Fleet control method

1 . A fleet control method, wherein the method is used for controlling a robot fleet, the robot fleet comprises a leader robot and at least one following robot, the method is applicable to the leader robot, and the method comprises:

determining a planned path of each robot in the robot fleet, wherein the planned path of each robot is used to indicate a movement path for the robot to move to a corresponding target storage location within a shelving unit region to execute a task;

determining a following movement segment in the planned path of each following robot based on the planned path of each robot, wherein the following movement segment comprises a movement segment located on the ground and/or a movement segment extending in a vertical direction; and

sending the following movement segment to a corresponding following robot, so that each following robot enters a following mode at a start point of the following movement segment and follows a front cart to arrive at an aisle corresponding to the target storage location, and/or ends the following mode at an end point of the following movement segment and arrives at the target storage location to execute a goods retrieval or storage task;

wherein each shelving unit is provided with a plurality of vertical tracks for the robot to climb, a plurality of layers of storage locations are arranged corresponding to each of the vertical tracks, and the target storage locations corresponding to the robots in the robot fleet are in the same aisle; and

the determining a planned path of each robot in the robot fleet comprises:

receiving to-be-executed tasks of the robot fleet sent by a server, wherein a number of the tasks matches a number of the robots in the robot fleet;

assigning a task to each robot based on a depth of the vertical track where the target storage location corresponding to each of the to-be-executed tasks is located, a height of the target storage location, and a position sequence of each robot in the robot fleet, wherein the depth corresponding to the vertical track is a distance between the vertical track and an aisle entrance; and

determining the planned path of each robot based on the depth of the vertical track corresponding to the task assigned to the robot and the height of the target storage location.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the assigning a task to each robot based on a depth of the vertical track where the target storage location corresponding to each of the to-be-executed tasks is located, a height of the target storage location, and a position sequence of each robot in the robot fleet comprises:

dividing the robot fleet into a plurality of sub-fleets based on the depths of the vertical tracks where the target storage locations corresponding to the to-be-executed tasks are located;

assigning the to-be-executed tasks corresponding to the same vertical track to one of the sub-fleets; and

assigning, for the sub-fleets, the to-be-executed tasks with the corresponding target storage locations in descending order of heights to the robots located from front to rear within the sub-fleet.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the determining the planned path of each robot based on the depth of the vertical track corresponding to the task assigned to the robot and the height of the target storage location comprises:

planning first paths for the robots in each sub-fleet to arrive at the vertical tracks based on the depths of the vertical tracks where the target storage locations corresponding to the to-be-executed tasks are located; and

planning, for each sub-fleet, second paths for the robots to arrive at the target storage locations based on the heights of the target storage locations corresponding to the to-be-executed tasks.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

sending traveling state information of a current cart to a rear cart in real time within the following movement segment, so that the rear cart adjusts a steering angle based on the traveling state information of the leader robot after a preset time interval, to follow the leader robot.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

sharing traveling state information of the leader robot in real time within the following movement segment through a self-organized fleet network, so that the following robots in the fleet adjust a steering angle based on the traveling state information of the leader robot after a time of (N−1) T, to follow the front carts, wherein N is an order-position of each robot in the fleet, and T is a preset time interval.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a grouping signal sent by the server, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

arriving at a grouping location based on the grouping signal;

sending arrival moment information to the server, so that the server determines the position sequence of each robot in the fleet based on the arrival moment information and the arrival moment information of other robots in the fleet, determines a role of each robot in the fleet based on the position sequence of the robots in the fleet, and sends role identification information to each robot;

receiving the role identification information sent by the server; and

determining that a current cart is the leader robot after the role identification information corresponding to the leader robot is received.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a grouping signal sent by the server, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

arriving at a grouping location based on the grouping signal;

detecting whether another robot exists at the grouping location;

determining that a current cart is the leader robot if no another robot exists at the grouping location; and

sending a serial number of the current cart and the role identification information corresponding to the leader robot to the server, so that the server determines a role and a position sequence of each robot in the fleet based on the role identification information of the current cart and the role identification information sent by another robot belonging to the same robot fleet as the current cart.

8 . A fleet control method, wherein the method is used for controlling a robot fleet, the robot fleet comprises a leader robot and at least one following robot, the method is applicable to the following robot, and the method comprises:

receiving a planned path sent by the leader robot, wherein the planned path is sent by the leader robot after determining the planned path of each robot in the robot fleet and determining a following movement segment in the planned path of each following robot based on the planned path of each robot, the planned path of each robot is used to indicate a movement path for the robot to move to a corresponding target storage location within a shelving unit region to execute a task, and the following movement segment comprises a movement segment located on the ground and/or a movement segment extending in a vertical direction; and

entering a following mode at a start point of the following movement segment and following a front cart to arrive at an aisle corresponding to the target storage location, and/or ending the following mode at an end point of the following movement segment and arriving at the target storage location to execute a goods retrieval or storage task;

wherein the entering a following mode at the start point of the following movement segment and following a front cart to arrive at an aisle corresponding to the target storage location, and/or ending the following mode at the end point of the following movement segment and arriving at the target storage location to execute a goods retrieval or storage task comprises:

extending a connecting mechanism forward at the start point of the following movement segment to connect to the front cart, and following the front cart to arrive at the aisle corresponding to the target storage location;

and/or

cutting off the connection from the front cart at the end point of the following movement segment, retracting the connecting mechanism, and arriving at the target storage location to execute the goods retrieval or storage task.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving traveling state information sent by the front cart in real time within the following movement segment;

updating a relevant parameter of a current cart based on the traveling state information of the front cart after a preset time interval to follow the front cart;

and/or

sending traveling state information of the current cart to a rear cart in real time, so that the rear cart updates the relevant parameter of the current cart based on the traveling state information of the front cart after the preset time interval to follow the front cart.

10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the entering a following mode at a start point of the following movement segment and following a front cart to arrive at an aisle corresponding to the target storage location comprises:

detecting a distance to the front cart through a sensor in real time from the start point of the following movement segment; and

adjusting a movement state of a current cart in real time based on a detected distance to the front cart and a preset distance range, to maintain the distance to the front cart within the preset distance range, and following the front cart to arrive at the aisle corresponding to the target storage location.

11 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a grouping signal sent by a server, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

arriving at a grouping location based on the grouping signal;

sending arrival moment information to the server, so that the server determines a position sequence of each robot in the fleet based on the arrival moment information and the arrival moment information of other robots in the fleet, determines a role of each robot in the fleet based on the position sequence of the robots in the fleet, and sends role identification information to each robot;

receiving the role identification information sent by the server; and

determining that a current cart is the following robot after the role identification information corresponding to the following robot is received.

12 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a grouping signal sent by a server, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

arriving at a grouping location based on the grouping signal;

detecting whether another robot exists at the grouping location;

determining that a current cart is the following robot if another robot exists at the grouping location; and

sending a serial number of the current cart and role identification information corresponding to the following robot to the server, so that the server determines a role and a position sequence of each robot in the fleet based on the role identification information sent by each robot.

13 . A fleet control method, wherein the method is used for controlling a robot fleet, the robot fleet comprises a leader robot and at least one following robot, the method is applicable to a server, and the method comprises:

determining a planned path of each robot in the robot fleet, wherein the planned path of each robot is used to indicate a movement path for the robot to move to a corresponding target storage location within a shelving unit region to execute a task; and

determining a following movement segment in the planned path of each following robot, and sending the following movement segment to a corresponding following robot;

or

sending the planned path of each robot to the leader robot, so that the leader robot determines a following movement segment in the planned path of each following robot, and sends the following movement segment to a corresponding following robot, so that each following robot enters a following mode at a start point of the following movement segment and follows a front cart to arrive at an aisle corresponding to the target storage location, and/or ends the following mode at an end point of the following movement segment and arrives at the target storage location to execute a goods retrieval or storage task, wherein the following movement segment comprises a movement segment located on the ground and/or a movement segment extending in a vertical direction;

wherein the method further comprises:

sending to-be-executed tasks to the leader robot after assigning the task to each robot based on a depth of a vertical track where the target storage location corresponding to each of the to-be-executed tasks of the robot fleet is located, a height of the target storage location, and a place of each robot in the robot fleet, and the depth corresponding to the vertical track is a distance between the vertical track and an aisle entrance; and

wherein the planned path is determined based on the depth of the vertical track corresponding to the task assigned to the robot and the height of the target storage location.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:

sending a grouping signal to a plurality of robots, so that the robots arrive at a grouping location based on the grouping signal, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

receiving arrival moment information sent by the robots;

determining a position sequence of a corresponding robot in the fleet based on the arrival moment information sent by the robots; and

determining a role of each robot in the fleet based on the position sequence of each robot in the fleet, and sending role identification information to each robot.

15 . The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:

sending a grouping signal to a plurality of robots, wherein the grouping signal comprises grouping time information and grouping location information;

receiving serial numbers of current carts and corresponding sent by the robots, wherein the serial numbers of the current carts and corresponding role identification information are sent by the robots after arriving at grouping location based on the grouping signal, detecting whether another robot exists at the grouping location, and determining roles of the current carts; and

determining a role and a position sequence of each robot in the fleet based on the role identification information of each robot.