CN108657711B

CN108657711B - Animal room IVC automatic taking/placing system and method

Info

Publication number: CN108657711B
Application number: CN201810515220.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈明智; 唐克
Original assignee: Shenzhen Hongteng Bio Tech Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Hongteng Bio Tech Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-25
Filing date: 2018-05-25
Publication date: 2020-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-25
Also published as: CN108657711A

Abstract

The invention provides an IVC automatic taking/putting system and method for an independent ventilation cage box of an experimental animal room. The invention realizes automatic IVC taking/placing and carrying by combining the real-time operating system uC/OS and the robot, has the advantages of automation, intellectualization and high accuracy, can replace the existing manual cage taking/placing and carrying mode, avoids cross contamination between animals and the environment, avoids health hazards to the animals and workers, greatly saves labor force and improves working efficiency. Meanwhile, the numbers are recorded and distinguished in the program through the rfid tag at the bottom of the cage box, so that the management workload of the animal house is reduced, better preparation work is provided for the automatic assembly line processing at the rear end, and accurate and efficient management of the experimental animal house is realized.

Description

Animal room IVC automatic taking/placing system and method

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of experimental animal management equipment, and particularly relates to an automatic taking/placing system and method for an Independent Ventilated Cage (IVC) of an animal house.

Background

Currently, the laboratory animal industry widely uses Independent Ventilated Cages (IVC) to raise and centrally manage laboratory animals. IVC is a closed independent cage box, clean air flow with high ventilation frequency (20-60 times/h) in the cage box independently circulates, waste gas is intensively discharged outside, and the experimental equipment for feeding and testing the miniature SPF-level experimental animals can be operated and tested in an ultra-clean workbench or a biological safety cabinet. The cage box needs to be taken out periodically during feeding, the feed is added, the padding is replaced, the cage box is replaced, and the cage box is put back after the operation is completed. At present, the operations of entering the animal house, taking out, carrying and putting back the cage box are all completed manually.

The experimental animal feeding is generally in an animal room with ten-thousand purification standards, and has strict restrictions and standards on the entrance and exit of people. In the process of taking/placing cage boxes from each cage frame according to the requirements in each animal laboratory, operators must go through the processes of changing shoes, changing clothes, showering by wind and the like, and must wear sterilized work clothes and glove masks to ensure the ten-thousand-level cleanliness degree in the laboratory animal room, so that the operation is complex. The cage box is taken/placed and transported by workers, so that manpower is wasted, the working efficiency is low, the entering and exiting of the workers and the operation of the workers can cause environmental pollution to animals or animal polluted environments, and potential safety hazards exist to the animals and the workers.

In addition, the replacement periods of different cage boxes in different cages in the same experimental animal room are different, so that the information such as the replacement time point and the growth condition needs to be recorded manually, and the work is very complicated.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides an automatic animal house IVC taking/placing system and method aiming at the problems of high labor cost and low working efficiency of IVC replacement of an animal house in the prior art.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automated laboratory animal IVC pick/place system, the system comprising: the system comprises a task controller, an IVC automatic pick-and-place robot, a navigation magnetic track, a column positioning magnetic strip and a cage position indicating block, wherein the IVC automatic pick-and-place robot is connected with the navigation magnetic track; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the task controller is used for sending cage box position coordinates and picking/placing tasks to the IVC automatic picking/placing robot;

the IVC automatic pick/place robot is used for receiving a pick/place task of the task controller, moving under the navigation of the navigation magnetic track, interacting with the column positioning magnetic strips to perform coordinate positioning, and interacting with the cage position indicating blocks to complete the pick/place task;

the navigation magnetic track is laid on the ground in the experimental animal room and used for providing navigation for the IVC automatic pick-and-place robot to advance;

the row positioning magnetic strip is laid on the ground in the experimental animal room and is used for providing cage row positioning for the IVC automatic picking/placing robot;

the cage position indicating block is arranged on a cage frame in the experimental animal room, corresponds to each IVC and is used for providing feedback whether the cage box is taken/placed for the IVC automatic taking/placing robot.

Further, the cage position indication block is further configured to: feeding back whether the action of disengaging/locking the buckle of the cage box is finished;

when the cage box is taken out, the cage position indicating block is visible, and the buckle is separated;

when the cage box is put back, the cage position indicating block is invisible, and the buckle is locked.

Further, the IVC robot comprises: the robot comprises a central processing unit, a robot foot, a vertical arm, a horizontal arm, a manipulator and a power supply; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the central processing unit is electrically connected with the robot foot, the vertical arm, the horizontal arm and the manipulator and is used for receiving tasks of the task controller and sending corresponding instructions to the robot foot, the vertical arm, the horizontal arm and the manipulator;

the robot foot is connected with the central processing unit and used for receiving commands of the central processing unit, completing navigation and advancing of the intelligent robot and providing column positioning for the cage taking/placing box for the manipulator; the vertical arm is used for receiving the indication of the central processing unit and providing cage box line positioning in the vertical direction for the manipulator;

the horizontal arm is used for receiving the indication of the central processing unit and providing the positioning of the cage box position for a mechanical manipulator;

the manipulator is used for receiving the instruction of the central processing unit and finishing taking/placing the cage box after positioning is finished;

the power supply is used for providing power for the robot.

Further, the robot foot comprises: the device comprises a chassis, a row positioning sensing device, a traveling navigation device, a driving wheel driver and a universal wheel; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the chassis is used for fixing and bearing the whole robot main body component;

the column positioning induction device is arranged at the front end of the chassis, is connected with the central processing unit and is used for receiving a column positioning task of the central processing unit and inducing a magnetic field of the column positioning magnetic stripe to complete column positioning;

the traveling navigation device consists of at least two magnetic inductors, is distributed on a central line of the chassis parallel to the traveling direction in a tandem mode, is connected with the central processing unit, and is used for receiving the traveling task of the central processing unit, sensing the information of the navigation magnetic track and sending the sensed information to the central processing unit;

the driving wheel and the driving wheel driver are arranged on the chassis, the driving wheel is in contact with the ground, and the driving wheel driver is connected with the central processing unit and used for receiving the sensing information from the advancing navigation device in the central processing unit and completing the advancing task along the navigation magnetic track;

the universal wheels are assembled at four positions of the chassis and used for supporting the chassis in an auxiliary mode.

Furthermore, the number of the driving wheels is 2, the driving wheels are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the chassis, and the two driving wheels adopt a differential mode during steering.

Further, the vertical arm includes: the device comprises a vertical frame, a vertical screw rod, a first sliding block seat, a first stepping motor and a driver; the vertical frame is fixed on the chassis, and the vertical screw rod penetrates through the vertical frame and is connected with the first stepping motor and the driver; the first stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the uppermost end of the vertical frame; the first sliding block seat is arranged on the vertical screw rod and is fixedly connected with the horizontal arm; the vertical screw rod is driven by the first stepping motor to rotate, and the horizontal arm and the first sliding block seat move up and down along the vertical screw rod together.

Further, the horizontal arm includes: the horizontal frame, the horizontal screw rod, the second sliding block seat, the second stepping motor and the driver; the horizontal screw rod is fixed on the first sliding block seat of the vertical arm and is connected with the second stepping motor and the driver; the second stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the rearmost end of the horizontal frame; the second sliding block seat is arranged on the horizontal screw rod and is fixedly connected with the manipulator; the horizontal screw rod is driven by the second stepping motor to rotate, and the manipulator and the second sliding block seat move back and forth along the horizontal screw rod together.

Further, the robot includes: the device comprises side plates, a steering engine, a connecting rod group, a push rod, a shifting fork, a clamping piece, a linear slide rail, a color sensor, a motor and a limit switch; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the side plates are used for completing the fixed connection of the manipulator and the horizontal screw rod and fixing the steering engine, the color sensor and the linear slide rail;

the connecting rod groups are two groups, each group comprises two connecting rods, and each connecting rod is connected with one steering engine and one clamping piece; the two connecting rods are always kept parallel, so that the two clamping pieces are always kept parallel;

the number of the steering engines is four, two of the steering engines are fixed on the inner side of the side plate in parallel, the axes of the steering engines are parallel to the axes of the side plate, and the steering engines are respectively connected with the clamping sheet on one side of the side plate through a group of connecting rods and used for controlling the opening and closing of the clamping sheet; the other two steering engines are also fixed on the side plates, one steering engine is connected with the push rod, and the other steering engine is connected with the shifting fork to provide power for the push rod and the shifting fork, so that the push rod pushes the cage box and the shifting fork jacks up the cage box;

the clamping pieces are two, are parallel to each other and symmetrically distributed on two sides of the manipulator, and the inner side surfaces of the two clamping pieces are parallel to two outer surfaces of the cage box and are used for clamping the cage box;

the push rod is used for pushing the cage box to enable the cage box to be separated from the buckle;

the shifting fork is used for jacking the cage box to enable the cage box to be separated from the clamping groove;

the linear slide rail is vertical to the side plates and positioned at the two outermost sides;

the limit switch is positioned at the front end of the linear slide rail;

the motor is connected with the linear slide rail and used for controlling the extension and contraction of the front end limit switch;

the limit switch is used for completing a touch detection task, detecting whether a touch event occurs in the operation process of the manipulator, and completing the positioning of the manipulator on the cage box position;

the color sensor is arranged on the side plate, is positioned at the same side of the steering engine, and is as high as the cage position indicating block.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided an automatic pick/place method for laboratory IVCs, the method being implemented by the automatic pick/place system for laboratory IVCs according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the method comprising the steps of:

step S1, the task controller analyzes which cage box is operated currently according to the preset work content, and sends the specific positioning information and the work content to the robot;

step S2, the robot central processor analyzes the received positioning information and the work content, and sends the specific work steps to the row positioning induction device and the advancing navigation device of the robot foot, the vertical arm, the horizontal arm and the manipulator in a message queue mode;

step S3, the traveling navigation device detects a navigation magnetic track on the ground according to the position information and sends the detected information to the central processing unit, and the central processing unit feeds the information back to the driving wheel and the driving wheel driver to drive the robot foot to travel along the navigation magnetic track; after the robot starts to walk, the row positioning sensing device senses the corresponding row positioning magnetic strips according to the command of the central processing unit, and when the robot moves to the position of the preset row positioning magnetic strips, the robot stops walking to complete x-axis positioning;

step S4, the vertical arm receives the command of the central processing unit to complete the positioning of the y axis;

step S5, the horizontal arm receives the order of the central processing unit, and the positioning of the z axis is completed through the limit switch;

step S6, after the positioning is finished, the manipulator interacts with the cage position indicating block, and the cage box at a specific position is taken out of or put back to the cage frame;

step S7, after the cage box taking out/putting back action is finished, the mechanical arm is taken back, and the advancing navigation device is carried out to the designated position according to the command of the central processing unit;

the horizontal direction is set as an x-axis in a coordinate system, the direction vertical to the ground is set as a y-axis in the coordinate system, and the direction vertical to the direction in which the cage enters the cage box position is set as a z-axis in the coordinate system.

Further, the taking out of the cage box at the specific position from the cage by the manipulator in the step S6 further includes:

step S61, after the manipulator is positioned at the z-axis indicating position, the manipulator extends into the rear push rod to push forwards, the shifting fork upwards enables the cage box to be separated from the buckle, after the separation, the cage position indicating block falls down and is visible, the color sensor on the manipulator judges whether the cage position indicating block exists, if the cage position indicating block is not detected, the manipulator works again to enable the cage box to be separated from the buckle until the cage position indicating block is detected; the push rod and the shifting fork are retracted after the separation;

and step S62, the clamping pieces clamp the cage box after the cage box is separated from the buckles, the manipulator drives the cage box to retract 0.5-2 cm backwards to enable the cage box to be far away from the vent holes, the vertical arm rises 0.5-2 cm upwards to enable the bottom surface of the cage box to be higher than the clamping groove of the cage position, and the horizontal arm moves along the z axis to completely take out the cage box.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

the IVC automatic taking/placing system and the IVC automatic taking/placing method in the embodiment of the invention realize automatic taking/placing, carrying and placing back of the IVC by combining the real-time operating system uC/OS and the intelligent robot, can replace the existing mode of manually taking/placing and carrying cage boxes, have the advantages of automation, intellectualization and high accuracy, avoid the pollution of animals to the environment and the environment to the animals, and avoid the health hazard to the animals and workers, and meanwhile, the IVC automatic taking/placing system is strong in stability, high in safety, good in real-time performance and convenient for later-period function expansion. The intelligent robot is the automatic robot of getting/putting of IVC, simple structure, and each part function is clear and definite, has solved cage box in the front end laboratory animal room and has got/put, work such as cage frame and cage box management. The intelligent robot is optimized through a navigation algorithm, can run very stably, automatically distinguishes a bifurcation intersection, reaches an appointed cage box of an appointed cage according to a set instruction, and automatically finishes the taking/placing of the IVC; meanwhile, the robot accurately finds the cage boxes at specific positions on the specific cage frame through a navigation technology, and records and distinguishes the serial numbers of the labels in a program through the labels at the bottom of the cage boxes, such as rfid labels, so that the operation history of each cage box is recorded in time, and the trouble of manually recording the operation when the robot takes out or puts back the IVC each time is avoided; the labor force is saved, the working efficiency is improved, the experiment cost is reduced, better preparation work is provided for the rear-end automatic assembly line processing, and accurate and efficient management of the experimental animal room is realized.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automatic animal room IVC pick/place system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a first embodiment of an animal room IVC automatic pick/place system model of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of navigation tracks according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a coordinate system setting and positioning principle of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an IVC robot pick-and-place robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot foot according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a robot in a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a robot in a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a robot holding cage according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flow chart of an IVC automatic pick/place method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

1-a task controller; 2-IVC automatic pick/place robot; 3-a navigation track; 4-column positioning magnetic strips; 5-cage position indicating block; 21-a central processing unit; 22-robot foot; 23-a vertical arm; 24-a horizontal arm; 25-a manipulator; 26-a power supply; 221-a chassis; 222-drive wheels and drive wheel drives; 223-universal wheels; 224-column positioning sensing devices; 225-a travel navigation device; 251-a steering engine; 252-linkage; 253-a push rod; 254-a shift fork; 255-a clamping piece; 256-linear slide rail; 257 — a color sensor; 258-motor; 259-limit switch; 2510-lifting fork.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with the following detailed description. It is to be understood that such description is merely exemplary, that the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed below, but may be embodied in various forms, the essence of which is merely to assist those skilled in the relevant art in comprehensively understanding the specific details of the present invention. Moreover, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the concepts of the present invention.

In the IVC industry, manual operation is mainly used at present, automatic flow processing is only adopted in part of laboratories in the processes of material pouring, cleaning, disinfection and the like at the rear end, cage box cleaning machines and cage box cleaning operation robots are used for completing operations of prewashing, cleaning, washing and drying cage boxes, but the cage boxes need to be taken out of an animal house first to be cleaned, and the current IVC taking/placing is completed by workers entering the animal house; at the front end, the air exchange system is mainly introduced into the experimental animal room, and the cage box information is recorded in real time and the cage box taking/placing work is still completed by manpower. The intelligent robot is introduced into the front-end experimental animal room, and the operation of manually taking/placing the cage box is replaced by the mechanical arm, so that the cost is reduced, the efficiency is improved, and a laboratory is purified, thereby realizing the accurate and efficient management of the experimental animal room.

According to the animal house IVC automatic taking/putting system and method, the IVC automatic taking/putting carrying process is realized through the combination of the intelligent robot and the real-time operating system uC/OS, the system has the advantages of high automation degree, intellectualization and high accuracy, the existing manual cage taking/putting carrying mode can be replaced, manpower is liberated, the working efficiency is improved, cross pollution among animals, the environment and workers is avoided, and health hazards to the animals and the workers are reduced. The IVC gets automatically/puts the robot and gets into the experimental animal room and take out the cage box and transport to superclean bench, accomplishes by the staff and changes the bedding and padding and change operations such as cage box, and the operation is accomplished the back robot and is put back the cage box again to accomplish the real-time recording to operation process automatically.

The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail by the following specific examples.

First embodiment

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an automatic animal house IVC taking/placing system of this embodiment, and fig. 2 is a model diagram of the automatic animal house IVC taking/placing system of this embodiment. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the automatic animal room IVC taking/placing system includes: the system comprises an IVC automatic pick-and-place robot 2, a navigation magnetic track 3, a column positioning magnetic strip 4, a cage position indicating block 5 and a task controller 1. Wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the IVC automatic taking/placing robot 2 is used for receiving a taking/placing task of the task controller 1, moves under navigation of the navigation magnetic track 3, interacts with the column positioning magnetic strip 4, performs coordinate positioning, and interacts with the cage position indicating block 5 to complete the IVC taking/placing task.

The navigation magnetic track 3 is laid on the ground in the animal room and used for providing navigation for the automatic IVC pick/place robot 2 to advance. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of navigation track navigation according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the travel navigation device 225 in the IVC automatic pick/place robot 2 senses the navigation track 3 laid on the ground, and makes the IVC automatic pick/place robot 2 travel in the direction of the navigation track 3 according to the forward or backward message from the central processor.

Preferably, the navigation track 3 is a magnetic strip track, and the purpose of navigation is to provide a route to a specified cage or other specified positions for finding the cage, and the robot walks to the specified positions according to the route. A magnetic stripe track is pre-arranged in the field, and the traveling navigation device 225 on the robot foot detects the magnetic stripe and guides the robot to travel to a predetermined position according to the magnetic stripe track. Through the mode, the detection and positioning precision can reach 1 mm. Alternatively, the navigation track 3 in this embodiment may adopt a visual navigation or laser navigation mode.

The row positioning magnetic strips 4 are laid on the ground in the animal room and used for providing cage row positioning for the automatic IVC taking/placing robot 2.

The cage position indicating block 5 is arranged on a cage frame in the animal room, corresponds to each IVC, and is used for providing feedback whether the cage box is taken/placed for the IVC automatic taking/placing robot 2.

Preferably, the cage position indicating block 5 feeds back whether the action of disengaging/locking the buckle of the cage box is completed. When the cage box is taken, the buckle is separated, the cage position indicating block falls down and is visible, and the color sensor detects the cage position indicating block 5 and can be pulled outwards; when putting the cage box, the buckle locks, and the cage position indicates that the piece is invisible, and the colour inductor can't detect cage position and indicate piece 5, places and finishes. The cage position indicating block can be arranged on the cage position of the cage frame, and one cage position is arranged on each cage position.

The task controller 1 is used for sending cage box position coordinates and taking/putting tasks to the IVC automatic taking/putting robot 2. Preferably, the task controller 1 may be an upper computer.

In this embodiment, a coordinate system is provided for the system due to the need for positioning. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of coordinate system setting and positioning in this embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, the traveling direction of the robot in the horizontal direction is an x-axis, and the direction (up-down) perpendicular to the ground is a y-axis; the intersection point of the x axis and the y axis is used as an origin, and the direction perpendicular to the cage in a horizontal plane is used as a z axis. When coordinate positioning is performed, the IVC automatic pick/place robot 2 first determines the advancing direction by mutual induction of the traveling navigation device 225 and the navigation track 3, finds the x-axis, and positions the x-axis coordinate by induction of the column positioning induction device 224 and the column positioning magnetic stripe 4; the task controller 1 directly sends y-axis positioning data to the IVC automatic pick/place robot, and the robot directly completes y-coordinate positioning according to the y-axis positioning data after completing x-axis cage column positioning; after the y-axis positioning is completed, the mechanical arm starts to move along the z-axis, and the positioning of the z-coordinate is completed through a limit switch of the mechanical arm.

As shown in fig. 2, when the IVC automatic taking/putting system is used to take/put an IVC, the operation process of the IVC automatic taking/putting system in the animal room of this embodiment is as follows: after the IVC automatic fetching/placing robot 2 receives a task of the task controller 1, the central processing unit 21 sends a traveling command to the robot foot, the robot travels under the guidance of the navigation magnetic track 3, travels to a designated position of a work task through the column positioning magnetic strip 4, carries out accurate x-axis positioning, sends a manipulator 25 to a cage position of a cage box to be operated through the vertical arm 23 and the horizontal arm 24 to complete y-axis positioning, starts to move along the z-axis, completes z-axis positioning through a limit switch of the manipulator, and completes fetching/placing actions after finishing interaction with the cage position indicating block 5 in the fetching/placing operation.

In the automatic IVC picking/placing system for the laboratory animal room of this embodiment, the automatic IVC picking/placing robot 2 is a key component, and fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the automatic IVC picking/placing robot of this embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, the IVC robot in this embodiment includes: a central processing unit 21, a robot foot 22, a vertical arm 23, a horizontal arm 24, a manipulator 25 and a power supply 26; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the central processor 21 is connected to the robot foot 22, the vertical arm 23, the horizontal arm 24, the manipulator 25 and the power supply 26, is a calculation and control center of the robot, and is used for receiving tasks of the task controller, sending a command of advancing and stopping to the robot foot 22, sending a command of lifting to the vertical arm 23, sending a command of stretching to the horizontal arm 24, and sending a command of taking/putting to the manipulator 25, and the central processor runs a uC/OS operating system.

Preferably, the central processor 21 coordinates the following tasks according to message queues, mutexes and/or event flag sets: the cage position detection system comprises a traveling navigation task for detecting a running track, a traveling driving task for controlling the device to travel along the navigation track, an arm positioning task and a manipulator positioning task for realizing the taking/placing of a cage box, a cage position indication block 5 sensing task for judging whether the taking/placing is finished, and a human-computer interaction task for controlling and displaying the working state. Preferably, the uC/OS operating system is uC/OS-II or uC/OS-III, and may be uC/OS operating systems of other versions. Preferably, the central processing unit of the present embodiment is an STM32 microprocessor, model number STM32F103ZET6, which is available from the company STMicroelectronics (STMicroelectronics). The central processor may be mounted on the robot foot 22.

And the robot foot 22 is connected with the central processing unit 21 and used for receiving the command of the central processing unit, completing navigation and advancing of the intelligent robot and providing column positioning for the cage taking/placing box for the manipulator 25. Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the robot foot 22. As shown in fig. 6, the robot foot 22 includes: chassis 221, drive wheels and wheel drive 222, universal wheels 223, column position sensing device 224, and travel navigation device 225. Wherein:

the chassis 221 is used for fixing and carrying the whole robot main body component, and the column positioning sensing device 224, the travel navigation device 225, the central processor 21 and the like can be installed on the chassis 221. And at the same time, can also serve as a base for the vertical arm 23.

The column positioning sensing device 224 is mounted at the front end of the chassis 221, connected to the central processor 21, and configured to receive a column positioning task of the central processor 21, that is, an x-axis positioning task, and interact with the column positioning magnetic stripe 4 to complete column positioning. Preferably, the column position sensing device 224 may be composed of a magnetic sensor.

The traveling navigation device 225 is connected to the central processing unit 21, and is configured to receive a traveling task of the central processing unit 21, interact with the navigation track 3 or sense magnetic field information of the navigation track 3, and send the sensed information to the central processing unit 21, and the central processing unit 21 sends the navigation information to the driving wheel and driving wheel driver 222, so as to drive the robot to travel along the navigation track 3. Preferably, the travel guidance device 225 is composed of at least two magnetic sensors, and is distributed on a center line of the chassis parallel to the travel direction in a tandem manner, so as to ensure the travel direction of the robot by the principle that two points form a straight line.

The driving wheel and driving wheel driver 222 is connected to the cpu 21, is used for performing a traveling task, and is mounted on the chassis to contact the ground. Preferably, the number of the driving wheels is 2, the driving wheels are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the chassis, a 6-inch integrally-formed three-phase brushless hub motor is adopted, and the two driving wheels adopt a differential mode during steering. Preferably, the driver uses a three-phase brushless motor driver, the 2 encoders can respectively measure the rotating speeds of the 2 motors, and under the condition that the road surface has an inclination angle, if the vehicle body slides, the vehicle body can be found and corrected in time; the steering of the vehicle body is controlled in a differential mode, namely one motor accelerates and the other motor decelerates.

The universal wheels 223 are mounted to the chassis 221 in four orientations for additional support of the chassis 221.

The above is a description of the structure of the robot foot 22.

In the IVC robot 2, the vertical arm 23 includes: the device comprises a vertical frame, a vertical screw rod, a first sliding block seat, a first stepping motor and a driver; the vertical frame is fixed on the chassis, and the vertical screw rod penetrates through the vertical frame and is connected with the first stepping motor and the driver; the first stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the uppermost end of the vertical frame; the first sliding block seat is arranged on the vertical screw rod and is fixedly connected with the horizontal arm. The vertical screw rod is driven by the first stepping motor to rotate, and the horizontal arm and the first sliding block seat move up and down along the vertical screw rod together. The first stepping motor and the driver are electrically connected with the central processing unit 21 to receive the lifting task of the central processing unit 21. Preferably, the vertical lead screw of the vertical arm 23 is a high-precision lead screw, such as a high-precision lead screw with a screw pitch of 10mm or 5mm, the first stepping motor is a closed-loop stepping motor, and the running precision is guaranteed to reach 0.1mm through feedback of an encoder, so that the step loss problem is effectively inhibited, the control precision is improved, and the accumulated error is eliminated.

The horizontal arm 24 comprises: the horizontal frame, the horizontal screw rod, the second sliding block seat, the second stepping motor and the driver; the horizontal screw rod is fixed on the first sliding block seat of the vertical arm and is connected with the second stepping motor and the driver; the second stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the rearmost end of the horizontal frame (the end where the manipulator is positioned is taken as the front end); and the second sliding block seat is arranged on the horizontal screw rod and is fixedly connected with the manipulator. The horizontal screw rod is driven by the second stepping motor to rotate, and the manipulator and the second sliding block seat move back and forth along the horizontal screw rod together to complete the stretching action of the manipulator to the position of the cage box. The second stepping motor and the driver are electrically connected with the central processing unit 21, receive the horizontal movement task of the central processing unit 21, and send/pull the manipulator 25 into/out of the cage to realize the IVC taking/placing operation. Preferably, the horizontal screw rod adopts a high-precision screw rod, such as a high-precision screw rod with a screw pitch of 10mm or 5mm, the movement precision control of 0.1mm can be realized through a closed-loop stepping motor, the step loss situation is effectively prevented, the control precision is improved, and the accumulated error is eliminated.

The manipulator 25 is a key component of the IVC robot 2.

Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the manipulator according to this embodiment; FIG. 8 is a front view of the robot according to the present embodiment; fig. 9 is an exploded view showing the robot of the present embodiment; fig. 10 is a schematic view of the manipulator holding cage of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 7 to 10, the robot arm 25 of the present embodiment includes: the device comprises a side plate 250, a steering engine 251, a connecting rod group 252, a push rod 253, a shifting fork 254, a clamping piece 255, a linear slide rail 256, a color sensor 257, a motor 258 and a limit switch 259; in particular, the robot may also include a lift fork 2510. The manipulator takes the central line of the side plate 250 as an axis and is symmetrically distributed, wherein the steering engine 251, the connecting rod group 252, the push rod 253, the shifting fork 254, the clamping piece 255, the linear slide rail 256, the motor 258, the limit switch 259 and the lifting fork 2510 are symmetrically distributed, and corresponding functions are realized in a paired mode.

The side plate 250 is fixedly connected with a horizontal screw rod of the horizontal arm 24, and the plate surface is vertical to the horizontal screw rod, namely vertical to the z axis and can move along the z axis; the inner side of the side plate 250 is used for fixing a steering engine 251, a linear slide rail 256, a color sensor 257 and a lifting fork 2510; the other side is the outside and serves as the back surface of the robot hand 25.

The connecting rod group 252 is two groups, each group comprises two connecting rods, one steering engine and one clamping piece are connected, the two connecting rods are always parallel, the two clamping pieces 255 are always parallel, and the inner side surfaces of a pair of clamping pieces 255 which are symmetrical in the clamping opening and closing process are always parallel to the outer side surface of the cage box.

The number of the steering gears 251 is four, two of the steering gears are fixed on the inner side of the side plate 250 in parallel, the axes of the two steering gears are parallel to the axis of the side plate 250, and the two steering gears are respectively connected with the clamping piece 255 on one side of the side plate through a group of connecting rods 252 and used for controlling the opening and closing of the clamping piece 255 to realize the grabbing action of the manipulator 25. The other two steering engines 251 are also fixed on the side plates, one steering engine is connected with the push rod 253, the other steering engine is connected with the shifting fork 254, power is provided for the push rod 253 and the shifting fork 254, the push rod 253 pushes the cage box in the grabbing process, the shifting fork 254 jacks up the cage box, the cage box is separated from a buckle on the cage frame, and the cage box can be taken out from the cage frame smoothly by the clamping pieces 255.

The clamping pieces 255 are two pieces, are parallel to each other and symmetrically distributed on two sides of the manipulator, and the inner side surfaces of the two clamping pieces 255 are parallel to the two outer surfaces of the cage box and used for clamping the cage box. Preferably, the sponge can be installed on the clamping piece 255, so that on one hand, the friction force between the clamping piece and the cage box is increased, and the stability of the flat holding is improved, and on the other hand, the hard friction between the clamping piece and the cage box is avoided, so that the cage box is protected.

The push rod 253 is used for pushing the cage box to enable the cage box to be separated from the buckle.

The shifting fork 254 is used for jacking up the cage box to make the cage box separate from the clamping groove.

One end of the linear slide rail 256 is fixed inside the side plate 250, perpendicular to the side plate 250, and parallel to the side plate 250 at two outermost sides in the direction perpendicular to the side plate 250.

The limit switch 259 is located at the front end of the linear slide rail.

The motor 258 is connected to the linear slide 256 for controlling the extension and retraction of the front limit switch 259.

The limit switch 259 is used to complete a touch detection task, and detect whether a touch event occurs during the movement of the manipulator 25 along the z-axis, so as to complete the positioning of the manipulator 25 along the z-axis. Preferably, the limit switch 259 is an inductive proximity sensing module and a mechanical limit switch, and other detection methods may also be adopted.

The color sensor 257 is arranged on the side plate 250, is arranged on the same side as the steering engine 251, and has the height just equal to the cage position indicating block 5.

The lifting fork 2510 is fixed on the inner side of the side plate 250, is positioned on the inner side of the linear slide rail 256, is parallel to the linear slide rail 256, is positioned at the lowest end of the whole manipulator, and forms a plane below the manipulator for stabilizing the cage box. Preferably, an identification sensing device, such as a limit switch, can be installed on the lifting fork according to actual needs.

It should be noted here that after the cage box is placed in the cage, the cage box is clamped by the cage and falls into the clamping groove on the cage. The cage frame blocks that the cage box is stabilized to have two modules of mutually supporting in the draw-in groove, and one is the buckle, and another is the rubber buffer that is located cage frame cage box position back. The rubber buffer shape here is the cylinder, and inside cavity is used for ventilating for the cage box on the one hand, and on the other hand is used for propping up the cage box that falls into the draw-in groove from the rear end, makes the buckle be gone into to the cage box card, guarantees the stability of cage box on relevant position to guarantee that the experimental animals raised also can not arouse the skew of cage box and fall under the condition of normal activity, and this gets/puts the cage box for manipulator 25 and has brought the inconvenience. In order to ensure that the clamping buckle can be accurately separated when the cage box is grabbed every time and the cage box successfully falls into the clamping groove when the cage box is placed into the cage frame, 100% of successful taking/placing can be achieved only by means of mutual coordination of a program algorithm and structures of all parts of a manipulator in the whole taking/placing process, and the taking/placing precision of the manipulator 25 is required to reach 2 mm.

The operation of the robot is illustrated by an example of the removal of a cage.

When the positioning of the IVC robot 2 is completed, the robot arm 25 receives the command from the CPU 21 to start the pick-up operation.

Preferably, before the picking action, the secondary fine adjustment is completed by cooperation of sensors mounted on the manipulator 25, so as to achieve the purpose of precise positioning. The fine tuning here is done by means of limit switches. Two limit switches 259 are installed at the front ends of the linear slide rails 256 for identifying left and right obstacles of the cage, and the forward position of the limit switches 259 is adjusted by the linear slide rails 256 on the left and right sides and the through motor 258. A limit switch can also be mounted at the bottom end of the head of the lifting fork 2510 close to the side plate 250, wherein the limit switch is used for identifying a cross beam below the cage; the push rod can also be provided with a limit switch for identifying lattices with different depths in the cage; meanwhile, the color sensor 257 on the inner side of the side plate 250 is used for identifying the position relationship between the cage box and the buckle and judging whether the cage box is separated from the buckle or enters the buckle. When the buckle is disengaged, the color sensor senses the cage position indicating block 5; otherwise, the cage position indicating block 5 cannot be sensed.

After the secondary fine-tuning of the positioning is completed:

firstly, a steering engine 251 drives a push rod 253 to push a cage box into a cage, and then drives a shifting fork 254 to jack up the cage box upwards, so that the cage box is separated from a clamping groove on the cage; at this time, the color sensor 257 judges whether the cage box is disengaged from the card slot; if the color sensor senses the cage box indicating block 5, the cage box is separated from the clamping groove, and the next step is executed; if the color sensor does not sense the cage box indicating block 5, the cage box is not separated from the clamping groove, and the step is repeatedly executed until the color sensor senses the cage box indicating block 5.

Secondly, the two clamping pieces 255 are driven by the steering engine 251 to move inwards in parallel in a closing manner to clamp the outer side surface of the cage box. Two steering wheel 251 make two clamping pieces 255 guarantee parallel motion all the time, clamping piece 255 can closely laminate and even atress when cliping the contact surface of cage box, and the clamping-force that clamping piece 255 was applyed can guarantee that the cage box can take out the cage box smoothly from the cage in.

Preferably, the cage is stabilized by the lift fork 2510, ensuring that the lift fork 2510 provides the holding force in the event that the clamping force of the clamping tabs is insufficient.

The operation of the robot will be described below by taking a cage return process as an example.

When the cage is put back to the cage as required, the two clamping pieces 255 are driven by the left steering engine 251 and the right steering engine 251 to simultaneously clamp the cage, and move along the z axis, so that the two clamping pieces 255 always guarantee parallel movement, and the cage is conveyed into the cage to a preset depth. After the IVC automatically takes/puts the robot and accomplishes the location, carry out the secondary fine setting of location the same with the process of taking out, after the fine setting is accomplished:

firstly, the steering engine 251 drives the two clamping pieces 255 to open outwards, and the cage box is loosened to fall into the cage clamping groove;

secondly, push rod 253 promotes the cage box, makes the cage box withstand the rubber buffer of rear side and removes a short distance, and cage box front end gets into the draw-in groove under self action of gravity, and under the bounce-back effect of rubber buffer, the cage box kick-backs, and the buckle blocks the cage box to stabilize in the draw-in groove under the elastic force effect of rubber buffer. At this time, the color sensor 257 judges whether the cage box enters the card slot; if the color sensor cannot sense the cage box indicating block 5, the cage box enters the clamping groove, and the next step is executed; if the color sensor senses the cage indicator 5, the cage does not enter the slot, and the step is repeated until the color sensor fails to sense the cage indicator 5.

The manipulator 25 of this embodiment accumulative total error is little, picks the precision and reaches 2mm to can cooperate the robot to realize the accurate fine setting and the location of cage box position. The manipulator is simple in structure, each component has clear functions, and the lifting fork and the push rod limit switch in special-shaped design avoid structural interference of ventilation pipes, nuts, cross beams and the like in the cage. The manipulator can discern through the colour inductor of installation whether accurate reliable of cage box get/put process to judge the current position state of manipulator through many physics limit switch. The manipulator guarantees that the stretching precision reaches 0.1mm through the threaded screw rod and the closed-loop stepping motor, and effectively inhibits the step loss problem. The manipulator solves the problems of cage frame and cage box management in the front-end experimental animal room, cage box taking/placing and the like, greatly saves labor force, improves working efficiency, and provides better infrastructure for rear-end automatic assembly line processing.

The power supply 26 is a lithium battery. Preferably, a 36V30Ah lithium battery is used and can be mounted on the chassis 221. The battery 26 is the power source of the IVC robot and is electrically connected to the CPU 21, the driving wheel driver 222, the first stepping motor, the second stepping motor, and the motor 258 of the robot arm.

In particular, the automatic animal room IVC taking/placing system may further include: and the human-computer interaction device is used for displaying the working state of the automatic taking/placing system, issuing commands for controlling the robot to work and the like. Preferably, the human-computer interaction device is a display for providing an interface for displaying the operation process. Preferably, the task controller and the human-computer interaction device can be integrated together, control buttons of the task controller are provided through a display interface of the human-computer interaction device, and operation of workers is facilitated through keys or touch control.

It is seen from the above that, this embodiment IVC automatic get/put system utilizes the combination of real-time operating system uC/OS and intelligent robot, realizes that IVC is automatic to get/put, the transport with put back, and the current artifical mode of getting/putting the transport cage box of fungible has the advantage automatic, intelligent, that the degree of accuracy is high, avoids the animal to the pollution of environment and environment to the animal, avoids the health hazard to animal and staff, and simultaneously, IVC is automatic to get/put system stability strong, the security is high, the real-time good, the later stage function development of being convenient for. The intelligent robot is the automatic robot of getting/putting of IVC, simple structure, and each part function is clear and definite, has solved cage box in the front end laboratory animal room and has got/put, work such as cage frame and cage box management. The intelligent robot is optimized through a navigation algorithm, can run very stably, automatically distinguishes a bifurcation intersection, reaches an appointed cage box of an appointed cage according to a set instruction, and automatically finishes the taking/placing of the IVC; meanwhile, the robot accurately finds the cage boxes at specific positions on the specific cage frame through a navigation technology, and records and distinguishes the serial numbers of the labels in a program through the labels at the bottom of the cage boxes, such as rfid labels, so that the operation history of each cage box is recorded in time, and the trouble of manually recording the operation when the robot takes out or puts back the IVC each time is avoided; the labor force is saved, the working efficiency is improved, the experiment cost is reduced, better preparation work is provided for the rear-end automatic assembly line processing, and accurate and efficient management of the experimental animal room is realized.

Second embodiment

The embodiment provides an automatic animal room IVC taking/placing method, which is realized by the automatic animal room IVC taking/placing system of the first embodiment. Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the IVC automatic pick/place method according to this embodiment. Wherein, the moving direction of the robot in the horizontal direction is an x axis, and the direction (up and down) vertical to the ground is a y axis; the intersection point of the x axis and the y axis is used as an origin, and the direction perpendicular to the cage in a horizontal plane is used as a z axis. As shown in fig. 11, the method for automatically taking/placing the animal room IVC in this embodiment includes the following steps:

and step S7, after the cage box taking out/putting back action is finished, the mechanical arm is retracted, and the traveling navigation device moves to the designated position according to the command of the central processing unit.

The automatic IVC pick/place method is described below with a specific pick-up process.

This example will be described by taking out the cage box of the 5 th and 3 rd columns on the 8-layer cage named as # 2 in the animal house.

In this embodiment, due to the positioning requirement, a coordinate system is set, wherein the horizontal direction is an x-axis, the direction perpendicular to the ground is a y-axis, and the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cage enters the cage position (hereinafter referred to as perpendicular to the cage) is a z-axis.

Specifically, the automatic IVC taking/placing method for taking out the animal house comprises the following steps:

and step S21, the task controller analyzes which cage box is operated currently according to the working content, and sends the positioning information of the No. 2 cage layer 5 and the column 5 and the working content of 'cage taking' to the robot.

And step S22, after the robot is powered on, the vertical arm, the horizontal arm and the manipulator are reset for the first work, an inductive proximity switch is arranged at the stroke limit of the arm, and the position can be used as a reference point to play a role in position recording and anti-collision.

In the working process, the vertical arm, the horizontal arm and the manipulator judge whether each action is touched or in place according to the event mark group of the touch detection device, so that the cage box is accurately taken.

In step S23, the robot travels along the navigation track to the 3 rd column (x-axis) of the # 2 cage according to the cage coordinates to be operated. The 8 rows of the cage correspond to 8 positioning magnetic strips, wherein the 3 rd row corresponds to the 3 rd positioning magnetic strip.

And step S24, the robot starts the accurate positioning of the x axis, the coordinate adjustment is realized by the forward and backward movement of the robot, the position detection depends on each row of corresponding magnetic strips and the magnetic sensor on the side surface of the robot, and the detection and control accuracy can reach 1 mm.

And step S25, the vertical arm starts to move, the first stepping motor and the driver receive the instruction of the central processing unit, the vertical arm rod is driven to move up and down, and the mechanical arm is brought to the 5 th layer of the y axis. The vertical arm stepping motor is provided with encoder feedback, and has high precision and no accumulated error.

And step S26, the horizontal arm starts to move, the second stepping motor and the driver receive the instruction of the central processing unit, the horizontal arm rod is driven to move horizontally, the manipulator is brought to the designated position of the z axis, and the manipulator is pushed into the cage. If there is the error during location, thereby install and carry out the coordinate adjustment at manipulator both sides and thereby the limit switch below and stretch into the manipulator once more with the manipulator, the limit switch in manipulator right side rear touches cage frame and is listed as the fixed strip, and the manipulator stretches into completely.

And step S27, after the manipulator is positioned at the z-axis indicating position, the manipulator stretches into the push rod to push forwards, the shifting fork upwards enables the cage box to be separated from the buckle, after the cage box is separated, the cage position indicating block falls down and is visible, the color sensor on the manipulator judges whether the cage position indicating block exists, if the cage position indicating block is not detected, the manipulator works again to enable the cage box to be separated from the buckle until the cage position indicating block is detected. And after the separation, the push rod and the shifting fork are retracted.

And step S28, the clamping pieces clamp the cage box after the cage box is separated from the buckle, the manipulator drives the cage box to withdraw a small distance backwards to enable the cage box to be far away from the vent hole, the vertical arm rises a small distance upwards to enable the bottom surface of the cage box to be higher than the clamping groove of the cage position, and the horizontal arm moves along the z axis to completely take out the cage box. Preferably, the distance of the small segment withdrawn by the manipulator is 0.5-2 cm; the vertical arm rises upwards for a short distance of 0.5-2 cm.

And step S29, loosening the clamping piece, enabling the robot to travel to a specified position along the navigation track, and finishing the operation of taking the cage box.

The automatic animal room IVC taking/placing method has the advantages of automation, intellectualization and high accuracy, can replace the existing manual cage taking/placing and carrying mode, avoids the pollution of animals to the environment and the environment to the animals, and avoids the health hazard to the animals and workers; and a better infrastructure is provided for the back-end automatic assembly line processing treatment. Simultaneously, the robot finds each different cage box on the cage of difference through the accurate cage that finds of magnetic navigation technique to through the label of cage box bottom portion, for example rfid label, these serial numbers are recorded and are distinguished in the procedure, and the rethread planned route robot can carry the cage box and put in appointed place, provides preparation work for the further processing of rear end, has saved the labour greatly, has improved work efficiency, the cost is reduced.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An IVC automatic taking/placing system for an experimental animal room is characterized in that after being placed in a cage, the IVC can be clamped by the cage and falls into a clamping groove on the cage; the IVC is clamped by the cage frame and is stabilized in the clamping groove, two mutually matched modules are arranged, one is a buckle, and the other is a rubber plug positioned behind the IVC on the cage frame; the rubber plug props against the IVC falling into the clamping groove from the rear end, so that the IVC is clamped into the buckle, and the stability of the IVC at the corresponding position is ensured; characterized in that the system comprises: the system comprises a task controller, an IVC automatic pick-and-place robot, a navigation magnetic track, a column positioning magnetic strip and a cage position indicating block, wherein the IVC automatic pick-and-place robot is connected with the navigation magnetic track; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the IVC automatic pick/place robot is used for receiving a pick/place task of the task controller, moving under the navigation of the navigation magnetic track, interacting with the column positioning magnetic strips to perform coordinate positioning, and interacting with the cage position indicating blocks to complete the pick/place task; the automatic IVC pick/place robot comprises a manipulator, the manipulator comprises: the device comprises side plates, a steering engine, a connecting rod group, a push rod, a shifting fork, a clamping piece, a linear slide rail, a color sensor, a motor and a limit switch; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the side plates are used for completing the fixed connection of the manipulator and the horizontal screw rod and fixing the steering engine, the color sensor and the linear slide rail; the connecting rod groups are two groups, each group comprises two connecting rods, and each connecting rod is connected with one steering engine and one clamping piece; the two connecting rods are always kept parallel, so that the two clamping pieces are always kept parallel; the number of the steering engines is four, two of the steering engines are fixed on the inner side of the side plate in parallel, the axes of the steering engines are parallel to the axes of the side plate, and the steering engines are respectively connected with the clamping sheet on one side of the side plate through a group of connecting rods and used for controlling the opening and closing of the clamping sheet; the other two steering engines are also fixed on the side plates, one steering engine is connected with the push rod, and the other steering engine is connected with the shifting fork to provide power for the push rod and the shifting fork, so that the push rod pushes the cage box and the shifting fork jacks up the cage box; the clamping pieces are two, are parallel to each other and symmetrically distributed on two sides of the manipulator, and the inner side surfaces of the two clamping pieces are parallel to two outer surfaces of the cage box and are used for clamping the cage box; the push rod is used for pushing the cage box to enable the cage box to be separated from the buckle; the shifting fork is used for jacking the cage box to enable the cage box to be separated from the clamping groove; the linear slide rail is vertical to the side plates and positioned at the two outermost sides; the limit switch is positioned at the front end of the linear slide rail; the motor is connected with the linear slide rail and used for controlling the extension and contraction of the front end limit switch; the limit switch is used for completing a touch detection task, detecting whether a touch event occurs in the operation process of the manipulator, and completing the positioning of the manipulator on the cage box position; the color sensor is arranged on the side plate, is positioned at the same side as the steering engine, and has the same height as the cage position indicating block; the device is used for identifying the position relation between the cage box and the buckle and judging whether the cage box is separated from the buckle or enters the buckle; when the cage box is separated from the buckle, the color sensor can sense the cage position indicating block; otherwise, the color sensor cannot sense the cage position indicating block;

the manipulator further comprises a lifting fork, the lifting fork is fixed on the inner side of the side plate, is positioned on the inner side of the linear slide rail, is parallel to the linear slide rail, is positioned at the lowest end of the whole manipulator, and forms a plane below the manipulator for stabilizing the cage box; a limit switch is arranged at the bottom end of the head part of the lifting fork close to the side plate and used for identifying a cross beam below the cage; a limit switch is arranged on the push rod and used for identifying lattices with different depths in the cage;

the cage position indicating block is arranged on a cage frame in the experimental animal room and corresponds to each IVC, and the cage position indicating block is used for feeding back whether the action of disengaging/locking the buckle of the cage box is finished or not; when the cage box is taken out, the cage position indicating block is visible, and the buckle is separated; when the cage box is put back, the cage position indicating block is invisible, and the buckle is indicated to be locked.

2. The IVC automated pick/place system of claim 1, wherein the IVC automated pick/place robot comprises: the robot comprises a central processing unit, a robot foot, a vertical arm, a horizontal arm and a power supply; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the power supply is used for providing power for the robot.

3. The IVC automated pick/place system of claim 2, wherein the robotic foot comprises: the device comprises a chassis, a row positioning sensing device, a traveling navigation device, a driving wheel driver and a universal wheel; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the chassis is used for fixing and bearing the whole robot main body component;

4. The IVC automatic pick/place system of claim 3, wherein the number of the driving wheels is 2, the driving wheels are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the chassis, and the two driving wheels adopt a differential mode when steering.

5. The IVC automated pick/place system of claim 2, wherein the vertical arm comprises: the device comprises a vertical frame, a vertical screw rod, a first sliding block seat, a first stepping motor and a driver;

the vertical frame is fixed on the chassis, and the vertical screw rod penetrates through the vertical frame and is connected with the first stepping motor and the driver; the first stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the uppermost end of the vertical frame; the first sliding block seat is arranged on the vertical screw rod and is fixedly connected with the horizontal arm; the vertical screw rod is driven by the first stepping motor to rotate, and the horizontal arm and the first sliding block seat move up and down along the vertical screw rod together.

6. The IVC automated pick/place system of claim 2, wherein the horizontal arm comprises: the horizontal frame, the horizontal screw rod, the second sliding block seat, the second stepping motor and the driver;

the horizontal screw rod is fixed on the first sliding block seat of the vertical arm and is connected with the second stepping motor and the driver; the second stepping motor and the driver are positioned at the rearmost end of the horizontal frame; the second sliding block seat is arranged on the horizontal screw rod and is fixedly connected with the manipulator; the horizontal screw rod is driven by the second stepping motor to rotate, and the manipulator and the second sliding block seat move back and forth along the horizontal screw rod together.

7. A method for automatic pick/place of laboratory IVCs, characterized in that it is implemented by an automatic pick/place system of laboratory IVCs according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the following steps:

8. The IVC automated pick/place method of claim 7, wherein the robot in step S6 removes the cage from the cage at the specific location, further comprising: