Detailed Description
The application is described in further detail below with reference to the 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 noted that, for convenience of description, only the portions related to the application are shown in the drawings.
It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments of the present application and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other. The application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings in connection with embodiments.
Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a multi-robot distribution system according to an embodiment of the present application.
As shown in fig. 1, the multi-robot dispensing system includes: at least two dispensing robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, wherein each dispensing robot comprises at least a first and a second hitching mechanism at its two ends, respectively.
At least two delivery robots form at least one robot queue, and the robot queue comprises part or all of the at least two delivery robots which are connected in sequence.
And the two adjacent delivery machines in the robot queue are detachably and fixedly connected through a first hanging mechanism of a first delivery robot in the two adjacent delivery robots and a second hanging mechanism of a second delivery robot in the two delivery robots.
In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, at least two dispensing robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, where the dispensing robots 101, 103, 105 may form a first robot queue, the dispensing robots 102, 104 may form a second robot queue, and the dispensing robots 106, 107 may form a third robot queue. The first, second, and third are only different robot queues, and are not limited to the order.
The dispensing robots 103, 101, 105 in the first robot queue are sequentially connected, the dispensing robot 101 is detachably and fixedly connected with the dispensing robot 103, and the dispensing robot 103 is detachably and fixedly connected with the dispensing robot 105. Wherein, the detachably fixed connection is that the first hanging mechanism of the dispensing robot 101 extending is matched with the second hanging mechanism of the dispensing robot 103 to form a fixed connection which is blocked for realization.
The first and second hitching mechanisms may be, for example, screw mechanisms, locking mechanisms, magnetic coil mechanisms, etc.
As shown in fig. 1, the system may further include a control center 108. The control center 108 is in signal connection with at least two delivery robots, and is configured to score the at least two delivery robots and packages to be delivered respectively to obtain a scoring list of the delivery robots and a scoring list of the packages; and obtaining a distribution address list corresponding to the distribution robot scoring list according to the corresponding relation between the distribution robot scoring list and the package scoring list, and sending the distribution address list to the distribution robot.
The control center 108 is in signal connection with the dispensing robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107. At the time of the initial state of the distribution task, the control center 108 collects state information reported by each distribution robot. The status information may be, for example, power information of the dispensing robot or other information for evaluating the status of the dispensing robot. The power information may be, for example, a remaining power value, or a ratio of the remaining power to a total power of the configuration robot. The control center 108 scores all distribution robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 based on status information reported by the distribution robots. For example, the total electric quantity of each dispensing robot is T milliamperes, the dispensing robots can be scored through the residual electric quantity value, and the scoring can be performed through the percentage relation between the residual electric quantity and the total electric quantity.
Scoring the packages to be delivered can be performed, for example, by firstly aggregating the packages to be delivered according to the delivery address to obtain an aggregation result, and then scoring the aggregation result. The packages to be delivered are aggregated according to the delivery addresses, so that the delivery efficiency of the delivery robot can be further improved.
On the basis of the embodiment, the embodiment of the application further provides an implementation mode for realizing the detachable fixed connection between the distribution robots. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a screw mechanism between two robots according to an embodiment of the present application.
As shown in fig. 2, the dispensing robots 103 and 101 each include a first hooking mechanism 201 and a second hooking mechanism 202 at both ends thereof. The first hooking mechanism 201 and the second hooking mechanism 202 are screw mechanisms.
The first hooking mechanism 201 is a nut, and an inner surface thereof is provided with an internal thread. The second hitching mechanism 202 is a bolt, the outer surface of which is provided with external threads. The first hooking mechanism 201 is fixedly connected to the first telescopic control mechanism 205.
The first hooking mechanism 201 of the dispensing robot 103 cooperates with the second hooking mechanism 202 of the dispensing robot a2 to rotate the second hooking mechanism 202 by the rotation control mechanism 209 connected to the second hooking mechanism 202, thereby forming a barrier with the first hooking mechanism 201 of the dispensing robot 103. The second hitching mechanism 202 is fixedly connected to a second telescoping control mechanism 206, and the second telescoping control mechanism 206 is connected to a rotation control mechanism 209, which may be a fixed connection, or a detachable connection, a mechanical connection, or the like.
The second hooking mechanism 202 is inserted into the first hooking mechanism 201 and rotated by the rotation control mechanism 209, so that the second hooking mechanism 202 is fixedly connected with the first hooking mechanism 201.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first telescopic control mechanism 205, the second telescopic control mechanism 206 and the rotation control mechanism 209 are connected through a hanging control module (not shown in fig. 2). After receiving the control signal sent by the central management module, the hooking control module sends a control signal to the first telescopic control mechanism 205 or the second telescopic control mechanism 206, so that the first telescopic control mechanism 205 or the second telescopic control mechanism 206 pushes out the corresponding first hooking mechanism 201 or the second hooking mechanism 202 connected with the first telescopic control mechanism from the machine body, and sends a corresponding control signal to the rotating control mechanism 209 through the hooking control module, so that the first hooking mechanism 202 connected with the second telescopic control mechanism 206 rotates to form a barrier after entering the first hooking mechanism 201 of other dispensing robots.
Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a locking mechanism between two robots according to an embodiment of the present application.
As shown in fig. 3, the dispensing robots 103 and 101 each include a first hooking mechanism 301 and a second hooking mechanism 302 at both ends thereof. The first hooking mechanism 301 and the second hooking mechanism 302 are locking mechanisms.
The first hitching mechanism 301 is a cylindrical mechanism with a slot that mates with a second rectangle of the second hitching mechanism 302 that can be inserted into the cylindrical mechanism with a slot. The first hooking mechanism 301 is fixedly connected to the first telescopic control mechanism 305.
The second hooking mechanism 302 is a sheet mechanism, and a side of the sheet mechanism connected to the second expansion control mechanism is a first rectangle, and forms a second rectangle along the direction in which the expansion control mechanism pushes the sheet mechanism out, wherein the second rectangle is integrally formed with the first rectangle, and the width of the second rectangle is larger than that of the first rectangle. The second hitching mechanism 302 is fixedly coupled to a second telescoping control mechanism 306. The second telescoping control mechanism 306 is coupled to a rotation control mechanism 309, which may be a fixed connection, or a detachable connection, mechanical connection, or the like.
The first hitching mechanism 301 on the dispensing robot 103 mates with the second hitching mechanism 302 on the dispensing robot 101, and the rotation control mechanism 309 connected to the second hitching mechanism 302 is rotated 90 degrees within the second rectangular-shaped slotted cylinder mechanism, such that the second hitching mechanism 302 forms a stop with the first hitching mechanism 301 of the dispensing robot 103.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first telescopic control mechanism 305, the second telescopic control mechanism 306 and the rotation control mechanism 309 are connected through a hanging control module (not shown in fig. 3) in a signal manner. After receiving the control signal sent by the central management module, the hooking control module sends a control signal to the first telescopic control mechanism 305 or the second telescopic control mechanism 306, so that the first telescopic control mechanism 305 or the second telescopic control mechanism 306 pushes out the corresponding first hooking mechanism 301 or the second hooking mechanism 302 connected with the first telescopic control mechanism from the machine body, and sends a corresponding control signal to the rotating control mechanism 309 through the hooking control module, so that the first hooking mechanism 302 connected with the second telescopic control mechanism 306 rotates to form a barrier after entering the first hooking mechanism 301 of other dispensing robots.
Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a magnetic coil mechanism between two robots according to an embodiment of the present application.
As shown in fig. 4, the dispensing robots 103 and 101 each include a first hooking mechanism 401 and a second hooking mechanism 402 at both ends thereof. The first hooking mechanism 401 and the second hooking mechanism 402 are magnetic coil mechanisms.
The first hooking mechanism 401 and the second hooking mechanism 402 are electromagnetic coils, and are respectively and fixedly connected with the first telescopic control mechanism 405 and the second telescopic control mechanism 406, and the first hooking mechanism 401 and the second hooking mechanism 402 are also electrically connected with the current on-off control mechanism 409. The first hooking mechanism 401 and the second hooking mechanism 402 can also control the respective signals to generate different magnetic forces by respectively arranging corresponding current on-off control mechanisms. For example, the first hooking mechanism 401 located at the dispensing robot 103 is matched with the second hooking mechanism 402 located at the dispensing robot 101, the first current on-off control mechanism controls the first hooking mechanism 401 to generate a first magnetic force, the second current on-off control mechanism controls the second hooking mechanism 402 to generate a second magnetic force, and the first magnetic force and the second magnetic force are attracted to form a barrier.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first telescopic control mechanism 405, the second telescopic control mechanism 406 and the rotation control mechanism 409 are connected by a hanging control module (not shown in fig. 4). After receiving the control signal sent by the central management module, the hooking control module sends a control signal to the first telescopic control mechanism 405 or the second telescopic control mechanism 406, so that the first telescopic control mechanism 405 or the second telescopic control mechanism 406 pushes the corresponding first hooking mechanism 401 or the second hooking mechanism 402 connected with the first telescopic control mechanism out of the machine body, and sends a corresponding control signal to the current on-off control mechanism 409 (or the current on-off control mechanism corresponding to each hooking mechanism) through the hooking control module, so that the first hooking mechanism 401 and the second hooking mechanism 402 generate magnetic force attracted by each other, thereby forming a barrier.
According to the embodiment of the application, the hooking work is automatically completed by the hooking control module for identifying and controlling different hooking mechanisms.
In the above embodiment, in the multi-robot distribution system formed by at least two distribution robots, the configuration structure of each distribution robot is approximately the same, and according to the different implementation manners of the hanging connection, the corresponding control modules are locally increased or decreased. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a dispensing robot according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, each dispensing robot, for example, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, includes at least a first hooking mechanism 501, a second hooking mechanism 502, a hooking positioning module 503, a hooking control module 504, a first telescoping control mechanism 505, a second telescoping control mechanism 506, a central management module 507, and a communication module 508.
The central management module 507 is respectively connected with the communication module 508, the hooking positioning module 503 and the hooking control module 504 by signals;
the hooking positioning module 503 is in signal connection with the hooking control module 504;
The hooking control module 504 is respectively connected with the first telescopic control mechanism 505 and the second telescopic control mechanism 506 through signals;
the first telescopic control mechanism 505 is fixedly connected with the first hooking mechanism 501;
the second telescopic control mechanism 506 is fixedly connected with the second hooking mechanism 502;
A central management module 507 configured to receive the delivery address list from the communication module 508 and determine other delivery robots that make up the robot queue according to the delivery address list; and controlling the hooking and positioning module 503, wherein the hooking control module 504, the first telescopic control module 505 and/or the second telescopic control module 506 assist the first hooking mechanism 501 and/or the second hooking mechanism 502 to extend together, so that the first hooking mechanism of the first dispensing robot and the second hooking mechanism of the second dispensing robot form a barrier.
The distribution robot can be further provided with a rotary control mechanism fixedly connected with the telescopic control mechanism or a current on-off control mechanism electrically connected with the hooking mechanism according to the setting requirements of different hooking mechanisms, and the hooking mechanisms are controlled to cooperate to form a barrier through the rotary control mechanism or the current on-off control mechanism, so that detachable fixed connection is established between adjacent distribution robots.
When members in the robot queue are connected with each other, the second hooking mechanism cooperates with the first hooking mechanism to form a barrier, and when the members in the robot queue need to be separated from the queue, the second hooking mechanism can be screwed out in the opposite direction to the barrier, or generate magnetic force which repels each other, so that separation is realized.
The distribution robot in the embodiment of the application can further comprise: the robot comprises a map module, an environment sensing module, an obstacle avoidance module, a motion control module, a positioning navigation module and other functional modules (not shown in fig. 5) required for realizing various functions of the robot, and the functional modules jointly realize intelligent distribution of the distribution robot.
In the system for unmanned distribution of multiple robots, the robot queues are formed by the multiple distribution robots, and distribution resources are optimally scheduled, so that distribution efficiency is improved, and energy sources are saved.
Based on the multi-robot distribution system, the application also provides a multi-robot distribution scheme for efficiently and flexibly scheduling a plurality of distribution robots to cooperate to complete distribution tasks.
Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a multi-robot dispensing method according to an embodiment of the application. The method is applied to a system comprising at least two dispensing robots, each dispensing robot comprising at least a first hooking mechanism and a second hooking mechanism respectively located at both ends thereof.
As shown in figure 6 of the drawings,
Step 602, a first delivery robot in the at least two delivery robots receives a delivery address list, determines that a delivery robot which is partially or completely overlapped with a delivery path of the first delivery robot exists in the at least two delivery robots based on the delivery address list, sends a queuing request to other delivery robots, and controls a first hooking mechanism of the first delivery robot to extend out, wherein the delivery address list is used for identifying a corresponding relation between the delivery robot and a package to be delivered;
in step 604, the other delivery robots receive the queuing request, and control the second hooking mechanism of the other delivery robots to be detachably and fixedly connected with the first hooking mechanism of the first delivery robot, so that the first delivery robot and the other delivery robots form a robot queue, and cooperatively complete the delivery task.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first dispensing robot may be any one of at least two dispensing robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, as shown in fig. 1, for example. Or a dispensing robot determined according to some sort of sequencing result. The certain order may be, for example, order according to the remaining power of the delivery robot, order according to a delivery address list, order according to a ratio of the remaining power to the delivery distance, or the like.
For example, the distribution robots in the distribution robot list may be determined as the first distribution robot according to the distribution robot remaining power sequence, where the sequence may be, for example, a sequence from low to high or a sequence from high to low according to the value of the remaining power or the percentage of the remaining power in the total power.
Or determining the first delivery robot in the delivery address list as the first delivery robot. The distribution address list is used for identifying the corresponding relation between the distribution robots which are ordered according to the residual electric quantity and packages to be distributed which are ordered according to the distribution addresses. The packages to be delivered may be clustered according to delivery addresses, for example.
For example, the distribution robots 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 rank the packages to be distributed according to the remaining power from low to high {103, 101, 102, 107, 104, 105, 106}, and the packages S1,S2,S3,S4,S5,S6,S7,S8,S9,S10,S11,S12 to be distributed rank the packages {S3,S5},{S1,S2},{S4},{S6,S9},{S7,S8},{S10,S11,S12}, according to the distribution address after clustering from near to far (relative to the position of the control center) to obtain a distribution address list corresponding to {S4},{S3,S5},{S1,S2},{S6,S9},{S7,S8},{S10,S11,S12}., as shown in table 1 below.
| Dispensing robot | Packages to be dispensed | Clustering addresses |
| 103 | {S4} | Zone 1 |
| 101 | {S3,S5} | Zone 2 |
| 102 | {S4} | Sheet zone 3 |
| 107 | {S1,S2} | Zone 4 |
| 104 | {S6,S9} | Sheet zone 5 |
| 105 | {S7,S8} | Sheet zone 6 |
| 106 | {S10,S11,S12} | Sheet area 7 |
TABLE 1
The method includes the steps of receiving a delivery address list at a first delivery robot, and determining a delivery robot which is partially overlapped with a delivery path of the first delivery robot from at least two delivery robots based on the delivery address list. For example, the first dispatch robot 103 has a cluster dispatch address of the tile 1, other dispatch robots 101 have a cluster dispatch address of the tile 2, and a cluster dispatch robot 105 has a cluster dispatch address of the tile 6, and the entire route from the dispatch start point to the cluster dispatch address of the dispatch destination may be referred to as a dispatch route according to a dispatch route generated from map data.
Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a distribution scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the dispensing path L1 of the dispensing robot 103 overlaps with the dispensing path L2 of the dispensing robot 101, that is, the dispensing robot 103 and the dispensing robot 101 have a common travel path before the first separation position P1. There are cases where the dispensing paths of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robots 101, 103 overlap before the second separation position P2, that is, the dispensing paths of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robots 103, 101 overlap before the first separation position P1, the dispensing path of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robot 101 overlap before the second separation position P2, and only the dispensing robot 105 alone dispenses in the path between the second separation position P2 and the sheet 6.
After the dispensing robot 103 determines that there is a dispensing robot 101, 105 partially overlapping its dispensing path, a queuing request is sent to the dispensing robot 101, 105. The first dispensing robot may control the first hooking mechanism thereof to extend, wait for the second hooking mechanism of the other dispensing robot to reach a predetermined position, or control the first hooking mechanism to extend when the other dispensing robot reaches the predetermined position where the first dispensing robot performs hooking.
The other dispensing robot 101 or 105 may control the second hooking mechanism thereof to be detachably and fixedly connected with the first hooking mechanism of the first dispensing robot 103 after receiving the queuing request sent by the first dispensing robot 103. After receiving the queuing request sent by the first delivery robot 103, the delivery robot 101 or 105 may determine whether to immediately respond to the queuing request by identifying the location of the delivery address list, or may determine whether to immediately respond to the queuing request by determining whether to receive other queuing requests within a preset time range. After transmitting a queuing request response to the first dispensing robot 103, the dispensing robot 101 or 105 moves to the position where the first dispensing robot 103 is located until reaching a predetermined position where the first dispensing robot performs hooking. For example, the delivery robots 101 and 105 arrive at the same time, and after interacting information with the first delivery robot 103, respectively, the order in which the hitches are performed may be determined.
In the order of the order, the delivery address of the delivery robot 101 is the patch 2, and the delivery address of the delivery robot 105 is the patch 6. If the dispensing robot 101 reaches the predetermined position of the first dispensing robot 103 where the hooking is performed, the dispensing robot 101 controls the second hooking mechanism thereof to extend, and the second hooking mechanism of the dispensing robot 101 and the first hooking mechanism of the dispensing robot 103 are blocked under the control of the own hooking control module, so that the two are connected. The delivery robot 105 waiting for connection with the delivery robot 101 sends a queuing request or a message responding to the queuing request to the delivery robot 101 after the delivery robots 101 and 103 are connected, and the delivery robots 103, 101 and 105 are connected in a certain order to form a robot queue by forming a barrier when the delivery robot 101 is connected with the delivery robot 101. The queue request may be sent to other members in the queue, for example, through a head of the queue (the delivery robot located at the head of the queue), so that connection is determined according to a response of each member, or the queue request may be sent to a front team member (the delivery robot close to the head of the queue) adjacent to the member in the queue according to a negotiated order, so as to actively complete the hooking.
The functional modules of the dispensing robot described in connection with fig. 5 will be further described with respect to the working principle of the dispensing robot.
Each dispensing robot further includes: the system comprises a central management module, a communication module, a hooking and positioning module, a hooking control module and a telescopic control mechanism.
The dispensing robot 103 controls the first hooking mechanism thereof to extend, including:
The communication module receives the distribution address list and sends the distribution address list to the central management module;
the central management module receives the delivery address list from the communication module and determines other delivery robots, e.g. 101, 105, that have partial overlap with the delivery path of the first delivery robot 103 according to the delivery address list; and generating a queuing request based on the determination result and sending the queuing request to the communication module.
Then, the central management module of the distribution robot 103 is further used for controlling the hooking and positioning module, and the hooking control module and the telescopic control module are used for assisting the first hooking mechanism to extend together, so that the first hooking mechanism of the first distribution robot is detachably and fixedly connected with the second hooking mechanisms of other distribution robots;
the communication module of the distribution robot 103 receives the queuing request sent by the central management module and sends the queuing request to other distribution robots.
The other dispensing robots 101, 105, which control the second hooking mechanism of the other dispensing robot to be detachably and fixedly connected with the first hooking mechanism of the first dispensing robot through the central management module of the other dispensing robot, may include:
The central management module of the other delivery robots receives a queuing request from the communication module of the central management module, and the control hanging positioning module, the hanging control module and the telescopic control module assist the second hanging mechanism to extend out together, so that the first hanging mechanism of the first delivery robot is detachably and fixedly connected with the second hanging mechanism of the other delivery robots.
In an embodiment of the present application, before determining, based on the distribution address list, that a distribution robot that has a partial overlap with a distribution path of a first distribution robot among at least two distribution robots, the method further includes:
In step 601, the first delivery robot receives a delivery address list, where the delivery address list is generated according to a correspondence between a delivery robot scoring list and a package scoring list, where the delivery robot scoring list and the package scoring list are obtained by scoring at least two delivery robots and packages to be delivered respectively by a control center.
In step 601, in order to obtain the scoring list of the delivery robots and the scoring list of the packages, the step of scoring, by the control center, at least two delivery robots and the packages to be delivered respectively may further include:
grading and sorting at least two distribution robots according to the residual electric quantity information of the distribution robots, and generating a distribution robot grading list;
Clustering is carried out according to the delivery addresses of packages to be delivered, and then the clustering results are subjected to scoring and sorting relative to the distance of the control center, so that a package scoring list is generated.
In the embodiment of the application, after the control center obtains the residual electric quantity information of the robot, the robot can be evaluated according to the residual electric quantity value of the robot or the ratio between the residual electric quantity of the distribution robot and the total electric quantity of the distribution robot. If the respective total electric quantity settings of the dispensing robots are the same, a scoring list of the dispensing robots can be obtained by comparing the residual electric quantity values of the dispensing robots. If the respective total electric quantity settings of the distribution robots are different, a distribution robot scoring list can be obtained by comparing the ratio between the residual electric quantity of the distribution robot and the set total electric quantity.
In order to further optimize the scheduling management resources, the application can also obtain a package scoring list by clustering packages to be delivered according to delivery addresses and scoring the clustering results relative to the distance in control as a distance standard. The clustering refers to aggregating packages to be distributed together according to the patch to which the distribution address belongs. For example, { S3,S5 } all belong to tile 2 and { S10,S11,S12 } all belong to tile 7.
In step 604, the first dispensing robot and the other dispensing robots form a robot queue to cooperatively complete a dispensing task, and may further include:
the head of the robot queue provides power for each distribution robot in the robot queue;
the queue head controls the robot queue to execute the delivery task according to a queue delivery path, the queue delivery path comprises at least one separation position, when the robot queue runs to the first separation position, the queue head is separated from the robot queue, the queue head continuously advances along the own target address, or the queue tail is separated from the robot queue, and the queue tail continuously advances along the own target address;
after the queue head is separated from the robot queue, the distribution robot in the robot queue, which is close to the queue head, is used as a new queue head;
Or after the tail is detached from the robot queue, the distribution robot in the robot queue, which is close to the tail, is used as a new tail.
In the embodiment of the application, the robot queues cooperate to complete the delivery tasks, so that the delivery robot resources can be optimized, the delivery efficiency is improved, and the energy is saved. The initiating robot queue may be configured, for example, by the dispatch robots determining which dispatch robots to send queuing requests to based on the received list of dispatch addresses when the control center is tasked. For example, the delivery robots meet with other delivery robots during delivery, communicate with each other, receive a delivery address list sent, or decide whether to initiate a queuing request by means of exchanging delivery addresses, thereby forming a robot queue.
In the process of executing the delivery task by the robot queue, the first delivery robot 103 delivers the cluster address of the first delivery robot as the segment 1, the cluster addresses delivered by the other delivery robots 101 as the segment 2, the cluster addresses delivered by the delivery robot 105 as the segment 6, and the delivery path generated according to the map data. The entire path from the delivery start point to the end point of the cluster address of the delivery may be referred to as a delivery path. There is at least one separation position in the dispensing path as shown in fig. 7.
As shown in fig. 7, the dispensing path L2 of the dispensing robot 101 partially overlaps with the dispensing path L1 of the dispensing robot 103, that is, a common travel path is provided between the dispensing robot 101 and the dispensing robot 103 before the first separation position P1. There is also a case where the dispensing paths of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robots 101, 103 overlap before the second separation position P2, that is, the dispensing robot 103 and the dispensing robots 101, 105 have overlapping dispensing paths before the first separation position P1, the dispensing robot 101 and the dispensing robot 105 have overlapping dispensing paths before the second separation position P2, and only the dispensing robot 105 alone dispenses in the path between the second separation position P2 and the sheet 6.
In an embodiment of the present application, the completion of the delivery task by the robot queue may generally include two parts, a first part, and a process of constructing the robot queue, for example, after the first delivery robot 103 determines that the delivery robots 101, 105 partially overlap with the delivery path of the first delivery robot 101, a queuing request is sent to the delivery robots 101, 105. The first dispensing robot may control the first hooking mechanism thereof to extend, wait for the second hooking mechanism of the other dispensing robot to reach a predetermined position, or control the first hooking mechanism to extend when the other dispensing robot reaches the predetermined position where the first dispensing robot performs hooking.
After the assembly is completed, the robot queue receives instructions to start executing the delivery tasks, and according to the generated delivery paths, when the robot queue reaches the separation position of the generated delivery paths, the delivery robot at the head of the robot queue performs instruction or other communication interaction with other robots in the queue to inform the robot that the robot is about to be separated. Then, a separation action is performed.
The separating action is opposite to the way that the dispensing robots form the robot array, for example, a first hooking mechanism and a second hooking mechanism between the first dispensing robot 103 and the dispensing robot 101 are rotated out of the first hooking mechanism or generate magnetic force which repels the second hooking mechanism under the control of the hooking control module, so that the two dispensing robots are separated. After the delivery robots 103 and 101 are separated, the delivery robot 103 continues to complete the delivery task according to the original delivery path L1, that is, the package carried by the delivery robot is delivered to the section 1 according to the delivery address.
The distribution path L1 of the distribution robot 103 overlaps with the distribution path L2 of the distribution robot 101, that is, a common travel path is provided between the distribution robot 101 and the distribution robot 103 before the first separation position P1. The dispensing paths of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robots 101, 103 may overlap before the second separation position P2, that is, the dispensing paths of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robots 103, 101 overlap before the first separation position P1, the dispensing path of the dispensing robot 105 and the dispensing robot 101 overlap before the second separation position P2, and only the dispensing robot 105 alone dispenses in the path between the second separation position P2 and the sheet area 6.
And at each separation position, the corresponding delivery robot in the robot queue sends a request for separating from the queue to the delivery robot adjacent to the corresponding delivery robot according to the judgment result of the delivery path, and the separation is completed. The separated delivery robot continues to execute delivery tasks according to the original destination address or delivery path.
After all robots send the package to the destination address, the control center is returned to the location. On the way back to the control center, each dispensing robot may consider re-forming a robot queue back to the control center, thereby further saving energy. After reaching the control center, the entire delivery task ends.
In the embodiment of the application, the distribution task is completed through the robot queue cooperation, so that the distribution efficiency is improved, and the energy sources in the distribution process are further saved.
It should be noted that although the operations of the method of the present invention are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this does not require or imply that the operations must be performed in that particular order or that all of the illustrated operations be performed in order to achieve desirable results. Rather, the steps depicted in the flowcharts may change the order of execution. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps combined into one step to perform, and/or one step decomposed into multiple steps to perform.
The above description is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present application and of the principles of the technology employed. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the scope of the application referred to in the present application is not limited to the specific combinations of the technical features described above, but also covers other technical features formed by any combination of the technical features described above or their equivalents without departing from the inventive concept described above. Such as the above-mentioned features and the technical features disclosed in the present application (but not limited to) having similar functions are replaced with each other.