Transport robot and method and system for operating such a transport robot in a warehouse

Abstract

The invention relates to a transport robot (120a) which can be operated in an automated, semi-automated, and / or manual manner in order to carry out transport orders for transporting goods (140) in a warehouse having a plurality of transport robots (120a,b). The transport robot (120a) comprises a communication interface which is designed to receive an environmental model (200) of the warehouse and a capability model of the plurality of industrial trucks (120a,b) in the warehouse. The environmental model (200) defines a plurality of key locations (210a-c) of the warehouse and, for each key location, at least one neighboring key location. The capability model defines movement sequence information (220a-c) for each of the key locations (210a-c) of the environmental model, in particular at least one trajectory (220a-c), for an automated movement to the at least one neighboring key location.The transport robot (120a) comprises a control unit which is designed to carry out a transport order from a starting key point (210a) to a target key point (210c) of the plurality of key points (210a-c), to automatically control the movement of the transport robot (120a) on the basis of the environment model (200) and first movement sequence information (220a), in particular a first trajectory (220a), and at least second movement sequence information (220b), in particular at least a second trajectory (220b), of the capability model.

Description

The invention relates to a transport robot and to a method and system for operating such a transport robot in a warehouse.For the transport and storage of products, goods and materials, load carriers, for example grid boxes or pallets, in particular Europallets, are often used. To handle such load carriers, e.g. in intralogistics, i.e. the internal material flow, e.g. in a warehouse, industrial trucks, e.g. fork trucks, transport robots and the like are used. A warehouse is generally a very dynamic environment in which the control of the mobile industrial trucks is generally carried out either manually, partially automatically or automatically.In intralogistics, the strong growth associated with demographic conversion creates a need for automated solutions. The introduction of new, complex digital technologies is made more difficult, however, by the fact that employees with a high level of personal skill in the field of intralogistics are often underpredicted.Previous automation solutions for transporting items in intralogistics are essentially based on continuous conveyors, storage and retrieval devices and automated guided systems (FTS). If continuous conveyors and storage and retrieval devices are used wherever rigid process chains and high material throughput rates are required for the front, FTS offer more possible uses in intralogistics.The partially retentive introduction of the previous automation solutions is due to the increased area requirement and frequently to the infrastructure constructed for manual processes, in addition to the high investment costs associated with the previous automation solutions. Automation solutions such as FTS are moreover operated on predefined routes for transport. When adaptations to the transport layout are made, these must be reprojected in each case, which leads to less flexibility.Thus, for a large number of potential further fields of application with a higher flexibility requirement, either no economical solutions are available or the current technical solutions encounter high reprojection costs due to their modification dynamics. This has the result that previous automation solutions only maintain a nisch-up compared to manually oriented transport solutions.Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), for example in the form of transport robots, are distinguished by greater flexibility compared to FTS. However, AMRs that move in a variety of open environments and perform a variety of tasks and interactions require explicit capabilities to accomplish their tasks. AMRs interact sensor-motorically with their environment and must act deliberately to accomplish their task. In this context, aware action means that the AMRs perform actions that are instantiated by given goals and justified and possibly optimal by environmental model-dependent tradeoffs with respect to these goals. These destructive capabilities distinguish AMRs from FTS.For automatic transport by AMRs, in particular transport robots, however, the knowledge for the creation of the travel paths, navigation maps and the subsequent actions (for example, goods pick-up, goods delivery, maintenance, loading and the like) must be communicated to the AMRs. The switching of this knowledge requires interventions by highly specialized specialist staff for adapting the AMRs to later use. This makes up the essential part of the commissioning and adaptation expenses and restricts fields of action due to the costs and personnel resources associated therewith.However, the knowledge about the travel paths and the corresponding locations of action in a warehouse is available in the form of warehouse and application knowledge. It is precisely the colleagues in a warehouse who have a great deal of application knowledge that could be used in a machine-available manner as the basis of the task processing of the industrial trucks designed as AMRs.Against this background, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved transport robot and a method and system for commissioning, adapting and operating such a transport robot in a warehouse.According to a first aspect, this object is achieved by a transport robot for operation in a warehouse. The transport robot can be an industrial truck, in particular a forklift truck. The transport robot, which can be operated automatically, partially automatically and / or manually, is designed to carry out transport orders for transporting goods in a goods store having a multiplicity of transport robots. In this case, the transport robot comprises a communication interface, for example a communication interface for wireless communication via a wireless communication network, wherein the communication interface is designed to receive or receive an environment model of the warehouse and a capability model of the plurality of transport robots in the warehouse. In one embodiment, the communication interface of the transport robot is configured to obtain the environment model of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots in the warehouse from a central device, for example a server for operating the plurality of transport robots. Furthermore, the transport robot can also receive transport orders from the central device. In a further embodiment, the communication interface of the transport robot is designed to obtain the environmental model of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots from another transport robot of the plurality of transport robots.According to the invention, the environment model of the warehouse defines a plurality of unique key locations (also referred to herein as semantic key locations or nodes) of the warehouse in the form of a topological map in which each key location has at least one adjacent key location, i.e. connected via an edge of the topological map. The capability model of the plurality of transport robots defines or comprises, for each of the key locations of the environment model, i.e. of the topological map, movement sequence information, in particular at least one trajectory, for an automated movement from the corresponding key location to the at least one adjacent key location. In other words: the capability model with the movement sequence information, in particular trajectories, for each key location of the environment model enables the transport robot to connect adjacent key locations of the environment model to one another.According to the invention, the transport robot further comprises a control unit which is configured to carry out a transport order from a start key location to a target key location of the plurality of key locations, to automatically control the movement of the transport robot on the basis of the environment model and first movement sequence information, in particular a first trajectory, and at least second movement sequence information, in particular at least one second trajectory, of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information, in particular the first trajectory, defines a movement from the start key location to an intermediate key location adjacent to the start key location, and wherein the at least second movement sequence information, in particular the at least one second trajectory, defines a movement from the intermediate key location to the target key location or a movement from the intermediate key location to a further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location.According to one embodiment, the control unit of the transport robot is further configured to determine, after the movement of the industrial truck from the starting key location to the intermediate key location on the basis of the first movement information, in particular the first trajectory, a deviation of an actual position or actual pose from a desired position or desired pose of the transport robot relative to the intermediate key location and to vary the movement of the transport robot from the intermediate key location to the target key location or to the further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location on the basis of the second movement sequence information, in particular the at least one second trajectory, in order to counteract the deviation.In one embodiment, for each key location of the plurality of key locations of the environment model, the movement sequence information, in particular the at least one trajectory, of the capability model is based on at least one movement, learned by imitation learning, of a manually operated transport robot of the plurality of transport robots between the key location and the at least one adjacent key location. According to this embodiment, the expert knowledge or "know-how" required for the automatic operation of the transport robot is thus communicated to the transport robot as imitation knowledge in the form of the capability model.According to one embodiment, the control unit can be further configured to determine the movement of the transport robot from the starting key location to the target key location via the one or more intermediate key locations located therebetween using a cost function.According to one embodiment, each key location of the plurality of key locations may comprise an artificial marking (for example a marker) and the transport robot may further comprise a sensor unit which is configured to detect the marking of a respective key location and to identify the respective key location on the basis of the detected marking.In one embodiment, the control unit of the transport robot is designed to determine the position, in particular the pose, of the transport robot relative to the respective key location on the basis of the artificial marking of a respective key location detected by the sensor unit.According to one embodiment, the marking of the respective key location can be a visual marking and the sensor unit of the transport robot can be designed as a camera, in particular a depth camera, for detecting the visual marking of the respective key location.In one embodiment, the transport robot further comprises a drive unit which is configured to drive the movement of the transport robot on the basis of movement control signals from the control unit. The drive unit may include, for example, a plurality of drive wheels and an electric drive motor for driving the plurality of drive wheels.According to a second aspect, the aforementioned object is achieved by a system for operating a plurality of transport robots in a warehouse. In this case, the system comprises a plurality of transport robots according to the first aspect of the invention and a central device for operating the plurality of transport robots in the warehouse, wherein the central device is designed to provide each transport robot of the plurality of transport robots with the environment model of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots.According to a third aspect, the aforementioned object is achieved by a method for operating a transport robot, in particular an industrial truck, which can be operated automatically, partially automatically and / or manually in order to carry out transport orders for transporting goods in a goods store having a multiplicity of transport robots. The method comprises the following steps:obtaining an environment model of the warehouse and a capability model of the plurality of transport robots in the warehouse (optionally from a central device for operating the plurality of transport robots), wherein the environment model of the warehouse defines a plurality of key locations of the warehouse and at least one adjacent key location for each key location, and wherein the capability model defines movement sequence information, in particular at least one trajectory, for an automated movement to the at least one adjacent key location for each of the key locations of the environment model; andcontrolling the movement of the transport robot in order to carry out a transport order from a start key location to a target key location of the plurality of key locations on the basis of the environment model and first movement sequence information, in particular a first trajectory, and at least second movement sequence information, in particular at least a second trajectory, of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information, in particular the first trajectory, defines a movement from the start key location to an intermediate key location adjacent to the start key location and wherein the at least second movement sequence information, in particular the at least one second trajectory, defines a movement from the intermediate key location to the target key location or a movement from the intermediate key location to a further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location.Further advantages and details of the invention are explained in more detail by way of example on the basis of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the schematic figures. The following shows: FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a transport robot in the form of an industrial truck for transporting goods in a goods store according to one embodiment; FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a system according to the invention having a multiplicity of transport robots in the form of industrial trucks and a central apparatus for providing an environment model and a capability model for operating the multiplicity of transport robots; FIG. 3 ashows a representation of a transport robot according to an embodiment in an exemplary warehouse with a key location in the form of a branch; FIG. 3 bshows a representation of an environmental model of the warehouse of FIG. 3 a; FIG. 3 cshows an illustration of a transport robot according to an embodiment in an exemplary warehouse with two adjacent key locations and the automated movement of the transport robot on the basis of the capability model; FIG. 3 dis a representation of an environmental model of the warehouse of FIG. 3 c; FIG. 3 e is an illustration of the movement of a transport robot according to an embodiment on the basis of the capability model from a starting key location via an intermediate key location to a target key location; FIG. 3 f shows an automated correction of the movement of FIG. 3 e by a transport robot according to one embodiment; and FIG. 4 shows a flow chart with steps of a method for operating a transport robot for transporting goods in a goods store according to one embodiment.FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, in the form of a forklift 120 aaccording to an embodiment for transporting goods 140 in an industrial environment, in particular a goods store. The transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, can be, in particular, a second-time autonomous, partially autonomous and / or manually operated fork-lift truck 120 a, i.e. guided by an operator. The goods 140 can be, for example, goods objects 143, such as packaging boxes 143, which are arranged on a respective load carrier 141. The load carrier 141 can be, for example, a pallet 141, in particular a Euro pallet 141 or a grid box 141.As shown in FIG. 1, the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, comprises a load-receiving means in the form of a pair of load forks 124 a, bwhich are designed to be introduced into respective recesses, in particular pockets 141 a, bon an end side of the load carrier 141, in order to receive the load carrier 141 and the article 143 arranged thereon. According to further embodiments, the load-receiving means can also be designed as a mandrel, for example for receiving film rolls or wire coils, as a hooked-under load-receiving means (for example comparable to refuse vehicles for receiving refuse drums), or as bale and roll clamps, for example for receiving paper rolls.The transport robot 120 aillustrated in FIG. 1 and embodied as an industrial truck 120 afurther comprises a drive unit 121, for example at least one motor 121, in particular an electric motor 121, wherein the drive unit 121 is embodied to move the industrial truck 120 aand the pair of load forks 124 a,brelative to the article 140 in order, for example, to change the orientation and / or the distance between the industrial truck 120 aand the article 140 and / or to raise or lower the pair of load forks 124 a,b. For this purpose, as indicated in FIG. 1, the drive unit 121 can be suitably connected to wheels 122 a- dand / or the pair of load forks 124 a, bof the industrial truck 120 a.The transport robot 120 aformed as an industrial truck 120 acan furthermore comprise a sensor unit 130 a, in particular an image acquisition unit 130 a, which is configured to acquire a multiplicity of images of the environment of the industrial truck 120 awhen the transport robot 120 ais moved. The image acquisition unit 130 apreferably comprises a camera 130 a, in particular a depth camera 130 a. As indicated in FIG. 1, the image capturing unit 130 ais preferably mounted on the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck 120 a, in such a way that the field of vision of the image capturing device 130 ais substantially along a forward movement direction A of the transport robot 120 a. Preferably, the image capturing device 130 acan be mounted in the plane of symmetry between the two load forks 124 a, b. In addition to the image capturing device 130 awith the field of view along the forward movement direction A of the transport robot 120 a, the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck 120 a, can also comprise further image capturing devices or sensor units, for example an image capturing device with a field of view along a rearward movement direction of the transport robot 120 aand / or an image capturing device with a field of view perpendicular to the forward movement direction A of the transport robot 120 a.According to the invention, the transport robot 120 aformed as an industrial truck 120 afurther comprises a control unit 123, which can comprise, for example, one or more processors or microcontrollers with suitable software and is configured to control the transport robot 120 aformed as an industrial truck 120 ain an at least partially automated manner, as is described in detail below.FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a system 100 according to the invention for operating the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck 120 aand at least one further transport robot 120 bin the form of an industrial truck 120 b, which transport robots are each temporarily automatically, partially automatically and / or manually operable in order to carry out transport orders for transporting articles 140 in a store of articles.In addition to the plurality of transport robots 120 a,b, the system 100 comprises a central management device 110, for example a server 110, which is designed to communicate with each transport robot 120 a,bof the plurality of transport robots 120 a,band to assign transport orders to each of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,bfor transporting the goods 140 in the warehouse, for example. For this purpose, for example, the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, comprises a communication interface 126 which is designed to communicate with a corresponding communication interface 113 of the central management apparatus 110 and with an external sensor unit 130 b, such as for example a sensor unit 130 bof the warehouse, for example via a wireless communication network 150, e.g. a Wi-Fi network or a mobile radio network. The central management device 110 illustrated in FIG. 2 can be, for example, an industrial PC 110 or a cloud server, in particular an edge cloud server 110.As illustrated in FIG. 2, the central management device 110 can have, in addition to the communication interface 113 already mentioned, one or more processors 111 and a memory 115, in particular a nonvolatile memory. The memory 115 may be configured to store data and executable program code that, when executed by the processor 111 of the central management device 110, causes the processor 111 to perform the functions, operations, and methods described below.As will be described in detail below with further reference to FIGS. 3 a- f, the communication interface 126 of the transport robot 120 a, which is configured as an industrial truck, is configured to receive or receive an environmental model of the warehouse (exemplary environmental models 200 of a warehouse are illustrated in FIGS. 3 band 3 d) and a capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a, bin the warehouse. In one embodiment, the communication interface 126 of the transport robot 120 ais configured to obtain the environmental model 200 of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,bin the warehouse from the central management device 110. In a further embodiment, the communication interface 126 of the transport robot 120 ais configured to obtain the environmental model 200 of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a, bfrom another transport robot, e.g. the transport robot 120 b, of the plurality of transport robots.As will be described in more detail below, the inventory environment model 200 defines a plurality of unique warehouse key locations 210 a- c(also referred to herein as semantic key locations 210 a- cor nodes 210 a- c) in the form of a topological map. FIGS. 3 aand 3 ceach show a section of a warehouse with key locations and FIGS. 3 band 3 deach show the corresponding environmental model 200. As can be seen in particular from FIG. 3 d, each key location 210 a- hhas at least one adjacent key location, i.e. connected via an edge of the topological card. For example, in the example environment model 200 shown in FIG. 3 d, the key location 210 ais connected to the key location 210 bvia an edge 215 a.As will be described in more detail below, the capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,bdefines or comprises, for each of the key locations 210 a- hof the environment model 200, i.e. the topological map 200, movement sequence information 220 a,b, in particular at least one trajectory 220 a,b, for an automated movement from the corresponding key location to the at least one adjacent key location or for handling pallets (automatic depositing or recording). In other words: the capability model with the movement sequence information 220 a,b, in particular trajectories 220 a,b, for each key location 210 a- cof the environment model 200 enables the transport robot 120 ato connect adjacent key locations of the environment model 200 to one another.In one embodiment, the central management device 110 is designed to generate the environmental model 200 of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,bformed as industrial trucks and to make them available to the transport robots 120 a,bformed as industrial trucks. In a further embodiment, the plurality of transport robots can generate the environmental model of the warehouse and the capability model in a distributed manner. In one embodiment, the environmental model 200 of the warehouse, and in particular the capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,b, are based on imitation knowledge collected in the warehouse, which can be used advantageously in particular for setting up a new transport robot in the warehouse.According to the invention, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 ais configured to carry out a transport order from a start key location 220 ato a target key location 220 cof the plurality of key locations, to automatically control the movement of the transport robot 120 abased on the environment model 200 and first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular a first trajectory 220 a, and at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular at least a second trajectory 220 b, of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular the first trajectory 220 a, defines a movement from the start key location 210 ato an intermediate key location 210 badjacent to the start key location 210 a, and wherein the at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular the at least one second trajectory 220 b, defines a movement from the start key location 210 ato an intermediate key location 210 badjacent to the start key location 210 a, and wherein the at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular the at least one second trajectory 220 b, defining movement from the intermediate key location 210b to the target key location 210c or movement from the intermediate key location 210b to another intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location 210b.In the example illustrated in FIG. 3 c, the transport robot 120 aaccording to the invention moves automatically on the basis of a first trajectory 220 ato a first key location provided with a first optical marking 230 a. The transport robot 120 aaccording to the invention then moves automatically on the basis of a second trajectory 220 bwith a right turn from the first key location to a second key location provided with a second optical marking 230 bto continue the further travel automatically on the basis of a third trajectory 220 b. As the person skilled in the art recognizes, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3 c, for example, the second trajectory 220 b, which is part of the capability model, is linked to the first key location defined by the environment model 200, which is provided with the first marking 230 a. Of course, the first key location defined by the environment model 200 can also be linked to further trajectories or movement sequence information of the capability model, for example a trajectory which describes a left curve in the example of FIG. 3 c.For each key location of the plurality of key locations 210 a- hof the environment model 200, the movement information 220 a,b, in particular the at least one trajectory 220 a,b, of the capability model (which are associated with the corresponding key location) is based on at least one movement, learned by imitation learning, of an at least temporarily manually operated transport robot, i.e. operated by a colleague, of the plurality of transport robots 120 a,bbetween the key location and the at least one adjacent key location. In other words: during manual operation of the transport robots 120 a, bin a warehouse, movement sequence information, in particular trajectories, can be recorded and collected in order to generate or expand / update the capability model.As the person skilled in the art recognizes, the environment model 200 and the capability model thus define an annotated topological map of the warehouse having a multiplicity of key locations 210 a- hconnected to one another, wherein movement sequence information 220 a- c, for example at least one trajectory 220 a- c, of the capability model for the movement to at least one adjacent key location is linked to each key location 210 a- hby the capability model. As already described, this movement sequence information 220 a- cof the capability model can define or comprise a trajectory for describing necessary travel commands for reaching the adjacent key locations, but also other types of movement sequence information which depict more complex movements, for example for depositing or picking up pallets, loading the transport robot and the like.As already described above, the transport robot 120 aincludes a control unit 123 which is configured to carry out a transport order from a starting key location to a destination key location of the plurality of key locations 210 a- hto automatically control the movement of the transport robot 120 abased on the environment model 200 and the capability model. According to one embodiment, the knowledge or "know-how" required for the automatic operation of the transport robot 120 ais thus communicated to the transport robot 120 ain the form of the environment model 200 and as imitation knowledge in the form of the capability model. The transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck 120 a, and the system 100, thus provide, according to one embodiment, an imaging of automated goods transport by irritation. The location and action information necessary for this can be generated concurrently by observing previously executed movements of a transport robot 120 b, which is manually (i.e. by a person with expert knowledge, e.g. store employee), is configured as an industrial truck (which can be identical in construction or similar to the transport robot 120 a), so that these can be used for generating or updating the capability model. Concurrently, in this context, an exploration phase of the plurality of transport robots 120 a, bconstructed as industrial trucks describes which automatically learns all the movements carried out and their location reference in the warehouse by observing the field of application during the routine work.According to one embodiment, in the exploration phase, imitation knowledge in the form of environmental knowledge can thus be automatically learned by observing manual transport using the transport robot 120 a, bconfigured as an industrial truck. During the demonstration, for this purpose, as already described above, the environment model 200 of the warehouse is generated in the form of a topological map 200 which is based on a multiplicity of semantic key locations 210 a- hof the warehouse. According to one embodiment, the semantic key locations 210 a- hmay be considered locations for the transport of the basic decision goods 140 in the goods warehouse in order to be able to reach the desired destination of automated transport orders. In addition to the information contained in the environment model 200, as already described above, the capability model can additionally be learned, which serves for linking between the semantic key locations 210 a- hobserved previously.The irritation knowledge can be linked in a subsequent exploration phase with the aid of an Al-based action planning to specific transport orders, so that the previously demonstrated manual transports can be carried out automatically. Possible disturbances in the execution of the learned movements due to system-intrinsic errors or dynamic obstacles can be compensated for by, for example, an adapted state lattice path planner. The localization required for carrying out automatic movements in space can be based on a proximity-based localization approach which, for the metrically continuous localization requirements, uses the linking of the nodes 210 a- hof the environment model 200 (i.e. of the key locations 210 a- h) via the capability model and can thus dispense with a singular reference point, such as a coordinate origin in metric maps.According to an embodiment, each key location of the plurality of key locations 210 a- hmay include an artificial marker 230 a,bas already described above in connection with FIGS. 3 aand 3 c. In this case, a respective marking 230 a,bis designed such that it can be detected with the sensor unit 130 a, in particular camera 130 aof the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, in order to identify the respective key location on the basis of the detected marking 230 a,b. According to one embodiment, the sensor unit 130 acan comprise, in addition to a camera, in particular a depth camera, an infrared light source for illuminating the field of view of the depth camera.In one embodiment, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck is designed to determine the position or pose of the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck relative to the respective key location on the basis of the marking 230 a,bof a respective key location detected by the sensor unit 130 a.FIG. 3 e shows an illustration of the movement of the transport robot 120 aaccording to an embodiment on the basis of the capability model from a position at a start key location 210 avia a position at an intermediate key location 210 bto a position at a target key location 210 cof the environment model 200. FIG. 3 f shows an automated correction of the movement of FIG. 3 e by a transport robot 120 aaccording to an embodiment, as will be described in more detail below.In the example illustrated in FIG. 3 e, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, is designed to carry out the transport order from the starting key location 210 ato the destination key location 210 cof the plurality of key locations 210 a- cto automatically control the movement of the transport robot 120 a, which is designed as an industrial truck, on the basis of the environment model 200 and first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular a first trajectory 220 a, and at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular at least a second trajectory 220 b, of the capability model. In this case, the first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular the first trajectory 220 a, defines a movement from the starting key location 210 ato an intermediate key location 210 badjacent to the starting key location 210 a, and the at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular the at least one second trajectory 220 b, defines a movement from the intermediate key location 210 bto the target key location 210 c. According to one embodiment, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 can be further configured to determine the movement of the transport robot 120 a, which is configured as an industrial truck, from the starting key location 210 ato the destination key location 210 cvia the one or more intermediate key locations 210 blocated therebetween using a cost function. For example, the control unit 123 may determine a path from the start key location 210 ato the target key location 210 via one or more intermediate key locations 210 blocated therebetween, which minimizes a travel time or travel path of the transport robot 120 a, based on the cost function.As can be seen in particular from FIG. 3 f, in one embodiment the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck is furthermore designed, after the movement of the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck from the starting key location 210 ato the intermediate key location 210 b, which takes place on the basis of the first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular the first trajectory 220 a, of the capability model, to determine an accumulated deviation of an actual position or actual pose 240 bfrom a setpoint position or setpoint pose 240 b' of the transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck relative to the intermediate key location 210 b. As is indicated in FIG. 3 f and described in more detail below, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 ais configured according to one embodiment to vary the movement of the transport robot 120 afrom the intermediate key location 210 bto the target key location 210 c, which takes place on the basis of the desired trajectory 220 b, in order to counteract the deviation accumulated at the intermediate key location 210 b, which can be considered as integral error propagation.According to one embodiment, the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 ais configured to counteract the integral error propagation during the movement to the intermediate key location 210 billustrated in FIG. 3 fby the correction of the location (proximity-based) at the intermediate key location 210 b. For this purpose, in addition to the movement sequence information 220 a, in particular trajectory 220 afor the movement to the intermediate key location 210 b, the position of the intermediate key location 210 brelative to the starting key location 210 acan also be stored in the environment model 200 (for example in the form of metadata) and used for the error correction.For the realization of a mission-specific metric localization, according to one embodiment, the position of the starting key location 210 ais used as a reference point. As soon as expected nodes of the environment model 200 appear in the further course of the automated movement of the transport robot 120 a, for example the intermediate key location 210 b, these nodes can be used as a correction variable on the basis of their known linked geometric relationship to the starting key location 210 a. According to one embodiment, all relevant geometric relationships of the key locations 220 a- cof the topological map 200, i.e. of the environment model 200, can be derived.As described above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3 f, the movement of the transport robot 120 astarts in the vicinity of the starting key location 210 a(also referred to as node A in FIG. 3 f) which is used as a reference point, and proceeds via the intermediate key location 210 b(also referred to as node D in FIG. 3 f) to the target key location 210 c(also referred to as node N in FIG. 3 c). Thus, the transport robot 120 astarts its planned first trajectory 220 a(i.e. the first target trajectory 220 a), which is part of the capability model, at the reference point A. Assuming that the tracking of the first trajectory 220 a, which maps the connection between the starting key location 220 a(point A) and the intermediate key location 220 b(point D), initially has no offset, the first actual trajectory 220 a' starts with the same pose as the planned first trajectory 220 a. Since the location of the semantic key location may be localized, according to one embodiment, the location uses odometry signals of the transport robot 120a in further tracking the movement of the transport robot 120a. The odometry signals can generate a random error during the movement, so that the deviation between the Solk trajectory 220 aand the actual trajectory 220 a' is obtained as illustrated in FIG. 3 f.According to one embodiment, successful localization is based on the cumulative error (referred to herein as e k) at the end of the movement along a trajectory of the capability model permitting detection of the next-following node sensorially. Ellipses 225 and 225c, which are identified in FIG. 3f, define this target area, in which the sensory localization is possible, for intermediate key location 210b and target key location 210c, respectively. Upon reaching the target area 250b at the end of the movement from the start key location 210a to the intermediate key location 210b, the intermediate key location 210b is used as a new reference point. By the transport robot 120 arecognizing the intermediate key location 210 b, the actual error can be calculated. The error between the planned setpoint trajectory 220 aand the actual trajectory 220 bresults from the difference between the expected pose and the measured pose according to the following equation:According to one embodiment, this error can be compensated for by the error e d thus determined at the intermediate key location 210 bat the time d in order to adapt the movement of the transport robot 120 ato a planned solb movement again. Due to the non-holonomic properties of many transport robots, according to one embodiment the compensation of the determined error is performed by a compensation trajectory with an individual route length. This path required for this is illustrated in FIG. 3f as a dashed part of the actual trajectory 220b'.Thus, the error accumulated until then after being known by the control unit 123 of the transport robot 120 acan be completely compensated.During the further movement of the transport robot 120 afrom the intermediate key location 210 bto the target key location 210 c, an error can again arise (in particular due to faulty odometry signals) as soon as the transport robot 120 aeceeds the sensor node detection of the intermediate key location 210 b. Until the sensory perception of the target key location 210 cis achieved, the localization error, as in the movement from the starting key location 210 ato the intermediate key location 210 b, can now also increase during the current movement to the target key location 210 c. Once the transport robot 120 aintroduces into the sensory detection area 225 cof the target key location 210 c, the error e can be calculated again. For the overall movement from the starting key location 210 ato the target key location 210 c, this means that the previously calculated error corrections enable the achievement of the subsequent key location provided the transport robot 120 adoes not leave the maximum permissible error ellipse 225 (denoted as emaxin FIG. 3 f).The generally derived calculation rule for the determination of the error e k at the key location c at the time k results from the concatenation of the nodes in the topological map 200 according to the following equation:The index S in the equation shown above corresponds in this context to the starting point of the movement of the transport robot at the starting key location 210 a, while c represents the next key location to be expected. The notation Sx k corresponds to the current odometry-based, error-corrected pose of the transport robot 120 aat the discrete time k in the starting coordinate system.As the skilled person recognizes, according to the invention the number of mission nodes, i.e. key location, does not play a role for a successful localization. For the correction of the localization, only the relative pose between the adjacent nodes is necessary. In addition, the nodes must be able to be detected by the transport robot 120 asensory in order to be able to calculate their relative pose.The mapping according to the invention of the environment of a warehouse as a topological map or environment model 200 initially has the advantage that the location information can be stored as a discrete planning network. This discrete planning network represents, via its edges, all connection options that the transport robot 120 acan execute. Further, the topological map may combine the environment model 200 and the (learned) capabilities for associating adjacent nodes. Therefore, the topological maps fundamentally extend the geometric-semantic approach of previous map models by integrating a capability model. The capability model is used as a metric connection between the nodes of the environment model 200. As a result of the connection of a plurality of nodes, a kinematic chain is thus produced which interrupts the unknown localization error which builds up at the nodes (semantic key positions), since the positions of the nodes detected by sensors are environment-invariant. This observation results in first two essential derivatives.Integral localization errors, which arise due to external influences such as slippage, faulty sensor system, digital losses, etc., can be limited in their effects at the sensor-detected nodes. For this reason, the annotated topological maps described here minimize the risk of an invalid community map, so that it is automatically learned and expanded by a fleet of transport robots. The card itself can thereby be easily exchanged.The imageable geometric length of the trajectories of the capability model for connecting the nodes is dependent only on the sensor system used by the transport robot and can moreover be extended by sensor-based post-processing steps (e.g. visual odometry).In a further embodiment, it can be provided to limit the incremental error which arises and increases with increasing distance from the node point passed by by using a relative supporting localization, for example by using methods of visual odometry but also of roadway markings, curbs and the like. This allows the distance between the supporting points in a warehouse to be increased.A further advantage arises from the mapping (mapping) of logical information of the visually perceived nodes if these have a direct mapping reference for goods management. In this case, the goods management can work directly with the node information, so that the complicated transfer of logical information of the goods management to geometric information of the transport robots 120 a, bmay be omitted.FIG. 4 shows a flow chart with steps of a method 400 for operating a transport robot 120 ain the form of an industrial truck in order to carry out transport orders for transporting articles 140 in a article store having a multiplicity of transport robots 120 a, bin the form of industrial trucks. The method 400 comprises a step 401 of receiving an environment model 200 of the warehouse and a capability model of the plurality of transport robots 120 a, bin the warehouse (optionally from the central device 110 for operating the plurality of transport robots). As already described above, the environment model 200 of the warehouse defines a plurality of key locations 210 a- cof the warehouse and, for each key location, at least one adjacent key location and the capability model defines, for each of the key locations 210 a- cof the environment model 200, movement sequence information 220 a,b, in particular at least one trajectory 220 a,b, for an automated movement to the at least one adjacent key location. Furthermore, the method 400 comprises a step 403 of controlling the movement of the transport robot 120 ato carry out a transport order from a starting key location 210 ato a target key location 210 cof the plurality of key locations 210 a- cbased on the environment model 200 and first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular a first trajectory 220 a, and at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular at least a second trajectory 220 b, of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information 220 a, in particular the first trajectory 220 a, defines a movement from the starting key location 210 ato an intermediate key location 210 badjacent to the starting key location 210 a, and wherein the at least second movement sequence information 220 b, in particular the at least one second trajectory 220 b, defines a movement from the starting key location 210 ato an intermediate key location 210 badjacent to the starting key location 210 a, defining movement from the intermediate key location 210b to the target key location 210c or movement from the intermediate key location 210b to another intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location 210b.The method 400 according to the invention can be carried out by means of the transport robot 120 aaccording to the invention, which is embodied in the form of an industrial truck. Therefore, further embodiments of the method 400 according to the invention result from the above-described embodiments of the transport robot 120 aaccording to the invention.

Claims

Transport robot (120a) which is automatically, partially automatically and / or manually operable to carry out transport orders for transporting goods (140) in a goods warehouse having a plurality of transport robots (120a,b), wherein the transport robot (120a) comprises: a communication interface (126) which is designed to receive an environmental model (200) of the goods warehouse and a capability model of the plurality of industrial trucks (120a,b) in the goods warehouse, wherein the environmental model (200) of the goods warehouse defines a plurality of key locations (210a-c) of the goods warehouse and at least one adjacent key location for each key location, and wherein the capability model defines movement sequence information (220a-c), in particular at least one trajectory (220a-c), for each of the key locations (210a-c) of the environmental model, for an automated movement to the at least one adjacent key location; and a control unit (123), which is designed to carry out a transport order from a starting key location (210a) to a target key location (210c) of the plurality of key locations (210a-c), to automatically control the movement of the transport robot (120a) on the basis of the environment model (200) and first movement sequence information (220a), in particular a first trajectory (220a), and at least second movement sequence information (220b), in particular at least a second trajectory (220b), of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information (220a), in particular the first trajectory (220a), defines a movement from the starting key location (210a) to an intermediate key location (210b) adjacent to the starting key location (210a), and wherein the at least second movement sequence information (220b), in particular, the at least one second trajectory (220b) defines a movement from the intermediate key location (210b) to the target key location (210c) or a movement from the intermediate key location (210b) to a further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location (210b).The transport robot (120a) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (123) is further configured to, after the movement of the industrial truck (120a) from the starting key location (210a) to the intermediate key location (210b), based on the first movement information (220a), in particular the first trajectory (220a), a deviation of an actual position or actual pose (240b) from a target position or target pose (240b') of the transport robot (120a) relative to the intermediate key location (210b) and to vary the movement of the transport robot (120a) from the intermediate key location (210b) to the target key location (210c) or to the further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location (210b) on the basis of the second movement sequence information (220b), in particular the at least one second trajectory (220b), in order to counteract the deviation.The transport robot (120a) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein for each key location of the plurality of key locations (210a-c) of the environment model (200) the movement sequence information (220a,b), in particular the at least one trajectory (220a,b), of the capability model is based on at least one motion, learned by imitation learning, of a manually operated transport robot of the plurality of transport robots (120a,b) between the key location and the at least one adjacent key location.The transport robot (120a) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit (123) is further configured to determine, using a cost function, the movement of the transport robot (120a) from the start key location (210a) to the target key location (210c) via the one or more intermediate key locations (210b) located therebetween.The transport robot (120a) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each key location of the plurality of key locations (210a-c) comprises a marking (230a,b) and wherein the transport robot (120a) further comprises a sensor unit (130a) which is configured to detect the marking (230a,b) of a respective key location (210a-c) and to identify the respective key location (210a-c) on the basis of the detected marking (230a,b).The transport robot (120a) according to claim 5, wherein the control unit (123) is configured to determine the position or pose (240a-c) of the transport robot (120a) relative to the respective key location (210a-c) on the basis of the marking (230a,b) of a respective key location (210a-c) detected by the sensor unit (130a).The transport robot (120a) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the marking (230a,b) is a visual marking (230a,b) and wherein the sensor unit (130a) comprises a camera (130a), in particular a depth imaging camera (130a) for detecting the visual marking (230a,b).The transport robot (120a) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transport robot (120a) further comprises a drive unit (121) configured to drive the movement of the transport robot (120a) based on movement control signals from the control unit (123).Transport robot (120a) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the transport robot (120a) is designed as an industrial truck (120a), in particular as a fork lift truck (120a).A system (100) for operating a plurality of transport robots (120a,b) in a warehouse, the system (100) comprising: a plurality of transport robots (120a,b) according to any one of the preceding claims; and a central device (110) for operating the plurality of transport robots (120a,b) in the warehouse, wherein the central device (110) is configured to provide the environment model (200) of the warehouse and the capability model of the plurality of transport robots (120a,b) to one transport robot of the plurality of transport robots (120a,b).Method (400) for operating a transport robot (120a) which is automatically, partially automatically and / or manually operable to carry out transport orders for transporting goods (140) in a warehouse having a plurality of transport robots (120a,b), wherein the method (400) comprises: receiving (401) an environment model (200) of the warehouse and an ability model of the plurality of transport robots (120a,b) in the warehouse, wherein the environment model (200) of the warehouse defines a plurality of key locations (210a-c) of the warehouse and, for each key location (210a-c), at least one adjacent key location, and wherein the ability model defines movement sequence information (220a-c) for each of the key locations (210a-c) of the environment model, In particular, at least one trajectory (220a-c) defined for an automated movement to the at least one adjacent key location; and controlling (403) the movement of the transport robot (120a) in order to carry out a transport order from a starting key location (210a) to a target key location (210c) of the plurality of key locations (210a-c) on the basis of the environment model (200) and first movement sequence information (220a), in particular a first trajectory (220a), and at least second movement sequence information (220b), in particular at least a second trajectory (220b), of the capability model, wherein the first movement sequence information (220a), in particular the first trajectory (220a), is defined, a movement from the starting key location (210a) to an intermediate key location (210b) adjacent to the starting key location (210a), and wherein the at least second movement sequence information (220b), in particular the at least one second trajectory (220b), defines a movement from the intermediate key location (210b) to the target key location (210c) or a movement from the intermediate key location (210b) to a further intermediate key location adjacent to the intermediate key location (210b).

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