Goods Transport Workflow Using Waiting-Area Robot Handoffs
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the 'goods-to-person' system, carrying robots face inefficiencies as they often need to wait in line at workstations, preventing them from performing other tasks during this time, which reduces their overall working efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A control server coordinates multiple carrying robots to manage the transport of containers, allowing one robot to place containers in a waiting area while another robot operates on them, and then returns them to storage, ensuring continuous operation and minimizing waiting times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a carrying robot transports a target container to a workstation and waits in the waiting area until the container is processed, then the container can be properly operated on at the workstation, but the carrying robot cannot perform other transport tasks during this waiting time, reducing its working efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the container transport and operation process into separate segments: one carrying robot (first carrying robot) is responsible for transporting the container to the workstation and placing it in the waiting area, while another carrying robot (second carrying robot) is responsible for transporting the container from the waiting area to the working area for operation. This segmentation allows the first carrying robot to be freed up immediately after placement and assigned to new transport tasks, eliminating the waiting idle time while ensuring the container operation can proceed when ready.
2Productivity
If multiple carrying robots are coordinated to transport the same container through different stages (storage area to waiting area, then waiting area to working area), then the waiting time for container operation is reduced and robot productivity increases, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a control server as an intermediary that coordinates and manages multiple carrying robots. The control server receives transport requests, assigns appropriate carrying robots to specific tasks, tracks the status of containers and robots, and optimizes the allocation of resources. This centralized intermediary simplifies the complexity by providing a single point of control rather than requiring direct peer-to-peer coordination between multiple robots, making the system manageable while enabling the productivity benefits of multi-robot coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
The system comprises: control servers, transport robots, and workstations, the workstations comprising working areas and waiting areas. The control servers are configured to determine a target container to be transported, a first transport robot and a second transport robot that transport the target container, and a target workstation that operates the target container in response to a system task, plan walking paths for the first transport robot and the second transport robot, and send transport instructions to the first transport robot and the second transport robot. The first transport robot is configured to transport the target container from a storage area to a waiting area of the target workstation according to a planned walking path in response to a transport instruction, place same in the waiting area of the target workstation, and wait to execute other transport instructions.