CN113335810A

CN113335810A - Operation task balancing method, control terminal and automatic cargo sorting system

Info

Publication number: CN113335810A
Application number: CN202110529403.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李宝; 朱开磊
Original assignee: Shenzhen Hairou Innovation Technology Co Ltd; Shenzhen Kubo Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd; Shenzhen Kubo Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-14
Filing date: 2021-05-14
Publication date: 2021-09-03
Anticipated expiration: 2041-05-14
Also published as: CN113335810B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of warehousing management, in particular to an operation task balancing method, a control terminal and an automatic goods sorting system. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring the running state of conveying lines matched with robots, wherein each robot is matched with at least two conveying lines; determining at least one conveyor line in an idle state as a usable conveyor line, the operating state of the conveyor line comprising: an idle state and an occupied state; and sending a first control instruction to enable the robot to execute the corresponding operation task on the available conveying line. According to the robot, a plurality of matched conveying lines are provided for each robot, and the mode of determining the operation tasks which need to be executed by the robot at present is determined according to the running state of the conveying lines, so that the balance between the robot and the conveying lines is realized, and the waiting time of the robot is effectively reduced.

Description

Operation task balancing method, control terminal and automatic cargo sorting system

[ technical field ] A method for producing a semiconductor device

The invention relates to the technical field of warehousing management, in particular to an operation task balancing method, a control terminal and an automatic goods sorting system.

[ background of the invention ]

With the increasing enhancement and development of social business trade, the importance and concern of logistics and warehousing management is also increasing. How to provide fast and efficient logistics and warehouse management services is a current hot issue.

By means of the development of electronic information technology, for example, industrial robots and other automation industries, when warehouse management is performed on a plurality of existing goods warehouses, a mode that robots, conveying lines or other automation equipment are matched with one another is adopted, so that efficient goods or warehouse management is achieved.

However, in existing automated sorting systems, the speed at which the robot or conveyor line executes or processes the goods is not consistent. Such inconsistent or mismatched speeds can easily cause queue problems, which adversely affect the efficiency of the warehouse management system.

[ summary of the invention ]

In order to solve the technical problem, embodiments of the present invention provide an operation task balancing method, a control terminal, and an automatic cargo sorting system, which can keep a robot and a conveyor line balanced.

In order to solve the above technical problems, embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions: an operation task balancing method. The operation task balancing method comprises the following steps:

acquiring the running state of conveying lines matched with robots, wherein each robot is matched with at least two conveying lines;

determining at least one conveyor line in an idle state as a usable conveyor line, the operating state of the conveyor line comprising: an idle state and an occupied state;

and sending a first control instruction to enable the robot to execute the corresponding operation task on the available conveying line.

Optionally, the determining that at least one conveyor line in an idle state is an available conveyor line specifically includes:

when two or more conveying lines adaptive to the robot are in an idle state, selecting one conveying line in the idle state as the available conveying line;

when one conveying line adaptive to the robot is in an idle state, determining the conveying line in the idle state as the available conveying line;

and waiting for at least one adaptive conveying line to be switched into an idle state when the conveying lines adaptive to the robot are all in an occupied state.

Optionally, the robot comprises N cargo stores, a handling device for transferring containers between the cargo stores and the conveyor line and a drive device for driving the handling device to move between the N cargo stores and the conveyor line; n is a positive integer;

the selecting one conveying line in an idle state as the available conveying line specifically comprises:

calculating the moving distance required by the carrying device when the robot executes corresponding operation tasks on different conveying lines;

and determining the conveying line corresponding to the operation task with the shortest moving distance of the carrying device as the available conveying line.

Optionally, the operation task includes: a goods taking task of moving goods to the robot on the conveying line and a goods placing task of transferring the goods from the robot to the conveying line;

the robot is used for executing N goods taking tasks and N goods placing tasks in one execution cycle,

in an execution cycle, when an operation task executed on the robot is a goods placing task, selecting a conveying line enabling the robot to execute a goods taking task as an available conveying line;

and in an execution cycle, when an operation task executed on the robot is a goods taking task, selecting a conveying line enabling the robot to execute a goods placing task as an available conveying line.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

acquiring the running state of robots adapted to conveying lines, wherein each conveying line is adapted to at least two robots;

determining that at least one robot in an idle state is an available robot, the operational state of the robot comprising: an idle state and an occupied state;

and sending a second control instruction to enable the available robot to execute the corresponding operation task on the conveying line.

Optionally, the determining that at least one robot in an idle state is an available robot specifically includes:

when two or more robots matched with the conveying line are in an idle state, selecting one robot in the idle state as the available robot;

when a robot matched with the conveying line is in an idle state, determining the robot in the idle state as the available robot;

and waiting for at least one adaptive robot to be switched into an idle state when the robots adaptive to the conveying line are all in an occupied state.

the selecting one robot in an idle state as the available robot specifically includes:

calculating the moving distance required by the carrying device when the different robots in the idle state execute the corresponding operation tasks by the conveying line;

and determining the robot with the shortest moving distance of the carrying device as the available robot.

Optionally, the conveyor line comprises: a first conveying line and a second conveying line with opposite conveying directions,

the operation tasks comprise: a goods taking task of moving goods to the robot on the conveying line and a goods placing task of transferring the goods from the robot to the conveying line;

the second conveying line corresponds to the goods taking task, and the first conveying line corresponds to the goods placing task;

when the conveying line is a first conveying line, selecting a robot of which the last executed operation task is a goods taking task as an available robot in an execution cycle;

and when the conveying line is a second conveying line, selecting the robot with the last executed operation task as the stocking task as the available robot in an execution cycle.

In order to solve the above technical problems, embodiments of the present invention further provide the following technical solutions: a control terminal. The control terminal includes: a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus.

The processor, the communication interface and the memory complete mutual communication through a communication bus; the memory stores computer operation instructions, so that when the computer operation instructions are called by the processor, the operation task balancing method is executed.

In order to solve the above technical problems, embodiments of the present invention further provide the following technical solutions: an automatic cargo sorting system. This goods automatic sorting system includes:

a goods storage area for storing goods;

a conveyor line structure for transporting goods out of or into the goods storage area, the conveyor line structure comprising at least two conveyor lines;

a number of robots for handling goods;

and the control terminal is in communication connection with the robots and is used for executing the operation task balancing method and controlling the robots to execute corresponding operation tasks on the conveying line.

Optionally, the conveyor line structure includes: the operation tasks comprise that: a goods taking task of moving goods to the robot on the conveying line and a goods placing task of transferring the goods from the robot to the conveying line;

the second conveying line corresponds to the goods taking task, and the first conveying line corresponds to the goods placing task.

Optionally, a working station for a robot to enter is arranged between each first conveying line and the adjacent second conveying line, so that each robot is matched with one first conveying line and one second conveying line;

optionally, both sides of first transfer chain and second transfer chain all are provided with the work station to make first transfer chain and second transfer chain all with two robot looks adaptation.

Optionally, the robot includes N cargo storage bins, and the operation tasks performed by the robot at the work station at a time include: n goods taking tasks and N goods placing tasks, wherein N is a positive integer; and the robot executes the goods taking task and the goods placing task at intervals on the working station.

According to the operation task balancing method and the automatic goods sorting system provided by the embodiment of the invention, a plurality of matched conveying lines are provided for each robot, and the mode of the operation task which needs to be executed by the robot at present is determined according to the running state of the conveying lines, so that the balance between the robot and the conveying lines is realized, and the waiting time of the robot is effectively reduced.

[ description of the drawings ]

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, which correspond to the figures in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and which are not to scale unless otherwise specified.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an application scenario of an automatic cargo sorting system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for balancing operation tasks according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for determining available delivery lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method for selecting an available conveyor line according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for balancing operation tasks according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for determining available robots in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for selecting available robots in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a transmission line structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of an operation task balancing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a control terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[ detailed description ] embodiments

In order to facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific examples. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present. As used in this specification, the terms "upper," "lower," "inner," "outer," "bottom," and the like are used in the orientation or positional relationship indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and simplicity in description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are not to be considered limiting of the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Furthermore, the technical features mentioned in the different embodiments of the invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

The goods sorting refers to a process of taking out goods corresponding to an order from a warehouse or other similar goods storage area for storing one or more kinds of goods, and forming a corresponding order package for delivery to the warehouse. The automatic goods sorting system is an integrated system which depends on automatic equipment such as robots and conveying lines and realizes a goods sorting process comprising a series of operations such as goods transportation, package packaging and the like.

"operation task" refers to an instruction or command issued to the robot for execution. Which may contain one or more of such things as a path of travel, a moving target location, and operations to be performed at the target location (e.g., retrieving goods or placing goods). In the present application, the program instructions executed by the robot are named "operation tasks" merely for fully explaining the workflow of the robot in the automatic picking system, and do not constitute any limitation or suggestion of "instructions" or "commands". For example, it may be the instruction data issued as a whole, or may be composed of a plurality of different independent instruction data.

Fig. 1 is an application scenario of a cargo sorting system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the application scenario can be roughly divided into two areas, namely a goods storage area 10 and a picking work area 30. The transfer of goods between the goods storage area 10 and the picking work area 30 can be achieved by using the conveyor line structure 20, the plurality of robots 40 and the control terminal 50 between the two areas.

The cargo storage area 10 is an area for storing cargo therein. In the goods storage area, the goods may in particular be stored or stored in any suitable form. For convenience of description, the square container and shelf storage mode is described as an example in the application scenario, but those skilled in the art can apply the square container and shelf storage mode to other storage modes of goods, not limited to the square container and shelf storage mode.

Typically, a plurality of identical or different containers are placed on each pallet 11 according to a particular storage rule. Each container holds a plurality of identical items. Which marks the goods specifically stored by the container by means of a feature on the exterior of the container, such as a two-dimensional code or a bar code or similar identification.

With continued reference to fig. 1, a plurality of pallets 11 in the cargo storage area 10 are partitioned at intervals to form a plurality of lanes or similar travel paths having a width such that a robot or the like can move to a specific position to take a container from the pallet or return the container to the pallet.

In some embodiments, in storage with multiple containers per container, as shown in fig. 1 and 7, the transfer of the cargo generally presents two transport paths a and B with opposite transport directions.

Specifically, the first conveyance path a is: the containers taken out from the goods storage area 10 are transported to the picking work area 30 through the conveyor line structure 20, and the goods transportation path for one or more goods sorting works such as picking, packing and the like is completed in the picking work area 30 (i.e. from the goods storage area 10 to the conveyor line structure 20 to the picking work area 30). And the second input path B means: after a specific amount of goods is picked up at the pick work area 30, the containers are transported back to the goods transport path for storage in the goods storage area 10 by the conveyor line structure 20 (i.e., from the pick work area 30 to the conveyor line structure 20 to the goods storage area 10).

The pick work area 30 is another external area, different from the goods storage area 10, named according to the process it is to perform. The specific cargo sorting procedure to be executed substantially comprises: and taking the goods out of the goods box, sorting and packaging the goods or forming one or more goods sorting works in order packages corresponding to the orders. The specific sorting effort involved can be determined by the technician according to the needs of the actual situation, such as picking efficiency or factory space.

Specifically, two picking stations 31 may be disposed in the picking work area 30. The 'picking station' refers to a station which can independently realize the goods sorting work of a certain order. The number of the specific settings can be determined by those skilled in the art according to the practical application, and is not limited to two (e.g., three or more picking stations) as shown in fig. 1. In addition, the operation mode (such as automatic, semi-automatic or even full-worker operation mode) for specifically performing the goods sorting in the picking station 31 can be set by a technician according to the needs of actual conditions.

The conveyor line structure 20 is a device that establishes a container transport path between the cargo storage area 10 and the pick work area 30. Which generally has portions that extend into the cargo storage area 10 and the picking work area 30 as input/output channels for the cargo box. The input/output lane of the container may have a container pick and place structure adapted to accommodate a container handling apparatus, such as a robot 40, to supply containers to the conveyor line structure 20 or to remove containers from the conveyor line structure 20.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the input/output lane extending to the cargo storage area 10 may be comprised of a plurality of conveyor lines 21. It may in particular be any type of conveyor line with dimensions adapted to the transport of the containers, for example a roller conveyor line with a specific width, or a belt conveyor line. In order to distinguish between lines with different transport directions, in the present application a "first line" is used to denote a line for realizing a first transport path and a "second line" is used to denote a line for realizing a second transport path.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned "first conveying line" and "second conveying line" are only used for distinguishing two conveying lines with different conveying directions, and do not limit the specific implementation of the conveying lines or imply the interrelation between the conveying lines. For example, a specific first conveying line can change the conveying direction according to the actual needs, so that the conveying direction is changed into a second conveying line.

The robot 40 refers to an automated cargo handling device (e.g., an AGV cart, etc.) deployed in the cargo storage area 10. It may have one or more functional components such as a battery, an electric drive mechanism, a running gear, and a cargo storage mechanism. The robot 40 can move the traveling mechanism from the racks in the cargo storage area 10 to a position close to the conveyor line 21 by powering the traveling mechanism through the electric drive mechanism according to the control instruction provided by the control terminal 50, and perform a put operation (placing a cargo container on the conveyor line) or a pick operation (retrieving a cargo container from the conveyor line) through the cargo storage mechanism under the drive of the electric drive mechanism.

In the present embodiment, in order to meet the requirement of keeping the robot driven by electric power to operate continuously for a long time, a charging area C for charging the robot 40 may be additionally provided in the application scenario. The charging area C may be arranged at one or more positions in the application scenario, with a specific size and in any type of arrangement, according to the needs of the actual situation.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the robot 40 includes: a moving chassis 41, a rack main body 42, a cargo storage bin 43, a carrying device 44, and a driving device 45.

The moving chassis 41 is a main body moving mechanism of the robot 40. Rollers or similar running mechanisms are provided at the base of the mobile chassis 41.

The support body 42 is a robot body structure formed by extending upward based on the moving chassis 41. The bracket body 42 may be provided with corresponding mounting structures to provide a fixed position for one or more structural members.

The cargo storage container 43 is provided on the stand body 42, has a size adapted to a cargo box, and can be used as a storage space for separately storing the cargo box. Which may be embodied as a shelf, tray or other drawer-like structure carrying a container.

The plurality of cargo storage bins 43 provided in the robot may be arranged in any type of arrangement or arrangement, for example, as shown in fig. 2, a vertical arrangement may be adopted, and the plurality of cargo storage bins 43 may be stacked in the height direction, as required by one or more other practical situations, such as the main structure design of the robot 40.

The handling device 44 is a structural assembly for handling and transferring containers. The container can be a clamp type carrying device, a push-pull type carrying device or a mechanical arm and the like, and can be taken out from a cargo storage bin or put into the cargo storage bin.

The driving device 45 is a member for driving and guiding the above-described carrying device 44 to move between the respective cargo storages 43. Which may determine the particular drive type used depending on the arrangement of the plurality of cargo storage bins 43 in the robot 40 and the particular handling device 44 used.

For example, as shown in fig. 2, in the case where a plurality of cargo storage bins 43 are stacked in the height direction, the driving device 45 may be a lifting unit provided on the rack main body 42. It is possible to lift the carrying device 44 in the height direction or to lower the carrying device 44 so that the carrying device 44 is moved to any one of the cargo storage bins 43.

In other embodiments, to meet the requirement of keeping the electrically driven robot running for a long time, a charging area C for charging the robot 40 may be additionally provided in the application scenario. The charging area C may be arranged at one or more positions in the application scenario, with a specific size and in any type of arrangement, according to the needs of the actual situation.

The control terminal 50 is a control core of the entire article sorting system. It may be embodied in any type of electronic computing platform or server device having storage space and computing power to meet the needs of the actual situation to provide one or more application services or functions. The present invention is not limited to the specific implementation of the control terminal 50.

As a control core of the system, a communication connection is established between the control terminal 50 and the robot 40, so that the robot can be controlled to complete the cargo box conveying work by performing operations such as path planning of the robot based on information such as the position and function index of the robot 40. The functional indexes include, but are not limited to, the cargo capacity (i.e., the maximum number of containers that can be loaded at a time), the size of the robot, the driving range, the guiding manner, the container pick-and-place speed, and the operation speed.

Generally, the control terminal 50 may implement ordered control of the robot by issuing or distributing operation tasks. The "operation task" specifically refers to one or more instructions related to specific position information, including a robot moving path, a target container position, a stopped work station, and the like. The instructions may direct the robot to travel along a particular route and perform an action to pick or place a container at a particular location on the route.

During actual operation of the automatic cargo sorting system, the robot 40 deployed in the cargo storage area 10 may perform two operation tasks called a "pick task" and a "put task" to realize the first conveying path a and the second conveying path B described above. Wherein the "pick task" refers to the operation of the robot to retrieve a container to the robot on the second conveyor line. "put-task" refers to the operation of the robot to transfer a container from the robot to the first conveyor line.

Of course, the robot can also set other different types of operation tasks according to the needs of actual conditions, and is not limited to the two types of goods taking tasks and goods placing tasks.

The transfer of containers between the robot 40 and the conveyor line 21 may be accomplished in any suitable manner or mechanism. The following describes in detail the transfer process of the container between the robot 40 and the conveyor line 21 by the robot, taking the robot 40 shown in fig. 2 as an example.

When the "pick task" is executed, the lifting unit 45 first drives the carrying device 44 to move to the first height corresponding to the conveyor line 21. The handling device 44 then transfers the containers to be retrieved from the conveyor line 21 to the handling device 44 by gripping, pushing or pulling or other similar gripping means. Finally, after the lifting assembly 45 moves the handling device 44 to a position flush with one of the empty cargo storage bins 43, the handling device 44 transfers the cargo containers to that cargo storage bin 43 for storage.

In performing the "put task," the handling device 44 is first moved by the lifting assembly 45 to the cargo storage bin 43, where the target container is located. The target container is then transferred from the cargo storage bin 43 to the handling device 44 by gripping, pushing or pulling or other similar gripping means. Finally, after the lifting assembly 45 moves the handling device 44 to the first height, the target container is transferred by the handling device 44 to the conveyor line 21.

In addition, the robot 40 needs to enter or park at a specific area near or near the conveyor line 21 to complete the transfer of the containers. In the present application, the term "work station" is used to indicate an area close to the first conveyor line or the second conveyor line that is capable of fulfilling the task of operating the robot. In other words, the robot 40 is only able to perform an operating task on the conveyor line after it has entered the work station.

With continued reference to fig. 1, a container placement station S may be provided near the end of the conveyor line, on the roller conveyor line, that is sized to accommodate containers. The working stations W are positioned at two sides of the conveying line and are in the area level with the container placing position. After the robot 40 stops at the working station W of a certain conveyor line, the above-mentioned pick-and-place tasks can be performed.

Of course, those skilled in the art may adjust, replace or change one or more devices in the above application scenarios according to the needs of the actual situation, and are not limited to the one shown in fig. 1. For example, different sized containers may be placed in the cargo storage area 10 and robots adapted to the different sized containers may be deployed accordingly.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the time taken for a robot 40 deployed in the cargo storage area 10 to perform an operational task (determined primarily by the time the handling device transfers containers and the distance the handling device moves) is not the same as the time taken for the conveyor line to transport containers (determined primarily by the operating speed of the conveyor line).

Therefore, when the robot 40 stops at a work station of a certain conveying line to execute an operation task, due to the mismatch of the speeds of the two sides, the situation that the robot waits for a container returned by the conveying line or the conveying line waits for the robot to put the container down often occurs, and the good connection between the two can not be kept, so that the efficiency is reduced.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for balancing operation tasks according to an embodiment of the present invention. The operation task balancing method can be executed by the control terminal 50, and the problems that the robot cannot be well connected with the conveying line and is easy to wait with each other can be effectively solved. As shown in fig. 3, the operation task balancing method includes:

and S100, acquiring the running state of the conveying line matched with the robot.

The "adaptive conveying line" refers to a conveying line for a robot parked at a work station to perform an operation task. In this embodiment, the adapted conveyor lines are provided as two or more lines, instead of only one for the robot as is conventional. In other words, after the robot is parked at the work station, there are at least two adapted conveyor lines, which can be candidates for the robot to perform an operation task.

Any suitable conveying line or working station arrangement mode can be adopted, so that the working stations of the two conveying lines are overlapped, and the aim of configuring a plurality of matched conveying lines for the robot is fulfilled. For example, it is possible to arrange the conveyor lines on both sides of one work station, as shown in fig. 1. In this way, when the robot 40 is parked at the work station, it is possible to select whether to perform an operation task on the conveyor line located on the left or right side of the work station.

The "operating state" refers to the current operation or condition of the conveyor line. Which may be measured or characterized by one or more different indicators or parameters, is provided to the control terminal 50 as the basis decision data for operational task balancing.

S200, determining at least one conveying line in an idle state as an available conveying line.

In the present embodiment, the operating state can be roughly divided into an idle state and an occupied state. Here, the "idle state" indicates that the conveyor line can receive the operation task of the robot at any time. In other words, the robot performs the operational tasks on the conveyor line without or substantially without additional waiting time. And the 'occupied state' indicates that the current transfer work of the conveying line is saturated and cannot immediately receive the operation task of the robot. That is, the robot waits for a certain time while performing an operation task on the conveyor line.

Of course, the transmission line may also have other different operating states, not limited to the idle state and the occupied state, and specifically, one or more of the states may be selectively set or omitted according to the needs of the actual situation, for example, a deactivated state indicating that the transmission line is suspended for use due to a fault or the like may be added.

The "available conveying line" refers to a conveying line which is selected by the control terminal 50 for the robot 40 according to the running state of each candidate conveying line and can complete the operation task more quickly. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a conveyor line in an idle state does not require a robot to wait for additional idle time, and is a preferred option to achieve higher container transfer efficiency when available.

In some embodiments, the available delivery lines may be determined among a plurality of adapted delivery lines, in particular by the steps shown in fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the step of determining an available transport line (step S200) specifically includes:

s210, judging whether the conveying line in the idle state exists or not. If not, go to step 220; if so, go to step 230.

The control terminal 50 may determine whether the conveyor line is idle by obtaining one or more types of sampling data associated with the conveyor line. For example, the control terminal 50 may determine the status of the conveyor line by obtaining a pressure sensor at the cargo placing station to determine whether a cargo container is present at the cargo placing station.

S220, waiting for at least one adaptive transmission line to be switched to an idle state.

When all the conveying lines are in an occupied state, the robot needs to wait for a certain time until the conveying lines in an idle state can not be operated. The waiting time is a value determined according to actual conditions and can be determined in various ways.

For example, the control terminal 50 may set a refresh time, such as 30 seconds or less or longer (shorter predetermined times indicate higher refresh rates and longer predetermined times lower refresh rates), and periodically search to determine whether the transmission line has switched to an idle state

Alternatively, the control terminal 50 may predict the remaining execution time of each conveyor line to execute the current operation task, and further determine the time for the conveyor line to change from the occupied state to the idle state.

And S230, judging whether the number of the transmission lines in the idle state is 1. If yes, go to step S240, otherwise go to step S250.

And S240, determining the conveying line in the idle state as the available conveying line.

In the case of only one conveyor line in an idle state, the control terminal 50 can directly determine that it is an available conveyor line without further selection.

And S250, selecting one conveying line in an idle state as an available conveying line.

In the case of multiple alternative conveyor lines, the control terminal 50 may assist in selecting the preferred conveyor line based on some parameters of the robot relevant to performing the operational task to maximize efficiency. Of course, the control terminal 50 may also directly adopt a random selection mode without adopting any screening criteria.

In some embodiments, the robot may adopt a structure similar to that shown in fig. 2, including N cargo stores, a handling device for transferring containers between the cargo stores and the conveyor lines, and a driving device (N is a positive integer) for driving the handling device to move between the N cargo stores and the conveyor lines, the control terminal 50 may perform the following method to select an available conveyor line:

firstly, the moving distance required by the carrying device when the robot executes corresponding operation tasks on different conveying lines is calculated.

The "movement distance required for the transfer device" is the sum of the movement distances of the transfer device 44 when the robot performs the operation task. When different operation tasks are executed, the moving starting position, the target position and the moving times of the carrying device are different.

For example, as shown in fig. 2, when the robot performs different operation tasks, the corresponding target cargo stockers are different, or when the delivery operation and the pickup operation are performed, the moving direction of the conveying device is different.

Then, the conveyor line corresponding to the operation task in which the moving distance of the carrying device is shortest is determined as the available conveyor line.

Since the time required for the handling device 44 to grab a container is always approximately equal, the length of time for the robot to perform a certain task is mainly determined by the distance traveled by the handling device 44. In other words, the shorter the moving distance required for the conveyance device 44 to complete the operation task, the shorter the execution time of the operation task. Therefore, the control terminal 50 can select a better conveying line by using the moving distance as a selection standard to further improve the efficiency of the system.

In some embodiments, to fully utilize the loading capacity of the robot 40, the robot 40 with N cargo bins needs to perform N pick and N put tasks each time after docking at a work station (assuming that each cargo bin is only used to store 1 container). In the present embodiment, the process from the robot 40 entering the work station to leaving the work station is referred to as an "execution cycle".

The control terminal 50 may select an available conveyor line (which determines the target position of the handling device 44) based on the operation task (which determines the home position of the handling device 44) that is performed by the robot in the current execution cycle. As shown in fig. 5, the selecting step specifically includes:

and S251, acquiring an operation task executed by the robot.

The operation task may be a pick task or a put task.

And S252, judging whether the operation task is a goods placing task. If yes, go to step 253, otherwise go to step 254.

And S253, selecting the conveying line which enables the robot to execute the goods taking task as an available conveying line.

And S254, selecting the conveying line enabling the robot to execute the goods placing task as an available conveying line.

By the method shown in fig. 5, the robot can execute the picking task and the putting task alternately in one execution cycle as much as possible. In this way, the accumulated movement distance of the carrying device 44 in one execution cycle is shortest, and unnecessary movement of the carrying device 44 is avoided, so that the total time required by the robot 40 to complete one execution cycle is shortened well, and the effect of improving the efficiency of the automatic cargo sorting system is achieved.

And S300, sending a first control command to enable the robot to execute a corresponding operation task on the available conveying line.

The "first control instruction" may be issued by the control terminal 50, and include data information of relevant content such as an instruction or a command for controlling the robot to execute a specific operation task. The specific form or format may be any, as determined by the actual robot used or one or more other factors in the actual application environment.

In a practical application scenario (for example, as shown in fig. 1), due to different parameters such as the transmission direction of the conveying line, the specific operation tasks to be performed by the robot 40 on different conveying lines are different (for example, the operation tasks are directed to different target containers, and the operation tasks need to perform different actions). Thus, it is necessary to control the robot to perform an operational task corresponding to a specifically selected available conveyor line.

According to the operation task balancing method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the operation tasks required to be executed by the robot can be uniformly distributed to the plurality of conveying lines to be completed by providing the plurality of adaptive conveying lines, and the unbalanced state of queuing between the conveying lines and the robot is avoided, so that the efficiency is effectively improved.

It should be noted that, based on the characteristics of the operation task balancing method disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention (providing multiple candidate conveyor lines for each robot, and selecting an operation task specifically executed by the robot according to the running state of the conveyor lines), a person skilled in the art may also adjust, change, or alternatively apply the task balancing method disclosed in the foregoing embodiment to other application scenarios having similar characteristics according to the actual application scenario.

In other embodiments, in addition to providing multiple adaptive conveying lines for the robot, multiple robots may be provided for each conveying line to further achieve good engagement between the robot and the conveying line. As shown in fig. 6, the operation task balancing method includes the following steps:

and S400, acquiring the running state of the robot matched with the conveying line.

Wherein "adapted robot" refers to a robot that can perform an operational task on the conveyor line. Similar to step S100, in the preferred embodiment, two or more robots are also provided as candidates for one conveyor line.

In practice, any type of structural design may be used, in particular, providing two or more work stations for a conveyor line to enable the adaptation of one conveyor line to a plurality of robots. For example, work stations can be provided on both sides of the conveyor line, respectively, so that robots located on both sides of the conveyor line can perform operational tasks on the conveyor line at any time, at least two robots being assigned to the conveyor line.

The "operating state" refers to the current working condition of the actuating mechanism related to the container handling after the robot enters the working station, and can be represented by a plurality of different indexes or parameters.

S500, determining that at least one robot in an idle state is an available robot.

In the present embodiment, similarly to the conveyor line 21, the operation state of the robot 40 can be roughly divided into two states, an idle state and an occupied state. In particular, the "idle state" means that the robot can perform an operation task at any time without additional waiting time. And "occupied state" indicates that the robot is currently performing other operational tasks. That is, the robot needs to wait for a certain time to perform the corresponding operation task on the conveying line.

Of course, the robot may also have other different operation states, not limited to the above-mentioned idle state and occupied state, and specifically, one or more of the states may be selectively set or omitted according to the needs of the actual situation, for example, a deactivation state indicating that the robot is currently in an offline state and is suspended from being used may be added.

The "available robot" means a robot selected by the control terminal 50 for the transfer line without waiting according to the operation state of each robot parked at the work station. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the robot in the idle state can perform the operation task immediately, which is a preferred option to reduce the waiting time of the conveyor line.

In some embodiments, the available robots may be determined among a plurality of adapted robots, in particular by the steps shown in fig. 7. As shown in fig. 7, the step of determining the available robots (step S500) specifically includes:

and S510, judging whether the robot in the idle state exists or not. If not, go to step 520; if yes, go to step 530.

Wherein the operation state of the robot is obtained in step S400. The control terminal 50 may specifically determine the robot in a variety of suitable ways and in a variety of data. For example, whether the robot 40 is performing an operation task may be determined by a feedback signal of the robot 40.

S520, waiting for at least one adaptive robot to switch to an idle state.

The specific waiting time is determined by the robot with the least waiting time among the adaptive robots. The control terminal 50 may determine the specific waiting time in one or more ways similar to the above-described waiting for the transmission line to switch to the idle state.

For example, the control terminal 50 may set a refresh time, e.g., 10 seconds or less or longer (shorter predetermined time indicates higher refresh frequency and longer predetermined time lower refresh frequency), and periodically search to determine whether the robot has switched to the idle state

Alternatively, the control terminal 50 may predict the remaining execution time of each robot to execute the current operation task, and further determine the time at which the robot changes from the occupied state to the idle state.

And S530, judging whether the number of the robots in the idle state is 1 or not. If yes, go to step S540, otherwise go to step S550.

And S540, determining the robot in the idle state as the available robot.

In the case where there is only one robot in the idle state, the control terminal 50 can simply determine that it is an available robot. Of course, in the case immediately after step S520, the control terminal 50 may estimate in advance the time for each robot to wait for switching to the idle state, and then directly select the robot having the shortest waiting time as the available robot, and wait for the robot to return from the occupied state to the idle state.

And S550, selecting one robot in an idle state as an available robot.

In the case where there are two or more robots in an idle state, the control terminal 50 needs to select one of a plurality of candidate idle-state robots as an available robot according to some predetermined criteria.

For example, the control terminal 50 may randomly select one robot from a plurality of robots in an idle state by using a random selection method.

In some embodiments, in the case where the robot adopts a structure similar to that shown in fig. 2, including N cargo stores, a transfer device for transferring a container between the cargo store and the conveyor line, and a driving device (N is a positive integer) for driving the transfer device to move between the N cargo stores and the conveyor line, the control terminal 50 may perform the following method to select an available robot:

first, the moving distance required by the transfer device when the different robots in the idle state execute the corresponding operation tasks by the transfer line is calculated.

The "movement distance required for the transfer device" is the total of the movement paths of the transfer device 44 when the robot performs the operation task on the transfer line.

Then, the robot with the shortest moving distance of the carrying device is determined as the available robot.

As described above, the length of time for the robot to perform a certain operation task is mainly determined by the moving distance of the carrying device 44. Thus, the control terminal 50 can select a robot having a shorter time required to perform an operation task using the travel distance as a selection criterion, thereby further improving the efficiency of the system.

In some embodiments, the conveyor line may include: the first conveying line 21a and the second conveying line 21b are opposite in conveying direction. The second conveying line corresponds to the goods taking task, and the first conveying line corresponds to the goods placing task.

After each stop at the work station, the robot 40 with N cargo holds performs N pick-up tasks and N put tasks and leaves again (assuming that each cargo hold is only used for storing 1 container). In the present embodiment, the process from the robot 40 entering the work station to leaving the work station is referred to as an "execution cycle".

The control terminal 50 can select the available robot (which determines the target position of the handling device 44) according to the type of conveyor line. As shown in fig. 8, the selecting step specifically includes:

and S551, acquiring the type of the conveying line.

Wherein the conveyor line may be a first conveyor line or a second conveyor line.

And S552, judging whether the conveying line is a first conveying line. If yes, go to step 253, otherwise go to step 554.

And S553, selecting the robot of which the last executed operation task is the goods taking task as the available robot in one execution cycle.

In the case where the conveyor line is the first conveyor line, the robot that has just performed the pick task may be selected as the available robot.

And S554, selecting the robot of which the last executed operation task is the goods placing task as the available robot in one execution cycle.

In case the conveyor line is a second conveyor line, the robot that has just performed the put task is selected as the available robot.

By the method shown in fig. 8, the robot can alternately execute the picking task and the putting task in one execution cycle as much as possible. In this way, the accumulated movement distance of the carrying device 44 in one execution cycle is shortest, and unnecessary movement of the carrying device 44 is avoided, so that the total time required by the robot 40 to complete one execution cycle is shortened well, and the effect of improving the efficiency of the automatic cargo sorting system is achieved.

And S600, sending a second control instruction to enable the available robot to execute the corresponding operation task on the conveying line.

The "second control instruction" may be issued by the control terminal 50, and include data information of related content such as an instruction or a command for controlling the robot to execute a specific operation task. The specific form or format may be any, as determined by the actual robot used or one or more other factors in the actual application environment.

The second control command and the first control command are both commands for executing specific operation tasks on the robot 40, and the two control commands are different only in terms or basis for issuing commands. For example, in the application scenario shown in fig. 1, the first control instruction decides on which conveyor line a robot parked in a work station performs an operation task. And the second control order is that of the plurality of robots resting on the work station, which robot is to perform the operation task on the conveyor line in preference.

Of course, the specific examples of usable conveyor lines and usable robots shown in fig. 4 and 7 are for illustration only and do not limit the present application in any way. One skilled in the art may further exchange, replace, or adjust one or more steps of determining available conveyor lines and available robots disclosed in one or more of the above embodiments to obtain other further embodiments of determining available conveyor lines and available robots (e.g., applying the steps of determining available robots shown in fig. 7 to the embodiments of determining available conveyor lines). All modifications which can be made according to the needs of the actual situation on the basis of the idea of optimizing the efficiency provided by the present application belong to the protection scope of the present application.

In some embodiments, to further improve the efficiency of the system, the operation task balancing methods shown in fig. 3 and fig. 6 may be further combined.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a plurality of conveying lines according to an embodiment of the present invention. By the layout arrangement of the conveyor lines shown in fig. 9, it is possible to achieve simultaneously one robot with two adapted conveyor lines and two adapted robots per conveyor line. The control terminal 50 may effectively improve the efficiency of the automatic cargo sorting system by using the operation task balancing method shown in fig. 3 and 6 in combination.

As shown in fig. 9, the layout arrangement is composed of a plurality of first conveyor lines 21a and second conveyor lines 21b arranged at intervals.

A work station W is provided between the adjacent first and

second transfer lines

21a and 21 b. The work station W has a size adapted to the robot 40 and is arranged near the ends of the first conveyor line 21a and the second conveyor line 21b so that the robot 40 can perform a pick-up task on the first conveyor line 21a on one side and a put-out task on the second conveyor line 21b on the other side after entering the work station W.

Thus, each conveyor line (21a, 21b) has, in addition to the first and last two conveyor lines, two work stations distributed on either side of the conveyor line. Moreover, adjacent conveying lines (21a, 21b) are provided with a working station which is overlapped with each other, so that the effect that each conveying line has two matched robots when one robot has two matched conveying lines can be achieved.

In the actual operation process, each robot 40 can select to execute a pick-up task or a put-off task according to the operation conditions of the conveying lines on the left and right sides. Each conveyor line (21a, 21b) can also select whether the robot on the left side performs the operation task or the robot on the right side performs the operation task according to the operation condition of the robot on the left side and the right side.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the robot may have N cargo storage bins 43 that can carry N cargo containers at a time (N being a positive integer greater than 2). After the fully loaded robot 40 is parked at the work station, N times of putting (transporting all the containers loaded by itself to the picking work area 30 by the second transport line 21b) and N times of picking (filling the containers returned by the first transport line 21a to the own goods storage 41) are required to leave the work station, and a complete execution cycle is completed.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that if the robot 40 can be controlled to perform the put operation and the pick operation at intervals, the moving distance of the handling device 44 can be reduced, thereby reducing the stopping time of the robot 40 at the work station (i.e., the sum of the time required to perform the N put operations and the N pick operations).

The description will be given by taking as an example that the robot 40 has completed the put operation of the first cargo storage bin at the bottom:

if the conveyor lines on both sides of the robot 40 are idle, the robot 40 may select to perform the picking operation at the first conveyor line 21a or the placing operation at the second conveyor line 21 b.

If a put operation is to be performed, the handling device 44 has to be moved to a second cargo storage bin located above the first cargo storage bin, and after the target container has been taken out of the cargo storage bin, it is lowered again to the first height corresponding to the first conveyor line 21a so that the target container is transferred to the first conveyor line 21 a.

If the goods taking operation is performed, the carrying device 44 does not need to move to the second goods storage bin, and can directly take the containers of the second conveying line 21b away and place the containers into the empty first goods storage bin for temporary storage.

As can be seen from the above operation task execution process, when two putting operations are continuously performed, the distance that the carrying device 44 needs to move is greater than the alternative execution mode of performing one putting operation and then performing one pick operation.

Therefore, in the case where the robot 40 has a plurality of cargo stores, it is advantageous to perform the put operation and the pick operation at intervals to improve the operation efficiency of the system. Of course, the above embodiments are only for fully explaining the implementation principle of the present application and are not intended to be particularly limited.

Based on the operation task balancing method provided by the above embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention further provides an operation task balancing device. The balancing means may be implemented by the control terminal 50 to perform one or more steps of the above-mentioned operation task balancing method. Fig. 10 is an operation task balancing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the equalizing apparatus 800 includes: a detection module 810, a screening module 820, and an instruction module 830.

The detection module 810 is used for acquiring the running state of the conveyor line adapted to the robot. Each robot has at least two adapted conveyor lines. The screening module 820 is configured to determine at least one conveyor line that is in an idle state as an available conveyor line. The operating state of the conveyor line can be roughly divided into an occupied state and an idle state. The instruction module 830 is configured to send a first control instruction to enable the robot to perform a corresponding operation task on an available conveyor line.

In the actual operation process, the operation state of the conveyor line adapted to the robot is first acquired by the detection module 810. The available conveyor lines are then selected from among the conveyor lines in the idle state by the screening module 820 according to the appropriate screening method. Finally, the instruction module 830 sends a specific first control instruction to control the robot to perform a corresponding operation task on the available conveyor line.

In some embodiments, in addition to the presence of multiple adapted conveyor lines for the robot, each conveyor line is also configured with multiple adapted robots. The detection module 810 is further configured to obtain an operation status of the robot adapted to the conveyor line. Each conveyor line has at least two robots adapted to each other. The screening module 820 is used to determine that at least one robot in an idle state is an available robot. Similarly, the operation state of the robot can be roughly divided into an occupied state and an idle state. The instruction module 830 is configured to send a second control instruction, so that the available robot performs a corresponding operation task on the conveyor line.

In the preferred embodiment, the screening module 820 of the equalizing apparatus 800 can determine the specific available robots/conveyor lines by using corresponding screening methods for three cases, i.e., there are no robots/conveyor lines in an idle state, there is only one robot/conveyor line in an idle state, and there are two or more robots/conveyor lines.

In the case that there is no robot/conveyor line in an idle state, the screening module 820 may determine an available robot/conveyor line according to the update result of the detection module 810 on the operation state after a predetermined time interval. Of course, the screening module 820 may also determine that the robot/conveyor line that first switches to the idle state is an available robot/conveyor line after the minimum waiting time required for the robot/conveyor line to switch to the idle state has elapsed.

In the case where there is only one robot/conveyor line in an idle state, the screening module 820 may simply determine the only selectable robot/conveyor line as an available robot/conveyor line.

In the case where there are two or more robots/conveyor lines, the screening module 820 is specifically configured to select the robot/conveyor line having the shortest execution time as the available robot/conveyor line (e.g., such that the handling device of the robot has the shortest travel distance). Specifically, for a certain robot 40, the screening module 820 may determine the conveyor line corresponding to the operation task having the shortest execution time as the available conveyor line. And for a particular conveyor line 21, the screening module 820 may determine that the robot with the shortest execution time is the available robot.

It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the apparatuses and modules described above may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the components and steps of the examples have been described in a functional general in the foregoing description for the purpose of illustrating clearly the interchangeability of hardware and software. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention. The computer software may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, may include the processes of the embodiments of the methods described above. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory or a random access memory.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic structural diagram of the control terminal 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the control terminal 50 may include: a processor (processor)502, a Communications Interface 504, a memory 506, and a communication bus 508.

Wherein: the processor 502, communication interface 504, and memory 506 communicate with one another via a communication bus 508. A communication interface 504 for communicating with network elements of other devices, such as clients or other servers. The processor 502 is configured to execute the program 510, and may specifically perform relevant steps in the above-described operation task balancing method embodiment.

In particular, program 510 may include program code that includes computer operating instructions.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the Processor 502 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the Processor 702 may also be other general-purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate arrays (FPGAs) or other Programmable logic devices, discrete Gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. according to the type of hardware used.

The memory 506 is used to store a program 510. The memory 506 may comprise high-speed RAM memory, and may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk memory. The program 510 may be specifically configured to enable the processor 502 to execute the operation task balancing method in any of the above-described method embodiments.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be a non-volatile computer readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program.

Wherein, the computer program is executed by a processor to realize one or more steps of the operation task balancing method disclosed by the embodiment of the invention. The complete computer program product is embodied on one or more computer readable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing the computer program disclosed by the embodiments of the invention.

In summary, the operation task balancing method provided in the embodiment of the present invention achieves balanced distribution of operation tasks by providing multiple adaptive conveyor lines for the robot and providing multiple adaptive robots for the conveyor lines, avoids occurrence of mutual waiting caused by mismatch of execution speeds of the robot and the conveyor lines, and effectively improves efficiency.

According to the automatic goods sorting system provided by the embodiment of the invention, through ingenious conveying line layout design, the adaptation of one conveying line to a plurality of robots and the adaptation of one robot to a plurality of conveying lines are realized, more choices are provided, the queuing waiting time of the robots or the conveying lines is reduced, and the efficiency is effectively improved.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; within the idea of the invention, also technical features in the above embodiments or in different embodiments may be combined, steps may be implemented in any order, and there are many other variations of the different aspects of the invention as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of brevity; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An operation task balancing method, comprising:

2. The operation task balancing method according to claim 1, wherein the determining that at least one transport line in an idle state is an available transport line specifically includes:

3. An operation task equalizing method according to claim 2, wherein said robot comprises N cargo stores, a handling device for transferring containers between said cargo stores and a conveyor line, and a driving device for driving said handling device to move between the N cargo stores and the conveyor line; n is a positive integer;

4. The operation task balancing method according to claim 3, wherein the operation task includes: a goods taking task of moving goods to the robot on the conveying line and a goods placing task of transferring the goods from the robot to the conveying line;

5. The operational task balancing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

6. The operation task balancing method according to claim 5, wherein the determining that at least one robot in an idle state is an available robot specifically includes:

7. An operation task equalizing method according to claim 6, wherein said robot includes N cargo stores, a carrying device for transferring containers between said cargo stores and a conveyor line, and a driving device for driving said carrying device to move between the N cargo stores and the conveyor line; n is a positive integer;

8. The operational task balancing method according to claim 7, wherein the conveyor line includes: a first conveying line and a second conveying line with opposite conveying directions,

9. A control terminal, characterized in that the control terminal comprises: a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus;

the processor, the communication interface and the memory complete mutual communication through a communication bus; the memory stores computer operating instructions for executing the method of balancing the operation tasks according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when the computer operating instructions are called by the processor.

10. An automatic cargo sorting system, comprising:

a goods storage area for storing goods;

a number of robots for handling goods;

the control terminal is in communication connection with the robots and is used for executing the operation task balancing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and controlling a plurality of the robots to execute corresponding operation tasks on the conveying line.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the transmission line structure comprises: the operation tasks comprise that: a goods taking task of moving goods to the robot on the conveying line and a goods placing task of transferring the goods from the robot to the conveying line;

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein a work station for a robot is provided between each first conveyor line and the adjacent second conveyor line, so that each robot is adapted to one first conveyor line and one second conveyor line.

13. System according to claim 12, characterized in that said work stations are arranged on both sides of said first and second conveyor line, so that said first and second conveyor line are adapted to both said robots.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the robot includes N cargo storage bins, the robot performing operational tasks at the work station at a time including: n goods taking tasks and N goods placing tasks, wherein N is a positive integer; and the robot executes the goods taking task and the goods placing task at intervals on the working station.