CN112623794A

CN112623794A - Carriage position detection equipment, automatic warehouse-out and loading system and method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112623794A
Application number: CN201910951308.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴文宝
Original assignee: Shanghai Dingxin Electromechanical Equipment Co ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Dingxin Electromechanical Equipment Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-08
Filing date: 2019-10-08
Publication date: 2021-04-09

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of automation equipment, and provides a carriage position detection device which is used for detecting whether a carriage of a truck stops in a specified loading position or not, and comprises the following steps: the truss is arranged above the loading space and at least comprises a front beam and a side beam; the cross beam is arranged on the truss and can move along the length direction of the truss; the moving arm is arranged on the cross beam and can move along the length direction of the cross beam; the visual sensing device is arranged on the moving arm, moves on the truss along with the moving arm and the cross beam, and collects the appearance and position data of the carriage; and the carriage detection processing device is used for calculating the appearance data and the position data of the carriage according to the data collected by the visual sensing device. The invention has the advantages of realizing integration and automation of goods delivery and loading, and greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of goods loading.

Description

Carriage position detection equipment, automatic warehouse-out and loading system and method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of automation equipment, in particular to a carriage position detection device, an automatic warehouse-out and loading system and a method thereof.

Background

Cargo handling is a relatively laborious operation, and purely manual operations are prone to fatigue and are inefficient. Most of modern loading and unloading work realizes the assistance of mechanized equipment, but still cannot meet the requirements of rapidness and accuracy of modern logistics industry.

In combination with the current intelligent trend, the warehouse management can realize high automation. However, the loading process after goods are delivered from the warehouse is lack of automatic loading equipment.

Deeper, how to make goods warehouse-out and automatic loading realize seamless connection, that is, goods do not need manual interference from warehouse-out to loading, and then a set of brand-new automatic complete equipment needs to be designed, so that the warehouse management system and the loading system are an organic whole.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide large-scale automatic complete equipment, so that the loading process becomes a part of warehouse management, and the goods can be transported from delivery to departure in a fully automatic way. Of course, temporary adjustments may also be made manually, if desired.

The invention firstly provides a carriage position detection device, which is used for detecting whether a carriage of a truck stops in a specified loading position, and comprises the following components:

the truss is arranged above the loading space and at least comprises a front beam and a side beam;

the cross beam is arranged on the truss and can move along the length direction of the truss;

the moving arm is arranged on the cross beam and can move along the length direction of the cross beam;

the visual sensing device is arranged on the moving arm, moves on the truss along with the moving arm and the cross beam, and acquires the appearance and position information of the carriage;

and the carriage detection processing device is used for calculating the loading data and the position data of the carriage according to the information collected by the visual sensing device.

In the above vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus, the visual sensing device includes:

the bracket is arranged on the moving arm;

the camera is arranged in the middle of the support, faces the ground and is used for acquiring a top view of the carriage;

the first sensors are arranged on the support, the sensing direction faces the ground, and the relative positions of the first sensors are fixed;

the second sensor is arranged on the bracket, and the sensing direction of the second sensor faces the front beam;

and the third sensor is arranged on the bracket, and the sensing direction of the third sensor faces to the side beam.

In the above car position detecting apparatus, the visual sensing device includes at least 4 first sensors, and the car detection processing device determines the current relative position between the visual sensing device and the car according to the signal difference between the 4 first sensors.

In the above described vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus, the first sensor is an obstacle detecting sensor.

In the above vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus, the first sensor is a distance sensor.

In the above described car position detecting apparatus, the 4 first sensors are arranged in a rectangular shape.

In the above described car position detecting apparatus, the 4 first sensors are arranged in a square.

In the above-described car position detection apparatus, the car detection processing means captures the edge of the car based on the information of the first sensor and the camera.

In the above car position detection apparatus, the car detection processing device may obtain a distance between an edge of the car and the front beam of the truss, based on information from the second sensor.

In the above car position detection apparatus, the car detection processing device may acquire a distance between an edge of the car and the side member of the truss, based on information from the third sensor.

The invention also provides an automatic warehouse-out and loading system comprising the carriage position detection equipment, and the system further comprises: the system comprises a stock management module, a main control device and a manipulator; wherein

The carriage position detection equipment is used for detecting carriage parameters;

the cargo library management module calculates a loading model according to the carriage parameters and prestored cargo parameters;

the main control device controls the manipulator to load the goods according to the loading model.

In the automatic warehouse-out and loading system, the carriage parameters at least comprise the length and width data of the carriage; the cargo parameters comprise cargo length, width and height data.

In the automatic warehouse-out and loading system, the cargo library management module also prestores weight data of all cargoes.

In the automatic warehouse-out and loading system, the cargo library management module comprehensively calculates the loading model according to the length, width and height data of the carriage and the length, width, height and weight data of the cargo.

The invention also provides an automatic warehouse-out and loading method related to the automatic warehouse-out and loading system, which comprises the following steps:

s1, detecting whether the truck is loaded into the loading space;

s2, detecting the specific parking position and the wagon compartment external dimension of the wagon;

s3, calculating a loading model according to the data of the S2 and the data of the goods to be loaded;

and S4, delivering goods out of the warehouse and loading the goods according to the loading model.

In the above method for automatically delivering from a warehouse and loading, in step S1, the visual sensing device is used to detect whether a truck is loaded into a loading space; the visual sensing device comprises 4 first sensors for sensing obstacles; the 4 first sensors are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangular shape are parallel to four sides of a boxcar respectively, and when the 2 first sensors far away from the car head sense that an obstacle exists between the visual module and the ground, the van is considered to be in a loading position.

In the above method for automatically delivering from a warehouse and loading, in step S1, the visual sensing device is used to detect whether a truck is loaded into a loading space; the visual sensing device comprises 4 first sensors for sensing distance; the 4 first sensors are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangular shape are parallel to four sides of a boxcar respectively, and when the 2 first sensors far away from the car head sense the distance change between the visual module and the ground, the van is considered to be loaded in the loading position.

In the above method for automatically unloading and loading cars, step S2 further includes a second sensor pointing to the truss front beam and a third sensor pointing to the truss side beam; determining, by the first sensor, a current position of the vision module relative to a car; determining, by the second sensor, a distance of the vision module from the truss front beam; determining, by the third sensor, a distance of the vision module from the truss side beams.

In the above method for automatically unloading and loading, the height of the carriage is further obtained through the first sensor, and in step S3, the loading model is comprehensively calculated according to the length, width and height data of the carriage and the length, width, height and weight data of the goods.

In the above method for automatically unloading and loading, step S3 further includes manually adjusting the loading model.

Compared with the prior art, the carriage position detection equipment can acquire the overall dimension and the parking position data of the carriage, and provides basic data acquisition capability for automatic loading.

Further, on the basis of the carriage position detection equipment, the automatic warehouse-out and loading system and the corresponding automatic warehouse-out and loading method organically combine the warehouse and the loading, realize integration and automation of warehouse-out and loading of goods, and greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of loading of goods.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a visual sensor apparatus of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a state diagram of the process of detecting the position of the vehicle compartment in the present invention;

FIGS. 4a-4c are schematic views of a truck entering a loading position in accordance with the present invention; wherein

In fig. 4a the vehicle has not yet entered the loading bay;

FIG. 4b shows the vehicle entering the loading bay;

FIG. 4c shows the vehicle parked in the loading bay;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of automatic delivery and loading of goods in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a pictorial diagram of yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects and features of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Also, the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application are allowed to be combined with or substituted for each other without conflict. The advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent in conjunction with the following description.

It is to be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and are not to precise scale, which is merely for the purpose of facilitating and distinctly claiming the embodiments of the present invention.

It should also be noted that the numbering of the steps in the present invention is for ease of reference and not for limitation of the order of the steps. Specific language will be used herein to describe the particular sequence of steps which is required.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 shows the most basic and important components of a car position detecting apparatus: schematic view of the visual sensor apparatus 3. The vision sensing device 3 includes a stand, a camera 31, a first sensor 32, a second sensor 34, and a third sensor 33.

The shape of the bracket is generally designed to be rectangular (including square) in view of ease of manufacture and adaptation to the shape of the top view of the vehicle compartment.

The camera 31 is arranged in the middle of the bracket, and the lens faces the ground and is used for acquiring a top view of the carriage.

The first sensors 32 are disposed on the bracket, the sensing direction is toward the ground, and the relative positions of the plurality of first sensors 32 are fixed. In adaptation to a rectangular support, 4 first sensors 32a-32d may be disposed at the four corners of a rectangle (or square), respectively.

The second sensor 34 is disposed on the bracket, and is used for sensing the relative position of the visual sensing device 3 and the vehicle head (or a truss front beam mentioned later).

The third sensor 33 is provided on the bracket for sensing the relative position of the visual sensor device 3 to the side of the vehicle compartment (or a truss side member to be mentioned later).

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the present invention provides an embodiment of a car position detecting apparatus. The carriage position detection equipment is used for detecting whether the carriage 2 of the truck stops in a specified loading position or not, and comprises the following steps: the truss 1, the cross member 5, the moving arm (not shown), the visual sensor device 3, and the car detection processing device (not shown).

The truss 1 is arranged above the loading space and at least comprises a front beam 12 and a side beam 11. The front beam 12 is a beam near the vehicle head 4. The side member 11 may be a left or right member. Further, the front beam 12 and the side beam 11 are provided with a baffle (as shown by thick lines with dots at both ends in fig. 3) for matching with the second sensor 34 and the third sensor 33 to implement signal reflection, so that the second sensor 34 and the third sensor 33 can acquire distance data.

And the cross beam 5 is arranged on the truss 1 and can move along the length direction of the truss 1.

The moving arm is arranged on the cross beam 5 and can move along the length direction of the cross beam 5.

And the visual sensing device 3 is arranged on the moving arm, moves on the truss 1 along with the moving arm and the cross beam 5, and acquires the appearance and position data of the carriage 2. Specifically, the shape data of the car 2 may include only two-dimensional data of length and width, or may include three-dimensional data of length, width, and height, depending on the sensor selected.

And the carriage detection processing device is used for calculating the appearance data and the position data of the carriage 2 according to the data collected by the visual sensing device. Wherein the shape data can be integrated with the data of the first sensor 32 and the camera 31. Specifically, the first sensor 32 acquires distance data, the camera 31 acquires edge data of the carriage 2, and the CPU in the carriage detection processing device calculates the placement position of the next cargo according to a pre-stored placement model. The position data refer to the position of the car 2 relative to the truss 1 for facilitating the positioning of the manipulator for loading and unloading goods. Specifically, the first sensor 32 may be an obstacle detection sensor, and the car detection processing device determines the current position of the visual sensing device 3 relative to the car 2 through a combination of presence/absence signals sensed by 4 sensors, so as to determine whether a truck is present in the loading space and whether the truck is parked in place. Specific judgment criteria can be seen in table 1.

TABLE 1 Compartment corner judgment logic

32a	32b		32c		32d	The judgment result
							H	H	L	L	Front edge
H	H	H	L	Front right angle
					L	H	H	L	Right edge
L	H	H	H	Rear right angle
					L	L	H	H	Rear edge
H	L	H	H	Rear left corner
					H	L	L	H	Left edge
H	H	L	H	Front left corner

In addition, if the first sensor 32 is a distance sensor, the car detection processing device can determine whether there is a truck in the loading space and whether the truck is parked in place according to the collected distance data. The judgment criteria can be found in table 1. The advantage of the first sensor 32 being a distance sensor is that it is also possible to obtain height data of the car. The significance of obtaining height data is that the loading model can be accurately calculated. If the vision sensing device 3 only collects two-dimensional data including length and width, the car detection processing device can preset a fixed height with more universality so as to facilitate the system to calculate the loading model, but certain space waste exists in the model.

Based on the carriage position detection equipment, the invention also provides an automatic warehouse-out and loading system. The system further includes a stock management module, a master control device, and a robot (all not shown). The carriage position detection equipment is used for detecting carriage parameters; the cargo library management module calculates a loading model according to the carriage parameters and prestored cargo parameters; the main control device controls the manipulator to load the goods according to the loading model.

Specifically, the car parameters at least comprise data of the length and the width of the car; the cargo parameters comprise cargo length, width and height data.

Further, the stock management module also prestores weight data of all the cargos.

Further, the stock management module comprehensively calculates the loading model according to the length, width and height data of the carriage and the length, width, height and weight data of the goods.

Fig. 4a-c illustrate the process from the beginning of the truck entering the loading bay to the end of the stop.

As shown in fig. 5, the invention also provides an automatic warehouse-out and loading method, which comprises the following steps:

s1, detecting whether the truck is loaded into the loading space;

The loading model refers to how the arrangement of the goods to be loaded is arranged so that the space of the boxcar is utilized to the maximum. In addition, when the cargos with more weight differences are encountered, the weight is uniformly balanced according to the weight of the cargos, so that the mass center of the whole vehicle is prevented from deviating from the geometric center greatly, in other words, the purpose of calculating the loading model is also to avoid the rollover accident caused by unreasonable cargo arrangement.

In step S1, detecting whether the truck is loaded in the loading position by the visual sensing device 3, in accordance with the hardware device; if the vision sensor apparatus 3 includes 4 first sensors 32 for sensing obstacles; the 4 first sensors 32a-d are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangle are respectively parallel to four sides of the boxcar, and when 2 first sensors (namely two first sensors numbered as 32a and 32 b) far away from the car head 2 sense that an obstacle exists between the vision module 3 and the ground, the van is considered to be loaded in the loading space.

If in step S1, the visual sensing device 3 detects whether the truck enters the loading space; the visual sensing device 3 comprises 4 first sensors 32 for sensing distance; the 4 first sensors 32a-d are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangular shape are parallel to four sides of a boxcar respectively, and when the 2 first sensors (namely the two first sensors with the numbers of 32a and 32 b) far away from the car head 2 sense the change of the distance between the visual module 3 and the ground, the van is considered to be loaded in the loading space.

Further, in step S2, it is necessary to include a second sensor 34 pointing to the truss front beam 12 and a third sensor 33 pointing to the truss side beam 11; determining, by means of the first sensor 32, the current position of the vision module 3 with respect to the cabin 2; determining the distance between the vision module 3 and the truss front beam 12 through a second sensor 34; the distance of the vision module 3 from the truss side beams 11 is determined by the third sensor 33.

Further, the loading model is comprehensively calculated according to the shape data of the carriage 2 and the length, width, height data and weight data of the cargo to be loaded.

Further, in step S3, if the vision sensor apparatus 3 employs the first sensor 32 for sensing obstacles and only collects two-dimensional data including length and width, a fixed height with more universality can be preset in the system so that the system can calculate the loading model. If the first sensor 32 for sensing distance is used in the vision sensor apparatus 3, the calculated loading model is more adaptive and flexible.

Further, according to practical situations, in step S3, a step of manually adjusting the loading model may be further included.

As shown in fig. 6, in order to facilitate the gripping of the goods by the robot arm, a conveyor belt for conveying the goods may also be provided inside the girder 1. In particular, the conveyor belt is arranged against the upright on one side of the truss 1, the parking position of the vehicle being closer to the other side of the truss 1. The beam 5 and the manipulator can move in the whole truss 1, so that the manipulator can directly load goods on the carriage 2 after taking down the goods nearby.

The carriage position detection equipment, the automatic warehouse-out and loading system and the method thereof are convenient to use, greatly improve the cargo loading speed and accuracy, can save more labor cost, provide a good solution for the fields of logistics, ports and the like, and are suitable for companies with large cargo flow.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A car position detecting apparatus for detecting whether a car of a truck is parked in a designated loading place, comprising:

the visual sensing device is arranged on the moving arm, moves on the truss along with the moving arm and the cross beam, and collects the appearance and position data of the carriage;

and the carriage detection processing device is used for calculating the appearance data and the position data of the carriage according to the data collected by the visual sensing device.

2. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said visual sensing means includes:

the bracket is arranged on the moving arm;

3. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said visual sensing means includes at least 4 of said first sensors, and said vehicle compartment detection processing means determines the current relative position of said visual sensing means to said vehicle compartment by the difference of signals of 4 of said first sensors.

4. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said first sensor is an obstacle detecting sensor.

5. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said first sensor is a distance sensor.

6. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein 4 of said first sensors are arranged in a rectangular pattern.

7. A vehicle body position detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein 4 of said first sensors are arranged in a square.

8. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said vehicle compartment detection processing means captures an edge of said vehicle compartment based on information of said first sensor and camera.

9. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said vehicle compartment detection processing means acquires a distance between an edge of said vehicle compartment and a front beam of said truss, based on information from said second sensor.

10. A vehicle compartment position detecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said vehicle compartment detection processing means acquires a distance between an edge of said vehicle compartment and a side sill of said truss based on information from said third sensor.

11. An automatic warehouse-out and loading system, characterized by comprising the carriage position detection device, a stock management module, a main control device and a manipulator of any one of claims 1 to 10; wherein

12. The automatic warehouse entry and truck loading system of claim 11 wherein the car parameters include at least car length and width data; the cargo parameters comprise cargo length, width and height data.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the stock managing module further prestores weight data of all the stocks.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the stock managing module calculates the loading model based on the length, width and height data of the carriage and the length, width, height and weight data of the cargo.

15. An automatic warehouse-out and loading method, characterized in that, based on the automatic warehouse-out and loading system of any claim 11-14, comprising the following steps:

s1, detecting whether the truck is loaded into the loading space;

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein in step S1, the visual sensor device detects whether the truck enters the loading space; the visual sensing device comprises 4 first sensors for sensing obstacles; the 4 first sensors are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangular shape are parallel to four sides of a boxcar respectively, and when the 2 first sensors far away from the car head sense that an obstacle exists between the visual module and the ground, the van is considered to be in a loading position.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein in step S1, the visual sensor device detects whether the truck enters the loading space; the visual sensing device comprises 4 first sensors for sensing distance; the 4 first sensors are distributed in a rectangular shape, four sides of the rectangular shape are parallel to four sides of a boxcar respectively, and when the 2 first sensors far away from the car head sense the distance change between the visual module and the ground, the van is considered to be loaded in the loading position.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising a second sensor pointing to the front truss beam and a third sensor pointing to the side truss beam in step S2; determining, by the first sensor, a current position of the vision module relative to a car; determining, by the second sensor, a distance of the vision module from the truss front beam; determining, by the third sensor, a distance of the vision module from the truss side beams.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the height of the car is obtained by the first sensor, and in step S3, the loading model is calculated according to the length, width and height data of the car and the length, width, height and weight data of the goods.

20. The method as claimed in claim 15 or 19, wherein the step S3 further comprises manually adjusting the loading model.