CN113703932A - System and method for controlling self-driven equipment to execute task - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a system and a method for controlling self-driven equipment to execute tasks. The system comprises: the task instruction device is used for receiving a task instruction written by a user and sending the task instruction in a near field communication mode; the task instruction reading device is used for receiving the task instruction sent by the task instruction device and determining task information of the task instruction through the task management device; the device management device is used for determining a task execution path of the self-driven device at least partially according to the task information; the self-driven device is used for executing tasks at least partially according to the task execution path. By executing the technical scheme, various task instructions can be issued to the self-driven equipment through the independent task instruction device to be executed, so that the operation difficulty of workers is reduced, and the flexibility of the task execution process of the self-driven equipment is improved.

Description

System and method for controlling self-driven equipment to execute task

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of computers, in particular to a system and a method for controlling self-driven equipment to execute tasks.

Background

With the rapid development of the technology level, self-driven equipment is increasingly applied to goods distribution centers such as warehouses.

Self-driven equipment, such as transportation robots, transfer robots and the like, are widely used, and the most common control mode is to control the motion of the self-driven equipment by a pre-planned path and sending control information to the equipment. However, there are certain drawbacks in such an arrangement, firstly, the input of the control information needs to be completed only when the worker can know the control information input principle of the self-driving device, and secondly, the self-driving device is not flexible to execute the command, for example, to transport the object from point a to point B, and if the transport is completed or the task needs to be changed in the middle of the transport process, manual intervention is needed to control the self-driving device. Therefore, the existing control mode of the self-driven device brings inconvenience in the process of executing tasks.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a system and a method for controlling a self-driven device to execute tasks, and various task instructions can be issued to the self-driven device through an independent task instruction device to be executed, so that the operation difficulty of workers is reduced, and the flexibility of the task execution process of the self-driven device is improved.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a system for controlling a self-driven device to perform a task, where the system includes:

the method comprises the following steps: one or more task instruction devices, one or more task instruction reading devices, one or more task management devices and one or more device management devices; near field communication is carried out between the task instruction device and the task instruction reading device, wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task instruction reading device and the task management device, and wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task management device and the equipment management device; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the task instruction device is used for sending a preset task instruction;

the task instruction reading device is used for reading a task instruction sent by the task instruction device;

the task management device is used for determining task information corresponding to the task instruction read by the task instruction reading device at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation;

and the equipment management device is used for controlling the self-driven equipment to execute corresponding tasks according to the task information determined by the task management device.

Further, if the task instruction reading device reads at least two task instructions at the same time, the task management device is further configured to determine an order of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions.

Further, the task management device is further configured to: determining the sequence of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions according to a preset priority or a time sequence of reading the task instructions;

further, the device management apparatus is further configured to instruct the self-driving device to execute a corresponding task at least partially according to task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions and an order thereof.

Further, if the task information determined by the task management device includes at least two operation steps, the device management device is further configured to determine an execution sequence of the at least two operation steps.

Further, the device management apparatus is further configured to determine the number of self-driven devices executing the task, and if the number of the self-driven devices is at least two, split the task information determined by the task management apparatus into at least two pieces of subtask information, and allocate the at least two pieces of subtask information to the at least two self-driven devices to execute the corresponding tasks.

Further, the task instruction reading device is further configured to notify the task management device of task instruction change information if the task instruction sent by the task instruction device is not read any more or a new task instruction sent by the task instruction device is read.

Further, if the task instruction reading device does not read the task instruction sent by the task instruction device any more; then the process of the first step is carried out,

the task management device is also used for sending an abort message according to the task instruction change information;

and the equipment management device is also used for controlling the self-driven equipment to stop executing the current task according to the suspension message.

Further, if the task instruction reading device reads that the task instruction device sends a new task instruction; then the process of the first step is carried out,

the task management device is also used for determining new task information corresponding to the new task instruction according to the task instruction change information;

and the equipment management device is also used for controlling the self-driven equipment to execute a new task according to the new task information.

Further, the task instruction reading device is located on the self-driven device or at a specific position in a working environment where the self-driven device is located.

Further, the task instruction device comprises an RFID label; the near field communication mode comprises a radio frequency identification mode.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for controlling a self-driven device to perform a task, where the method includes:

reading a preset task instruction sent by a task instruction device;

determining task information corresponding to the read task instruction at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation;

and controlling the self-driven device to execute the corresponding task at least partially according to the determined task information.

Optionally, if at least two task instructions are read simultaneously, the method further includes:

and determining the sequence of at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions.

Optionally, the determining the order of the at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two pieces of task instructions includes:

and determining the sequence of at least two task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions at least partially according to a preset priority or the time sequence of reading the task instructions.

Optionally, the controlling the self-driving device to execute the corresponding task according to the determined task information includes:

and instructing the self-driven equipment to execute corresponding tasks at least partially according to at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions and the execution sequence of the task information.

Optionally, if the determined task information includes at least two operation steps, the method further includes:

determining an execution order of the at least two operation steps.

Optionally, the controlling the self-driving device to execute the corresponding task according to the determined task information includes:

and controlling the self-driven equipment to execute the corresponding steps at least partially according to the execution sequence of the at least two steps determined by the task management device.

Optionally, the method further includes: determining the number of self-driven devices executing the tasks, and if the number of the self-driven devices executing the tasks is at least two, splitting the determined task information into at least two pieces of subtask information, and distributing the subtask information to the at least two self-driven devices to execute the corresponding tasks.

Optionally, if the task instruction sent by the task instruction device is not read any more or a new task instruction sent by the task instruction device is read; the method further comprises the following steps:

sending an abort message based at least in part on the task instruction change information;

controlling the self-driven device to stop executing the current task based at least in part on the abort message.

Optionally, if the task instruction device is read, sending a new task instruction; the method further comprises the following steps:

determining new task information corresponding to a new task instruction based at least in part on the task instruction change information;

and controlling the self-driven equipment to execute a new task at least partially according to the new task information.

Optionally, the near field communication mode includes at least one of radio frequency identification RFID, bluetooth, and ultra wideband UWB.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements a method for controlling a self-driven device to perform tasks according to the present application.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, where the processor executes the computer program to implement the method for controlling a self-driven device to perform tasks according to the embodiment of the present application.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps: one or more task instruction devices, one or more task instruction reading devices, one or more task management devices and one or more device management devices; near field communication is carried out between the task instruction device and the task instruction reading device, wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task instruction reading device and the task management device, and wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task management device and the equipment management device; the task instruction device is used for sending a preset task instruction; the task instruction reading device is used for reading a task instruction sent by the task instruction device; the task management device is used for determining task information corresponding to the task instruction read by the task instruction reading device at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation; the device management device is used for controlling the self-driven device to execute corresponding tasks at least partially according to the task information determined by the task management device. By adopting the technical scheme provided by the application, various task instructions can be issued for the self-driven equipment to be executed through the independent task instruction device, so that the operation difficulty of workers is reduced, and the effect of flexibility of the task execution process of the self-driven equipment is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a storage and picking system provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a shelf with one-way openings according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a self-driving apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system for controlling a self-powered device to perform tasks according to an embodiment of the application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a task instruction issuing method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The present application will be described in further detail with reference to the following drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and are not limiting of the application. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present application are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.

Before discussing exemplary embodiments in more detail, it should be noted that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flowcharts. Although a flowchart may describe the steps as a sequential process, many of the steps can be performed in parallel, concurrently or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the steps may be rearranged. The process may be terminated when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the figure. The processes may correspond to methods, functions, procedures, subroutines, and the like.

The system and the method for controlling the self-driven equipment to execute the task can be applied to the scenes such as but not limited to warehousing and picking, factory transportation and the like. The self-driven equipment can be driven to run in working environments such as warehouses, factories and the like according to a specific positioning and navigation mode, can be positioned and/or navigated by the self-driven equipment, can also be communicated with a control system, and is positioned and/or navigated by the control system. The self-propelled device can perform corresponding tasks according to the instructions, for example, in a storage and picking scene, the self-propelled device can carry storage containers of a type such as a shelf or a bin according to the instructions. In one implementation, the self-propelled device is an Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR).

The technical solution of the present application is described below by taking a warehousing and picking scenario as an example, but the technical solution of the present application is not limited to be applied to the warehousing and picking scenario. Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a warehouse picking system provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 1, the system 100 includes: from the drive device 110, the control server 120, the storage area 130, and the workstation 140, the storage area 130 is provided with an inventory receptacle 131, and the inventory receptacle 131 accommodates various inventory items. Taking the inventory containers 131 as shelves, the shelves are arranged in an array, such as shelves found in supermarkets where various commodities are placed. Typically, a plurality of workstations 140 are provided on one or more sides (such as the side shown in FIG. 1) of the storage area 130. The goods shelf comprises a plurality of interlayers and four floor-type supporting columns, at least one lattice opening is arranged on each interlayer of the goods shelf, and one or more SKU (stock keeping units) can be placed in each lattice opening. In addition, the shelf may be a one-way opening, for example, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a one-way opening shelf provided in an embodiment of the present invention, such as the one-way opening shelf shown in fig. 2, or may be a two-way opening, and the article in the opening on any side of the two-way opening shelf may be operated by the rotation of the shelf. In addition, the inventory receptacles 131 may also be bins positioned on fixed supports, which may be arranged in an array as shown in FIG. 1, which may also have multiple compartments on which bins may be placed, each bin having one or more SKU items placed therein.

The control server 120 wirelessly communicates with the self-powered device 110, the staff member (or user) generates an order through the console 160, the order is transmitted to the control server 120, the control server 120 responds to the order and starts working, and the self-powered device 110 performs a task of carrying the inventory receptacle 131 under the control of the control server 120. For example, taking inventory containers as shelves, the self-propelled device 110 may travel along the empty space in the middle of the array of shelves (a portion of the aisle traveled by the self-propelled device 110), move to the bottom of the shelves, lift the shelves using the lifting mechanism, and move to the assigned work station 140 where the order items are to be picked. Of course, the self-propelled device 110 may also pick up one or more bins on a fixed rack via a particular bin picking mechanism and carry the bins to the assigned work station 140.

In one example, the self-propelled device 110 has a lifting mechanism, and a positioning and/or navigation function, the self-propelled device 110 can travel to the bottom of the rack and lift the entire rack with the lifting mechanism so that the rack can move up and down with the lifting mechanism having a lifting function. In one example, the self-driven device 110 can travel according to the two-dimensional code information captured by the camera and can travel to the position under the shelf designated by the control server 120 according to the route planned by the control server 120. The self-propelled device 110 carries the shelf to the workstation 140 where the item in the order is removed from the shelf by the staff (or user) 141 at the workstation 140. For a rack with a bidirectional opening, the rack may be rotated by the self-propelled device 110 so that the opening at which the order item to be picked is located faces the worker.

It can be seen that all operations during the time after the order is generated and until the self-driven equipment moves the shelf to the workstation, the order item is taken out of the shelf by the staff, are completed by the self-driven equipment, the control server and the like without manual intervention.

The control server 120 is a software system with data storage and information processing capabilities running on the control system, and can be connected with a self-driving device, a hardware input system and other software systems through wireless or wired connection. The control server 120 may include one or more control systems, which may be a centralized control architecture or a distributed computing architecture. The control system has a processor 1201 and a memory 1202, and may have an order pool 1203 in the memory 1202.

The system shown in fig. 1 may be adapted for use in a variety of suitable scenarios, such as, for example, a warehouse picking scenario in which a worker removes an item (which is an order item) from an inventory receptacle 131 and places it in an order box after the self-propelled device 110 has carried the inventory receptacle 131 to the workstation 140; for another example, in an article storage scenario, regardless of whether the stored article is temporarily stored or stored for a long period of time, after the self-powered device 110 transports the stock container 131 to the workstation 140, a worker or an article owner takes the article out of the stock container 131 or stores the article in the stock container 131. Specifically, in the item keeping scenario, in order to ensure privacy and security, one inventory container 131 may be dedicated to holding items of one user, or one bay may be dedicated to holding items of one user. Of course, besides, the system is also suitable for unmanned access scenes and unmanned supermarket scenes.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a self-driven device provided in an embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 3, the self-driven device 110 may include a driving mechanism 1101, by which the self-driven device 110 can move within a work space, the self-driven device 110 may further include a lifting mechanism 1102 for carrying the inventory container 131, the self-driven device 110 may move below the inventory container 131, and the inventory container 131 may be docked and lifted by using the lifting mechanism 1102 and carried to the assigned work station 140. The lifting mechanism 1102 lifts the entire inventory receptacle 131 from the ground to allow the inventory receptacle 131 to be carried from the drive device 110, and the lifting mechanism 1102 lowers the inventory receptacle 131 to the ground. The object recognition component 1103 on the self-powered device 110 can effectively recognize the inventory receptacle 131 when the self-powered device 110 docks and lifts the inventory receptacle 131.

In the prior art, the charging of the self-driven device 110 is controlled manually, which is to continuously detect the electric quantity of the self-driven device 110 manually during the operation of the self-driven device 110, and when the electric quantity reaches the standard of charging, the self-driven device 110 is controlled to be in butt joint with a charging pile of a charging station for charging. This makes it necessary to continuously detect whether the self-driving device 110 needs to be charged during the operation and charging process of the self-driving device 110, or whether the charging of the self-driving device 110 that has been charged is completed, which consumes valuable human resources.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system for controlling a self-driven device to execute a task according to an embodiment of the present application, where the embodiment is applicable to a task issuing situation of the self-driven device, and the system may be implemented in a software and/or hardware manner.

As shown in fig. 4, the system for controlling the self-driven device to perform the task includes: the method comprises the following steps: one or more task instruction devices 410, one or more task instruction fetch devices 420, one or more task management devices 430, and one or more device management devices 440; for convenience of illustration, only 1 task instruction device, 1 task instruction reading device, 1 task management device, and 1 device management device are schematically illustrated in fig. 4. The technical solution of the present application does not limit the number of the above four devices, and can be set according to the actual needs of the application scenario.

The task instruction device 410 and the task instruction reading device 420 are in near field communication, the task instruction reading device 420 and the task management device 430 are in wired or wireless communication, and the task management device 430 and the device management device 440 are in wired or wireless communication.

A task instruction device 410, configured to issue a preset task instruction;

a task instruction reading device 420, configured to read a task instruction sent by the task instruction device 410;

the task management device 430 is configured to determine task information corresponding to the task instruction read by the task instruction reading device 420 at least partially according to a preset corresponding relationship;

and the device management unit 440 is configured to control the self-driven device to perform the corresponding task at least partially according to the task information determined by the task management unit 430.

The task instruction device 410 is a device responsible for issuing task instructions, where the task instructions may be written by a worker in a fixed manner, for example, a task instruction code is provided, for example, the task instruction code is standby 00, moving 01, carrying 10, and unloading 11. The staff can input the task instruction according to the corresponding relation between the task instruction and the task instruction code provided in advance so as to complete the writing of the task instruction. The task command can also be an information string, and if the object a is transported to a certain place, the writing operation of the task command can be performed in a segmented writing mode. Meanwhile, the task management device 430 stores and maintains a correspondence between the task instructions and the task information, and according to the correspondence, the task management device 430 can determine the task information corresponding to each task instruction.

The near field communication may include bluetooth communication, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) communication, wireless carrier communication, such as Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology, infrared communication, and the like. As long as the transmission of information can be performed at a close distance.

In this technical solution, it can be understood that the task management device 430 and the device management device 440 may be integrated on the same device, or may be disposed on different devices. For example, integrated on the same device, may be integrated on the self-driven device at the same time, or integrated on a control server controlling the self-driven device at the same time. For another example, in the case of being provided on a different device, the task management apparatus 430 may be provided on the self-driven device, and the device management apparatus 440 may be provided on a control server that controls the self-driven device.

In the technical solution of the present application, in one implementation, the task instruction device 410 is an RFID tag; the near field communication mode is a radio frequency identification mode. The RFID tag has the advantages that writing of task instructions is facilitated, the writing process is more flexible, and a worker does not need to write the task through a professional writing interface.

In the present embodiment, the task management device 430 and the device management device 440 may be independent modules or may be a part of a robot.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the task instructing device 410, such as an RFID tag, may be fixed on the material box by gluing or other methods, so that it can be taken off by a worker when not in use, which is beneficial to flexibly changing the task of the material box.

The self-driving device 450 can read the task through the task instruction reading device 420 arranged thereon, and pick up the material box and place the material box at the position designated by the task, namely, the material box is carried according to the task instruction. The self-driven equipment 450 may receive the task before the material box is conveyed, and determine information of the task through the task management device 430 and the equipment management device 440, and control the self-driven equipment 450 to finish the conveying of the material box.

In a factory materials handling scenario, such as when a production line requires a supply of some material, the RFID tagged material may be placed on the self-propelled device 450 by a warehouse clerk. The RFID tag is preset to be associated with a material use position as a task instruction device. After the self-driving device 450 reads the information of the RFID tag, the material using position is obtained from the task management module, for example, the material using position is located at a specific position of the production line, and the management module of the self-driving device 450 plans a driving route or uses a fixed route to transport the material to the corresponding position. Alternatively, the control server may plan a driving route for the self-propelled device 450 and control the self-propelled device 450 to transport the material to a corresponding location.

In a possible embodiment, optionally, if the task instruction reading device 420 reads at least two task instructions at the same time, the task management device 430 is further configured to determine an order of at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions. For example, when two material boxes are simultaneously carried on the self-driven device 450, or two materials exist in one material box, the task instructions that may be read are two and different, and at this time, the order of the task information corresponding to the task instructions needs to be determined. In the technical scheme of the application, the default can be to determine the execution sequence of the tasks according to the sequence of the task information. Other ways of doing this are also possible. The benefit of this arrangement is the controllability of the execution of the plurality of task instructions by the self-driven device 450. In a possible embodiment, optionally, the task management device 430 is further configured to: and determining the sequence of at least two task information corresponding to at least two task instructions at least partially according to the preset priority or the time sequence of reading the task instructions. The priority may be preset, for example, for some urgent tasks, or for relatively important tasks, the priority may be set in the priority attribute of the task.

In another possible embodiment, optionally, the device management apparatus 440 is further configured to instruct the self-driven device to perform the corresponding task at least partially according to the task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions and the sequence thereof. The task information may include, but is not limited to, a target location of the task, and the execution order may be determined according to the task information and the order, and according to the distance of the task location and the order of receiving the task information. It is to be understood that the target location of the task is only one example of task information, and the task information may also include other information related to the task.

After the task instruction reading device 420 reads the task information, if a plurality of tasks, for example, two or more tasks, are found, the execution order of the two tasks may be determined according to the preset priority. The priority may be determined according to the items in the material box, for example, if two items exist in the material box and are respectively transported to two positions, the task execution sequence may be determined according to the preset priority of the two items. It is also possible to arrange for two or more material tanks to be transported simultaneously, each of which is provided with an article. Such an arrangement has the advantage of improving the operating efficiency of the self-propelled device 450. In addition, the receiving time of the two task instructions may be determined, for example, when another task instruction is received during the process of executing the task indicated by the first task instruction, the receiving may be performed according to the sequence of the received task instructions. In this process, the device management apparatus 440 is further configured to determine an execution path of the self-driving device 450 to execute the task of the at least two task instructions according to the task information of the at least two task instructions. According to the technical scheme, the execution sequence of the tasks indicated by the task instructions can be determined under the condition that one self-driven device 450 receives the task instructions, and the execution result of the tasks is ensured to meet the use requirement of a user.

On the basis of the foregoing technical solutions, optionally, if the task information determined by the task management device 430 includes at least two operation steps, the task management device 430 is further configured to determine an execution sequence of the at least two operation steps.

When a plurality of steps are included in one piece of task information, the task management device 430 may determine the execution order of each step, and determine the actual operation path of the self-driven device 450 based on the start position and the end position of each step as the basis of path planning. Where, for example, the task instruction may be to move an empty material tank to the material mounting position after placing the material in the material tank at the material using position, it may be determined that the task is performed in two steps of moving the material tank with the material to the material using position and moving the empty material tank to the material mounting position, and the self-driving apparatus 450 may be controlled to perform the two steps in this order. By adopting the arrangement, the tasks can be divided in steps, the control flow of the self-driven device 450 can be simplified, and the multi-step operation of the self-driven device 450 can be controlled by only editing one multi-step task.

On the basis of the foregoing technical solutions, specifically, the task management device 430 is further configured to determine the number of the self-driving devices 450 executing the task, and if the number is at least two, split the task information determined by the task management device 430 into at least two pieces of sub-task information, and allocate the sub-task information to the at least two self-driving devices 450 to execute the corresponding tasks.

The number of the self-driven devices 450 capable of receiving the current task information may be determined by the task management apparatus, and if there is only one self-driven device, the self-driven device 450 completes the execution of the task instruction. If there are multiple self-propelled apparatuses 450, it can be determined whether the task execution steps can be separately instructed, for example, on a certain shelf, a first material tank is used to provide materials to one location, and a second material tank is used to provide materials to another location, and although the self-propelled apparatuses 450 do not start to carry, the task instruction information sent by the RFID tags on the material tanks can be received. In this case, the task management apparatus may split the task information into at least two pieces of subtask information, and distribute the at least two pieces of subtask information to the at least two self-driven devices 450 for execution, for example, control one self-driven device 450 to carry a first material box, and control another self-driven device 450 to carry a second material box. According to the technical scheme, one task can be divided into a plurality of subtasks through the arrangement, and different self-driven devices execute the subtasks to complete the whole task.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the task instruction reading device 420 is further configured to:

if the task command issued by the task instructing device 410 is not read any more, or if the task instructing device 410 issues a new task command, the task managing device 430 is notified of the task command change information.

In one case, if the task instruction reading device 420 does not read the task instruction sent by the task instruction device 410 any more; then, the task management device 430 is further configured to send an abort message according to the task instruction change information; the device management apparatus 440 is further configured to control the self-driven device 450 to stop executing the current task according to the suspension message.

In another case, if the task instruction reading device 420 does not read any more task instruction sent by the task instruction device 410, it may be that the task instruction device 410 continuously sends task instruction information according to a certain frequency, and if the task instruction reading device 420 cannot read the information, it indicates that the task instruction device 410 may be taken away by a worker, and the current task is stopped. If the task instruction device 410 is read to issue a new task instruction, the task instruction is updated by the staff, and the current task is stopped.

The task instruction may be changed by changing the task content, for example, the original task is delivered to one designated location and the changed task is delivered to another designated location. It may also be a task cancellation, such as taking out the RFID tag in fig. 6, and the self-driving device 450 may determine whether to continue the task according to the situation. It can be understood that, for example, in the carrying process of the self-driving device 450, if a worker finds that a target address written in the RFID tag at present has a deviation, the target address can be written again by taking out the target address and placing the target address on the material box again for the self-driving device 450 to execute, so that the task of the self-driving device 450 can be flexibly changed and cancelled, and a flexible management form is formed.

In the technical solution of the present application, optionally, if the task instruction reading device 420 reads that the task instruction device 410 sends a new task instruction; then, the task management device 430 is further configured to determine new task information corresponding to the new task instruction according to the task instruction change information; the device management apparatus 440 is also configured to control the self-driven device 450 to perform a new task according to the new task information.

In the case where the task instructing device 410 issues a new task instruction, the new task information may be determined again, and the self-driven apparatus may be controlled to execute a new task. According to the technical scheme, the self-driven equipment can be flexibly controlled to execute the task dispatched by the worker.

On the basis of the above technical solutions, optionally, the task instruction reading device is located on the self-driven device or at a specific position in a working environment where the self-driven device is located. The specific position may be a wall, a beam column, or other positions in the working environment of the self-propelled device that can receive the signal from the task instruction device. The material box is arranged on the self-driven equipment, so that the controllability of the self-driven equipment can be improved, and the task reading is carried out on the material box carried by the self-driven equipment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a task instruction issuing system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in figure 7 of the drawings,

in a possible embodiment, optionally, the determining, by the task management device 430, task information of the task instruction includes: determining, by the task management device 430, transportation task information and target location information of the task instruction;

the system further comprises:

a position command device 460, which is arranged at the article using position and used for sending using position information;

the device management apparatus 440 is further configured to determine an article corresponding to the use position information according to the use position information, and the transportation task information and the target position information of the article.

The transportation task information may be information of the determined transported object, and the target position information may be a transportation target position of each object, that is, a position where the material is actually used. The position of a certain production line can be determined, and the position of a specific using node on the production line can also be determined. For example, when the same material is used in a plurality of production lines, a warehouse worker places the material with the RFID tag and the RFID tag indicating the production line number on a self-driving device, the self-driving device selects a production line based on the RFID tag with the production line number and selects a location point on the production line based on the RFID tag information of the material, and the self-driving device delivers the material to the corresponding location point based on the location information. Through the arrangement, the scheme can improve the transport efficiency of the articles and the accuracy of the transport destination of the articles.

On the basis of the above technical solutions, optionally, the device management apparatus is further configured to determine task execution conditions of at least two self-driven devices according to the task information; and determining one of the at least two self-driven devices as a target device according to the task execution condition. The device management apparatus may determine, when a plurality of self-driven devices are provided, a target device of a current task, that is, a device that executes the current task from among the plurality of self-driven devices, based on task execution conditions of the respective self-driven devices. Wherein the task execution condition can be according to task complexity, light and heavy condition, and remaining capacity condition, etc. The advantage of this arrangement is that the target device can be determined according to the situation of the self-driven device, which helps to improve the working efficiency and avoid the loss caused by the excessive use of the self-driven device.

In one particular scenario, a storeroom clerk loads a material into a material bin, and places one or more destination RFID cards and task execution time RFID cards within the material bin. The material tank is placed in the position to be operated. The reader device at the position to be operated acquires the job information of the destination and the job execution card. And the task information is converted into an operation command for the robot by the task management module and the robot management module, a proper robot is selected and the operation command is transmitted to the robot, and the designated robot transports the materials to a plurality of destinations one by one according to the placement sequence of the destination RFID cards at the designated time according to the operation command.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a task instruction issuing method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the method includes:

s810, reading a preset task instruction sent by a task instruction device;

s820, determining task information corresponding to the read task instruction at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation;

and S830, controlling the self-driven device to execute the corresponding task at least partially according to the determined task information.

In this embodiment, optionally, if at least two task instructions are read simultaneously, the method further includes:

and determining the sequence of at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions.

In this embodiment, optionally, the determining the order of the at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two pieces of task instructions includes:

and determining the sequence of at least two task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions at least partially according to a preset priority or the time sequence of reading the task instructions.

In this embodiment, optionally, the controlling the self-driving device to execute the corresponding task according to the determined task information includes:

and instructing the self-driven equipment to execute corresponding tasks at least partially according to at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions and the execution sequence of the task information.

In this embodiment, optionally, if the determined task information includes at least two operation steps, the method further includes:

determining an execution order of the at least two operation steps.

In this embodiment, optionally, the controlling the self-driving device to execute the corresponding task according to the determined task information includes:

and controlling the self-driven equipment to execute the corresponding steps at least partially according to the execution sequence of the at least two steps determined by the task management device.

In this embodiment, optionally, the method further includes: determining the number of self-driven devices executing the tasks, and if the number of the self-driven devices executing the tasks is at least two, splitting the determined task information into at least two pieces of subtask information, and distributing the subtask information to the at least two self-driven devices to execute the corresponding tasks.

In this embodiment, optionally, if the task instruction sent by the task instruction device is not read any more or the task instruction device sends a new task instruction; the method further comprises the following steps:

sending an abort message based at least in part on the task instruction change information;

controlling the self-driven device to stop executing the current task based at least in part on the abort message.

In this embodiment, optionally, if the task instruction device is read to issue a new task instruction; the method further comprises the following steps:

determining new task information corresponding to a new task instruction based at least in part on the task instruction change information;

and controlling the self-driven equipment to execute a new task at least partially according to the new task information.

In this embodiment, optionally, the near field communication mode includes at least one of radio frequency identification RFID, bluetooth, and ultra wideband UWB.

It can be understood that the technical solution provided in this embodiment may be executed by a self-driven device, and may also be executed by a management platform that manages the self-driven device. Specifically, it can be assumed that the task instruction device, the task instruction reading device, the task management device, and the device management device are used for execution. The specifics may be determined based on the actions performed in each step.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the task instruction is determined in response to the operation task instruction writing operation of a user; and sending the task instruction in a near field communication mode, so that the task instruction reading device determines the task information of the task instruction through the task management device, so that the equipment management device determines a task execution path of the self-driven equipment according to the task information and controls the self-driven equipment to execute the task. By adopting the technical scheme provided by the application, various task instructions can be issued for the self-driven equipment to be executed through the independent task instruction device, so that the operation difficulty of workers is reduced, and the effect of flexibility of the task execution process of the self-driven equipment is improved.

On the basis of the technical schemes, optionally, the writing operation of the priority of the operation task instruction of the user is received, and the task instruction is determined;

correspondingly, the method for controlling the self-driven device to execute the task by the device management device according to the task information to determine the task execution path of the self-driven device includes:

and the device management device determines a task execution path of the self-driven device according to the task information, determines a task execution sequence according to the priority and controls the self-driven device to execute the task.

On the basis of the above technical solutions, optionally, the method further includes:

receiving the change operation of an operation task instruction of a user, and determining task instruction change information or a new task instruction;

and sending the determined task instruction change information or a new task instruction in a near field communication mode, so that the task instruction reading device determines the determined task instruction change information or the new task instruction through the task management device, so that the equipment management device controls the self-driven equipment to stop executing the current task and execute the changed task or the new task according to the determined task instruction change information or the new task instruction.

The method can be executed by the system provided by any embodiment of the application, and has corresponding beneficial effects.

It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present application and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the application. Therefore, although the present application has been described in more detail with reference to the above embodiments, the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present application, and the scope of the present application is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A system for controlling a self-powered device to perform a task, comprising: one or more task instruction devices, one or more task instruction reading devices, one or more task management devices and one or more device management devices; near field communication is carried out between the task instruction device and the task instruction reading device, wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task instruction reading device and the task management device, and wired or wireless communication is carried out between the task management device and the equipment management device; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the task instruction device is used for sending a preset task instruction;

the task instruction reading device is used for reading a task instruction sent by the task instruction device;

the task management device is used for determining task information corresponding to the task instruction read by the task instruction reading device at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation;

the device management device is used for controlling the self-driven device to execute corresponding tasks at least partially according to the task information determined by the task management device.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein if the task instruction reading device reads at least two task instructions at the same time, the task management device is further configured to determine an order of at least two pieces of task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the task management device is further configured to: and determining the sequence of at least two task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions at least partially according to a preset priority or the time sequence of reading the task instructions.

4. The system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the device management apparatus is further configured to instruct the self-driven device to perform the corresponding task at least partially according to at least two task information corresponding to the at least two task instructions and an order thereof.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein if the task information determined by the task management device includes at least two operation steps, the task management device is further configured to determine an execution order of the at least two operation steps.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the device management means is further configured to control the self-driven device to perform the corresponding step based at least in part on the order of performance of the at least two steps determined by the task management means.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the task management apparatus is further configured to determine a number of self-driven devices that execute the task, and if the number of self-driven devices is at least two, split the determined task information into at least two pieces of subtask information, and allocate the subtask information to the at least two self-driven devices to execute the corresponding tasks.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the task instruction reading device is further configured to notify the task management device of task instruction change information if the task instruction sent by the task instruction device is not read any more or a new task instruction sent by the task instruction device is read.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein if the task instruction reading device does not read the task instruction issued by the task instruction device any more; then the process of the first step is carried out,

the task management device is also used for sending an abort message at least partially according to the task instruction change information;

the device management apparatus is further configured to control the self-driven device to stop executing the current task based at least in part on the suspension message.

10. A method of controlling a self-driven device to perform a task, comprising:

reading a preset task instruction sent by a task instruction device;

determining task information corresponding to the read task instruction at least partially according to a preset corresponding relation;

and controlling the self-driven device to execute the corresponding task at least partially according to the determined task information.

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