CN111752228A

CN111752228A - Control system and control method for AGV cooperative transportation

Info

Publication number: CN111752228A
Application number: CN201910236864.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐炳炎
Original assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2019-03-27
Publication date: 2020-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-27
Also published as: CN111752228B

Abstract

The invention provides a control system for AGV cooperative transportation. Based on the control system, the control device can group the first AGV and the second AGV according to the transporting task, wherein the grouped first AGV and the second AGV can realize the cooperative transporting of the double AGVs in a double-vehicle control mode of cooperative operation instructions. The invention also provides a control method for AGV cooperative transportation.

Description

Control system and control method for AGV cooperative transportation

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of industrial automation, and in particular, to a system and a method for controlling cooperative transport of AGVs (automatic guided vehicles), and an AGV suitable for cooperative transport of dual AGVs.

Background

An AGV is a transport that can travel automatically. Through the reasonable scheduling of the AGV, various carrying tasks can be efficiently completed by utilizing the flexibility of the AGV.

However, current transport tasks are limited to the independent involvement of a single AGV.

Disclosure of Invention

In one embodiment, a control system for AGV coordinated transport is provided, the control system comprising a control device, and a first AGV and a second AGV, wherein:

the control device is used for grouping the first AGV and the second AGV and issuing cooperative operation instructions for respectively indicating the first AGV and the second AGV to cooperatively execute the carrying operation on the target object to the grouped first AGV and second AGV in a pairing manner;

and the first AGV and the second AGV are used for responding to the cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device to mutually confirm the cooperative relationship and synchronously executing the cooperative operation on the target after the cooperative relationship is confirmed.

Optionally, the cooperative operation command issued by the control device to the first AGV and the second AGV pair in the group includes a cooperative lifting command for instructing to lift the target object and a cooperative movement command for instructing to move the lifted target object.

Optionally, the first AGV and the second AGV further mutually confirm the master-slave identity after the cooperation relationship is confirmed, and one of the first AGV and the second AGV having the master AGV identity further initiates synchronous execution of the cooperative operation.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to issue a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, respectively, and the first AGV and the second AGV are further configured to establish communication connection therebetween in response to the grouping instruction issued by the control device; or the control device is further used for issuing a grouping instruction to any one of the first AGV and the second AGV, and one of the first AGV and the second AGV which receives the grouping instruction initiates the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV.

Optionally, the control device further issues independent dispatching instructions pointing to the positions of the targets to the first AGV and the second AGV respectively before issuing the cooperative operation instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV in pair; the first AGV and the second AGV further move to the position of the object independently of each other in response to an independent dispatching command issued by the control device.

In another embodiment, a control method for AGV cooperative transport is provided, the control method including:

the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV;

the control device pairs and issues cooperative operation instructions which respectively indicate the first AGV and the second AGV to carry out conveying operation on the target in a cooperative mode to the first AGV and the second AGV which are organized into groups, and the cooperative operation instructions are used for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to mutually confirm a cooperative relationship and synchronously carry out cooperative operation on the target after the cooperative relationship is confirmed.

Optionally, the cooperative operation command issued by the control device to the first AGV and the second AGV in the group comprises: the control device first issues a cooperative lift instruction for instructing the first AGV and the second AGV to lift the target object and a cooperative movement instruction for instructing the lifted target object to move.

Optionally, the control method further comprises: the control device respectively issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, and the grouping instruction is used for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to establish communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV; or the control device issues a grouping instruction to any one of the first AGV and the second AGV, and the grouping instruction is used for triggering one of the first AGV and the second AGV which receives the grouping instruction to initiate the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV.

Optionally, the control method further comprises: control device gives the independent scheduling instruction of pointing to target position respectively to first AGV and second AGV, independent scheduling instruction is used for triggering first AGV and second AGV respectively and removes to target position independently each other.

In another embodiment, a control method for AGV coordinated transport is provided, the control device comprising a processor for causing the control device to perform the steps of the control method as described above.

the first AGV responds to a cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device, and confirms a cooperative relationship with a second AGV which receives a pairing instruction of the cooperative operation instruction;

and after the cooperation relationship between the first AGV and the second AGV is confirmed, the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously execute the cooperative operation on the target object.

Optionally, the control method further comprises: and the first AGV confirms the master-slave identity with the second AGV after the cooperation relationship is confirmed, and initiates synchronous execution of cooperative operation when confirming that the vehicle has the master AGV identity.

In another embodiment, an AGV is provided that includes a processor for causing the AGV to perform the steps performed by the first AGV in the control method described above.

Based on the above embodiment, the control device may group the first AGV and the second AGV for the transfer task, wherein the group first AGV and the second AGV may implement the cooperative transfer of the dual AGVs by a dual-vehicle control manner of the cooperative operation instruction.

Drawings

The following drawings are only schematic illustrations and explanations of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an AGV grouping of a control system for coordinated transport of AGVs according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of AGV scheduling for the control system for collaborative handling of AGVs in one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an AGV cooperative transport of the control system for AGV cooperative transport in one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a co-operation instruction as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization verification interaction mechanism suitable for use in the AGV cooperative transport principle shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization instruction used in the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 a-7 d are schematic diagrams of examples of the synchronization instruction shown in FIG. 6 in the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 8a to 8d are schematic diagrams of an example of a cooperative transport operation based on the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of AGV electrical configurations for use in a control system for coordinated transport of AGVs;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for controlling AGV cooperative transport in one embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an expanded flow diagram of the control method shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a further expanded flow of the control method shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating the execution of cooperative operations in the control method shown in FIG. 12;

fig. 14 is an exemplary flow diagram of the synchronicity check mechanism during a cooperative operation as shown in fig. 13.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

In the following embodiments, it is intended to allow the AGVs to cooperatively complete a transport job, and the AGVs cooperatively completing the transport job are still managed and controlled in the form of a single AGV. The transportation task may include a scheduling stage of moving to the position of the object, and an operating stage of performing real transportation operation on the object at the position of the object or starting from the position of the object.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an AGV grouping for a control system for coordinated transport of AGVs according to one embodiment. Referring initially to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a control system for cooperative transport of AGVs includes a control device 10 and a first AGV21 and a second AGV 22.

In order to support the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to cooperatively complete the transport task, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be first grouped by the control device 10. Since the following description of the present embodiment will be given by taking the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 as an example, only the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 are shown in fig. 1, but this does not exclude the presence of other AGVs in the control system. It can be considered that the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 are two AGVs selected from a group of a plurality of AGVs.

The selection of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be performed in a random manner, or may be selected in consideration of other factors.

For example, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the vehicle distance, that is, the control device 10 may calculate that the distance between the parking positions of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 does not exceed the preset vehicle distance threshold value, and select the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 on this condition.

For example, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the remaining power, that is, the control device 10 may estimate that the remaining power of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 exceeds the power consumption required for the transport job and select the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 on this condition, or the control device 10 may estimate that the remaining power exceeds the power consumption required for the transport job and select the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 having close remaining power for the subsequent centralized charging management.

For another example, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the vehicle configuration, that is, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 selected by the control device 10 may have the same or close configuration, and the control device 10 may identify the degree of matching of the configurations between the different AGVs by the vehicle models of the AGVs.

For example, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be selected from a plurality of AGVs in consideration of the vehicle cooperation history, that is, although there is known standardized performance of AGVs having the same or similar configuration, there may be differences in actual performance of AGVs having the same or similar configuration due to unknown factors such as assembly and wear, and therefore, the control device 10 may select the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 having higher adaptability to be grouped by evaluating the cooperation history.

As shown in fig. 1, the control device 10 may group the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 in response to an externally input transport job and

issue group instructions

111 and 112 to the first AGV21 and the second AGV22, respectively. That is, the grouping of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may occur instantaneously upon reaching the control device 10 by a transfer task.

Accordingly, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 establish a communication link 200 therebetween in response to the

grouping commands

111 and 112 issued by the control device 10, respectively. The communication link 200 established at this time is used for the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to know the grouping relationship between each other.

It is understood that the control device 10 may issue the grouping command to only one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22, and the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 is initiated by one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 receiving the grouping command.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of AGV scheduling for the control system for collaborative handling of AGVs in one embodiment. Referring to fig. 2, the control device 10 may issue scheduling commands 121 and 122 to the first AGV21 and the second AGV22, respectively, which are directed to the positions of the objects corresponding to the transfer tasks.

Accordingly, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may each move independently of each other to the location of the object in response to the independent dispatching commands 121 and 122 issued by the control 10.

The

independent scheduling instructions

121 and 122 may include coordinate information of a position where the target object is located, where the coordinate information may be a center coordinate of the target object. For the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 each having the center coordinate of the object as the dispatching destination coordinate, the center coordinate of the object may not be the final moving object of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22, but the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 determine a search range with the center coordinate of the object and respectively search for the operation bits each for performing the subsequent operation within the search range.

For example, taking a vehicle as an object, the

independent scheduling instructions

121 and 122 use the center coordinates of the vehicle as scheduling destination coordinates, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 each move to the center coordinates of the vehicle independently of each other, and each searches for a tire within a search range determined by the center coordinates of the vehicle, whereby the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can respectively determine the position between a pair of front wheels and the position between a pair of rear wheels as respective operation positions.

The above process may also be considered that the scheduling stage includes a scheduling moving process taking the position of the target object as a scheduling purpose, and an operation position finding process taking the position of the target object as a reference.

In addition, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may report response responses of completion of independent scheduling to the control device 10 after reaching the position of the target object.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of AGV cooperative transport in the control system for AGV cooperative transport according to one embodiment. Referring to fig. 3, after the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 each complete the independent scheduling, the control device 10 may issue

cooperative operation instructions

131 and 132 to the pair of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to instruct the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to perform a transporting operation on the object, respectively.

Accordingly, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can perform the pair validity check in response to the

cooperative operation instructions

131 and 132 issued by the pair of control apparatuses 10 to mutually confirm the cooperative relationship. Since the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 do not have a mutual cooperation relationship with other AGVs until the

cooperative operation instructions

131 and 132 are received, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can synchronously perform the cooperative operation on the target only after the mutual confirmation of the cooperation relationship, that is, after the pairing validity check passes.

Moreover, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can further mutually confirm the master-slave identity after the pairing validity check passes, for example, the first AGV21 may have the master AGV identity, and the second AGV22 may have the slave AGV identity, and the same principle is applied in the opposite direction. Thus, synchronous execution of the cooperative operation can be initiated by the first AGV21 or the second AGV22 having the master AGV identity. The confirmation of the master-slave identity between the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be negotiated by the two AGVs, or one AGV having the master AGV identity that receives the cooperative operation instruction first and the other AGV having the slave AGV identity that receives the cooperative operation instruction later may be defaulted, and the master-slave identity between the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be revoked after the cooperative operation on the target object is completed by synchronous execution.

In addition, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may check the operation preparation state before the synchronization check, notify each other of the operation schedules during the execution of the cooperative operation, and implement the synchronization constraint 130 between each other by the synchronization check of the operation schedules of both the AGVs.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the cooperative operation instruction as shown in fig. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the pair-wise issued

interoperation instructions

131 and 132 may include an AGV identification field 41, a task identification field 42, a task attribute field 43, and an additional information field 44. The AGV identification field 41 may be filled with an AGV identification of the first AGV21 or the second AGV22 receiving the cooperative operation instruction; the task identifier field 42 may be filled with a task identifier of a transport task corresponding to the cooperative operation currently performed by the first AGV21 or the second AGV 22; the task attribute field 43 may contain a cooperative AGV identification 43a of the second AGV22 or the first AGV21 that receives another cooperative operation instruction of the pair, and synchronization contents 43b involved in the cooperative operation process; the additional information field 44 may fill in extended information according to actual use.

With the cooperative operation instruction shown in fig. 4, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can recognize the corresponding cooperative operation content and can also perform the pairing validity verification. That is, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can recognize the cooperative operation content by the synchronization content 43b, and for example, if the synchronization content 43b is a height, the cooperative operation content can be recognized as a lift operation, and if the synchronization content 43b is a displacement, the cooperative operation content can be recognized as a move operation. For another example, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may recognize the cooperating AGVs cooperatively performing the same transport task through the task identifier field 42 and the cooperating AGV identifiers 43a, thereby implementing the pairing validity verification.

Alternatively, the synchronization content 43b may be replaced by an operation content and a parameter indicating that the operation content needs to be synchronized, such as height or displacement, is indicated in the additional information field 44.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization verification interaction mechanism suitable for use in the AGV cooperative transport principle shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5, assume that the first AGV21 has a primary AGV identity:

the first AGV21 may first initiate and pair validity verification to the second AGV22 having the slave AGV identity in S510, and the second AGV22 returns a verification confirmation of the pair validity to the first AGV21 through S520 after the verification of the pair validity;

the first AGV21 checks the preparation state of the own after receiving the verification confirmation of the pairing validity returned by the second AGV22, and sends a synchronization request to the second AGV22 through S540 after checking that the preparation state of the own is qualified at S530;

the second AGV22 checks the preparation status of the own in S550 in response to the synchronization request of the first AGV21, and returns a synchronization confirmation to the first AGV21 through S560 after checking that the preparation status of the own is qualified;

after receiving the synchronization confirmation fed back by the second AGV22, the first AGV21 initiates a synchronous start to the second AGV22 through S570, and then the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can perform a cooperative operation and notify each other of the operation progress through S580 during the period of performing the cooperative operation.

Based on the operation schedules notified from S580, either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can slow down the operation schedule of this party when the operation schedule of this party reaches a preset threshold value as compared with the advance margin of the other party, and either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can further stop the operation schedule of this party when the operation schedule of this party reaches a preset limit value as compared with the advance margin of the other party until the operation schedule of the other party advances to a degree that compensates for the advance margin, and then both parties stop and return to S530 to restart the synchronism check.

The first AGV21 may respond to the control device 10 with a response to completion of the operation of the object after the cooperative operation of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 with respect to the object is completed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a synchronization instruction used in the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in FIG. 5. Fig. 7a to 7d are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of the synchronization instruction shown in fig. 6 in the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in fig. 5. Referring to fig. 6 in conjunction with fig. 5 and fig. 7a to 7d, a sync message having a format shown in fig. 6 may be used in the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in fig. 5, where the sync message includes: an AGV identification field 61 in which an AGV identification of the first AGV21 or the second AGV22 may be filled; a task identifier field 62, in which a task identifier of a transport task corresponding to the cooperative operation currently performed by the first AGV21 or the second AGV22 can be filled; a message type field 63 in which the type of the sync message may be filled, fig. 7a illustrates the sync request message used at S540 in fig. 5, fig. 7b illustrates the sync confirm message used at S560 in fig. 5, fig. 7c illustrates the sync start message used at S570 in fig. 5, and fig. 7d illustrates the sync status message used at S580 in fig. 5.

In addition, the message format shown in fig. 6 further includes an additional information field 64, which can selectively carry information according to the message type. For example, the synchronization request message shown in fig. 7a may carry the synchronization preparation maturity information of the first AGV21 in the additional information field 64, the synchronization confirmation message shown in fig. 7b may carry the synchronization preparation maturity information of the second AGV22 in the additional information field 64, and the maturity information shown in fig. 7a and 7b may indicate the completion progress of the preparation work of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 that has reached the standard; the synchronization start message shown in fig. 7c may carry the synchronization target information of the cooperative operation (reference information for measuring whether the cooperative operation is completed) in the additional information field 64, and the synchronization status message shown in fig. 7d may carry status information such as the local operation progress of the first AGV21 or the second AGV22 in the additional information field 64.

In actual use, the cooperative operation commands 131 and 132 issued by the control device 10 to the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 respectively may include two commands issued in pairs, that is, a cooperative lifting command for instructing a lifting target and a cooperative movement command for instructing a movement of the lifted target.

For example, fig. 3 shows that the gripping tooth 211 of the first AGV21 and the gripping tooth 221 of the second AGV22 are closed to grip the wheel 23 of the car as the target object, that is, after the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 grip the wheel 23 of the car to be lifted by using the gripping

teeth

211 and 221, the lifting mechanism (not shown in fig. 3) of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 drives the gripping

teeth

211 and 221 to lift the car in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface so as to lift the car for moving the lifted car subsequently. For the example shown in fig. 3, the aforementioned positioning can be considered as the positioning of the

gripping teeth

211 and 221 at positions that can accurately grip the wheel 23. Of course, the holding manner of the lifting mechanism and the clamping

teeth

211 and 221 can be replaced by other manners, for example, the clamping teeth can be linearly telescopic, and the horizontal height of the clamping teeth can be raised and lowered along with the telescopic degree.

Fig. 8a to 8d are schematic diagrams of an example of a cooperative transport operation based on the synchronization check interaction mechanism shown in fig. 5.

Referring first to fig. 8a, for cooperative lift operation, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can utilize the difference in lift height therebetween to verify the synchronization of the cooperative lift operation, so as to form the synchronization constraint 130 with virtual leveling between the lift mechanism 212 of the first AGV21 and the lift mechanism 222 of the second AGV 22.

Accordingly, either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can slow down the lifting speed of this recipe when the lifting height of this recipe reaches a preset threshold value as compared with the advance width of the other one, and either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can further stop the lifting operation of this recipe when the lifting height of this recipe reaches a preset limit value as compared with the advance width of the other one until the lifting height of the other one advances to such an extent as to compensate for the advance width, and then both sides stop and restart the synchronism verification.

Referring to fig. 8b, for the cooperative moving operation, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can use the integral values of the linear velocity difference and the angular velocity difference to perform the synchronization check of the cooperative moving operation, so as to form the synchronization constraint 130 having the virtual bridging function between the chassis mechanism of the first AGV21 and the chassis mechanism of the second AGV 22.

For example, the linear velocity ν 1 of the first AGV21 may be decomposed into components ν 1X and ν 1Y in two directions of an X axis and a Y axis of a reference coordinate system, the linear velocity ν 2 of the second AGV22 may be decomposed into components ν 2X and ν 2Y in two directions of an X axis and a Y axis of a reference coordinate system, and the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 each have an angular velocity ω 1 and ω 2, then the integral values ^ Δ ν X and ^ Δ ν Y of the linear velocity difference and the integral value ^ Δ ω of the angular velocity difference may be obtained according to the following formulas 1 to 3:

═ Δ ν x formula 1 (ν 1x- ν 2x) ═ Δ ν x formula 1

═ v 1 y-v 2y ═ Δ v y formula 2

Integral (ω 1- ω 2) ═ Δ ω formula 3

Since the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 move while supporting the same object together, the positional deviation between the two is not so large. By using the above-described integrated values to characterize the positional deviation between the first AGV21 and the second AGV22, the synchronization constraint 130 having a virtual characteristic of rigidity without losing flexibility can be formed more accurately between the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22.

Accordingly, either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can slow down the traveling speed of this method when at least one of the integrated values calculated by this method is a positive value and reaches the preset threshold value, and further, either one of the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 can stop the traveling operation of this method until the other traveling position advances to the extent of reducing the integrated value, and then both ends stop and restart the synchronism check when at least one of the integrated values calculated by this method is a positive value and reaches the preset threshold value.

Referring again to fig. 8c and 8d, during the lifting operation shown in fig. 8a and the moving operation shown in fig. 8b, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may be further physically connected by the docking mechanism 80 to achieve physical integration of the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22. The physical connection formed by the docking structure 80 may place constraints on the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 that are more conducive to performing the cooperative operation simultaneously. The docking mechanism 80 may dock after the first AGV21 receives the lift command (the docking process of the docking mechanism 80 may be considered part of the operational readiness), i.e., the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 may further utilize the docking mechanism 80 to physically dock with each other in response to the coordinated lift command issued by the control device 10. Also, the docking mechanism 80 may be disconnected after the completion of the moving operation to release the flexibility of independent movement of the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary AGV electrical configuration for use in a control system for cooperative transport of AGVs. Referring to fig. 9, the first AGV21 may have a first processor 910, a first upstream communication module 911 for establishing a communication connection with the control device 10, and a first grouping communication module 912 for establishing a communication connection with the second AGV22, and the second AGV22 may have a second processor 920, a second upstream communication module 921 for establishing a communication connection with the control device 10, and a second grouping communication module 922 for establishing a communication connection with the first AGV 21.

As can also be seen from fig. 9, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 respectively have a first sensor module 913 and a second sensor module 923, the first sensor module 913 and the second sensor module 923 may include an avoidance detection sensor for the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to avoid obstacles (including mutual avoidance), a target detection sensor for the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to realize the operation position, a lift progress detection sensor for the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to detect the lift height, and a speed detection sensor for the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 to detect the linear speed and the angular speed of travel.

In addition, the control device 10 shown in fig. 9 may include a processor 11 and a communication module 12, wherein the processor 10 may be used to implement the AGV grouping and the generation and issuing of the aforementioned various commands, and the communication module 12 may implement the communication connection with one or more AGVs (including the first AGV21 and the second AGV 22).

As can be seen from the above embodiment, the control device 10 can group the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 for a transfer task, and the grouped first AGV and second AGV can realize cooperative transfer of the double AGVs by a double-car control manner of cooperative operation instructions.

In the above embodiment, the first AGV21 and the second AGV22 trigger the grouping when the control device 10 receives the transport job, but it is understood that the timing of the grouping may be delayed until the cooperative transport operation is performed.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a control method for AGV cooperative transport according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 10, in one embodiment, a control method for AGV cooperative transport includes:

s1000: the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV.

S1010: the control device issues cooperative operation instructions to the first AGV and the second AGV in the marshalling pair, wherein the cooperative operation instructions respectively instruct the first AGV and the second AGV to cooperatively execute the carrying operation on the target object.

S1020: and the first AGV and the second AGV respond to the cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device pair to mutually confirm the cooperative relationship. That is, each of the first AGV and the second AGV can mutually confirm the cooperative relationship with the other one of the pair instructions, which has received the cooperative operation instruction, in response to the cooperative operation instruction issued by the control apparatus. For example, the confirmation of the cooperative relationship may be realized by a pairing validity check based on the cooperative operation instruction.

S1030: and the first AGV and the second AGV synchronously execute the cooperative operation of the target after the cooperative relationship is confirmed. That is, each of the first AGV and the second AGV can perform the cooperative operation on the object in synchronization with the other AGV confirming the cooperative relationship.

In the above-described flow, S1000 and S1010 may be regarded as steps included in a control method executed by the control apparatus, and S1020 and S1030 may be regarded as steps included in a control method executed by the AGV.

After the above process, after the cooperative operation of the first AGV and the second AGV on the target is completed, the first AGV and the second AGV may report response to the completion of the operation of the target to the control device respectively.

The above-described process may allow a first AGV and a second AGV to be dispatched by a control device independently of each other.

Fig. 11 is an expanded flow diagram of the control method shown in fig. 10. As shown in fig. 11, in one embodiment, the control method for AGV cooperative transport may be extended to:

s1110: the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input carrying task and issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV respectively.

S1120: the first AGV and the second AGV establish communication connection with each other in response to a grouping command issued by the control device.

For the grouping phase of S1110-S1120: as an alternative to S1110, the control device may issue a grouping instruction to only any one of the first AGV and the second AGV after grouping the first AGV and the second AGV in response to an externally input transport job; accordingly, as an alternative to S1120, the one of the first and second AGVs that received the grouping instruction may initiate establishment of a communication connection between the first and second AGVs in response to the grouping instruction.

S1130: and the control device respectively issues independent dispatching instructions pointing to the positions of the targets to the first AGV and the second AGV.

S1140: the first AGV and the second AGV move to the position of the target independently of each other in response to an independent dispatching instruction issued by the control device.

In step S1140, the first AGV and the second AGV report the completion of the independent scheduling of the vehicle to the control device after reaching the position of the target.

S1150: the control device issues cooperative operation commands to the first AGV and the second AGV in the group, respectively, the cooperative operation commands instructing cooperative carrying operation of the objects.

S1160: the first AGV and the second AGV respond to a cooperative operation instruction issued by the control device to mutually confirm the cooperative relationship, and mutually confirm the master-slave identity after the cooperative relationship is confirmed. For example, the confirmation of the cooperative relationship may be implemented by a pairing validity check based on the cooperative operation instruction, and the confirmed master-slave identities may be negotiated by the first AGV and the second AGV to be that the first AGV has a master AGV identity and the second AGV has a slave AGV identity.

If the first AGV and the second AGV are equipped with matching docking mechanisms, the first AGV and the second AGV may further respond to the cooperative lifting instruction issued by the control device after S1160 to realize physical docking with each other by using the docking mechanisms.

S1170: and the first AGV with the identity of the main AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative operation of the target.

After the above process, after the cooperative operation of the first AGV and the second AGV on the target is completed, the cooperative operation completion of the target can be reported to the control device respectively, and the master-slave relationship between the target and the second AGV is released.

In addition, S1150 in the above flow may specifically include: the control device first issues a cooperative lifting instruction for instructing lifting of the target object and a cooperative movement instruction for instructing movement of the lifted target object to the first AGV and the second AGV, respectively. Accordingly, S1160 to S1170 need to be executed for each of the cooperative lift command and the cooperative move command.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a further expanded flow of the control method shown in fig. 10. Referring to fig. 12, the flow shown in fig. 10 can be further expanded to:

s1210: the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV in response to the externally input carrying task and issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV respectively.

S1220: the first AGV and the second AGV establish communication connection with each other in response to a grouping command issued by the control device.

For the grouping phase of S1210-S1220: as an alternative to S1210, the control device may issue a grouping instruction to only any one of the first AGV and the second AGV after grouping the first AGV and the second AGV in response to an externally input transport task; accordingly, as an alternative to S1220, the one of the first and second AGVs that received the grouping instruction may initiate establishment of a communication connection between the first and second AGVs in response to the grouping instruction.

S1230: and the control device respectively issues independent dispatching instructions pointing to the positions of the targets to the first AGV and the second AGV.

S1240: the first AGV and the second AGV move to the position of the target independently of each other in response to an independent dispatching instruction issued by the control device.

After the first AGV and the second AGV reach the position of the target object, the first AGV and the second AGV report the completion of the independent scheduling of the vehicle to the control device respectively through the above S1240.

S1251: the control device respectively issues cooperative lift instructions to the first AGV and the second AGV of the group, the cooperative lift instructions indicating that the lift operations are cooperatively performed on the target.

S1252: and the first AGV and the second AGV respond to the cooperative lifting instruction issued by the control device to carry out pairing validity check and mutually confirm the identity of the master and the slave after the pairing validity check is passed. For example, a first AGV has a master AGV identity and a second AGV has a slave AGV identity.

S1253: and the first AGV with the identity of the main AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative lifting of the target.

After the first AGV and the second AGV complete the cooperative lifting of the target object through S1253, they report the completion of the cooperative lifting of the vehicle to the control device and release the master-slave relationship.

S1261: the control device issues a cooperative movement command to the first AGV and the second AGV in the group to instruct cooperative movement of the lifted target object.

S1262: and the first AGV and the second AGV respond to the cooperative movement instruction issued by the control device to carry out pairing validity check and mutually confirm the identity of the master and the slave after the pairing validity check is passed. For example, a first AGV has a master AGV identity and a second AGV has a slave AGV identity.

S1263: and the first AGV with the identity of the main AGV initiates the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative movement of the lifted target.

After the processes, the first AGV and the second AGV can report the completion of the transport operation to the control device and release the master-slave relationship between the first AGV and the second AGV after the cooperative movement of the target object is completed.

Fig. 13 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the execution of the cooperative operation in the control method shown in fig. 12. Referring to fig. 13, taking an example that the first AGV obtains the identity of the primary AGV after the pairing validity check passes, S1030 in the control method shown in fig. 10 may specifically include the following steps:

s1310: the first AGV and the second AGV check the operation readiness state with each other.

S1320: after the mutual checking operation preparation state of the first AGV and the second AGV passes, the first AGV starts the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative operation of the target.

S1330: the first AGV and the second AGV mutually inform each other of the operation progress, and the synchronization constraint between the first AGV and the second AGV is realized through the synchronization verification of the operation progress of the two AGVs until the cooperative operation is completed.

Fig. 14 is an exemplary flow diagram of the synchronicity check mechanism during a cooperative operation as shown in fig. 13. Referring to fig. 14, when the first AGV starts the first AGV and the second AGV to synchronously execute the cooperative operation on the target, the synchronization verification adopted in fig. 13 may specifically include the following steps executed by each of the first AGV and the second AGV:

s1410: and judging whether the difference of the operation progress of the two parties reaches a preset threshold value, if so, indicating that the synchronism of the two parties is abnormal and jumping to S1420, otherwise, confirming that the synchronism of the two parties reaches the standard and jumping to S1460.

S1420: and judging whether the operation progress of the local is ahead of that of the other party, if so, indicating that the synchronization abnormality of the two parties needs local adjustment and jumping to S1430, and otherwise, confirming that the local does not need adjustment and jumping to S1480.

S1430: and judging whether the advance difference of the operation progress of the method reaches the limit, if so, confirming that the abnormal degree of the synchronism exceeds the adjustable range, and jumping to S1440, otherwise, confirming that the adjustable synchronism of the method is abnormal, and jumping to S1450.

S1440: the method stops the operation progress due to the abnormal degree of the synchronism exceeding the adjustable range, informs the other party, and then waits for restarting the cooperative operation synchronously executed by the two parties.

S1450: the method suspends the operation progress and then jumps to S1480.

S1460: and judging whether the opposite side stops operating progress due to the fact that the synchronization abnormal degree exceeds the adjustable range at present, if so, confirming that the current synchronization execution is close to the restart of the cooperative operation and jumping to S1470, and if not, confirming that the current synchronization is normal and jumping to S1480.

S1470: and judging whether the difference of the operation processes of the two parties is eliminated, if so, waiting for restarting the synchronous execution cooperative operation of the two parties by jumping to S1440, otherwise, confirming that the method still needs to continue to advance the operation process and jumping to S1480.

S1480: and judging whether the operation progress of the local is finished, if so, ending the current process, and otherwise, returning to the step S1410.

For the cooperative lifting corresponding to the lifting instruction, the difference of the operation progress in the above flow may be a lifting height difference between the two parties. For the system movement corresponding to the movement command, the difference of the operation progress in the above-mentioned flow may be the integral value ^ Δ ν x and ^ Δ ν y of the aforementioned linear velocity difference, and the integral value ^ Δ ω of the angular velocity difference, and when at least one of the integral values ^ Δ ν x, ^ Δ ν y, and ^ Δ ω reaches a threshold or a limit of the advance degree, a condition of "yes" may be satisfied at S1410 and S1430, and only when all of the integral values ^ Δ ν x, ^ Δ ν y, and ^ Δ ω do not reach the threshold or the advance degree does not reach the limit, a condition of "no" may be satisfied at S1410 and S1430.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control system for AGV cooperative transportation, comprising a control device, and a first AGV and a second AGV, wherein:

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the cooperative operation commands issued by the control means to the first and second AGV pairs of the consist include a cooperative lift command indicating a lift target and a cooperative movement command indicating movement of the lifted target.

3. The control system of claim 1, wherein the first AGV and the second AGV further mutually confirm the master-slave identity after confirmation of the cooperative relationship, and wherein one of the first AGV and the second AGV having the master AGV identity further initiates synchronous execution of the cooperative operation.

4. The control system of claim 1,

the control device is further used for respectively issuing a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, and the first AGV and the second AGV are further used for responding to the grouping instruction issued by the control device to establish communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV; or

The control device is further used for issuing a grouping instruction to any one of the first AGV and the second AGV, and one of the first AGV and the second AGV which receives the grouping instruction initiates the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV.

5. The control system of claim 1,

the control device further issues independent dispatching instructions pointing to the positions of the targets to the first AGV and the second AGV respectively before issuing the cooperative operation instructions to the first AGV and the second AGV in a pairing manner;

the first AGV and the second AGV further move to the position of the object independently of each other in response to an independent dispatching command issued by the control device.

6. A control method for AGV cooperative transportation is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the control device groups the first AGV and the second AGV;

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the cooperative operation command issued by the control device to the first and second AGV pairs of the group includes: the control device first issues a cooperative lift instruction for instructing the first AGV and the second AGV to lift the target object and a cooperative movement instruction for instructing the lifted target object to move.

8. The control method according to claim 6, characterized by further comprising:

the control device respectively issues a grouping instruction to the first AGV and the second AGV, and the grouping instruction is used for triggering the first AGV and the second AGV to establish communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV; or

The control device issues a grouping instruction to any one of the first AGV and the second AGV, and the grouping instruction is used for triggering one of the first AGV and the second AGV which receives the grouping instruction to initiate the establishment of the communication connection between the first AGV and the second AGV.

9. The control method according to claim 6, characterized by further comprising: control device gives the independent scheduling instruction of pointing to target position respectively to first AGV and second AGV, independent scheduling instruction is used for triggering first AGV and second AGV respectively and removes to target position independently each other.

10. A control method for AGV coordinated transport, characterized in that the control arrangement comprises a processor for causing the control arrangement to carry out the steps of the control method according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

11. A control method for AGV cooperative transportation is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the first AGV executes cooperative operation on the object in synchronization with a second AGV that confirms the cooperative relationship.

12. The control method according to claim 11, characterized by further comprising: and the first AGV confirms the master-slave identity with the second AGV after the cooperation relationship is confirmed, and initiates synchronous execution of cooperative operation when confirming that the vehicle has the master AGV identity.

13. An AGV, characterised in that it comprises a processor for causing the AGV to carry out the steps of the control method according to claim 11 or 12 performed by the first AGV.