Control method for goods retrievement and storage, apparatus, carrying apparatus, and transport robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12365540-B2
Application number	US-202217707135-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2022
Priority date	Sep 30, 2019
Publication date	Jul 22, 2025
Grant date	Jul 22, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a control method for goods retrievement and storage, a control apparatus, and a transport robot. The control method for goods retrievement includes: receiving a retrievement instruction, and acquiring locating information of target goods according to the retrievement instruction; moving a transport robot to a target position according to the locating information; obtaining status information of the target goods and/or position relationship information between a carrying apparatus and the target goods; and adjusting a position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the status information and/or the position relationship information, and causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods. According to the present disclosure, the position of the target goods can be accurately determined by obtaining status information of the target goods and/or position relationship information between the carrying apparatus and the target goods, so that the target goods can be accurately retrieved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control method for goods retrievement, applicable to a transport robot, wherein the transport robot is provided with a first camera, a second camera, and a carrying apparatus configured to take out goods, and the method comprises:
receiving a retrievement instruction, and acquiring locating information of target goods according to the retrievement instruction;
moving the transport robot to a target position according to the locating information;
obtaining status information of the target goods and relative position information between the carrying apparatus and the target goods, wherein the status information of the target goods comprises posture information of the target goods; and
adjusting a position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the status information and the relative position information, and causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods,
wherein the obtaining status information of the target goods and relative position information between the carrying apparatus and the target goods comprises: causing the first camera to attempt to read a preset identifier to obtain a position relationship between the transport robot and the preset identifier, wherein the preset identifier is a shelving unit identifier of a shelving unit where the target goods is stored;
determining, based on the position relationship between the transport robot and the preset identifier, whether the carrying apparatus could directly reach the position of the target goods from a current position of the transport robot if the first camera successfully reads the preset identifier; and
shooting the target goods by using the second camera to obtain the posture information of the target goods and the relative position information of the target goods and the carrying apparatus, if it is determined that the carrying apparatus could directly reach the target goods from the current position of the transport robot;
and-wherein the adjusting a position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the status information and the relative position information, and causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods comprises:—adjusting the position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the relative position information and the posture information, and causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods in the adjusted position and posture.

2. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the status information further comprises size information of the target goods; wherein the carrying apparatus has a pair of telescopic arms, and the adjusting the position and posture of the carrying apparatus further comprises:
adjusting a spacing between the pair of telescopic arms to adapt to a size of the target goods,
wherein before the adjusting the position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the relative position information and the posture information, the method comprises:
determining whether the target goods exist; and
determining whether a size of the target goods is within a size range that the carrying apparatus can take out if the target goods exist,
wherein before the causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods in the adjusted position and posture, the method comprises:
determining whether the carrying apparatus will collide with a shelving unit when retrieving the goods,
wherein the moving the transport robot to a target position comprises:
moving a chassis of the transport robot to the target position, and then raising or lowering the carrying apparatus to a target shelving unit height and rotating the carrying apparatus to a target direction; or
moving a chassis of the transport robot to the target position, and raising or lowering the carrying apparatus to a target height and rotating the carrying apparatus to a target direction during the movement of the chassis of the transport robot.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transport robot comprises a chassis;
the relative position information between the carrying apparatus and the target goods comprises: a deviation between the carrying apparatus and the target goods in a traveling direction of the transport robot, a relative distance between the carrying apparatus and the target goods in a taken-out direction of the carrying apparatus, and an angle at which the target goods are placed relative to the carrying apparatus;
wherein the adjusting the position and posture of the carrying apparatus according to the relative position information and the posture information comprises: aligning a specific position of the transport robot to a specific position of the target goods by performing at least one of the following: driving the chassis of the transport robot, raising or lowering the carrying apparatus, or rotating the carrying apparatus.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the carrying apparatus has a telescopic arm, and the causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods in the adjusted position and posture comprises:
determining an extension depth of the carrying apparatus; and

causing the telescopic arm to extend out by the extension depth in the adjusted position and posture, wherein
the extension depth is equal to a sum of the relative distance between the carrying apparatus and the target goods in the taken-out direction of the carrying apparatus and a predetermined percentage of a largest one of sizes of all to-be-retrieved goods in the taken-out direction; or the extension depth is equal to a preset maximum extension size.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transport robot has a chassis and the carrying apparatus supported on the chassis, and the carrying apparatus has a first arm portion and a second arm portion and is configured to place the goods between the first arm portion and the second arm portion when retrieving the goods;
wherein the status information of the target goods further comprises size information of the target goods;
wherein in the adjusting the position and posture of the carrying apparatus, the adjustment comprises at least adjusting a spacing between the first arm portion and the second arm portion to adapt to a size of the target goods; and
the causing the carrying apparatus to take out the target goods further comprises: causing the first arm portion and the second arm portion to take out the target goods at the adjusted spacing.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the size information of the target goods is obtained by at least one of the following:
obtaining the size information of the target goods from an external management system of the transport robot;
obtaining the size information of the target goods based on sensing of the target goods by the transport robot,
obtaining the size information of the target goods from the retrievement instruction;
obtaining the size information of the target goods based on a preset identifier on the target goods; and
obtaining the size information of the target goods by causing the transport robot to acquire image information of the target goods.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the first arm portion is a movable arm portion, the second arm portion is a fixed arm portion, and the adjusting a spacing between the first arm portion and the second arm portion is achieved by moving the first arm portion; or
the first arm portion and the second arm portion are both movable arm portions, and the adjusting a spacing between the first arm portion and the second arm portion is achieved by simultaneously or successively moving the first arm portion and the second arm portion.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the first camera is a two-dimensional

Assignees

• Hai Robotics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zheng Ruiqun
• Kong Zhe
• Zhao Ying
• He Jiawei
• Zhan Qingxin

Classifications

• B65G2203/0216

  Codes or marks on the article · CPC title

• B65G1/0435

  with pulling or pushing means on either stacking crane or stacking area · CPC title

• B25J9/1697

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title

• B25J5/007 Primary

  mounted on wheels · CPC title

• G05D1/243

  Means capturing signals occurring naturally from the environment, e.g. ambient optical, acoustic, gravitational or magnetic signals (using passive navigation aids external to the vehicle G05D1/244; using signals from positioning sensors located off-board the vehicle G05D1/249) · CPC title