Method for controlling warehouse robot to store and fetch inventory materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12291396-B2
Application number	US-202217585828-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2022
Priority date	Nov 14, 2017
Publication date	May 6, 2025
Grant date	May 6, 2025

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method for controlling a warehouse robot to store and fetch inventory materials. The method includes: instructing a material handling device to fetch a second inventory material located in the front row, and placing the second inventory material on a first tray; instructing the material handling device to fetch a first inventory material located in the back row, and placing the first inventory material on a second tray; and instructing the material handling device to return the second inventory material to the front row. By instructing the material handling device to fetch the inventory materials and storing the inventory materials in the trays, the inventory materials can be extracted from a designated shelf and stored in a warehouse, navigation is realized in a crowded warehouse filled with obstacles, and the inventory materials whose positions have been transferred can be processed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a warehouse robot to store and fetch inventory materials, wherein the inventory materials on a shelf are arranged in a front row and a back row, the warehouse robot comprises a material handling device and a multi-level shelves, and the method comprises the following steps:
receiving an instruction of transporting a first inventory material;
acquiring positioning information of the first inventory material from the received instruction, wherein the positioning information of the first inventory material comprises a position, a depth, and an orientation of the first inventory material, wherein the depth of the first inventory material indicates that the first inventory material is located in the back row;
instructing the warehouse robot to move to the position of the first inventory material;
detecting whether a second inventory material is located in the front row of the first inventory material;
extending the material handling device to the back row to acquire the first inventory material if no second inventory material exists in the front row;
fetching the second inventory material from the front row and placing the second inventory material on an empty first tray of the multi-level shelves of the warehouse robot if the second inventory material exists in the front row;
fetching the first inventory material from the back row and placing the first inventory material on an empty second tray of the multi-level shelves of the warehouse robot; and
returning the second inventory material to the shelf,
wherein extending the material handling device to fetch the inventory material comprises the following steps:
the warehouse robot reading an identification code of the shelf to calculate a position deviation of the inventory material, and determining whether the material handling device can directly reach the inventory material from a position of the warehouse robot based on the position deviation;
determining whether a tray of the material handling device is within a preset range if the inventory material cannot be reached directly, and adjusting the posture of the material handling device and rotating the tray if the tray is within the preset range, then reading the identification of the shelf code again to determine whether the position deviation is within the threshold range;
adjusting the posture of the warehouse robot and a relative position of the material handling device to the inventory material if the position deviation is not within the threshold range, and extending a robotic arm of the material handling device after the adjusting is completed to move the inventory material to the tray of the material handling device; wherein the robotic arm is used to drive the tray to move when retracting or extending along a sliding part of the material handling device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the first inventory material comprises coordinates and a height of the first inventory material; and
the step of instructing the warehouse robot to move to the position of the first inventory material comprises the following steps:
instructing the warehouse robot to move to a position near the coordinates of the first inventory material; and
instructing the material handling device to rise or fall to the height of the first inventory material.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of instructing the warehouse robot to move to the position of the first inventory material further comprises the following steps:
instructing the material handling device to rotate to the orientation of the first inventory material.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first inventory material or the second inventory material is set as a designated material, and the step of fetching the first inventory material or the step of fetching the second inventory material comprises:
instructing the warehouse robot to acquire a relative position of the designated inventory material to the material handling device;
calculating a position deviation of the designated inventory material based on the relative position of the designated inventory material to the material handling device;
adjusting a posture of the warehouse robot to compensate for the position deviation of the designated inventory material; and
instructing the material handling device to extend out.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of fetching the first inventory material or the step of fetching the second inventory material further comprises the following steps:
after adjusting the posture of the warehouse robot and before the material handling device extending out, instructing the warehouse robot to acquire the relative position of the designated inventory material to the material handling device again, updating the relative position of the designated inventory material to the material handling device in a database, recalculating the position deviation of the designated inventory material based on the updated relative position, and readjusting the posture of the warehouse robot according to the recalculated position deviation.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of fetching the first inventory material or the step of fetching the second inventory material further comprises:
after adjusting the posture of the warehouse robot and before the material handling device extending out, determining whether the material handling device is to collide with the shelf when extending out.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the material handling device is instructed to rise and fall to read an identification code of the shelf, relative position of the material handling device to the shelf are acquired according to the identification code of the shelf, and it is determined according to the relative position of the material handling device to the shelf whether the material handling device is to collide with the shelf when extending out.

8. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the designated inventory material is the first inventory material, and the step of instructing the material handling device to extend out comprises the following steps:
instructing the material handling device to extend to the front row;
instructing the warehouse robot to acquire a relative position of the first inventory material to the material handling device;
calculating the position deviation of the designated inventory material based on the relative position of the first inventory material to the material handling device;
adjusting the posture of the warehouse robot to compensate for a position deviation of the first inventory material; and
instructing the material handling device to continue to extend to the back row.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the step of instructing the material handling device to extend out further comprises:
instructing the material handling device to continue to extend out by a preset distance if the warehouse robot fails to acquire the relative position of the first inventory material to the material handling device, and instructing the warehouse robot to acquire the relative position of the first inventory material to the material handling device again during the extension of the material handling device.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the step of instructing the material handling device to extend out further comprises:
after adjusting the posture of the warehouse robot and before the material handling device continuing to extend to the back row, instructing the warehouse robot to acquire the relative position of the first inventory material to the material handling device again, updating the r

Assignees

• Hai Robotics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lin Han

Classifications

• B66F9/122

  longitudinally movable · CPC title

• B66F9/141

  with shuttle-type movement · CPC title

• B66F9/075

  Constructional features or details · CPC title

• B65G1/1375

  the orders being assembled on a commissioning stacker-crane or truck · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title