CN112573058A

CN112573058A - Goods taking method, carrying robot, processing terminal and intelligent warehousing system

Info

Publication number: CN112573058A
Application number: CN201910944200.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈宇奇; 孔哲
Original assignee: Shenzhen Hairou Innovation Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-30
Filing date: 2019-09-30
Publication date: 2021-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-30
Also published as: CN112573058B

Abstract

The application relates to the field of intelligent warehousing, in particular to a goods taking method, a carrying robot, a processing terminal and an intelligent warehousing system, wherein the goods taking method is applied to the carrying robot, the carrying robot comprises a goods transfer assembly, and the method comprises the following steps: receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information, goods type information to be taken and/or goods information of goods to be taken, and indicating the goods transfer assembly to take and place goods and/or a first container according to the goods taking instruction. According to the technical scheme, the goods taking operation is executed through the goods transferring assembly, the goods taking efficiency is improved, and the goods sorting automation degree is improved.

Description

Goods taking method, carrying robot, processing terminal and intelligent warehousing system

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of intelligent warehousing, in particular to a goods taking method, a carrying robot, a processing terminal and an intelligent warehousing system.

Background

With the rise and the increasing development of electronic commerce and online shopping, a huge development opportunity is brought to the intellectualization of warehouse logistics of goods, and in recent years, the technology for carrying goods based on a carrying robot is increasingly mature. In the prior art, a transfer robot can transfer a container on a goods shelf to a goods sorting table through a goods taking device of the transfer robot, so that goods can be sorted at the goods sorting table.

The inventor finds out in the process of implementing the application that the related technology has the following defects: get goods device and get the operation of putting to the packing box, can not realize getting in the packing box goods and put the operation, goods letter sorting degree of automation is not high, has influenced and has got goods efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a goods taking method, which is characterized in that goods taking operation is executed through a goods transferring assembly, so that the goods taking efficiency is improved, and the goods sorting automation degree is improved.

The application provides a goods taking method, which is applied to a transfer robot, wherein the transfer robot comprises a goods transfer assembly, and the method comprises the following steps:

receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information, type information of goods to be taken and/or goods information of the goods to be taken,

and according to the goods taking instruction, the goods transfer assembly is instructed to carry out goods and/or first container taking and placing operations.

Optionally, the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a fork slidably connected to the vertical support, the load transfer assembly slidably connected to the fork, the method further comprising:

indicating the fork to move to a first position according to the goods taking position information,

instructing the fork or the load transfer assembly to move the first container carrying the item to be picked from the second position to the first position.

Optionally, the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a fork slidably connected to the vertical support, at least one of the load transfer assemblies slidably connected to the vertical support, the method further comprising:

the method further comprises the following steps:

instructing the forks to move a first container carrying the item to be picked from a second position to the first position, or,

and instructing the cargo transfer assembly to move to the first position, and moving the first container carrying the cargo to be taken from the second position to the first position.

Optionally, the transfer robot further includes a vertical support and a mounting platform, the mounting platform is slidably connected to the vertical support, the cargo transfer assembly is slidably connected to the mounting platform, and the method further includes:

instructing the mounting platform to move to a first position according to the goods taking position information,

and instructing the cargo transfer assembly to move the first container carrying the goods to be taken from the second position to the first position.

Optionally, the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a mounting platform, the mounting platform is slidably connected to the vertical support, and at least one of the cargo transfer units is slidably connected to the vertical support, and the method further comprises:

Optionally, the transfer robot further comprises at least one storage rack, and the fork or the mounting platform further comprises a rotary driving device for driving the fork or the mounting platform to rotate around the vertical direction; the method further comprises the following steps:

instructing the fork or cargo transfer assembly to move the first container from the first position to the corresponding storage rack.

instructing the fork or cargo transfer assembly to move the first container from the first position to a third position corresponding to the storage rack.

Optionally, the type information of the goods to be picked comprises stock quantity unit information, when the goods to be picked in the first container have the same stock quantity unit information,

according to the goods taking instruction, the goods transfer assembly is instructed to carry out goods taking and placing operation, and the goods taking and placing operation method comprises the following steps:

and instructing the goods transferring assembly to take out goods to be taken from the first container and place the goods to the corresponding storage shelf or the preset second container of the storage shelf.

Optionally, the fork, the mounting platform or the cargo transfer assembly has a cargo identification device mounted thereon, and the method further comprises:

acquiring image information of the goods to be picked in a first box, which is shot by the goods identification device,

the instruction goods transfer assembly takes out goods to be taken from the first goods box and puts the goods to the corresponding storage shelf or the storage shelf is provided with a second goods box, and the instruction goods transfer assembly specifically comprises:

and according to the image information, instructing the goods transfer assembly to take out goods to be taken from the first container and placing the taken-out goods to the corresponding storage shelf or the second container.

Optionally, the image information includes: the method comprises the following steps of obtaining position information of goods to be taken in a cargo box, stock unit information of the goods to be taken, the shape of the goods to be taken, image feature points of the goods to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the goods to be taken.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and after the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the preset number of goods to be picked of the first container, indicating the fork or the goods transfer assembly to put the first container back to the original position or other positions.

Optionally, the type information of the goods to be picked includes stock level unit information, and when the goods to be picked in the first container have different stock level unit information, the method further includes:

acquiring image information of the goods to be taken in a first container;

and according to the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, determining goods consistent with the information of the stock unit in the goods taking instruction, and indicating the goods transfer assembly to take the goods out of the first container and place the goods into the second container.

Optionally, the cargo transferring assembly is provided with a cargo identification device, or the fork is provided with a cargo identification device, or the mounting platform is provided with a cargo identification device, or the cargo transferring assembly and the fork are provided with cargo identification devices, or the cargo transferring assembly and the mounting platform are provided with cargo identification devices, and the acquiring of the image information of the to-be-picked cargo in the first cargo box comprises:

acquiring image information of the goods to be taken in the first cargo box, which is respectively shot by the goods transfer assembly, the fork or a goods identification device of the mounting platform;

or,

acquiring image information of the goods to be taken in the first cargo box, which is shot by the goods identification device of the fork and the goods transfer component,

or,

and acquiring image information of the goods to be taken in the first cargo box, which is shot by the mounting platform and the goods identification device of the goods transfer assembly.

Optionally, the goods information includes shape, volume, image feature point, color and/or weight information of goods to be taken, the storage shelf includes an order goods storage shelf and a temporary storage goods storage shelf, the order goods storage shelf is preset with a second container, and it is determined according to the stock unit information of the goods to be taken that the goods to be taken are placed on the corresponding storage shelf or the preset second container of the storage shelf, including:

when the image information respectively acquired by the cargo identification devices mounted on the cargo transfer assembly, the mounting platform or the fork cannot determine the cargo consistent with the stock unit information and/or the cargo information in the cargo taking instruction, indicating the cargo transfer assembly to acquire the cargo from the first container;

continuously acquiring image information through the goods identification device positioned on the goods transfer assembly, the goods identification device positioned on the fork or the goods identification device positioned on the mounting platform;

and when the goods which are acquired by the goods transfer component and are inconsistent with the stock unit information and/or the goods information in the goods taking instruction are determined through the image information, the goods acquired by the goods transfer component are placed on the temporary storage goods shelf or a third container preset on the temporary storage goods shelf, and otherwise, the goods are placed on the corresponding second container.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

after the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the preset number of goods to be picked of the first container, the goods transfer assembly is instructed to put the goods of the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container back to the corresponding first container, and the fork or the goods transfer assembly is instructed to put the first container back to the original position or other positions.

Optionally, the pick location information includes location information of a plurality of first containers, and the goods to be picked are stored in the plurality of first containers, and the method further includes:

and after the current first container is placed back to the original position or other positions, sequentially reaching the positions of the goods to be taken according to the position information of other first containers so as to finish the taking and placing operations of all the goods to be taken.

Optionally, when the number of all the goods to be taken for the current first container exceeds one storage shelf or the storage capacity of the second container, the method further includes:

and acquiring the total volume or the total weight of the goods placed into the current storage shelf or the second container, and if the total volume exceeds a preset volume threshold value of the storage shelf or the second container, or the total weight exceeds a preset load threshold value of the storage shelf or the second container, instructing a goods transfer component to place the goods to be taken to other storage shelves or other second containers until all the goods to be taken are taken and placed.

The embodiment of the application provides a goods taking method, which is applied to a processing terminal, wherein the processing terminal is in communication connection with a carrying robot, and the method comprises the following steps:

and sending a goods taking instruction to enable the carrying robot to execute the method according to the goods taking instruction.

The embodiment of the application provides a transfer robot, includes:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform a pick method as described above for a transfer robot.

An embodiment of the present application provides a processing terminal, including:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform a pick method as described above for a processing terminal.

The embodiment of the application provides an intelligent warehousing system, which comprises the transfer robot and the processing terminal.

Embodiments of the present application provide a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a pickup method as described above.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the pickup method as described above.

The goods taking method provided by the embodiment of the application is applied to a carrying robot, the carrying robot comprises a goods transferring assembly, and the method comprises the following steps: receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information, goods type information to be taken and goods information to be taken, and indicating the goods transfer assembly to take and place goods according to the goods taking instruction. According to the technical scheme, the goods taking operation is executed through the goods transferring assembly, the goods taking efficiency is improved, and the goods sorting automation degree is improved.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, which correspond to the figures in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and which are not to scale unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application environment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2a is a block diagram of a processing terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2b is a perspective view of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2c is a disassembled schematic view of the moving components of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 2 b;

fig. 2d is a perspective view of another angle of the transfer robot shown in fig. 2 b;

FIG. 2e is an assembly view of the vertical support and the lift driving device of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 2 b;

FIG. 2f is a disassembled schematic view of the container handling assembly of the handling robot of FIG. 2 b;

FIG. 2g is a perspective view of the load transfer assembly of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 2 b;

fig. 3a and 3b are schematic structural views of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for picking up goods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a pickup method for pickup goods with the same inventory information in a first container according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a picking method for goods in a first container with different inventory information according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a method for picking a good according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a block diagram of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present. As used herein, the terms "upper," "lower," "inner," "outer," "bottom," and the like are used in an orientation or positional relationship indicated based on the orientation or positional relationship as shown in the drawings for convenience in describing the present application and simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be considered limiting of the present application. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in the description of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

In addition, the technical features mentioned in the different embodiments of the present application described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

The goods sorting is a process of taking the goods corresponding to the order out of a warehouse or other suitable type goods storage places, packaging the goods and forming the final order package to be taken out of the warehouse. In the goods sorting process, the goods taking and placing efficiency is crucial to the sorting efficiency, and the goods taking and placing efficiency can be determined by the order goods taking and placing quantity processed and completed in unit time. The more the number of the order goods processed in unit time is, the higher the efficiency of taking and placing the goods is.

The final goods sorting efficiency may be affected by various aspects, such as the order issuing mode, the goods picking task allocation method for the robot, the goods picking and placing mode of the robot, and the like. The optimization of the steps involved in the process of picking and placing the goods by the robot can have favorable influence on the improvement of the goods sorting efficiency. For convenience of description, in the description process of the application, the target goods corresponding to the goods taking task take the goods to be taken in the container as an example, and no limitation is imposed on other goods taking targets.

In an intelligent cargo pick-and-place process, the same items can be stored in the same cargo box. Each container for storing goods is placed at a specific position of the warehouse according to a specific storage rule, and goods stored in the container are marked through a characteristic (such as a two-dimensional code or a bar code) on the outer side of the container.

Fig. 1 is an application environment provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the application environment includes an intelligent warehousing system composed of a processing terminal 10 and a robot 20, and a warehouse 30 storing different goods using the intelligent warehousing system, wherein the warehouse 30 may include shelves storing containers.

The processing terminal 10 may be any type of electronic computing platform or device that serves as a control core for the entire smart warehousing system. The system can be provided with corresponding storage space or computing power according to the needs of actual conditions to provide one or more application services or functions, such as receiving an order to be delivered, issuing the order or controlling the robot to execute a pick-and-place task.

Fig. 2a is a block diagram of an electronic computing platform for implementing all or part of the functionality of the processing terminal 10. As shown in fig. 2a, the processing terminal 10 may include: a processor 110 and a memory 120.

The processor 110 and the memory 120 are connected in communication by means of a bus.

The processor 110 may be of any type, having one or more processing cores. The system can execute single-thread or multi-thread operation and is used for analyzing instructions to execute operations of acquiring data, executing logic operation functions, issuing operation processing results and the like.

The memory 120 serves as a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, distributed storage device remotely located from the processor 110, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device.

Memory 120 may have a program storage area for storing non-volatile computer-executable program instructions (which may also be referred to as a "non-volatile software program" in other embodiments) for invocation by processor 110 to cause processor 110 to perform one or more method steps, such as performing one or more steps of a pick task assignment method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The memory 120 may further have a data storage area for storing the operation processing result issued and output by the processor 110.

In order to realize the communication connection between the processing terminal 10 and the robot 20, the processing terminal may further include a communication module 130, and the communication module 130 establishes a communication connection with a device such as a robot, and the communication connection may be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

The robot 20 is an automated device having a traveling mechanism that moves in the warehouse and carries a container for pick and place operations, such as a transfer robot, an AGV cart, and the like. The running gear may be driven by any suitable type of power system, for example, electrically.

The robot 20 has one or more functional criteria including, but not limited to, cargo capacity (i.e., the maximum number of containers that can be loaded at a time), range, guidance, container pick-and-place speed, and operating speed.

The warehouse 30 is an area for storing containers. To facilitate management, warehouse 30 may include a plurality of shelves, each of which may have a plurality of containers, the same or different containers, placed thereon according to a specific placement rule.

As shown in fig. 1, the shelf compartments are divided into lanes for access by the robot 20. After entering the roadway, robot 20 removes or replaces a particular container (e.g., container 1, container 2, or container 3, etc.). The robot can get in and out of the tunnel from two ends of the tunnel. The openings at the ends of the roadway are referred to herein as "road junctions," which may serve as both exits for robot 20 and entrances for robot 20.

In some embodiments, the directions between some of the lanes are the same, with the lane crossings in between facing each other so that robot 20 can pass directly through, for example, lane 1 and lane 2 as shown in fig. 1. Such two lanes are referred to herein as "adjacent lanes". That is, when the robot 20 travels from the lane 1 to the adjacent lane 2, or travels from the lane 2 to the adjacent lane 1, it can directly enter without turning.

The cargo stored in the bins in the warehouse 30 is managed in units of stock keeping units (SKU stock keeping units). The stock quantity unit is a basic unit for stock in and out metering or controlled keeping, and may be in units of pieces, trays, boxes or the like (depending on a specific article). The same cargo may also belong to different SKUs due to differences in production date, size, and color, etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the processing terminal 10 needs to allocate an appropriate picking task to each robot 20, so that the robot can move in the warehouse to carry the container corresponding to the object to be picked on the order.

Fig. 2b is a perspective view of a transfer robot for all or part of the functions of the robot 20. As shown in fig. 2b, the transfer robot 20 is used to take out the load.

The transfer robot 20 includes a moving assembly 210, a pallet 220, a container handling assembly 230, a cargo transferring assembly 240, a container identifying assembly 250, a cargo identifying assembly 260, and a storage rack 270. Wherein the mobile assembly 210 carries the pallet 220, the container handling assembly 230, the cargo transfer assembly 240, the container identification assembly 250, the cargo identification assembly 260, and the storage shelves 270.

The moving assembly 210 is adapted to move across the floor of the warehouse to move the pallet 220, the container handling assembly 230, the product transfer assembly 240, the container identification assembly 250, the product identification assembly 260, and the storage shelves 270 carried thereby together to access the warehouse shelves.

The pallet 220 and storage rack 270 are each used to store containers. The container identification component 250 is used to identify the cargo space in which the container is located after the movement component 210 approaches the warehouse rack. The container handling assembly 230 is used to remove containers from the cargo space identified by the container identification assembly 250 and deposit them on the pallet 220, or to remove containers from the pallet 220 and deposit them on the warehouse rack or storage rack 270. The cargo identification assembly 260 is used to identify cargo stored within the cargo box of the pallet 220. The cargo transfer assembly 240 is configured to retrieve the cargo identified by the cargo identification assembly 260 from within the cargo box stored in the pallet 220.

The movement assembly 210 is configured so that the container handling assembly 230 can access containers on warehouse racks that are located remotely. In other embodiments, the warehouse rack is held adjacent to the container handling assembly 230, for example, the handling robot 20 is fixedly mounted on the ground adjacent to the warehouse rack, in which case the moving assembly 210 may be omitted.

The storage shelf 270 is configured such that the transfer robot can take out a large amount of goods and store them in the storage shelf 270. In other embodiments, the transfer robot may need to remove fewer items and the storage rack 270 need not be configured, in which case the storage rack 270 may be omitted.

By configuring the goods transfer assembly 240, after the goods transfer assembly 230 takes the goods out of the warehouse rack and the goods transfer assembly 240 takes the goods in the goods out of the goods, the goods transfer assembly 230 stores the goods in the warehouse rack again, so that the transfer robot 20 can take the goods out of the goods in the goods, the workers do not need to take the goods out of the goods in the goods, and the efficiency of goods scheduling is improved. In other embodiments, the cargo transferring assembly 240 may also retrieve the cargo stored in the cargo box of the pallet 220 without identifying the cargo, and the cargo identifying assembly 260 may be omitted. For example, when the goods stored in the cargo box are all the same kind of goods and the area of the goods in the cargo box is large, such as clothes are flatly laid in the cargo box, there is substantially no obstacle for the goods transferring assembly 240 to take out the goods, and the goods transferring assembly 240 can take out one of the goods in the cargo box at random.

In other embodiments, the container handling assembly 230 may also remove a container from the warehouse rack without identifying the container, at which point the container identification assembly 250 may be omitted. For example, warehouse racks have only one cargo space for storing containers.

It should be noted that after the container handling assembly 230 takes out the container from the cargo space and stores the container in the pallet 220, the cargo transferring assembly 240 is configured such that the cargo transferring assembly 240 takes out the cargo stored in the container of the pallet 220, and thus, the worker does not need to take out the cargo from the container, thereby improving the efficiency of taking out the cargo.

While specific implementations of some transfer robots 100 are described below, it should be noted that the following is merely exemplary and that other transfer robots capable of satisfying at least one of the above conditions are within the scope of the present application.

Referring also to fig. 2c, the moving assembly 210 includes a base 212, a driven pulley 214, a driving pulley 216 and a guiding device 218. The chassis 212 is formed by assembling and welding sectional materials and plates, is flat and symmetrical relative to a vertical symmetrical plane, and a circuit module for controlling the operation of the moving assembly 210 is installed in the chassis 212. Four driven wheels 214 are mounted to the bottom of the chassis 212 and are evenly and symmetrically distributed at both ends of the chassis 212 to collectively support the chassis 212. In the present embodiment, driven wheel 214 is a universal wheel, and driven wheel 214 may have another wheel body structure having a steering function, depending on the actual situation. Two drive wheels 216 are mounted on the bottom of the chassis 212 and are symmetrically distributed at both ends of the chassis 212. The two driving wheels 216 are driven by two motors, so that the rotating speeds of the two driving wheels 216 can be different, thereby achieving the steering of the moving assembly 210, and the moving assembly 210 travels along a straight line when the rotating speeds of the two driving wheels 216 are the same. A guide 218 is mounted to the bottom of the chassis 212 for guiding the moving assembly 210 along a predetermined path. In this embodiment, the guiding device 218 is a camera whose lens directly faces the ground, a large number of two-dimensional codes are attached to the ground of the warehouse, the two-dimensional codes are scanned by the camera to determine the current position of the moving assembly 210, the orientation of the moving assembly 210 can be determined according to the last scanned two-dimensional code, and the two-dimensional code can be replaced by an identification code such as a bar code according to the actual situation.

Referring to fig. 2b, the top of the moving assembly 210 carries a vertical support 219, the aforementioned pallet 220, the container handling assembly 230, the cargo transfer assembly 240, the container recognition assembly 250, and the cargo recognition assembly 260, all supported by the vertical support 219. The vertical support 219 includes a column 2190 and a beam 2192. Both posts 2190 are vertical and symmetrical, each post 2190 being provided with a channel extending in the vertical direction, the channels of both posts 2190 being used together to mount the container handling assembly 230 and to guide the container handling assembly 230 to move in the vertical direction.

The plurality of cross members 2192 are horizontally distributed in the vertical direction, and the plurality of cross members 2192 are commonly supported by two columns 2190.

Referring to fig. 2d and 2f, the pallet 220 is a horizontally disposed sheet that is fixedly mounted to the container handling assembly 230.

The containers stored by the storage racks 270 may be stored by the container handling assembly 230, may be stored by a worker, and may be empty when the containers stored by the storage racks 270 are empty. In other embodiments, the cargo transfer assembly 240 places the retrieved cargo directly on the storage shelves 270 without pre-depositing containers on the storage shelves 270.

The storage shelf 270 is fixedly mounted to one side of the vertical support 219. Storage shelf 270 includes tier 2701. The plurality of laminae 2701 are distributed in a vertical direction. Each deck 2701 is used to store containers and is supported by a corresponding one of the beams 192. By providing a plurality of decks 2701 for storing containers, the goods transfer unit 240 can continue to store goods in containers stored in another deck 2701 after the goods transfer unit 240 fills the containers stored in one deck 2701. It will be appreciated that the deck 2701 may also have only one, as is practical, for example, where there is less cargo or where the cargo is smaller relative to the cargo box.

Referring to fig. 2e and 2f, the container handling assembly 230 includes a lift drive 232, a mounting base 234, a rotation drive 236 and a fork 238.

The mounting base 234 is movably mounted to the vertical support 219 and is vertically movable relative to the vertical support 219, and the lift drive 232 is configured to drive the forks 238 vertically relative to the vertical support 219. The forks 238 are movably mounted to the mounting base 234 and are vertically rotatable relative to the mounting base 234. the rotary drive mechanism 236 is configured to drive the forks 238 to vertically rotate relative to the mounting base 234. The forks 238 are used to remove containers from the location of a tier 2701 or warehouse rack at its designated height and designated angle and deposit them onto the pallet 220, or to remove containers from the pallet 220 and deposit them into the location of a tier 2701 or warehouse rack at its designated height and designated angle.

The container handling assembly 230 retrieves and deposits the warehouse rack or containers stored on the storage rack to the pallet as follows:

the lift drive 232 drives the forks 238 in a vertical direction so that the forks 238 are at the same height as the containers stored on the warehouse rack or layer, and the rotary drive 236 drives the forks 238 in a vertical direction so that the forks 238 are aligned with the containers stored on the warehouse rack or layer. After the forks 238 are raised and lowered and rotated, the forks 238 are removed from the warehouse rack or tier 2701 to deposit a container onto the pallet 220.

The container handling assembly 230 retrieves and stores the containers stored by the pallets to a warehouse rack or storage rack as follows:

the lift drive 232 drives the forks 238 to move in a vertical direction so that the forks 238 are at the same height as the empty location of the warehouse rack or tier, while the rotary drive 236 drives the forks 238 to rotate in a vertical direction so that the forks 238 are aligned with the empty location of the warehouse rack or tier. After the forks 238 are raised and lowered and rotated, the forks 238 remove the containers stored in the pallets 220 and store the containers on the warehouse rack or storage rack 270.

By configuring the lifting driving device 232, the lifting driving device 232 drives the forks 238 supported by the mounting base 234 to move in the vertical direction, so that the forks 238 can access containers from the floors 2701 or the warehouse rack having different heights, and therefore, the warehouse rack can be configured in multiple floors, which improves the utilization rate of the warehouse rack in the vertical space, and in addition, the storage rack 270 can be configured in multiple floors, which improves the utilization rate of the storage rack 270 in the vertical space while realizing that the storage rack 270 can store a plurality of containers. In other embodiments, the lift drive 232 may be omitted, such as the storage rack 270 and warehouse rack described above, which have only one tier.

By configuring the rotary driving device 236, the rotary driving device 236 drives the fork 238 to rotate around the vertical direction, so that the fork 238 can access the containers from the warehouse racks in different directions, and the goods access mode of the fork 238 is more flexible, which is beneficial to accessing the containers in a complex warehouse environment. In other embodiments, the rotational drive 236 may be omitted, for example, the empty space of the warehouse rack or the container stored on the warehouse rack is always located in the pick direction of the forks 238, for example, a track dedicated to the movement assembly 210 is provided on the warehouse floor, and after the movement assembly 210 approaches the warehouse rack, the empty space of the warehouse rack or the container stored on the warehouse rack is located in the pick direction of the forks 238, and the layer 2701 is part of the transfer robot 100, such that the layer 2701 is disposed in the pick direction of the forks 238.

While specific implementations of some of the container handling assemblies 230 are described below, it should be noted that the following is merely exemplary and other container handling assemblies capable of meeting at least one of the above conditions are within the scope of the present application.

The mounting base 234 and the storage shelf 270 are respectively located at two opposite sides of the vertical bracket 219, the mounting base 234 is formed by assembling and welding sectional materials and plates, and the mounting base 234 is provided with two sliding members, each of which is mounted on a corresponding sliding groove and can move along the sliding groove.

The lifting driving device 232 includes two sets of first chain wheel mechanisms, a transmission shaft and a lifting driving motor. Every first sprocket mechanism of group installs on a corresponding stand, and the both ends of transmission shaft are coaxial fixed with the action wheel of two sets of first sprocket mechanisms respectively, and the mounting base is connected with the pitch chain fixed of two sets of first sprocket mechanisms respectively, and lift driving motor is used for driving the driving shaft and rotates to drive two sets of sprocket synchronous motion, and then drive the mounting base and remove along vertical direction.

It is understood that the first sprocket mechanism may be replaced with a belt wheel mechanism, a rack and pinion mechanism, etc., according to the actual situation.

The rotation driving device 236 includes a second sprocket mechanism and a rotation driving motor. The drive wheel of the second sprocket mechanism is rotatably mounted to the fork 38, the drive wheel of the second sprocket mechanism is fixedly mounted to the mounting base 234, and the rotary drive motor is configured to drive the drive wheel to rotate, thereby driving the fork 238 to rotate in the vertical direction.

It will be appreciated that the second sprocket mechanism may be replaced by a belt pulley mechanism, a gear train, etc., depending on the actual situation.

The fork 238 includes a mounting platform 2380 and a telescopic arm arrangement 2382, the telescopic arm arrangement 2382 being mounted to the mounting platform 2380. The mounting platform 2380 may be mounted to the top of the mounting base 234 by a pivoting support so that the entire fork 238 may be rotated about the vertical relative to the mounting base 234. The pallet 220 is fixedly mounted on the mounting platform 2380, and the telescopic arm 2382 is used for pushing a container stored in the pallet 220 to the shelf 2701 or the empty space of the warehouse rack, or pulling the container stored in the shelf 2701 or the warehouse rack to the pallet 220. In other embodiments, the telescopic arm 2382 moves the container by lifting or gripping.

Two sets of telescopic arm devices 2382 are symmetrical and set up respectively in the both sides of layer board 220, and two sets of telescopic arm devices 2382 work in coordination, are used for promoting jointly or pull goods. Depending on the actual situation, only one telescopic arm 2382 may be provided.

Each set of telescoping arm devices 2382 includes a telescoping arm 23820, a fixed push bar 23822 and a movable push bar 23824. The telescoping arm 23820 is fixedly mounted to the mounting platform 2380 at one end and is extendable and retractable horizontally relative to the mounting platform 2380 at the other end. Telescopic arm 2382 includes an inner arm, a middle arm, and an outer arm, which is fixedly mounted to mounting platform 2380 and is located on one side of pallet 220. The middle-joint arm is movably arranged on one side of the outer-joint arm close to the supporting plate 220, the middle-joint arm can extend or retract relative to the outer-joint arm, and the middle-joint arm is driven by a chain wheel transmission mechanism. The inner knuckle arm is movably arranged on one side, close to the supporting plate 220, of the middle knuckle arm, the inner knuckle arm can extend or retract relative to the middle knuckle arm, the inner knuckle arm is driven by the movable pulley mechanism, the pulley of the movable pulley mechanism is arranged on the inner knuckle arm, two ends of the sliding cable of the movable pulley are respectively arranged on the outer knuckle arm and the middle knuckle arm, when the middle knuckle arm extends or retracts relative to the outer knuckle arm, the inner knuckle arm moves in the same direction relative to the outer knuckle arm, and the moving speed of the inner knuckle arm is twice that of the middle knuckle arm.

The fixed push rod 23822 protrudes from the other end of the telescopic arm 23820, the movable push rod 23824 is movably mounted on the other end of the telescopic arm 23820, and when the telescopic arm 23820 extends or retracts, the movable push rod 23824 and the fixed push rod 23822 extend or retract together. The movable push rod 23824 may be received in or protrude from the other end of the telescopic arm 23820, and may be directly driven by a motor. The movable push rod 23824 at the other end of the protruding telescopic boom 23820 and the fixed push rod 23822 are spaced apart from each other by a distance for accommodating a cargo box, wherein the movable push rod 23824 at the other end of the protruding telescopic boom 23820 is positioned in front of the fixed push rod 23822 in the extending direction of the telescopic boom 23820. The movable push rod 23824 and the fixed push rod 23822 which protrude from the other end of the telescopic arm 23820 are both located on the same side of the telescopic arm 23820 as the supporting plate 220 and are both higher than the supporting plate 220.

When the fork 238 takes a container out of the pallet 220 and stores the container in the tier 2701 or the empty space of the warehouse rack, the movable push rod 23824 is in a state of being retracted into the other end of the telescopic arm 23820, the telescopic arm 23820 is extended, the fixed push rod 23822 pushes the container stored in the pallet 220 from the pallet 220 to the tier 2701 or the empty space of the warehouse rack, and the telescopic arm 23820 is retracted after pushing the container to the tier 2701 or the empty space of the warehouse rack.

When the pallet fork 238 is used to take a container out of the tier 2701 or warehouse rack and store it in the pallet 220, the movable push rod 23824 is in a state of being retracted into the other end of the telescopic arm 23820, the telescopic arm 23820 is extended so that the movable push rod 23824 passes over the container, the movable push rod 23824 protrudes out of the other end of the telescopic arm 23820 after passing over the container, then the telescopic arm 23820 is retracted, the movable push rod 23824 protruding out of the telescopic arm 23820 pulls the container to the pallet 220, and after the container is pulled to the pallet 220, the movable push rod 23824 is retracted into the other end of the telescopic arm 23820.

Referring again to fig. 2f, the container recognition assembly 250 includes a camera mounted to the fork 238 with a lens oriented in the same direction as the extension of the telescoping arm 23820 for obtaining image information of the warehouse rack or container. The camera device is fixedly mounted to the mounting platform 2380, and in some other embodiments, the camera device is mounted to the other end of the telescoping arm 23820 and extends with the other end of the telescoping arm 23820.

By obtaining image information of the warehouse rack, it is determined whether the empty warehouse rack or the container stored by the warehouse rack is at the same height as the forks 238. Because the positions of the decks are relatively fixed, it is more efficient to program the parameters of the lift drive and the rotary drive to determine the positions of the decks or the containers stored in the decks to be at the same height as the forks 238, or to identify the positions of the decks or the containers stored in the decks by the container identification assembly.

In some embodiments, the warehouse rack is labeled with two-dimensional codes, the fork 238 is initially at the lowest position, the fork 238 is gradually raised, the camera device also starts scanning from the two-dimensional code at the lower layer, when the specified two-dimensional code is scanned, the fork 238 stops lifting, and at this time, the empty position of the warehouse rack or the container stored in the warehouse rack is at the same height as the fork. The two-dimensional code is also attached to the container, when the container stored on the warehouse rack and the fork 238 are located at the same height, the fork 238 rotates, the camera device scans the two-dimensional code on the container, when the position of the two-dimensional code on the container in the field of view of the camera device is complete or centered, the fork 238 stops rotating, and at the moment, the fork 238 aligns with the container stored on the warehouse rack.

Referring to fig. 2g, the load transfer assembly 240 is mounted to a mounting platform 2380 for rotation about a vertical axis with the forks 238 or for movement in a vertical direction so that a container stored on deck 2701 is at the same elevation as the load transfer assembly 240 or so that the load transfer assembly 240 is proximate to a container stored on deck 2701. Cargo transfer assembly 240 includes a multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 and an end effector 2404. One end of the multidimensional mechanical joint 2402 is installed on the installation platform 2380 and is located on the same side of the installation platform 2380 as the supporting plate 220, and the other end of the multidimensional mechanical joint 2402 can rotate at multiple angles and move in multiple directions relative to the installation platform 2380. The multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 includes a rotational base 24020, a first radial arm 24022, a second radial arm 24024, and a tri-axial pan/tilt head 24026. The rotation base 24020 has a first rotation axis O1. One end of the first radial arm 24022 is movably mounted on the rotation base 24020, the first radial arm 24022 can rotate around a second rotation axis O2 relative to the rotation base 24020, and the second rotation axis O2 is perpendicular to the first rotation axis O1. One end of the second radial arm 24024 is movably mounted to the other end of the first radial arm 24022, the second radial arm 24024 is rotatable relative to the other end of the first radial arm 24022 about a third rotation axis O3, and the third rotation axis O3 is parallel to the second rotation axis O2. A three axis pan/tilt head 24026 is mounted to the other end of the second swing arm 24024 for mounting the end effector 2404. The swivel base 24020 is mounted to the mounting platform 2380 and is located on the same side of the mounting platform 2380 as the platform 220, with the first axis of rotation O1 in the vertical direction and the second axis of rotation O2 in the horizontal direction.

The end effector 2404 is used to release the load from the grab and is mounted to the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402. In this embodiment, the end effector 2404 is a suction cup device, and the end effector 2404 is not limited to the suction cup device according to the actual situation, and the end effector 2404 may be configured to adapt to the type of the goods according to the different types of the goods, for example, the suction cup device is suitable for gripping the boxed goods with solid state and flat surface, the gripper is suitable for gripping the goods with unfixed shape, such as clothes, and so on.

The process of removing the cargo from the container in which the pallet 220 is stored by the cargo transfer assembly 240 is as follows: the multidimensional mechanical joint 2402 drives the end effector 2404 to move into a container stored by the pallet 220, and after the end effector 2404 grabs the goods, the multidimensional mechanical joint 2402 drives the end effector 2404 to reset.

The process of depositing the removed cargo into the cargo box located on the tier 2701 by the cargo transfer assembly 240 is as follows: after the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 drives the end effector 2404 to move to above the container stored on the layer board 2701, the end effector 2404 releases the goods so that the goods fall into the container stored on the layer board 2701, and according to the actual situation, for example, the goods are easily damaged, in order to avoid the goods from being damaged due to dropping, after the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 drives the end effector 2404 to move to above the container stored on the layer board 2701, the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 drives the end effector 2404 to extend into the container stored on the layer board 2701, and the end effector 2404 releases the goods again so as to avoid the goods from being damaged due to dropping.

Referring to fig. 2d and 2g, the cargo identification assembly 260 includes a first cargo identification device 262, a second cargo identification device 264 and a third cargo identification device 266.

The first cargo identification device 262 and the second cargo identification device 264 are both used to identify the cargo within the container in which the pallet 220 is stored.

First cargo identification device 262 is fixedly mounted to mounting platform 2380. The first goods recognition device 262 includes a first camera 2620 and a camera bracket 2622. The camera bracket 2622 is rod-shaped and is located on the same side of the mounting platform 2380 as the supporting plate 220, one end of the camera bracket 2622 is fixedly mounted on the mounting platform 2380, and the other end of the camera bracket 2622 is higher than the supporting plate 220. The first camera 2620 is mounted at the other end of the camera mount 2622 and is used to acquire image information of the goods in the cargo box in which the pallet 220 is stored to identify the goods in the cargo box in which the pallet 220 is stored.

The second cargo recognition device 264 is fixedly mounted to the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 and is movable together with the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402. The second cargo recognition device 264 comprises a second camera. The second camera is mounted at the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402, and can move along with the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402 to acquire image information of goods in the container stored by the pallet 220, so as to identify the goods in the container stored by the pallet 220.

The second item identification device 264 also serves to identify items within the container stored on the storage shelf 270. Specifically, the second camera moves together with the other end of the multi-dimensional mechanical joint 2402, and is used to acquire image information of the goods in the container stored on the layer board 2701, so as to identify the goods in the container stored on the layer board 2701.

The third goods identification device 266 is used to identify the goods in the containers stored on the storage shelves. The third cargo recognizing device 266 includes a third camera 2660. A plurality of third cameras 2660 are mounted to the vertical support 219 in a distributed manner in the vertical direction, and each of the third cameras 2660 is configured to acquire image information of goods in the cargo box stored in one of the corresponding deck 2701 to identify the goods in the cargo box stored in the corresponding deck 2701. Each third motor 2660 may be suspended from a corresponding beam 2192 with its corresponding tier 2701 below the beam 2192.

Here, how each of the cargo recognition devices (i.e., the first, second, and third cargo recognition devices described above) recognizes the cargo in the cargo box will be described in detail. The above-mentioned cargo image information includes SKU (stock keeping unit) information of the cargo, and position information of the cargo. The goods are pasted with the bar codes containing the SKU information, the bar codes containing the designated SKU information are marked by scanning the bar codes in the visual field of the camera, and the goods pasted with the bar codes are the goods to be taken out (in the container stored by the supporting plate) or stored (in the container stored by the laminate). Since the position of the cargo box stored in the pallet or the laminate is substantially fixed, the position of the cargo to be stored and taken in the cargo box is determined based on the position of the marked bar code in the camera field of view, and at this time, the cargo recognition device completes the operation of recognizing the cargo in the cargo box.

On the basis of the principle of identifying the cargo by the cargo identification device, the differences of the first, second and third cargo identification devices are further explained herein. The first goods identification device and the second goods identification device are used for identifying goods in the container stored by the supporting plate, but the first goods identification device is fixed on the mounting base, under the condition that the positions of the goods in the container are dispersed, the position information of each goods in the container can be accurately acquired by the first camera of the first goods identification device, but under the condition that the positions of the goods in the container are dense, the accuracy of acquiring the position information of each goods in the container by the first camera can be reduced. The third goods recognition device is fixed on the storage shelf, is similar to the first goods recognition device, and when the goods positions in the container stored by the laminate are scattered, the third camera of the third goods recognition device can accurately acquire the goods image information in the container, and when the goods positions in the container stored by the laminate are concentrated, the accuracy of acquiring the position information of each goods in the container by the third camera of the third goods recognition device can be reduced. Therefore, the second cargo identification device is installed at the other end of the cargo transfer assembly and moves along with the other end of the cargo transfer assembly, and the cargo transfer assembly can drive the second cargo identification device to move to be close to each cargo in the cargo box, so that the accuracy of the second camera of the second cargo identification device for acquiring the image information of each cargo in the cargo box is improved. Thus, in other embodiments, the second cargo identification device may be omitted where the cargo locations within the cargo box are more dispersed as previously described.

Because the first goods identification device and the second goods identification device are used for identifying the goods in the container stored by the supporting plate, in order to improve the identification efficiency, the first goods identification device identifies the goods in the container before the second goods identification device, if the first goods identification device identifies the position information and the SKU information of the goods in the container (if the positions of the goods are scattered), the second goods identification device can determine the position information of the goods by only identifying the SKU information of the goods in the container according to the position information and the SKU information provided by the first goods identification device, and the position information of the goods does not need to be identified again. If the first cargo identification device does not identify the position information of the cargo, the second cargo identification device needs to identify the position information and the SKU information of the cargo. The second cargo identification device and the third cargo identification device are both used for identifying the cargo in the container stored in the storage assembly, and the same is true for the cooperation mode of the first cargo identification device and the second cargo identification device, which is not repeated herein.

The second cargo identification device is also used for identifying the SKU information of the cargo grabbed by the end execution device to be matched with the designated SKU information so as to judge whether the end execution device grabs the wrong cargo. In this case, the plurality of layers are arranged, and one container stored in the plurality of layers can be selected to store only wrong goods.

Fig. 3a is a schematic structural diagram of a transfer robot 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which various components and components of the transfer robot 20 according to the embodiment may correspond to specific physical devices, for example, the cargo transfer component 230 may include forks, the cargo transfer component 260 may include a robotic arm, and the storage rack 270 may be used for accommodating various containers for carrying cargo, such as a cargo box or a basket. The vertical support 219 may be a vertical support that supports forks, robotic arms, and storage shelves, all of which may be mounted on the vertical support. Referring to fig. 3a, the transfer robot 20 includes a goods transfer unit 201, a storage rack 202, a vertical support 203, and a fork 204. Wherein, the goods transferring component 201 can be arranged on the fork 204, the fork 204 is connected on the vertical bracket 203 in a sliding way, the goods transferring component 201 can move up and down on the vertical bracket along with the fork 204, the goods transferring component 201 can also be connected on the vertical bracket 203 in a sliding way, the vertical bracket 203 can comprise two side upright posts, when the cargo transferring unit 201 is slidably connected to the vertical bracket 203, the cargo transferring unit 201 may be one or two, and is slidably connected to the vertical pillar of the vertical bracket 203, respectively, the cargo transferring unit 201 may move up and down on the vertical pillar, as shown in fig. 3b, which is a schematic view of the cargo transfer unit 203 slidably attached to the upright support 203, the storage shelves 202 are mounted on the upright support 203, the storage rack 202 may include a plurality of storage racks, and is disposed on one side of the vertical support 203 in layers, and the fork 204 is disposed on the other side of the vertical support 203.

Referring to fig. 4, another transfer robot 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown, in which various components and components of the transfer robot 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention may correspond to specific physical devices, for example, the cargo handling assembly 230 may include a mounting platform, and the cargo transferring assembly 260 may include a robotic arm, and the storage rack may be used for presetting various containers for carrying cargo, such as a cargo box or a basket. The vertical support 219 may be a vertical support supporting the mounting platform, the goods transfer assembly, and the storage shelf, and the mounting platform, the goods transfer assembly, and the storage shelf may be mounted on the vertical support. Referring to fig. 4, the transfer robot 20 includes a goods transfer unit 201, a storage rack 202, a vertical stand 203, and a mounting platform 205. Wherein, the goods shifts the subassembly 201 and can install on mounting platform 205, mounting platform 205 sliding connection is on vertical support 203, the goods shifts the subassembly 201 and can reciprocate on vertical support along with mounting platform 205, the goods shifts the subassembly 201 also can sliding connection on vertical support 203, vertical support 203 can include both sides stand, when the goods shifts subassembly 201 sliding connection on vertical support 203, the goods shifts the subassembly 201 and can be one or two, sliding connection is on vertical support 203's stand respectively, the goods shifts the subassembly 201 and can reciprocate on the stand, storage goods shelves 202 are installed on vertical support 203, wherein, storage goods shelves 202 can include a plurality ofly, and set up in one side of vertical support 203 in the layering, then mounting platform 205 sets up in vertical support 203's opposite side.

The storage shelves 202 are divided into order goods storage shelves and temporary storage goods storage shelves, the order goods storage shelves are used for storing goods to be taken and placed, the goods to be taken can correspond to the goods on the order, the temporary storage goods storage shelves are used for storing goods on the order, and the goods taken and placed by the goods transfer assembly do not belong to the goods to be taken.

In the implementation of the present application, the mounting platform 205 is compared with the fork 204, and the container cannot be moved, so that the container can be moved to the mounting platform by using the cargo transferring assembly 201, and the sliding mechanism can move the mounting platform up and down along the vertical direction to move the container on the mounting platform to a height position corresponding to the storage rack, so that the cargo transferring assembly takes the cargo to be taken out of the container and places the cargo to the storage rack; additionally, the mounting platform 205 may also be rotated so that the mounting platform may be aligned with a container on the pallet for removal of the container.

In this embodiment, the goods transferring assembly 201 may be provided with a suction cup or a gripper, the suction cup may suck out the goods or the gripper may grab the goods, and the suction cup or the gripper may be disposed at the end of the goods transferring assembly and may be replaced according to different goods.

In this application embodiment, in order to identify the position of the cargo in the cargo box, the cargo in the cargo box can be shot through the cargo identification device, and meanwhile, in order to confirm the accuracy of the cargo taken and placed by the cargo transfer assembly, the cargo information of the cargo can also be shot through the cargo identification device, wherein the cargo identification device can be installed on the cargo transfer assembly, the fork and/or the installation platform, and the image information of the cargo to be taken in the cargo box, which can be shot by the cargo identification device, includes: the method comprises the following steps of obtaining position information of goods to be taken in a cargo box, stock unit information of the goods to be taken, the shape of the goods to be taken, image feature points of the goods to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the goods to be taken.

In the present embodiment, the transfer robot 20 further includes a moving chassis for moving the transfer robot 20 according to the planned path. The regular path may be a path for picking and placing goods, and the path may be planned by the processing terminal 10 and sent to the transfer robot in the form of an instruction, for example, the processing terminal 10 sends a goods picking instruction to the transfer robot to make the transfer robot move correspondingly to pick goods.

In the application scenarios and the related devices shown in fig. 1 to fig. 4, the goods taking method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be used to perform the goods taking operation through the goods transfer component, so that the goods taking efficiency is improved, and the goods sorting automation degree is improved.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a pickup method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 5, the pickup method is applied to the transfer robot described above, which includes the cargo transfer unit, and includes:

and S51, receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information, goods type information to be taken and/or goods information of goods to be taken.

In the embodiment of the application, the goods taking instruction can be sent to the carrying robot by the processing terminal, the carrying robot receives the goods taking instruction, analyzes the goods taking instruction, and identifies information included in the instruction, such as goods taking position information, type information of goods to be taken and goods information of the goods to be taken; the goods picking position information can include positions of containers for storing goods to be picked, the positions of the containers can be different positions on a goods shelf in a warehouse, the position information can be a three-dimensional space coordinate, and the position can be determined by codes on the containers, such as two-dimensional code information; the type information of the goods to be taken can comprise stock quantity unit information (SKU information) of the goods to be taken, the information such as the name, the quantity, the model and the like of the goods to be taken can be determined through the SKU information, the SKU information of the goods in the containers can be the same or different for different containers, and the SKU information can be presented in a bar code mode; the goods information of the goods to be taken can comprise the shape, the volume, the image characteristic points, the color and/or the weight information of the goods to be taken, and the goods information can be presented in a mode of characters, numbers or images.

In the embodiment of the present application, for different types of transfer robots, due to the structural individual differences, after receiving the picking command, different method steps may be performed, such as:

for a transfer robot including an upright support and a fork with a load transfer assembly mounted on the fork, the method further comprises:

For a transfer robot including a vertical support and a fork with at least one of the load transfer assemblies slidably coupled to the vertical support, the method further comprises:

For a transfer robot comprising a vertical support and a mounting platform with a cargo transfer assembly mounted to the mounting platform, the method further comprises:

For a transfer robot comprising a vertical support and a mounting platform, with at least one of the cargo transfer assemblies slidably connected to the vertical support, the method further comprises:

In this embodiment, each of the above transfer robots may further include at least one storage rack, and the fork or the mounting platform further includes a rotation driving device for driving the fork or the mounting platform to rotate around the vertical direction; the method further comprises the following steps:

instructing the fork or cargo transfer assembly to move the first container from the first position to the corresponding storage rack, or,

Wherein, under the mode of getting goods to whole case, can directly put first packing box to the storage goods shelves that correspond, under the mode to taking out goods from the packing box, can remove the high position that first packing box corresponds to the storage goods shelves to take out the goods of waiting to get from first packing box, and put the second packing box that presets on corresponding storage goods shelves or storage goods shelves.

In the embodiment of the present application, the storage racks of the various types of transfer robots may include a plurality of storage racks, and the storage racks may be disposed in layers on one side of the vertical support, and the forks or the mounting platforms may be disposed on the other side of the vertical support.

In the embodiment of the application, the transfer robot may move to the position of the container where the goods to be taken are located through a ground two-dimensional map navigation mode or other navigation modes according to the information of the goods taking position, and at the same time, in order to take out the container from the shelf, the fork or the mounting platform needs to be moved to a first position, the first position is generally located at the same height as the first container bearing the goods to be taken, the position of the first container is a second position, wherein the first container bearing the goods to be taken can be moved by the fork or the goods transfer assembly from the second position to the first position, after the fork or the mounting platform is moved to the first position, the telescopic arm device of the fork can be extended to clamp the container, the container can be grabbed by the goods transfer assembly, when the fork or the mounting platform is not aligned with the container, the two-dimensional codes on the goods shelf can be scanned to adjust the posture of the transfer robot so as to be aligned with the goods box. After the first container carrying the goods to be taken moves from the second position to the first position, the goods transfer assembly can take out the goods to be taken in the container and place the goods to the storage shelf or a preset second container of the storage shelf, wherein the storage shelf can be located at the same height of the first position, and the goods transfer assembly is located within the taking and placing range, for example, the first position and the storage shelf are located on two sides of the vertical support respectively. When there are more than two storage racks, the container may be moved by a fork or mounting platform from a first position to a third position corresponding to a storage rack, such that the robotic arm takes the goods to be picked out of the container and places them on the corresponding storage rack or a predetermined second container of the storage rack. Since there are a plurality of storage racks, the third position can be determined according to the storage rack to which the goods are to be taken out of the first container. The third position is located at the same height as the storage shelf, for example, at two sides of the vertical support.

And S53, instructing the cargo transferring assembly to carry out the picking and placing operation of the cargo and/or the first container according to the cargo picking instruction.

In this embodiment of the application, the information included in the pickup instruction may be different, for example, the information of the type of the goods to be picked and the information of the goods to be picked may be different, the information in the pickup instruction is different, and the manner of instructing the goods transfer assembly to perform the goods picking and placing operation is also different. For example, the type information of the goods to be picked up includes stock quantity unit information, and when the goods to be picked up in the first container have the same stock quantity unit information, the goods transfer assembly may be instructed to pick up the goods to be picked up from the first container and place the goods to be picked up on the corresponding storage shelf or a preset second container of the storage shelf. When the goods to be taken in the first container have different stock level unit information, the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container can be obtained, the goods consistent with the stock level unit information in the goods taking instruction are determined according to the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, and the goods transfer assembly is instructed to take the goods out of the first container and place the goods to the storage shelf or a preset second container of the storage shelf.

In an embodiment of the present application, the image information includes: the method comprises the following steps of obtaining position information of goods to be taken in a cargo box, stock unit information of the goods to be taken, the shape of the goods to be taken, image feature points of the goods to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the goods to be taken.

In the embodiment of the application, the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container can be obtained through the goods identification device, wherein the goods identification device can be installed on the goods transferring component, or the goods identification device is installed on the fork, or the goods identification device is installed on the installation platform, or the goods identification device is installed on the goods transferring component and the fork, or the goods identification device is installed on the goods transferring component and the installation platform,

the acquiring the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container comprises the following steps:

or,

In this application embodiment, the goods information may include shape, volume, image feature point, color and/or weight information of goods to be taken, the storage shelf includes an order goods storage shelf and a temporary storage goods storage shelf, a second container is preset on the order goods storage shelf, it is determined according to stock unit information of the goods to be taken that the goods to be taken are placed in the corresponding storage shelf or the preset second container of the storage shelf, the method further includes:

In this application embodiment, the goods transfer assembly may also be instructed to perform the pick-and-place operation of the first container according to the goods pick-and-place instruction, for example, the whole first container is placed on the storage shelf, so as to achieve the pick-and-place operation of the whole container of goods.

In this embodiment of the application, the pick instruction may include one or more of pick position information, to-be-picked item type information, or item information of the to-be-picked item, and the transfer robot may instruct the item transfer component to perform pick-and-place operations on the item and/or the first container according to specific information in the pick instruction, for example, the item information or the to-be-picked item type information.

According to the embodiment of the application, the carrying robot gets the goods instruction through receiving, get including getting goods positional information, waiting to get goods type information and/or waiting to get goods information of goods in the goods instruction, and according to get the goods instruction, instruct the goods transfer assembly carries out goods and/or first packing box and gets and put the operation, has improved and has got goods efficiency, has promoted goods letter sorting degree of automation.

To further illustrate embodiments of the present application, specific embodiments of a pick method for specific information contained in a pick instruction are provided below.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a picking method for goods to be picked with the same inventory information in the first container according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 6, the picking method is applied to the transfer robot described above, where the present embodiment is described by taking as an example a transfer robot in which a goods transfer assembly is fixed on a fork and a goods identification device is mounted on the goods transfer assembly, and the method includes:

and S61, receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information and goods type information to be taken, the goods type information to be taken comprises stock unit information, and the goods in the first container have the same stock unit information.

In this application embodiment, treat to get the SKU information that the goods place is the same in the first packing box of goods place, the goods shifts the subassembly and need not distinguish getting in the goods in-process of putting, to the great single goods of volume, can directly shift the subassembly by the goods and get the goods, to the less single goods of volume, for making things convenient for the goods to shift the subassembly and snatch the goods, can shoot goods image information in the packing box through the goods recognition device on the goods shifts the subassembly, this image information can include the position of waiting to get the goods in the packing box, carry out the goods according to the position of shooing and snatch.

In this application embodiment, after receiving the instruction of getting goods, transfer robot will get goods instruction analysis to instruct transfer robot to carry out corresponding processing according to the instruction information that analyzes, these processings include: and instructing the transfer robot to move according to the goods taking position, and instructing the fork and the goods transfer assembly to execute relevant operations, such as moving a container, grabbing goods and the like.

And S62, indicating the fork to move to the first position according to the goods taking position information.

In this embodiment of the application, the pickup position information includes a position of a first container carrying goods to be picked, for example, three-dimensional information of the position of the first container, before the fork moves to the first position, the transfer robot may move to a position near the first container carrying the goods to be picked according to the pickup position information, and further verify the accuracy of the position of the first container according to information on the first container, for example, information encoded on the first container, through information encoded on the first container, or adjust the posture of the robot according to information encoded on the first container, for example, two-dimensional code information, so that the fork may be aligned with the first container.

In the embodiment of the application, the first position is generally at the same height as the first container carrying the goods to be taken, and the horizontal distance between the first position and the first container is within the telescopic range of the telescopic arm device on the fork, so that the fork can extend out of the telescopic arm device to move the first container to the first position.

And S63, instructing the fork or the cargo transfer assembly to move the first container carrying the cargo to be taken from the second position to the first position.

In this embodiment of the application, after the fork moves to the first position, the first container carrying the object to be picked may be moved from the second position to the first position by the telescopic arm device on the fork, or the first container carrying the object to be picked may be moved from the second position to the first position by the cargo transfer assembly, where the second position is a position where the first container is located, and generally, the position is located on a shelf in a warehouse, and may be determined by three-dimensional space coordinates.

S64, image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, which is shot by the goods recognition device, is obtained, the goods transfer assembly is instructed to take the goods to be taken out of the first container according to the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, and the taken goods are placed to a preset second container corresponding to the storage shelf or the storage shelf.

In the embodiment of the application, because the goods to be taken have the same SKU information, in the process of taking the goods by the goods transfer assembly, the goods transfer assembly is prevented from not grabbing the goods, the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container can be shot by the goods recognition device on the goods transfer assembly, the image information contains the position of the goods to be taken in the first container, and the goods transfer assembly is instructed to take the goods to be taken out from the first container, the goods can be sucked out by using the sucking discs on the goods transfer assembly or grabbed by using the mechanical claws, after the goods are taken out, the taken goods can be placed on the storage shelf or a second container preset on the storage shelf, the storage shelf can be at the same height as the first position, and can be respectively located at two sides of the vertical support and can be at a different height from the first position, the fork needs to be moved to the position at the same height as the storage shelf, so that the goods transfer component takes the goods to be taken out of the goods box and puts the goods to the storage shelf or a preset second goods box of the storage shelf.

In this application embodiment, the goods to be picked can correspond to the same order, and also can correspond different orders, to the goods to be picked of the same order, can put the preset second packing box to the same storage goods shelves, if there are the goods to be picked of different orders, can put other preset second packing boxes to different storage goods shelves, can put the goods to be picked of different orders to the preset second packing boxes of corresponding different storage goods shelves, also can put the goods to be picked to the preset second packing box of the same storage goods shelves, if put the preset second packing box to the same storage goods shelves, then need carry out order goods sorting before the goods of the order are delivered.

S65, after the cargo transferring assembly finishes the pick-and-place operation of the predetermined number of the to-be-picked objects of the first container, instructing the fork or the cargo transferring assembly to place the first container back to its original position or to other positions.

In this application embodiment, after the goods transfer assembly finishes the pick-and-place operation of the preset number of goods to be picked of the first container, that is, when there is no goods to be picked on the order to be picked in the first container, the fork is indicated to move to the first position, that is, the height position corresponding to the original position where the first container is located, and the fork or the goods transfer assembly is indicated to place the first container back to the original position where the first container is located or to other positions.

And S66, when the goods taking position information comprises a plurality of first container position information and the goods to be taken are stored in the plurality of first containers, after the current first container is placed back to the original position or other positions, the goods to be taken sequentially reach the positions of the goods to be taken according to the other first container position information so as to finish the taking and placing operation of all the goods to be taken.

In this embodiment, when the goods to be picked in the order cannot be accommodated in one container, a plurality of containers are required to carry the goods in the order, and at this time, the picking position information in the picking instruction may include position information of a plurality of first containers, and the goods to be picked in the order may be carried on the first containers in the plurality of positions. After the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of goods to be picked in one first container, the first container can be placed back to the original position, and then the carrying robot can sequentially reach the position of the goods to be picked according to the position information of other first containers to finish the picking and placing operation of all the goods to be picked.

S67, when the number of all goods to be taken exceeds the preset second container storage capacity of one storage shelf or one storage shelf, acquiring the total volume or the total weight of the goods placed into the current storage shelf or the preset second container of the storage shelf, and if the total volume exceeds the preset volume threshold of the storage shelf or the preset second container, or the total weight exceeds the preset load threshold of the storage shelf or the preset second container, instructing the goods transfer component to place the goods to be taken onto the rest storage shelves or the rest second containers until the placing and the taking of all the goods to be taken are completed.

In the embodiment of the application, when the goods transferring assembly picks and places the goods to be picked to the preset second container of the storage shelf, the goods in the preset second container of the storage shelf will gradually increase along with the increase of the picking and placing times, if the quantity of all the goods to be picked in the goods picking instruction exceeds the storage capacity of the preset second container of one storage shelf, the goods transferring assembly can be instructed to replace the preset second container of the storage shelf, when determining whether to replace the preset second container of the storage shelf, the weight or the volume of a single goods can be obtained according to the SKU information, and the total volume or the total weight of the goods put into the preset second container of the storage shelf is determined by combining the picked and placed quantity, meanwhile, the volume threshold or the volume threshold of the preset second container of each storage shelf is preset, if the total volume of the goods put into the preset second container of the storage shelf exceeds the preset volume threshold of the preset second container of the storage shelf, or the total weight of the goods placed into the preset second container of the storage shelf exceeds the preset load threshold value of the preset second container of the storage shelf, and the goods transfer assembly is instructed to place the goods to be taken to the preset second containers of the rest storage shelves until all the goods to be taken are taken and placed.

S68, receiving a goods delivery instruction, and delivering goods of a second container preset on the storage shelf to a delivery area corresponding to a goods order according to the goods delivery instruction;

in this application embodiment, the goods to be taken may be goods in the same order or goods in different orders, and when the attribute of the order of the goods to be taken is the goods in the same order, the processing terminal may send a goods delivery instruction to the transfer robot, where the goods delivery instruction is mainly used to instruct the transfer robot to deliver the goods stored in the storage rack preset container to a delivery area corresponding to the goods order, and send the goods to a receiving destination on the order after the goods are packaged in the delivery area.

S69, when the goods of the second container preset on the storage shelf correspond to different orders, receiving a goods sorting instruction, and sorting the goods of the second container preset on the storage shelf according to the goods corresponding order.

In this application embodiment, when the goods to be picked correspond to the goods of different orders, the goods taken out of the first goods box by the goods transfer assembly are placed into the same storage shelf and the second goods box is preset, but the goods of the goods box preset in the storage shelf need to be further sorted, and then can be delivered, so that in order to complete delivery of the ordered goods, a processing terminal needs to send a goods sorting instruction to a carrying robot, the goods of different orders in the second goods box preset on the storage shelf are sorted, and the goods can be sorted according to the order information corresponding to the goods in the sorting process.

The goods taking instruction is received, the goods taking position information and the same SKU information are contained in a first container where goods to be taken are located according to the goods taking instruction, the goods transferring assembly is indicated to conduct goods taking and placing operation, meanwhile, the goods identification device is used for obtaining the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, the goods transferring assembly is indicated to be taken out of the first container, the goods to be taken are placed to the second container corresponding to the storage shelf or the storage shelf, the SKU information of the goods to be taken in the first container is the same, the goods do not need to be identified in the goods taking process of the goods transferring assembly, the goods transferring assembly is favorable for fast and accurate goods taking, the goods taking efficiency is improved, and the goods sorting automation degree is improved.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a picking method for picking goods with different stock information for goods in a first container according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the picking method is applied to the transfer robot described above, the transfer robot described in the following embodiments includes at least one goods transfer assembly slidably connected to a vertical support of the transfer robot, and the goods transfer assembly and the fork are both provided with a goods identification device, and at the same time, the picking method includes a plurality of storage racks, and the plurality of storage racks include an order goods storage rack and a temporary storage goods storage rack, the order goods storage rack is preset with a second container, and the temporary storage goods storage rack is preset with a third container, and the method includes:

and S71, receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information and goods type information to be taken, the goods type information to be taken comprises stock unit information, and the goods in the first container have different stock unit information.

In this embodiment, the type information of the goods to be taken includes stock unit information, the goods in the first container have different SKU information, and the goods transfer component adds the identification of the SKU information in the process of taking the goods, so as to determine the storage position of taking the goods, for example, whether the goods are placed on the order goods storage shelf or the second container or the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container. In the process of identifying the SKU information, image information can be shot through a cargo identification device arranged on the cargo transfer assembly, the image information can contain SKU information of the cargo, and whether the taken cargo needs to be placed on an order cargo storage shelf or a second container or a temporary storage cargo storage shelf or a third container is determined by comparing the SKU information of the cargo to be taken in the cargo taking instruction with the cargo SKU information in the image information shot by the cargo identification device.

And S72, indicating the fork to move to the first position according to the goods taking position information.

In this embodiment of the application, the pickup position information includes three-dimensional information of a position of a first container carrying goods to be picked, for example, a position of the first container, before the fork moves to the first position, the transfer robot may move to a position near the first container carrying the goods to be picked according to the pickup position information, and further verify the accuracy of the position of the first container according to information on the first container, for example, information encoded on the first container, through information encoded on the first container, or adjust the posture of the robot according to information encoded on the first container, for example, two-dimensional code information, so that the fork may be aligned with the first container.

And S73, indicating the cargo transfer assembly to move to the first position, and moving the first container carrying the cargo to be taken from the second position to the first position.

In this application embodiment, because the goods transfer assembly is slidably connected to the vertical support, when the first container carrying the goods to be taken needs to be moved from the second position to the first position by the goods transfer assembly, the goods transfer assembly needs to be indicated to move to the first position first, and of course, the first container carrying the goods to be taken may also be moved from the second position to the first position by the fork, where the second position is the position where the first container is located, and generally, the position is located on a shelf in a warehouse, and can be determined by three-dimensional space coordinates.

And S74, acquiring the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, which is shot by the goods identification device of the fork and the goods identification device of the goods transfer assembly.

In the embodiment of the application, because the goods to be taken and other goods in the container have different SKU information, in order to avoid taking wrong goods, whether the goods to be taken are the goods to be taken on the order can be determined through the SKU information of the goods, and the SKU information of the goods to be taken can be shot by using the goods identification device on the goods transfer assembly. In the goods transferring process of the goods transferring assembly, the goods transferring assembly is prevented from not grabbing the goods, the position space information of the goods to be taken in the container can be shot through the shooting device on the fork, and the position space information of the goods to be taken in the container can also be shot through the shooting device on the goods transferring assembly.

In this embodiment of the application, the image information captured by the cargo recognition device may include SKU information of the cargo and position space information of the cargo in the cargo box, and may also include a shape of the cargo to be picked up, an image feature point of the cargo to be picked up, and color information and/or volume information of the cargo to be picked up.

In the embodiment of the application, the cargo identification device can also be independently arranged on the mounting platform, the fork or the cargo transfer component, or can be simultaneously arranged on the mounting platform and the cargo transfer component, when the image information of the goods is shot, the image information can be shot by the goods identification devices at different positions respectively, wherein, the image information shot by the goods identification device on the mounting platform and the fork can mainly comprise the relevant information of the position space, the shape, the volume and the like of the goods in the goods box which are convenient for determining to take out the goods, the image information shot by the goods identification device on the goods transfer component can mainly comprise the relevant information of the stock unit which is convenient for determining to take out the goods to be placed on the order goods storage shelf or the temporary storage goods storage shelf, of course, the image information captured by the cargo recognition devices at different locations may also include any one or more of the above-mentioned information.

And S75, determining goods consistent with the information of the stock quantity unit in the goods taking instruction according to the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, and instructing the goods transfer assembly to take the goods out of the first container and place the goods on the storage shelf or a preset second container of the storage shelf.

In an embodiment of the present application, it may be determined whether the SKU information in the pick instruction is consistent with the image information of the item to be picked in the first container, for example, the SKU information in the image, and when the two SKU information are consistent, the goods transfer unit is instructed to pick up the goods from the first container and place the goods to the order goods storage shelf or the second container. When the two SKU information are inconsistent, the goods taken out are placed on the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container, wherein the goods transfer assembly moves between the corresponding positions of the order goods storage shelf and the temporary storage goods storage shelf along the vertical support.

In the embodiment of the application, the cargo transferring assembly can be instructed to take out the cargo from the position space according to the position space information of the cargo to be taken in the cargo container in the image information shot by the cargo identifying device, for example, the cargo can be sucked out by using a suction cup on the cargo transferring assembly or a mechanical claw can grab the cargo; after the goods are taken out, whether the taken-out goods are the goods to be taken out on the order or not can be determined according to the SKU information in the image information shot by the shooting device, if the taken-out goods are the goods to be taken out on the order, the taken-out goods are placed on an order goods storage shelf or a second container, and if the taken-out goods are not the goods to be taken out on the order, the taken-out goods are placed on a temporary storage goods storage shelf or a third container. Because the goods that need the goods transfer subassembly to take out are put to order goods container or the goods container of keeping in, consequently, the goods transfer subassembly can move between the corresponding position of order goods storage goods shelves and the goods storage goods shelves of keeping in along vertical support, and order goods storage goods shelves and the goods storage goods shelves of keeping in can be located vertical support on the same one side not co-altitude position.

S76, after the goods transfer assembly finishes the pick-and-place operation of the preset number of goods to be picked of the first container, instructing the goods transfer assembly to put the goods in the temporary storage goods shelves or the third container back to the first container, and instructing the forks or the goods transfer assembly to put the first container back to the original position of the first container or to other positions.

In the embodiment of the application, after the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the preset number of goods to be picked in the first container, that is, when there is no goods to be picked on the order to be picked in the first container, the goods transfer assembly is indicated to move to the position corresponding to the height of the temporary storage goods storage shelf, and at the same time, the fork is indicated to move the first container to the position, so that the goods in the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container are placed back to the first container by the goods transfer assembly, and after the goods in the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container are all placed back to the first container, the fork and the goods transfer assembly are indicated to move to the first position, that is, the height position corresponding to the original position of the first container, and the fork or the goods transfer assembly is indicated to place the first container back to the original position of the first container or to other positions. The quantity of the goods to be taken out of the first container can be determined by information carried in the goods taking instruction, for example, the goods to be taken out of different quantities of different orders can be included in the goods taking instruction.

And S77, when the goods taking position information comprises a plurality of first container position information and the goods to be taken are stored in the first containers, after the current first container is placed back to the original position or placed to other positions, the goods to be taken are sequentially reached to the positions where the goods to be taken are located according to the other first container position information so as to finish the taking and placing operation of all the goods to be taken.

In this embodiment, when the goods to be picked in the order cannot be accommodated in one container, a plurality of containers are required to carry the goods in the order, and at this time, the picking position information in the picking instruction may include position information of a plurality of first containers, and the goods to be picked in the order may be carried on the first containers in the plurality of positions. After the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the goods to be picked in one first container, the container can be placed back to the original position, and then the carrying robot can sequentially reach the position where the goods to be picked are located according to the position information of other first containers to finish the picking and placing operation of all the goods to be picked. During the picking process, since the cargo SKU information in the cargo containers is not identical, the cargo transferring assembly needs to perform the related steps described above in this embodiment during the picking process for each first cargo container.

S78, when the number of all goods to be taken exceeds the preset second container storage capacity of one storage shelf or one storage shelf, acquiring the total volume or the total weight of the goods placed into the current storage shelf or the preset second container of the storage shelf, and if the total volume exceeds the preset volume threshold of the storage shelf or the preset second container, or the total weight exceeds the preset load threshold of the storage shelf or the preset second container, instructing the goods transfer component to place the goods to be taken into the rest storage shelves or the rest second containers until the placing and the taking of all the goods to be taken are completed.

In the embodiment of the application, when the goods transferring assembly picks and places the goods to be picked to the preset second container of the storage shelf, the goods in the preset second container of the storage shelf will gradually increase along with the increase of the picking and placing times, if the quantity of the goods placed to the preset second container of the storage shelf exceeds the storage capacity of one preset second container of the storage shelf, the goods transferring assembly can be instructed to replace the preset second container of the storage shelf, when determining whether to replace the preset second container of the storage shelf, the weight or the volume of a single goods can be obtained according to the SKU information, and the total volume or the total weight of the goods placed to the preset second container of the storage shelf is determined by combining the picking and placing quantity, meanwhile, the volume threshold or the volume threshold of the preset second container of each storage shelf is preset, and if the total volume of the goods placed to the preset second container of the storage shelf exceeds the preset volume threshold of the preset second container of the storage shelf, or the total weight of the goods placed into the storage shelf and preset with the second container exceeds the preset load threshold value of the storage shelf and preset with the second container, the goods transfer assembly is instructed to place the taken-out goods into the rest storage shelves and preset with the second containers until all the goods to be taken are taken out and placed.

This application embodiment, get the goods instruction through receiving, and according to getting the goods position information and the SKU information that has of the goods in the first packing box of getting that contain in getting the goods instruction, instruct the goods to shift the subassembly and carry out the goods and get and put the operation, and simultaneously, utilize the image information that goods recognition device obtained the goods, and confirm the goods parking position according to image information, effectively solved the goods problem of getting of the goods that has different SKU information in the packing box, be favorable to the goods to shift the quick accuracy of subassembly and get the goods, and improved and got goods efficiency, the goods letter sorting degree of automation has been promoted.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a picking method according to another embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 8, the picking method is applied to the transfer robot described above, the transfer robot described in the following embodiments includes at least one goods transfer component fixed on a mounting platform, and a goods identification device is mounted on the goods transfer component, and at the same time, the transfer robot includes a plurality of storage racks, and the plurality of storage racks includes an order goods storage rack and a temporary storage goods storage rack, the order goods storage rack is preset with a second container, and the temporary storage goods storage rack is preset with a third container, the method includes:

and S81, receiving a goods taking instruction, wherein the goods taking instruction comprises goods taking position information, goods type information to be taken and goods information of the goods to be taken, the goods type information to be taken comprises stock unit information, the goods in the first container have different stock unit information, and the goods information comprises shape, volume, image characteristic point, color and/or weight information of the goods to be taken.

In the embodiment of the application, the type information of the goods to be taken comprises stock quantity unit information, the goods in the first container have different SKU information, the goods transfer assembly can increase the identification of the goods information in the goods taking process so as to determine the goods to be taken, for example, image information can be shot by a goods identification device arranged on the goods transfer assembly, wherein the image information can comprise information related to the goods information, such as the actual shape, volume, image characteristic point, color and/or weight information of the goods, the goods to be taken are determined by comparing the goods information in the goods taking instruction with the goods information shot by the goods identification device, meanwhile, the image information can also comprise the SKU information of the goods, and the SKU information of the goods to be taken in the goods taking instruction is compared with the SKU information of the goods in the image information shot by the goods identification device, it is determined whether the goods are to be removed. After the goods are taken out, the taken-out goods can be determined to be placed on the order goods storage shelf or the second container or placed on the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container through image information, such as SKU information, shot by the goods identification device arranged on the goods transfer assembly. In addition, in the process of grabbing the goods, the image information of the goods to be fetched in the first container, which is shot by the goods recognition device, may be included, where the image information may include position space information of the goods to be fetched in the first container, and/or image feature points, colors, shapes, volumes, and the like of the goods to be fetched, for example, volume information or color information of the goods to be fetched, and the goods to be fetched is grabbed.

S82, according to the goods taking position information, indicating the mounting platform to move to a first position,

in this embodiment of the application, the pick-up position information includes a position of a first container carrying goods to be picked up, for example, three-dimensional information of the position of the first container, before the mounting platform moves to the first position, the transfer robot may move to a position near the first container carrying the goods to be picked up according to the pick-up position information, and further verify the accuracy of the position of the first container according to information on the first container, for example, information encoded on the first container, and may also adjust the posture of the robot according to encoded information on the first container, for example, two-dimensional code information, so that the mounting platform may be aligned with the first container.

In the embodiment of the application, the first position is generally at the same height as the first container carrying the goods to be taken, and the horizontal distance between the first position and the first container is within the goods taking range of the goods transferring assembly, so that the goods transferring assembly can move the container to the first position.

S83, instructing the cargo transfer assembly to move the first container carrying the cargo to be picked from the second position to the first position;

in this embodiment of the application, since the mounting platform cannot grab a container, and the cargo transfer assembly is mounted on the mounting platform, the cargo transfer assembly can be instructed to move the first container carrying the cargo to be picked from the second position to the first position, where the second position is the position where the first container is located, and usually, the position is located on a shelf in a warehouse and can be determined by three-dimensional space coordinates.

And S84, acquiring the image information of the goods to be picked in the first container, which is shot by the goods recognition device of the goods transferring assembly.

In this application embodiment, because the goods to be got have different SKU information with other goods in the first packing box, or have different goods information, for example, different volume, colour or weight information, consequently, in order to avoid getting wrong goods, can confirm through the goods information of goods and take out whether the goods is the goods to be got on the order, can utilize the goods recognition device on the goods transfer assembly to shoot the goods information of taking out the goods. In the goods transferring process of the goods transferring assembly, the goods transferring assembly is prevented from not grabbing the goods, the position space information of the goods to be taken in the container can be shot through the goods recognition device on the goods transferring assembly, and the position space information of the goods to be taken in the container can also be shot through the shooting device on the mounting platform.

In this embodiment, the image information captured by the cargo recognition device may include cargo information, SKU information, and position and space information of the cargo in the cargo box of the cargo, and the cargo information may include a shape of the cargo to be taken, an image feature point of the cargo to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the cargo to be taken.

In this embodiment of the application, the cargo identification device may also be separately installed on the installation platform, or may also be installed on the installation platform and the cargo transfer component at the same time, when shooting the image information of the cargo, the image information may be shot by the cargo identification components at different positions, respectively, wherein the image information shot by the cargo identification device on the installation platform may mainly include the position space, shape, volume, and the like of the cargo in the cargo box, which is convenient for determining to take out the cargo, and the image information shot by the cargo identification device on the cargo transfer component may mainly include the information related to the stock unit, which is convenient for determining to take out the cargo to put on the order cargo storage rack or to temporarily store the cargo storage rack, and of course, the image information shot by the cargo identification devices at different positions may also include any one or more of the above-.

And S85, instructing the cargo transferring assembly to take the cargo from the first container according to the image information of the cargo to be taken in the first container.

In the embodiment of the application, when the goods consistent with the stock unit information and/or the goods information in the goods taking instruction cannot be determined through the image information, the goods transfer component is instructed to obtain the goods from the first container, the image information of the obtained goods is continuously shot, when the goods inconsistent with the stock unit information and/or the goods information in the goods taking instruction are determined to be obtained through the image information, the goods obtained by the goods transfer component are placed on the temporary storage goods shelf or a third container preset on the temporary storage goods shelf, and otherwise, the goods are placed on the corresponding order goods storage goods shelf or the second container.

In the embodiment of the application, the cargo transferring assembly can be instructed to take out the cargo from the position space according to the position space information of the cargo to be taken in the first cargo box of the image information of the cargo to be taken in the first cargo box shot by the cargo identification device, and the cargo can also be sucked out by using the suction cup on the cargo transferring assembly or the mechanical claw to grab the cargo according to the cargo information in the image information of the cargo to be taken shot by the cargo identification device, such as the volume or the color of the cargo to be taken; after the goods are taken out, the SKU information in the image information of the goods to be taken, which is shot by the goods identification component, can be compared with the SKU information in the goods taking instruction to determine whether the taken goods are the goods on the order, if the taken goods are the goods to be taken on the order, the taken goods are placed on the goods storage shelf or the second container corresponding to the order, and if the taken goods are not the goods to be taken on the order, the taken goods are placed on the temporary storage shelf or the third container corresponding to the temporary storage shelf or the third container. The order goods storage shelf and the temporary storage goods storage shelf can be located on different height positions of the same side of the vertical support.

And S86, after the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the preset number of goods to be picked of the first container, instructing the goods transfer assembly to put the goods of the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container back to the first container, and instructing the goods transfer assembly to put the first container back to the original position of the first container or other positions.

In the embodiment of the application, after the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of the preset number of goods to be picked in the first container, that is, when there is no goods to be picked on the order to be picked in the first container, the goods transfer assembly is indicated to move to the position corresponding to the height of the temporary storage goods storage shelf, and at the same time, the mounting platform is indicated to move the first container to the position, so that the goods transfer assembly can put back the goods of the temporary storage goods storage shelf or the third container to the first container. The quantity of the goods to be taken out of the first container can be determined by information carried in the goods taking instruction, for example, the goods to be taken out of different quantities of different orders can be included in the goods taking instruction.

And S87, when the goods taking position information comprises a plurality of first container position information, and the goods to be taken are stored in the plurality of first containers, after the current first container is placed back to the original position of the container or placed at other positions, the goods to be taken sequentially arrive at the position of the goods to be taken according to the other first container position information, so as to finish the taking and placing operation of all the goods to be taken.

In this embodiment, when the goods to be picked in the order cannot be accommodated in one container, a plurality of containers are required to carry the goods in the order, and at this time, the picking position information in the picking instruction may include position information of a plurality of first containers, and the goods to be picked in the order may be carried on the first containers in the plurality of positions. After the goods transfer assembly finishes the picking and placing operation of goods to be picked in one goods box, the goods box can be placed back to the original position, and then the carrying robot can sequentially reach the position where the goods to be picked are located according to the position information of other first goods boxes to finish the picking and placing operation of all the goods to be picked. During the picking process, since the SKU information in the containers is not identical, the cargo transferring assembly needs to perform the related steps described above in this embodiment during the picking process for each first container.

This application embodiment, get the goods instruction through receiving, and the goods that get goods position information and wait to get in the goods place packing box that contains in according to getting the goods instruction has different SKU information and goods information, instruct the goods to shift the subassembly and carry out the goods and get and put the operation, and simultaneously, utilize goods recognition device to obtain the goods information and the SKU information of taking out the goods, and confirm the goods storage position according to goods information and SKU information, effectively solved the problem of getting goods of different goods information, be favorable to the goods to shift the quick accuracy of subassembly and get the goods, and improved and got goods efficiency, goods letter sorting degree of automation has been promoted.

It should be noted that, as long as the technical solutions formed by different combinations of the above steps in the embodiments of the method can be understood by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present application can be formed within the protection scope of the present application.

The embodiment of the application further provides a goods taking method, which is applied to a processing terminal, wherein the processing terminal is in communication connection with a carrying robot, and the method comprises the following steps: and sending a goods taking instruction so that the carrying robot executes the goods taking method according to the goods taking instruction.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the transfer robot 90 may be a robot with processing capability, and may be capable of executing the pickup method according to the above-described corresponding method embodiment.

Specifically, referring to fig. 9, the transfer robot 90 includes:

one or more processors 901, and a memory 902 communicatively coupled to the at least one processor 901, one processor 901 being an example in fig. 9.

The processor 901 and the memory 902 may be connected by a bus or other means, and fig. 9 illustrates the connection by a bus as an example.

The memory 902, which is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, may be used to store a non-transitory software program, a non-transitory computer executable program, which may perform the respective steps of the pickup method (e.g., S51 and S53 shown in fig. 5; S61-S69 shown in fig. 6; S71-S78 shown in fig. 7; S81-S87 shown in fig. 8). The processor 901 executes the pickup method, i.e., the pickup method described above with respect to the corresponding method embodiment, by executing the non-transitory software program or instructions stored in the memory 902.

The memory 902 may include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function; the storage data area may store data created by performing the above-described pickup method, and the like. Further, the memory 902 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-transitory memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-transitory solid state storage device. In some embodiments, the memory 902 may optionally include a memory remotely located from the processor 901, and these remote memories may be connected to the transfer robot 90 via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The one or more modules stored in the memory 902, when executed by the one or more processors 901, perform the pick-up method in the corresponding method embodiments described above, e.g., perform S51 and S53 described above and shown in fig. 5; S61-S69 shown in FIG. 6; S71-S78 shown in FIG. 7; S81-S87 shown in FIG. 8.

The carrying robot can execute the goods taking method in the corresponding method embodiment, and has corresponding equipment and beneficial effects of the execution method.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute the goods taking method in the above method embodiment. For example, the computer executable instructions, executed by one or more processors, such as the processor 901 in fig. 9, may cause the one or more processors to perform the picking method in the corresponding method embodiments, for example, the steps S51 and S53 described above in fig. 5; S61-S69 shown in FIG. 6; S71-S78 shown in FIG. 7; S81-S87 of fig. 8 may cause the one or more processors to perform the method of picking in the corresponding method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, where the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes the picking method in the above method embodiments. For example, S51 and S53 shown in fig. 5 described above are performed; S61-S69 shown in FIG. 6; S71-S78 shown in FIG. 7; the functions of S81-S87, etc., shown in FIG. 8.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a processing terminal, where the processing terminal may be any type of electronic device, such as: the method may be a background server, or a computer device with processing capability, or a terminal device with a computing function or a scheduling function, and may be capable of executing the pickup method provided by the corresponding method embodiment.

The embodiment of the application further provides an intelligent warehousing system which comprises the carrying robot and the processing terminal.

The above-described embodiments of the apparatus or device are merely illustrative, wherein the unit modules described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts displayed as module units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network module units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the present embodiment.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by software plus a general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware. Based on such understanding, the above technical solutions substantially or contributing to the related art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a processing terminal, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method described in the embodiments or some parts of the embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit the same; within the context of the present application, where technical features in the above embodiments or in different embodiments can also be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order and there are many other variations of the different aspects of the present application as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of brevity; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of picking items for use with a transfer robot, the transfer robot including a load transfer assembly, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a fork slidably connected to the vertical support, the load transfer assembly slidably connected to the fork, the method further comprising:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a fork slidably connected to the vertical support, at least one of the load transfer assemblies slidably connected to the vertical support, the method further comprising:

the method further comprises the following steps:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a mounting platform slidably coupled to the vertical support, the cargo transfer assembly slidably coupled to the mounting platform, the method further comprising:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer robot further comprises a vertical support and a mounting platform slidably coupled to the vertical support, at least one of the cargo transfer assemblies slidably coupled to the vertical support, the method further comprising:

6. The method according to any one of claims 2-5, wherein the transfer robot further comprises at least one storage rack, and wherein the forks or the mounting platform further comprise a rotary drive for driving the forks or the mounting platform in rotation about a vertical direction; the method further comprises the following steps:

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the transfer robot further comprises at least one storage rack, and wherein the forks or the mounting platform further comprise a rotary drive for driving the forks or the mounting platform in rotation about a vertical direction; the method further comprises the following steps:

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the type of cargo to be picked comprises unit of inventory information, and wherein when the cargo to be picked within the first container has the same unit of inventory information,

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the fork, mounting platform, or load transfer assembly has a load identification device mounted thereon, the method further comprising:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the image information comprises: the method comprises the following steps of obtaining position information of goods to be taken in a cargo box, stock unit information of the goods to be taken, the shape of the goods to be taken, image feature points of the goods to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the goods to be taken.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the type of cargo to be picked comprises unit of inventory information, and when the cargo to be picked within the first container has different unit of inventory information, the method further comprises:

acquiring image information of the goods to be taken;

according to the image information of the goods to be taken in the first container, determining goods consistent with the information of the stock unit in the goods taking instruction, and indicating the goods transfer assembly to take the goods out of the first container and place the goods on the storage shelf or a preset second container of the storage shelf.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the image information comprises: the method comprises the following steps of obtaining position information of goods to be taken in a cargo box, stock unit information of the goods to be taken, the shape of the goods to be taken, image feature points of the goods to be taken, and color information and/or volume information of the goods to be taken.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the cargo transferring assembly is provided with a cargo identification device, or the fork is provided with a cargo identification device, or the mounting platform is provided with a cargo identification device, or the cargo transferring assembly and the fork are provided with cargo identification devices, or the cargo transferring assembly and the mounting platform are provided with cargo identification devices, and the acquiring of the image information of the cargo to be picked in the first container comprises:

or,

15. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the goods information includes shape, volume, image feature point, color and/or weight information of the goods to be taken, the storage shelves include order goods storage shelves and temporary storage goods storage shelves, the order goods storage shelves are preset with second containers, and the determining that the goods to be taken are placed on the corresponding storage shelves or the preset second containers of the storage shelves according to the stock unit information of the goods to be taken includes:

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

17. The method of claim 11 or 16, wherein the pickup location information includes a plurality of first container location information at which the items to be picked are stored, the method further comprising:

18. The method of claim 8 or 12, wherein when the amount of all of the items to be picked exceeds one of the storage shelves or the storage capacity of the second container, the method further comprises:

19. A goods taking method is applied to a processing terminal which is in communication connection with a transfer robot, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

sending a pick instruction to cause the transfer robot to perform the method of claims 1-18 in accordance with the pick instruction.

20. A transfer robot, characterized by comprising:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the pickup method of any one of claims 1-18.

21. A processing terminal, comprising:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the pickup method of claim 19.

22. A smart warehousing system comprising a transfer robot as claimed in claim 20 and a processing terminal as claimed in claim 21.