, it queries the multicast forwarding table out interface. If the out interface is PIM neighbor, it is directly forwarded from the out interface. If the out interface is IGMP member interface, the mail sending path in the mail sending announcement message is extracted, and the household room ID passed through the mail sending path is queried. If the household room ID carried by the IGMP member interface and the household room ID passed through the mail sending path are consistent, the mail sending announcement message is forwarded to the member interface.

[0080] In this embodiment, after the router receives the "mail sending announcement" message, it queries the multicast forwarding table out interface. If the out interface is PIM neighbor (which means it is connected to another router), the "mail sending announcement" message is directly forwarded from the interface. If the out interface is an IGMP member interface, the router extracts the "mail sending path" information in the "mail sending announcement" message and compares it with the pre-stored 3D topology map of the apartment to query which room ID the path passes through. If the room ID carried by the IGMP member interface and the room ID passed through the path match, the "mail sending announcement" message is forwarded to the member interface. The effect achieved is that the household lock in "mail sending reservation" mode knows that a robot of a household has completed the "mail sending path" planning, that is, it will start sending mail (hereinafter referred to as "mutual aid robot" for the robot in this state), and the current household can help send the express of the current household by the robot on the "mail sending path" of the robot. The door lock receiving the "mail sending announcement" message caches the message locally.

[0081] In this embodiment, the router sends the sender notification message only to the residents on the sender path, so that unnecessary work of other resident door locks can be avoided. At the same time, since residents who need to send at the same time join the same multicast group, residents on the sender path who do not have a sender reservation will not be disturbed.

[0082] In embodiment 3, on the basis of embodiment 1, the robot task optimization method further comprises:

[0083] If the resident door lock has not sent the parcel before the end of the reserved sender time, the resident robot is notified to prepare for sending the parcel;

[0084] If the resident robot has a task conflict, the resident robot pauses the task being executed and prepares to send the parcel.

[0085] In embodiment 4, on the basis of embodiment 1, the robot task optimization method further comprises:

[0086] If the resident door lock has not sent the parcel before the end of the reserved sender time, the resident robot is notified to prepare for sending the parcel;

[0087] If the resident robot has a task conflict, the resident robot sends a confirmation to the client corresponding to the door lock, and after obtaining the confirmation, the resident robot pauses the task being executed and prepares to send the parcel.

[0088] In embodiments 3 and 4, if the resident robot has other high-priority transactions during the reserved time period and does not receive the “parcel notification” message sent by the door lock of another resident, the parcel may not be transported by the robot. To address this situation, when the door lock is in the “parcel reservation” mode and the last 10 minutes of the reserved time period is expiring, the door lock sends a “reservation expiration warning” message to the robot, and the message content includes the door lock ID, the resident robot ID, the reservation number, and a reservation expiration warning flag set to 1. After receiving the “reservation expiration warning” message, the robot pauses other transactions in hand (for example, if the paused transaction is the highest priority transaction, such as caring for an elderly person or watching a child, the robot needs to request and obtain confirmation from the owner, and if the owner is not at home, the robot sends a message to the robot management APP on the owner’s mobile phone to obtain confirmation. If the owner does not confirm or refuses to confirm within 10 minutes, the owner will miss the parcel delivery reservation time period and need to set it again later).

[0089] If the router in the network fails to restart when forwarding the "parcel delivery notice" message, the message may be lost, and the door lock and the robot are not aware of whether the router successfully forwards the "parcel delivery notice" message to other door locks in the "parcel delivery reservation" mode on the parcel delivery path. This may cause the router to fail to send the "parcel delivery notice" message to some or all of the other door locks in the "parcel delivery reservation" mode, and thus the service of assisting in carrying the parcel cannot be obtained. To solve this problem, the robot task optimization method of the embodiment further includes:

[0090] The second resident door lock on the parcel delivery path receiving the parcel delivery notice message replies a reply message indicating that the notice has been received;

[0091] If the network router does not receive the reply message, the router sends the parcel delivery notice message again. If the router does not receive the reply message after sending the parcel delivery notice message for a preset number of times, the router sends a parcel delivery notice confirmation message to the first resident door lock.

[0092] The first resident door lock notifies the first resident robot of the content of the parcel delivery notice message. The first resident robot learns the resident on the parcel delivery path that does not send the reply message. The first resident robot actively sends the parcel delivery notice message to the door lock of the resident when passing the door of the resident during the execution of the parcel delivery task along the parcel delivery path.

[0093] In the embodiment, after the router forwards the "parcel delivery notice" message from the member out interface, the door lock receiving the message replies to the router (using the IGMP join message with the destination address of 224.0.0.2). The IGMP message content further carries the room ID, the door lock ID, and the parcel delivery notice confirmation flag set to 1. The router maintains the content in the message to the member interface. When the parcel delivery notice confirmation flag of all the member interfaces is set to 1, the router immediately replies to the door lock sending the "parcel delivery notice" message with a "parcel delivery confirmation notice" message. The message content includes the router source IP, the room ID, and the door lock ID list with the parcel delivery notice confirmation flag set to 1 on all the member interfaces.

[0094] If a door lock fails to reply to the router, the router forwards the "parcel delivery notice" message to the member interface connected to the door lock again after 10 seconds (here, an example is given, and it is recommended to adjust the time according to the door lock restart time). If the router does not receive the message for 3 times, the router replies to the door lock sending the "parcel delivery notice" message with a "parcel delivery notice confirmation" message. The fault door lock and the room ID are not included in the room ID and door lock ID list in the "parcel delivery notice confirmation" message.

[0095] If the router has no IGMP member interface (i.e. no other door lock is in the "parcel appointment" mode), immediately reply to the door lock sending the "parcel announcement" with a "parcel announcement confirmation" message, the message content includes the router source IP, the room ID with the parcel announcement confirmation flag set to 1 on all member interfaces, and the door lock ID list is empty.

[0096] It should be noted that the "parcel announcement confirmation" message can also only include the room ID and door lock ID that have not replied, regardless of which way, sending the parcel announcement confirmation is to let the first door lock know which residents on the parcel path have not received the parcel announcement message.

[0097] The door lock sending the "parcel announcement" will forward the "parcel announcement confirmation" message from the router to the robot at home. The robot knows which residents on the parcel path have not received the parcel announcement message (or which residents have received the parcel announcement message). When the robot continues to move forward on the parcel path, it can actively discover the arrival of these rooms through Bluetooth signals and actively stop and communicate with the room door lock to wait for pickup.

[0098] Embodiment 6, this application does not limit only one resident robot to assist other residents to send express. That is, the robot in the parcel appointment time period can perform parcel sending (send express for this resident, or help other residents on the parcel path to send express) as long as it is idle. For example, when robot A and robot B both start to send express, they send a parcel announcement. Their paths will definitely overlap, for example, resident C has received the parcel announcement sent by A and B. But robot A is faster, and robot A has arrived at resident C and helped resident C to take away the express, then door lock C will leave the multicast group and exit the parcel appointment mode, and will no longer listen to the Bluetooth information of robot B.

[0099] When there are multiple robots performing parcel sending tasks in the appointment time period, a certain robot can also be selected for parcel sending according to the category of the items to be sent, so as to facilitate the sorting and receiving of the express service point staff. For example, fresh food, fragile items, donated items, etc.

[0100] In this embodiment, a robot task optimization method further includes:

[0101] When the parcel information includes the category of the items to be sent through the client appointment, the door lock periodically sends IGMP join messages carrying the category of the items to be sent after the appointment parcel time arrives, and the router in the network records the category of the items to be sent in the out-interface of the multicast forwarding table;

[0102] After the first resident robot picks up the items of the second resident, the second resident sends a message to the multicast group that the items have been picked up;

[0103] The router in the network finds the matched door lock from the multicast forwarding table according to the article category recorded by the second resident corresponding egress interface, and sends a reminder message, which is forwarded from the egress interface recording the same article category.

[0104] The door lock of the other resident receiving the reminder message only listens to the first resident robot picking up the article of the second resident.

[0105] Specifically, when the resident makes a delivery reservation at the door lock, the filled delivery information further includes the article category (such as donated articles) on the basis of embodiment 1. When the door lock sends the IGMP join message at the reservation time, the current packet further carries the article category on the basis of carrying the room ID and the door lock ID. The router in the network stores the article category in the egress interface of the multicast forwarding table.

[0106] After the robot A departs, it walks along the delivery path, arrives at the second resident, and completes the interaction with the robot A according to the previous embodiment scheme by listening to the Bluetooth tag of the robot A. When the robot A completes the express collection of the second resident, it no longer sends the “express collected” message to the second resident door lock in unicast, but sends it in multicast, which is to tell other residents and other robots that the article of the second resident has been collected.

[0107] After the router receives the “express collected” message, it finds the egress interface of the multicast forwarding table according to the second resident door lock ID, and finds the article category corresponding to the egress interface. Then the router finds the door lock ID matching the article category from the multicast forwarding table.

[0108] The router sends the “donated article reminder” multicast message, which carries the ID of the robot A and the found door lock ID. The packet is forwarded in the egress interface of the forwarding table matching the same article category door lock ID, which is to tell these door locks that the package corresponding to them is uniformly responsible for carrying by the robot A. It is convenient for the express service point staff to uniformly package and for the donation receiver to uniformly receive and process.

[0109] When the above door lock receives the “donated article reminder” message, it only listens to the Bluetooth tag information of the robot A and no longer listens to the Bluetooth information of other robots.

[0110] In a specific embodiment, five residents on a floor of a hotel apartment have all booked the morning for express delivery. The homeowner A has booked the time from 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning to send express, the homeowner B has booked the time from 8:30 to 10:30 in the morning to send express, the homeowner C has booked the time from 9:20 to 11:00 in the morning to send express, the homeowner D has booked the time from 9:30 to 11:30 in the morning to send express, and the homeowner E has booked the time from 9:15 to 10:15 in the morning to send express. The homeowner B arrives at the booking time at 8:30, and the lock B sends a "delivery application" message to the router to join the 230.1.1.1 multicast group, the message carrying the room ID (B) and the lock ID (B). After informing the robot B to check its own task, the robot judges that there is no other high-priority task, and can send express. The robot B starts to send express preparation, and starts to plan the "delivery path" according to the pre-stored 3D map of the apartment and the key positions, the path being from the room B to the elevator and then to the final express service station of the apartment. The robot B that completes the "delivery path" planning informs the lock B to obtain the "delivery path" information, and the lock B replies to the robot B that the path has been obtained, and sends a "delivery announcement" multicast message, the message carrying the robot ID (B) and the planned "delivery path". After the router receives the "delivery announcement" message, it queries the multicast forwarding table output interface, at this time, other residents have not arrived at the booking time, and the multicast forwarding table has no other member interface (for example, the connection of the router to other routers is omitted for simplicity), and the router discards the "delivery announcement" message.

[0111] After receiving the path acquisition message replied by the lock B, the robot B starts the "express delivery" mode. At this time, the lock B will also send the express "delivery booking" data to the robot, including the room ID (B), the lock ID (B), the booking number ID (001), the consignee and the sender selected by the homeowner on the lock APP, the delivery content (with a photo) and the delivery time period information. The robot B extracts the feature vector of the goods through the photo of the delivery content, finds the goods (which has been placed by the homeowner B in the express delivery area near the lock in the room for easy searching), and then starts to carry and deliver. The lock B opens the door, and sends an IGMP leave message with the destination address of 230.1.1.1 to leave the multicast group. The robot B carries the goods and walks along the delivery path, reaches the elevator, takes the elevator and goes to the express service station.

[0112] Household A arrives at the appointment time at 9:00, and the door lock A sends a "mail application" message to the router to join the 230.1.1.1 multicast group, and the message carries the room ID (A) and the door lock ID (A). After informing the robot A to check its own task, the robot judges that there are other high-priority tasks at present, and it cannot send the express. After households C, D, and E arrive at their respective appointment times, they go through the same process as household A, and their respective robots check their own tasks and all have other high-priority tasks, and they cannot send the express. By 9:35, the robot A of household A is released from the task and can send the express. The robot A starts to prepare to send the express, plans a "mail path" according to the pre-stored 3D map of the apartment and key positions, and the path is from room A to the elevator and then to the final express service station of the apartment. After completing the "mail path" planning, the robot A informs the door lock A to obtain the "mail path" information, and the door lock A replies to the robot A that the path has been obtained and sends a "mail notification" multicast message carrying the robot ID (A) and the planned "mail path". After the router receives the "mail notification" message, it queries the multicast forwarding table output interface. At this time, other households have all arrived at the appointment time and have sent "mail application" messages to join the 230.1.1.1 multicast group. The router extracts the "mail path" information in the "mail notification" message and compares it with the pre-stored 3D topology map of the apartment to query which room IDs the path passes through. It is found that the room C and the room D in the room IDs (C, D, and E) carried by the IGMP member interface match the room IDs passed through by the path, and then the "mail notification" message is forwarded to the interface connected to the room C and the room D.

[0113] After receiving the path acquisition message replied by the door lock A, the robot A starts the "express sending" mode. At this time, the door lock A will also send the express "mail appointment" data to the robot, including the room ID (A), the door lock ID (A), the appointment number ID (001), the consignee and the sender selected by the household on the door lock APP, the mail content (with a photo), and the mail time period information. The robot A extracts the item feature vector from the photo in the mail content, finds the item (which has been placed in the express mailing area near the door lock in the room by the householder A for easy searching), and then starts to carry and send the express. The door lock A opens the door and sends an IGMP leave message with the destination address 230.1.1.1 to leave the multicast group.

[0114] Robot A carries the item and walks along the delivery path, passing through the door lock C. After receiving the BLE broadcast frame sent by robot A, the door lock C extracts the device ID in the message and the robot ID in the locally cached "delivery announcement" message, finds that the IDs are both robot A, and judges that the visitor is an "assistance robot". The door lock sends its "delivery reservation" data to robot A, including room ID (C), door lock ID (C), reservation number ID (001), corresponding recipient, sender (recipient and sender information are encrypted data, robot cannot decrypt the data content without private key), delivery content (with photo) and delivery time period information. After receiving the message, robot A stops and waits at the door of room C. At the same time, the door lock C sends a "carry goods" request to its own robot C. Robot C queries the reservation time period, judges that it belongs to reservation number 001, and queries the delivery content (photo) in the corresponding reservation data, extracts the item feature vector, finds the item (which has been placed in the delivery area near the door lock in the room by the owner C in advance for easy searching), and completes the lifting, and returns a "delivery item lifting completed" message to the door lock C.

[0115] After receiving the "delivery item lifting completed" message from robot C, the door lock C opens the door and sends a message to the robot to "hand over the delivery item", including its own robot ID (C), assistance robot ID (A), reservation number ID (001), item handover flag set to 1, and the camera is turned on to video and record. After receiving the "hand over the delivery item" message, robot C carries the delivery item to the outside of the door and places it on the ground. The door lock C camera captures the process, and when it identifies that the item is safely placed on the ground, the door lock C sends a pick-up express request to robot A, including assistance robot ID (A), reservation number ID (001), and pick-up express flag set to 1. Robot A extracts the item feature vector according to the reservation number ID (001) and delivery content (with photo) in the "delivery reservation" data sent by the door lock C to itself, finds the item, and completes the lifting. Robot A sends a "express picked up" message to the door lock C, including assistance robot ID (A), reservation number (001), and express picked up flag set to 1. After receiving the "express picked up" message, the door lock C stops the camera recording, sends a "complete item handover" message to robot C, including its own robot ID (C), reservation number (001), and complete item handover flag set to 1. Robot C returns to the room and closes the door. The door lock C sends an IGMP leave message with the destination address 230.1.1.1 to leave the multicast group.

[0116] Robot A continues to move along the "delivery path", when passing by room D, it helps the owner of room D to carry the delivery package according to the same process as door lock C. Room E does not receive the "delivery announcement" message from other door locks because it is not in the planned path of robot A. Finally, after completing other high-priority tasks, the robot in room E completes the delivery work.

[0117] The door lock of the present application sends a multicast join message carrying the room number and door lock number based on the reservation time period. The router records the member information on the interface to avoid forwarding the multicast notification message to irrelevant door locks. The router sends the multicast notification to the matched door locks based on the matching of the planned path and the member interface room number, rather than all the door locks to be delivered. The door lock listens based on the robot ID, and informs the robot to help collect the express when the robot arrives. The door lock and the router perform confirmation feedback on the "delivery announcement" message. If no feedback is received, the door lock that sent the "delivery announcement" message retransmits it. This avoids missing the forwarding and processing of the "delivery announcement" message due to failure.

[0118] In another embodiment, the present application also provides a robot delivery system for performing the steps of the above-mentioned robot task optimization method.

[0119] The specific limitations of the robot delivery system can be referred to the limitations of the robot task optimization method described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0120] The above-described embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, which are described in detail and specifically, but should not be understood as limiting the scope of the patent. It should be noted that for ordinary skilled in the art, without departing from the concept of the present application, several modifications and improvements can be made, which are all within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent of the present application should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing robot tasks, characterized in that: The method for optimizing robot tasks comprises: The resident installs the client corresponding to the door lock on their mobile phone and schedules the delivery through the client. The door lock caches the delivery information. After the scheduled delivery time arrives, the door lock periodically sends IGMP join messages carrying the resident's room ID and door lock ID to join the multicast group; After the scheduled delivery time arrives, the first resident door lock notifies the first resident robot to prepare for delivery. If there is no task conflict, the first resident robot plans the delivery route and sends the planned delivery route to the first resident door lock. The first resident door lock then sends a delivery notification message containing the delivery route to the multicast group. The first resident robot obtains the mailing information and performs the mailing task. It picks up the items to be sent according to the mailing information and starts walking along the mailing path. The second resident's door lock that receives the delivery notification message on the delivery path continues to monitor the broadcast frame sent by the first resident robot. After monitoring the first resident robot, it sends a request for help in delivery to the first resident robot. After receiving the request for help in delivery, the first resident robot picks up the second resident's items and continues to perform the delivery task along the delivery path.

2. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first resident door lock sends a mailing notification message carrying a mailing path to the multicast group, including: The first resident's door lock sends a mail notification message to the multicast group; After receiving the mail notification message, the router in the network queries the multicast forwarding table for the outgoing interface. If the outgoing interface is a PIM neighbor, it forwards the message directly from that interface. If the outgoing interface is an IGMP member interface, it extracts the mailing path in the mail notification message and queries the resident room ID that the mailing path passes through. If the resident room ID carried by the IGMP member interface is consistent with the resident room ID that the mailing path passes through, the mail notification message is forwarded to this member interface.

3. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second resident door lock continuously monitors the broadcast frame sent by the first resident robot, and after monitoring the first resident robot, sends a request for assistance in sending a package to the first resident robot. After receiving the request for assistance in sending a package, the first resident robot picks up the second resident's item, including: The second resident's door lock sends a request for assistance in sending a package to the first resident's robot, carrying the package information; After receiving it, the first resident's robot waits at the second resident's door; The second resident's door lock notifies the second resident's robot to pick up the item, and the second resident's robot picks up the item and places it at the second resident's door; The second resident's door lock notifies the first resident's robot to pick up the required items, and the first resident's robot picks up the second resident's items.

4. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method for optimizing robot tasks further includes: If the resident's door lock has not been unlocked before the scheduled delivery time, the resident robot will be notified to prepare for delivery. If there is a task conflict for this resident robot, it will suspend the task it is executing and prepare to send the package.

5. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method for optimizing robot tasks further includes: If the resident's door lock has not been unlocked before the scheduled delivery time, the resident robot will be notified to prepare for delivery. If there is a task conflict for this resident robot, it will send a confirmation to the client corresponding to the door lock. After receiving the confirmation, it will suspend the ongoing task and prepare for sending the package.

6. The method for optimizing robot tasks according to claim 3, wherein: The resident door lock is provided with a camera, and the method for optimizing the robot task further includes: After the second resident robot picks up the item and places it at the second resident's door, it notifies the second resident's door lock camera to record the video. After the second resident's door lock recognizes that the item has been placed at the door, it notifies the first resident's robot to pick up the required item; After the first resident's robot picks up the second resident's item, it sends a receipt message to the second resident's door lock, and the second resident's door lock camera stops recording.

7. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method for delivering express delivery further includes: The second resident door lock that receives the delivery notification message on the delivery path replies with a reply message indicating that the notification has been received; If the router in the network does not receive a reply message, it will send the mail notification message again. If no reply message is received after sending the preset number of times, it will send a notification message carrying the second resident's room ID to the first resident's door lock; When the first resident robot is performing the delivery task along the delivery route, it passes by the door of the second resident who has not sent a reply message, and actively sends a delivery notification message to the second resident's door lock.

8. The method for robot task optimization according to claim 2, characterized in that: The method for delivering express delivery further includes: When you schedule a shipment through the client, the shipment information also includes the item category. After the scheduled shipment time arrives, the door lock periodically sends IGMP join messages carrying the item category. The router in the network records the item category in the outbound interface of the multicast forwarding table. After the first resident robot picks up the second resident's item, it sends a message to the multicast group that the second resident's item has been picked up; The router in the network searches the multicast forwarding table for a matching door lock based on the item category recorded on the outbound interface corresponding to the second resident, and sends a reminder message. The reminder message is forwarded from the outbound interface that records the same item category. The door locks of other residents who receive the reminder message only monitor the first resident's robot that picks up the second resident's items.

9. A system for optimizing robot tasks, characterized in that: The robot task optimization system is used to perform the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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