1. A robot-assisted method of picking, the method comprising:

determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator;

when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator;

and after the goods picking and/or the goods placing of one or more robots are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the goods picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information which is used for feeding back to the operator and used for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the goods picking task.

2. The robot-assisted picking method of claim 1, wherein the determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator comprises, prior to:

reporting a ready state to an external cloud system by a robot;

in the ready state, if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is not received, the mobile terminal moves to a preset standby area to wait for the picking task, and if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is received, the mobile terminal moves to a container binding area.

3. The robot-assisted picking method of claim 1, wherein the determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator comprises, prior to:

receiving a leave request signal triggered by the operator;

and in a preset time after the leave request signal is generated, carrying out secondary confirmation on the leave request event corresponding to the leave request signal.

4. The robot-assisted picking method of claim 2, wherein prior to determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator, further comprising:

judging whether a code scanning gun of the robot receives a first scanning signal of a first employee code within the preset time;

and if the first scanning signal is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the first employee code is out of the working state, and if the second scanning signal of the second employee code is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the second employee code enters the working state.

5. The robot-assisted picking method according to claim 1, wherein the determining of carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator comprises:

after the vehicle travels to a vehicle binding area, vehicle information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through an external cloud system, and first auxiliary information of vehicle selection, vehicle quantity and vehicle installation is generated according to the vehicle information;

and when the carrier is bound and then moves to a container binding area, the container information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through the external cloud system, and the second auxiliary information of container selection, container quantity and container installation is generated according to the container information.

6. The robot-assisted picking method according to claim 1, wherein the traveling to the picking point corresponding to the picking task and the generating of third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task, which are fed back to the operator, after the completion of the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding, comprises:

when the container is bound and then moves to the picking point, for each goods in the picking task, sequentially displaying goods position information, goods attribute information and goods code scanning information related to the goods picking, and placing grid port information and placing progress information related to the goods placing;

and if the first robot of the current picking task does not execute the current picking task any more, providing the fourth auxiliary information for guiding the position of the second robot to be assisted to the operator by the first robot.

7. The robot-assisted picking method according to claim 6, wherein the traveling to the picking point corresponding to the picking task and generating third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task for feedback to the operator after completing the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding further comprises:

in the goods picking and/or goods placing process, if a container full load signal is received, determining an order contained in the current goods picking task, if the current goods picking task only contains one order, performing container replacement after the goods picking is suspended, and continuously executing the current goods picking task, and if the current goods picking task contains a plurality of orders, judging whether a free grid exists in the current order;

and if the idle grid exists, generating continuous picking information for feeding back to the operator, and if the idle grid does not exist, performing order retransmission after skipping the current order and distributing larger and/or more grids corresponding to the retransmitted order.

8. The robot-assisted picking method according to claim 1, wherein the traveling to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generating fifth auxiliary information for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task to be fed back to the operator after completing the goods picking and/or the goods placing of one or more robots includes:

when the goods unloading is finished, generating container unloading information and finishing state information of the goods picking task, wherein the container unloading information and the finishing state information are used for being fed back to the operator, and printing and outputting a goods picking bill corresponding to the goods picking task;

and receiving a task ending signal corresponding to the picking task, which is triggered by the operator, when the goods packaging is completed.

9. A robot autonomously navigable between a plurality of other robots and a plurality of operators, the robot being configured to perform tasks with the assistance of the operators, characterized in that the robot comprises:

the mobile base is used for driving the robot to autonomously navigate to a corresponding position of a picking task to be executed;

a display component having a display area to allow the operator to interact with the robot;

a processor configured to receive the delivered picking task;

determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator;

when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator;

and after the goods picking and/or the goods placing of one or more robots are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the goods picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information which is used for feeding back to the operator and used for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the goods picking task.

10. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a robot-assisted picking program, which when executed by a processor implements the steps of the robot-assisted picking method according to any of claims 1 to 8.

Background

In the existing storage goods-picking scene, the efficiency of manually picking goods gradually becomes a bottleneck restricting the goods-picking efficiency. Therefore, in order to improve the intelligence and automation degree of picking, it is proposed in the prior art to pick the goods by using a robot instead of a human. However, in a complex storage picking environment, if only a robot is used to perform a full-flow picking task, the production cost is greatly increased, and the fault tolerance of the intermediate link is low, which is not desirable in view of the overall benefit.

Therefore, a technical solution that can provide the robot with the capability of performing the picking work and can realize the mutual communication and cooperation between the robot and the human in the picking scene is needed.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the technical defects in the prior art, the invention provides a robot-assisted picking method, which comprises the following steps:

determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator;

when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator;

and after one or more goods picking and/or goods placing of the robot are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task.

Optionally, before determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator, comprising:

reporting a ready state to an external cloud system by a robot;

in the ready state, if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is not received, the mobile terminal moves to a preset standby area to wait for the picking task, and if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is received, the mobile terminal moves to a container binding area.

Optionally, before determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator, comprising:

receiving a leave request signal triggered by the operator;

and in a preset time after the leave request signal is generated, carrying out secondary confirmation on the leave request event corresponding to the leave request signal.

Optionally, before the determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator, further comprising:

judging whether a code scanning gun of the robot receives a first scanning signal of a first employee code within the preset time;

and if the first scanning signal is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the first employee code is out of the working state, and if the second scanning signal of the second employee code is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the second employee code enters the working state.

Optionally, the determining carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator comprises:

after the vehicle travels to a vehicle binding area, vehicle information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through an external cloud system, and first auxiliary information of vehicle selection, vehicle quantity and vehicle installation is generated according to the vehicle information;

and when the carrier is bound and then moves to a container binding area, the container information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through the external cloud system, and the second auxiliary information of container selection, container quantity and container installation is generated according to the container information.

Optionally, the traveling to the pick point corresponding to the pick task after completing the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding and generating third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current pick task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent pick task, which are fed back to the operator, includes:

when the container is bound and then moves to the picking point, for each goods in the picking task, sequentially displaying goods position information, goods attribute information and goods code scanning information related to the goods picking, and placing grid port information and placing progress information related to the goods placing;

and if the first robot of the current picking task does not execute the current picking task any more, providing the fourth auxiliary information for guiding the position of the second robot to be assisted to the operator by the first robot.

Optionally, the step of traveling to a picking point corresponding to the picking task after completing the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding and generating third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task, which are fed back to the operator, further comprises:

in the goods picking and/or goods placing process, if a container full load signal is received, determining an order contained in the current goods picking task, if the current goods picking task only contains one order, performing container replacement after the goods picking is suspended, and continuously executing the current goods picking task, and if the current goods picking task contains a plurality of orders, judging whether a free grid exists in the current order;

and if the idle grid exists, generating continuous picking information for feeding back to the operator, and if the idle grid does not exist, performing order retransmission after skipping the current order and distributing larger and/or more grids corresponding to the retransmitted order.

Optionally, the step of proceeding to a packing point corresponding to the picking task after completing the picking and/or placing of the items by one or more of the robots and generating fifth auxiliary information for unloading and/or packing of the items corresponding to the picking task, which is fed back to the operator, includes:

when the goods unloading is finished, generating container unloading information and finishing state information of the goods picking task, wherein the container unloading information and the finishing state information are used for being fed back to the operator, and printing and outputting a goods picking bill corresponding to the goods picking task;

and receiving a task ending signal corresponding to the picking task, which is triggered by the operator, when the goods packaging is completed.

The invention also proposes a robot that is able to navigate autonomously between a plurality of other robots and a plurality of operators, the robot being configured to perform tasks with the assistance of the operators, the robot comprising:

the mobile base is used for driving the robot to autonomously navigate to a corresponding position of a picking task to be executed;

a display component having a display area to allow the operator to interact with the robot;

a processor configured to receive the delivered picking task;

determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator;

when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator;

and after one or more goods picking and/or goods placing of the robot are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task.

The invention also proposes a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a robot-assisted picking program for implementing the steps of the robot-assisted picking method according to any of the above when executed by a processor.

The robot-assisted picking method, the robot and the computer-readable storage medium implement the invention, by determining the carriers and containers required by the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information of carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information of container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to the operator; then, after the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for goods picking and/or goods placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator; and finally, after one or more goods picking and/or goods placing of the robot are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task. The efficient robot-assisted picking scheme is realized, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Drawings

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a sixth embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a seventh embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an eighth embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is another flow chart of a second embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is another flow chart of a third embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is another flow chart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is another flow chart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is another flow chart of a sixth embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

fig. 14 is another flow chart of a seventh embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention;

fig. 15 is another flow chart of an eighth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

In the following description, suffixes such as "module", "component", or "unit" used to denote elements are used only for facilitating the explanation of the present invention, and have no specific meaning in itself. Thus, "module", "component" or "unit" may be used mixedly.

Example one

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of a robot-assisted picking method of the present invention. A robot-assisted method of picking, the method comprising:

s1, determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to the operator.

S2, when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are completed, proceeding to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and generating third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task, which are fed back to the operator.

And S3, after the goods picking and/or the goods placing of one or more robots are completed, moving to a packing point corresponding to the picking task, and generating fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task.

Optionally, in this embodiment, at the initial stage of the picking work, the robot receives the picking task sent by the external cloud system and starts working. Specifically, in the execution stage of the picking work, firstly, the robot analyzes the received picking task and determines the carriers and containers required by the received picking task; then, first auxiliary information for vehicle replacement and/or vehicle binding corresponding to the vehicle fed back to the operator is generated, and after the robot guides and assists the operator to correctly complete vehicle replacement and/or vehicle binding work, second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the container fed back to the operator is finally generated, so that the robot can further guide and assist the operator to correctly complete container loading and/or container binding work.

Optionally, in this embodiment, in the execution phase of the picking task, after the robot guides and assists the operator to sequentially complete the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding task, and the container loading and/or the container binding task, the robot automatically moves to the picking point corresponding to the picking task; then, when the operator also synchronously arrives at the picking point, third auxiliary information for goods picking and/or goods placing corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for guiding other robot positions corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator, so that the operator can correctly complete the goods picking and/or goods placing work under the guidance of the third auxiliary information; and finally, when the task of the current robot is finished and is transferred to another robot, the current robot provides fourth auxiliary information for the operator to guide the operator to go to the position of the other robot by a correct navigation route so as to cooperate with the other robot to complete a subsequent picking task.

Optionally, in this embodiment, in the execution stage of the picking task, after the one or more robots guide and assist the operator to complete the picking and/or placing of the goods, the robot automatically moves to the packing point corresponding to the picking task; then, when the operator also arrives at the packing point in synchronization, fifth auxiliary information for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task, which is fed back to the operator, is generated, so that the robot may further guide and assist the operator to correctly unload and pack the picked goods.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the first auxiliary information, the second auxiliary information, the third auxiliary information, the fourth auxiliary information, and the fifth auxiliary information are presented to the operator through a display screen of the robot and/or a speaker of the robot. Specifically, the auxiliary information may be converted into voice and transmitted to a bluetooth headset of the operator.

Optionally, in this embodiment, since the picking task is executed in a manner that the robot and the person cooperate with each other, the robot can receive the picking task, travel to the designated location as required, and efficiently complete the whole picking business process under the cooperative operation of the operators. It can be seen that the auxiliary scheme of the embodiment has more flexibility and adaptability than the single manual or robot execution of the picking task, and can cover and support various types of warehousing picking scenes. Meanwhile, the auxiliary control logic of the embodiment is more concise and effective, and on the premise of ensuring normal operation and no missing of necessary nodes, simple, direct and lightweight auxiliary control flow and robot product design are realized to the greatest extent, and efficient operation of the picking service is ensured.

The method has the advantages that the carrier and the container required by the received picking task are determined, and the first auxiliary information of carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carrier and the second auxiliary information of container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the container are generated and used for being fed back to an operator; then, after the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for goods picking and/or goods placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator; and finally, after one or more goods picking and/or goods placing of the robot are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task. The efficient robot-assisted picking scheme is realized, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Example two

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, wherein before determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to the operator, based on the above embodiment, the method comprises:

and S01, reporting the ready state to an external cloud system by a robot.

And S02, in the ready state, if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is not received, the mobile terminal moves to a preset standby area to wait for the picking task, and if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is received, the mobile terminal moves to a container binding area.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of the second embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 9. In the initial stage of the goods picking work, firstly, the robot is started and completes the initial detection; then, after the robot finishes self-checking, reporting to an external cloud system that the robot is ready, and waiting for a new picking task; if the picking task is not received, the robot goes to the standby area to wait for the task, and if the picking task is received, the robot goes to the packing area or the binding area, for example, the robot goes to the container binding area before, and then enters the container binding process when reaching the area. Optionally, in order to improve the execution efficiency, the present embodiment may further combine the packaging area and the binding area together, that is, both packaging and container binding may be completed in one area, so that the robot may start the next task to bind the container immediately after completing one task by packaging.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the robot completes the self-check and receives the picking task, the operator corresponding to the picking task is determined, and before going to the container binding area, the operator is guided to go to the container binding area together with the position where the operator is located.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the robot may be moved by any operator to the coordination aid when it completes its self-test and receives a pick task.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the robot completes the self-inspection and receives the picking task, the position of the operator corresponding to the picking task is determined, and if the position of the operator is determined to be located near the container binding area before the robot goes to the container binding area, the robot directly goes to the container binding area by itself.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the robot completes self-checking and receives a picking task, a scanning signal of the employee code entered by any operator is waited, and it is determined that the entered operator is the operator of the current picking task, and then the operator is guided to travel to the container binding area together.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, when the robot completes its self-check and receives the picking task, the robot may be assisted by the operator who arbitrarily enters the scanning signal of the employee code.

The method has the advantages that the ready state is reported to the external cloud system by the robot; in the ready state, if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is not received, the mobile terminal moves to a preset standby area to wait for the picking task, and if the picking task sent by the external cloud system is received, the mobile terminal moves to a container binding area. The control logic better order picking task receiving and processing flow is provided for realizing an efficient robot-assisted order picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete the whole-flow order picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

EXAMPLE III

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a third embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, wherein before determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating the first auxiliary information of carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and the second auxiliary information of container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to the operator, based on the above embodiment, the method comprises:

and S03, receiving a leave application signal triggered by the operator.

And S04, performing secondary confirmation on the leave asking event corresponding to the leave asking application signal within the preset time after the leave asking application signal is generated.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of the third embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 10.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the operator selected to perform the current picking task may for some reason need to temporarily leave the working state and leave the robot for leave. In this embodiment, the operator on the vacation suspends the work, but the robot does not stop working, and the operator informs the robot and the related system of the behavior of leaving/resuming the working state.

Optionally, in this embodiment, as described in the above example, first, an operator who needs to ask for leave requests for leave by clicking an entry button on the robot display; if the robot is moving, it is slowly stopped.

Optionally, in this embodiment, secondary confirmation is required after the application for leave, and if the operator does not confirm within a certain preset time, the operator automatically exits; if the operator confirms within the preset time, the robot code scanning gun is used for scanning the employee codes to carry out identity authentication.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the leave request function issued and executed by the operator to the robot is a global function. It will be appreciated that in order to know that the operator assisting in picking is out of work, the operator may report on any of the running robots for a false event. The robot receiving the leave request may be in a carrier replacing stage, a container loading stage, a picking stage, or a packing stage.

The embodiment has the advantages that the method comprises the steps of receiving a leave application signal triggered by the operator; and in a preset time after the leave request signal is generated, carrying out secondary confirmation on the leave request event corresponding to the leave request signal. A more flexible and efficient operator working state change processing mode is provided for realizing an efficient robot-assisted goods picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow goods picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Example four

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, wherein before determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and generating the first auxiliary information of carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and the second auxiliary information of container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to the operator, the method further comprises:

s05, judging whether the code scanning gun of the robot receives a first scanning signal of a first employee code within the preset time;

and S06, if the first scanning signal is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the first employee code is out of the working state, and if the second scanning signal of the second employee code is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the second employee code is in the working state.

Optionally, in this embodiment, as described in the above example, after the authentication is successful, the robot knows that the employee is out of the working state, and synchronizes the information to the external cloud system.

Optionally, in this embodiment, after the operator finishes any one code scanning authentication in the picking process, the operator can automatically notify the robot to recover the working state and synchronize to the external cloud system.

Optionally, in this embodiment, if a first scanning signal of an operator asking for leave is received, it is determined that an operator corresponding to the first employee code has left the working state, and if a second scanning signal replacing a second employee code of the operator asking for leave is received, it is determined that another operator corresponding to the second employee code has entered the working state.

Optionally, in this embodiment, in order to improve the process efficiency, when the operator returns to the working state, the operator may not go through the leave asking function, that is, directly enter the automatic recovery working state through the robot currently in any working state during picking. Specifically, for example, when the operator a needs to apply for a leave, the operator a passes code scanning authentication, and at this time, the operator a has successfully left the working state; if the operator A is ready to return to the work, the operator A only needs to search any robot waiting for picking the goods to start picking the goods, and in the last step of finishing picking the goods, namely, when the identity authentication of the operator is carried out, the code is scanned according to the normal goods picking flow, the authentication identity of the operator is determined, and the working state can be automatically recovered.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the employee code may be implemented by scanning a barcode or a two-dimensional code, and meanwhile, the code scanning is only used as an optional operator identity information obtaining approach, which includes but is not limited to NFC (near field communication), RFID (radio frequency identification), Bluetooth (Bluetooth), or image identification.

The method has the advantages that whether the code scanning gun of the robot receives a first scanning signal of a first employee code or not is judged within the preset time; and if the first scanning signal is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the first employee code is out of the working state, and if the second scanning signal of the second employee code is received, determining that the operator corresponding to the second employee code enters the working state. The robot provides a processing mode for work handover among a plurality of operators for realizing an efficient robot-assisted picking scheme, so that the robot can assist the operators to complete a full-flow picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

EXAMPLE five

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, based on which the determination of the carriers and containers required for the received picking task and the generation of first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers are fed back to the operator, comprising:

s11, after the vehicle travels to a vehicle binding area, vehicle information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through an external cloud system, and first auxiliary information of vehicle selection, vehicle quantity and vehicle installation is generated according to the vehicle information;

and S12, when the carriers are bound, moving to a container binding area, acquiring container information corresponding to the picking task through the external cloud system, and generating second auxiliary information of container selection, container quantity and container installation according to the container information.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 11. After the robot analyzes the received picking task, whether the current container is matched with the current picking task or not is determined, or before the task is started to be executed, whether the current container is matched with the current picking task or not is determined by an operator, and if the picking container is not matched with the carrier, the appropriate carrier is bound according to information provided by an external cloud system.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the robot determines the type of the carrier required for executing the picking task according to the task information sent by the external cloud system.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the robot prompts the employee for the correct carrier and number (support multiple) to install.

Optionally, in this embodiment, after the installation is completed, the staff clicks a button on the display to notify the robot that the installation is completed.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the signal that the vehicle installation is completed is received, the robot goes to the packing and binding area, and executes the container binding process.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 12. In this embodiment, the operator assists the robot in performing the container binding work prior to the picking task. Specifically, firstly, the robot confirms the container type required by the execution of the picking task according to task information sent by an external cloud system; the robot then prompts the operator for the correct containers and quantities that should be used and requires code-scanning binding (to support multiple); if the operator selects an entrance with an improper carrier, the robot enters a carrier replacing process; operator uses robot to sweep two-dimensional code on yard rifle scanning container and bind

Optionally, in this embodiment, in the process of scanning and binding the container, the entity code of the container is bound to the task currently executed by the robot, and an external system (e.g., WMS) can obtain the task and the order carried by the current container by scanning the container code, and implement container tracking of the whole picking process.

Optionally, in this embodiment, after the container is bound, the container is automatically disassociated from the last task that was bound.

Optionally, in this embodiment, after all the required containers are bound, the user goes to the picking point and enters the picking process.

The method has the advantages that after the vehicle travels to the vehicle binding area, the vehicle information corresponding to the picking task is acquired through an external cloud system, and the first auxiliary information is generated according to the current vehicle state and the vehicle information; and when the carrier is bound and then moves to a container binding area, the container information corresponding to the picking task is obtained through the external cloud system, and the second auxiliary information is generated according to the current container state and the container information. The robot provides a control mode with better logic for the installation of carriers and the binding of containers for realizing an efficient robot-assisted picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

EXAMPLE six

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a sixth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, based on the above embodiments, when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are completed, the robot-assisted picking method proceeds to the picking point corresponding to the picking task, and generates third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task, which are fed back to the operator, including:

s21, moving to the picking point after the container is bound, and sequentially displaying the goods position information, the goods attribute information and the goods code scanning information related to the goods picking and the placing grid port information and the placing progress information related to the goods placing for each goods in the picking task;

s22, if the first robot of the current picking task does not execute the current picking task any more, providing the fourth auxiliary information for guiding the position of the second robot to be assisted to the operator by the first robot.

Please refer to fig. 13, which shows another flowchart of a sixth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention. As described in the above example, when the operator assists the robot in picking, first, the first item information to be picked at the current picking point is displayed according to the picking task information currently being executed, which specifically includes: item location, shelf orientation, item name, item UPC (unified product code), item tag, item quantity, and item picture

Optionally, in this embodiment, as described in the above example, the user is prompted to take the goods through the display screen of the robot and scan the goods code using the robot code scanning gun. When the wrong goods are scanned, an error is reported to prompt a user to pick the correct goods; if the code is scanned correctly, the picking is started, the goods which are currently picked, the lattice openings which should be placed and the picking progress are displayed, and the method specifically comprises the following steps: item name, item UPC, item label, item thumbnail, lot number, lot location map, number picked, and number to be picked.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the operator indicates that the pick is currently placed in the designated bin until the pick count is met. Wherein the operator increases the number of picks (configurable) by scanning for items, or manually adding.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the operator uses the robot to sweep the mode that the sign indicating number rifle scanned the check bar code and confirms that the check is correct, passes back goods information in the check to outside high in the clouds system simultaneously

Optionally, in this embodiment, after the picking of the current item is completed, it is determined whether there are items to be picked at the current picking point, if so, the picking process is repeated from the picking guide, and the next item is picked, otherwise, the subsequent process is continuously executed.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the operator uses the robot to scan the code gun and scan the employee code to authenticate the identity, the robot records the employee identity and counts the picking into the workload of the employee, and the information is synchronized to the external cloud system.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the robot determines whether there are other picking points to pick in the current task; if yes, go to the next picking point to pick goods continuously; and if not, going to the packaging/binding area.

Optionally, in this embodiment, if the first robot of the current picking task is different from the second robot corresponding to the subsequent picking task, the first robot provides the operator with the fourth auxiliary information for guiding the position of the second robot when the current picking task is completed, that is, assists the operator to move from the position of the first robot to the position of the second robot, and assist the second robot in executing a new picking task.

Alternatively, the fourth auxiliary information may be that the robot provides the operator with position guidance information from the current picking position to the next picking position if the positions of the two picking tasks of the same robot are different, for example, the position of the current picking task is far away from the position of the next picking task.

Optionally, in order to improve the execution flexibility and efficiency of the whole process, the fourth auxiliary information may be independent of the picking task, i.e. not affected by the change of the picking position of the current task. For example, when the current pick point has picked, the robot leaves without assistance from the picker, and then informs the picker of the location of the robot near the picker that needs to assist in picking, the picker can then pass to assist the other robot. It should be noted that in this alternative, the trigger condition for the guidance process is "the robot is about to leave the current picking point", that is, as long as the robot is about to walk, the next position prompt to which the picker should go is displayed on the screen.

It can be seen that in the present embodiment, there is no fixed binding relationship between any order picker and any robot, which is also a necessary condition for the present scheme to efficiently perform order picking service. It will be appreciated that the order picker is not concerned or aware of which number robot needs assistance and, conversely, which order picker is helping the order picker.

The embodiment has the advantages that by moving to the picking point after the binding of the container is finished, for each goods in the picking task, goods attribute information and goods code scanning information related to the goods picking and placing grid port information and placing progress information related to the goods placing are sequentially displayed; if the first robot of the current picking task is different from the second robot corresponding to the subsequent picking task, the first robot provides the operator with the fourth auxiliary information for guiding the position of the second robot when the current picking task is completed. The picking control process with better logic is provided for realizing an efficient robot-assisted picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-process picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

EXAMPLE seven

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a seventh embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, based on the above embodiment, when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are completed, the method proceeds to the picking point corresponding to the picking task, and generates third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task, which are fed back to the operator, and further includes:

s23, in the picking and/or placing process, if receiving a container full load signal, determining the order contained in the current picking task, if the current picking task contains only one order, performing container replacement after suspending picking, and continuing to execute the current picking task, if the current picking task contains multiple orders, determining whether the current order has a free slot;

and S24, if the free slot exists, generating continuous picking information for feeding back to the operator, if the free slot does not exist, then carrying out order retransmission after skipping the current order, and distributing larger and/or more slots corresponding to the retransmitted order.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of a seventh embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 14. In order to realize that the robot continues to pick the goods after the containers are fully loaded in the goods picking process, in the embodiment, the robot has insufficient container space in the goods picking process, and an operator can report the situation by clicking. Specifically, when the current task only contains one order, the picking is suspended, the robot goes to a packing/binding area, the fully loaded containers are unloaded, the new carrying boxes are bound again according to the current task requirement, and the goods which are not picked before the fully loaded containers are continuously picked; and when the current task comprises a plurality of orders, judging whether other grids of the current order are available, if so, guiding the staff to use the next available grid to continue picking the current order, if not, skipping the current order to pick the order, and simultaneously reporting to an external cloud system, wherein the cloud system recombines the orders into a task issuing, and distributes a container with a larger grid or distributes more grids for the order when the order is issued again.

Optionally, in this embodiment, after skipping orders, it is determined whether there are any goods left in the current task that have not been picked, if yes, the goods are continuously picked, and if not, the current task goes to the packing/binding area to enter the unloading process.

The embodiment has the advantages that in the goods picking and/or goods placing process, if a container full load signal is received, the order included in the current goods picking task is determined, if the current goods picking task only includes one order, the goods picking is suspended, and if the current goods picking task includes a plurality of orders, whether the current order has a free grid port is judged; and if the idle grid exists, generating continuous picking information for feeding back to the operator, and if the idle grid does not exist, skipping the current order. A flexible processing mode when the container is fully loaded is provided for realizing an efficient robot-assisted goods picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow goods picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Example eight

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of an eighth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method according to the present invention, wherein, based on the above-mentioned embodiments, when the picking and/or placing of the goods by one or more robots are completed, the robot-assisted picking method proceeds to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task, which is fed back to the operator, and the method comprises the following steps:

s31, when the goods unloading is completed, generating container unloading information and completion state information of the goods picking task for feeding back to the operator, and printing and outputting a goods picking bill corresponding to the goods picking task;

and S32, receiving a task ending signal corresponding to the picking task triggered by the operator when the goods packaging is completed.

Optionally, in this embodiment, please refer to another flowchart of an eighth embodiment of the robot-assisted picking method of the present invention shown in fig. 15. As described in the above example, when the picking task is completed, the operator assists the robot in performing the unloading and packing actions. Specifically, first, the robot prompts the employee to unload the container; then, the robot printer outputs the completion status information of the order picking task at the same time, specifically, the completion status information of the order picking task may be an order picking document, and the document includes: order ID, order state, grid number, goods name, goods UPC, goods label, goods picking state and goods picked number; and finally, taking down the container by the staff, clicking a button to inform the robot, and finishing the execution of the picking task.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the robot determines whether there is an unexecuted task available for execution; if yes, executing a new task, and directly entering a binding container flow; if not, the system goes to the standby area to wait for a new task.

The present embodiment has an advantageous effect in that by generating the container unloading information for feedback to the operator when the unloading of the goods is completed; and when the goods are packaged, printing and outputting a goods picking bill corresponding to the goods picking task, and receiving a task ending signal triggered by the operator and corresponding to the goods picking task. The task ending mode after goods packaging is provided for realizing an efficient robot-assisted goods picking scheme, so that the robot can assist an operator to complete a full-flow goods picking task, the flexibility and the adaptability are enhanced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Example nine

Based on the above embodiments, the present invention also proposes a robot that is capable of autonomously navigating between a plurality of other robots and a plurality of operators, the robot being configured to perform tasks with the assistance of the operators, the robot comprising:

the mobile base is used for driving the robot to autonomously navigate to a corresponding position of a picking task to be executed;

a display component having a display area to allow the operator to interact with the robot;

a processor configured to receive the delivered picking task;

determining the carriers and containers required for the received picking task, and generating first auxiliary information for carrier replacement and/or carrier binding corresponding to the carriers and second auxiliary information for container loading and/or container binding corresponding to the containers for feedback to an operator;

when the carrier replacement and/or the carrier binding, the container loading and/or the container binding are/is completed, the vehicle travels to a picking point corresponding to the picking task, and third auxiliary information for item picking and/or item placement corresponding to the current picking task and fourth auxiliary information for other robot position guidance corresponding to the subsequent picking task are generated and fed back to the operator;

and after one or more goods picking and/or goods placing of the robot are completed, the robot advances to a packing point corresponding to the picking task and generates fifth auxiliary information for feeding back to the operator for goods unloading and/or goods packing corresponding to the picking task.

It should be noted that the robot embodiment and the method embodiment belong to the same concept, and specific implementation processes thereof are detailed in the method embodiment, and technical features in the method embodiment are correspondingly applicable in the robot embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Example ten

Based on the above embodiments, the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a robot-assisted picking program stored thereon, which when executed by a processor implements the steps of the robot-assisted picking method according to any of the above.

It should be noted that the media embodiment and the method embodiment belong to the same concept, and specific implementation processes thereof are detailed in the method embodiment, and technical features in the method embodiment are correspondingly applicable in the media embodiment, which is not described herein again.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, which are illustrative and not restrictive, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.