TWI844848B - Cotrol method, device, apparatus, system, storage medium for robot and computer program product - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a control method, device, apparatus, system, and storage medium for a robot. After a robot completes a material fetching and placing operation in a first aisle, if it is determined that a next target position of the robot is a first user operation area, then, the robot is controlled to move along a path which passes through the first aisle and an annular track to the first user operation area, so as to reach the first user operation area, where the robot moves in a preset direction on the annular track. In this way, the probability of conflict between different robots is reduced, and the difficulty of scheduling robots is reduced.

Description

Robot control method, device, equipment, system, storage medium and computer program product

This disclosure relates to the field of intelligent warehousing, and in particular to a robot control method, device, control equipment and system.

With the continuous advancement of science and technology, warehousing technology is also constantly improving, and how to achieve more efficient warehousing management has become a hot issue.

Some warehousing systems include multiple shelves and robots. Shelves are used to store goods, and adjacent shelves form aisles. Shelves are usually multi-layer shelves, and vertical and straight rails are set in each aisle, so that the robot can move along the vertical and straight rails in the aisle to reach different heights to pick up and place goods. When the robot completes picking and placing goods in an aisle, the robot is controlled to descend to the ground along the vertical and straight rails, and move to other aisles or user work areas through the ground area.

However, in the above process, different robots are prone to conflicts during movement, making it difficult to schedule the robots.

This disclosed embodiment provides a robot control method, device, equipment, system, storage medium and computer program product to reduce the difficulty of scheduling the robot.

In the first aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a control method for a robot, wherein the robot is located in a storage area, the storage area includes a plurality of shelves arranged at intervals, a lane is formed between adjacent shelves, and a circular track is arranged around the plurality of shelves in the horizontal direction; the method includes: after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determining the next target position of the robot; if the next target position is the first user work area, controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the first user work area, so as to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple circular rails, and different circular rails are set at different heights; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular rail to the first user work area, including: determining a target circular rail from the multiple circular rails; controlling the robot to move to the target circular rail through the first lane.

In a possible implementation, determining the target circular orbit from the multiple circular orbits includes: if there is a first circular orbit among the multiple circular orbits, and the height of the first circular orbit is the same as the current height of the robot, then determining the first circular orbit as the target circular orbit; or, if the heights of the multiple circular orbits are all different from the current height of the robot, then selecting a circular orbit from the multiple circular orbits whose height is closest to the current height of the robot as the target circular orbit.

In a possible implementation, determining the target circular track from the multiple circular tracks includes: planning a candidate path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area for each of the multiple circular tracks, and obtaining multiple candidate paths; determining the lengths of the multiple candidate paths; and determining the circular track with the shortest length of the candidate paths corresponding to the multiple circular tracks as the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, a plurality of first linear rails are arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the heights of the plurality of first linear rails correspond one-to-one to the heights of the plurality of circular rails, and both ends of each first linear rail are connected to the circular rails of the corresponding height; controlling the robot to move to the target circular rail through the first lane comprises: if the height of the target circular rail is equal to the current height of the robot, controlling the robot to move to the target circular rail along the first linear rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail; or, if the height of the target circular rail is higher than the current height of the robot, controlling the robot to move to the target circular rail along the first linear rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail; If the robot is at the current height, the robot is controlled to ascend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot ascends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track; or, if the height of the target circular track is lower than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot descends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, there is one circular rail, which is arranged at the top of the plurality of shelves, and a first straight rail is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the height of the first straight rail is the same as the height of the circular rail, and both ends of the first straight rail are connected to the circular rail; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular rail to the first user work area, including: controlling the robot to rise along the vertical straight rail in the first lane; When the robot rises to the height of the circular shelf, controlling the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane to the circular rail.

In a possible implementation, the first user work area is located on the ground; an exit is provided on the circular track, and a slide rail extending from the circular track to the ground is provided at the exit position; the robot is controlled to move along a path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area, including: controlling the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit; controlling the robot to move along the slide rail at the exit position to the first user work area.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits; controlling the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit includes: determining the first exit closest to the current position of the robot from the multiple exits; and controlling the robot to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the first exit.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits, and the slide rails corresponding to different exits extend to different user work areas; controlling the robot to move along the ring track to the exit along a preset direction includes: determining a second exit extending to the first user work area from the multiple exits; controlling the robot to move along the ring track to the second exit along the preset direction.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: if the next target position is the second lane, controlling the robot to move along a path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, a second linear track is provided on the top of the plurality of shelves, and the length direction of the second linear track is perpendicular to the length direction of the shelves; the method further comprises: if the next target position of the robot is the second lane, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the second linear track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple second linear tracks; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the second linear track to the second lane to reach the second lane includes: obtaining the moving distance required for the robot to move from the first lane to each of the second linear tracks; selecting the second linear track with the shortest moving distance from the multiple second linear tracks as the target linear track; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the target linear track to the second lane to reach the second lane.

In a second aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a control device for a robot, wherein the robot is located in a storage area, wherein the storage area includes a plurality of shelves arranged at intervals, wherein lanes are formed between adjacent shelves, and at least one circular track is arranged around the plurality of shelves in the horizontal direction; the device includes: a determination module, which is used to determine the next target position of the robot after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane; and a control module, which is used to control the robot to move along a path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user working area if the next target position is the first user working area, so as to reach the first user working area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple circular tracks, and different circular tracks are set at different heights; the control module is specifically used to: determine the target circular track from the multiple circular tracks; and control the robot to move to the target circular track through the first lane.

In a possible implementation, the control module is specifically used to: if there is a first circular track among the multiple circular tracks, and the height of the first circular track is the same as the current height of the robot, then the first circular track is determined as the target circular track; or, if the heights of the multiple circular tracks are different from the current height of the robot, then the circular track whose height is closest to the current height of the robot is selected from the multiple circular tracks as the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, the control module is specifically used to: plan a candidate path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area for each of the multiple circular tracks, and obtain multiple candidate paths; determine the lengths of the multiple candidate paths respectively; and determine the circular track with the shortest length of the candidate paths corresponding to the multiple circular tracks as the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, a plurality of first linear rails are arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the heights of the plurality of first linear rails correspond one-to-one to the heights of the plurality of circular rails, and both ends of each first linear rail are connected to the circular rails of the corresponding heights; the control module is specifically used to: if the height of the target circular rail is equal to the current height of the robot, control the robot to move along the first linear rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail to the target circular rail; or, if the height of the target circular rail is higher than the current height of the robot, control the robot to move to the target circular rail. The robot ascends along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot ascends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track; or, if the height of the target circular track is lower than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot descends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, there is one circular rail, which is arranged at the top of the plurality of shelves, and a first straight rail is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the height of the first straight rail is the same as the height of the circular rail, and both ends of the first straight rail are connected to the circular rail; the control module is specifically used to: control the robot to rise along the vertical straight rail in the first lane; when the robot rises to the height of the circular shelf, control the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane to the circular rail.

In a possible implementation, the first user work area is located on the ground; an exit is provided on the circular track, and a slide rail extending from the circular track to the ground is provided at the exit position; the control module is specifically used to: control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit; control the robot to move along the slide rail at the exit position to the first user work area.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits; the control module is specifically used to: determine the first exit closest to the current position of the robot from the multiple exits; and control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the first exit.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits, and the slide rails corresponding to different exits extend to different user work areas; the control module is specifically used to: determine a second exit extending to the first user work area from the multiple exits; and control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the second exit.

In a possible implementation, the control module is also used to: if the next target position is the second lane, control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, a second linear track is provided on the top of the plurality of shelves, and the length direction of the second linear track is perpendicular to the length direction of the shelves; the control module is also used to: if the next target position of the robot is the second lane, control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the second linear track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple second linear tracks; the control module is specifically used to: obtain the moving distance required for the robot to move from the first lane to each of the second linear tracks; select the second linear track with the shortest moving distance from the multiple second linear tracks as the target linear track; control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the target linear track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

In a third aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a control device, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory connected to the at least one processor in communication; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, so that the control device executes the method described in any one of the first aspects.

In the fourth aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a control system, including: multiple shelves, a robot, and the control device as described in the third aspect.

In the fifth aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer execution instructions. When the processor executes the computer execution instructions, the method described in any one of the first aspects is implemented.

In the sixth aspect, the disclosed embodiment provides a computer program, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer execution instructions, and when the processor executes the computer execution instructions, the method described in any one of the first aspects is implemented.

The robot control method, device, equipment, system, storage medium and computer program product provided by the disclosed embodiment, after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, if it is determined that the next target position of the robot is the first user work area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to reach the first user work area, wherein the robot moves along the preset direction on the circular track, thus avoiding the probability of conflict between different robots and reducing the difficulty of scheduling the robot.

10: Shelves

20:Robot

30: Control equipment

40:User

11: Vertical track

S301: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determine the next target position of the robot

S302: If the next target location is the first user work area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track

50: Circular track

60: Straight track

S601: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determine the next target position of the robot

S602: If the next target location is the second lane, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

S701: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determine the next target position of the robot

S702: If the next target position of the robot is the second lane, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the second straight track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

70: Straight track

1000: Control device

1001: Confirm module

1002: Control module

1101: Processor

1102: Storage

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a robot climbing a shelf provided in this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of a robot control method provided in this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a storage system provided in this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another storage system provided in the disclosed embodiment.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the process of another robot control method provided in this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the process of another robot control method provided by this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another storage system provided in the disclosed embodiment.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a robot movement provided in this disclosed embodiment.

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a robot control device provided in the disclosed embodiment.

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a control device provided in this disclosed embodiment.

In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the disclosed embodiment clearer, the technical solution in the disclosed embodiment will be described clearly and completely in conjunction with the attached figures in the disclosed embodiment. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiments of the disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the disclosure.

The technical solution provided by this disclosed embodiment can be applied to any suitable industry or technology field, such as smart warehousing, smart logistics, etc.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by the disclosed embodiment. FIG1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a storage system. As shown in FIG1, a shelf 10 and a robot 20 are provided in the storage system. The shelf 10 is used to store goods, and there are multiple shelves 10, and multiple shelves 10 are arranged in the storage area at intervals, and a lane is formed between adjacent shelves 10. The robot 20 can move in the lane. The robot 20 can be a transport robot or a sorting robot. The transport robot can be used to transport the cargo box, and the picking robot can be used to pick the goods in the cargo box. Of course, a robot can also have both a transport function and a picking function.

As shown in Figure 1, one or more user operation areas can be set up in the warehousing system, and the user 40 can operate the goods in the user operation area. The user 40 can be an operator, a warehouse clerk, a sorter, etc.

The robot 20 can communicate with the control device 30. The control device 30 can be a server, a terminal device, etc. The control device 30 can also be a device or equipment integrated in the robot 20. Under the control of the control device 30, the robot 20 can pick up or put goods from the shelf 10, and can also transport the goods to the user's work area for the user 40 to operate the goods.

In an exemplary scenario, after receiving an order, the control device 30 controls the robot 20 to move to the corresponding shelf 10, and controls the robot to take out the box containing the items required for the order from the shelf 10. The control device 30 controls the robot 20 to move the box to the user's work area. The user selects the required items from the box according to the order. The control device 30 then controls the robot 20 to put the box back on the shelf 10.

Continuing with FIG. 1 , the shelf 10 may have multiple layers, and each layer of the shelf 10 may have multiple storage locations arranged horizontally, that is, the storage locations of the shelf 10 are arranged in a grid. The storage locations are used to place cargo boxes containing goods. The robot 20 can climb along the height direction of the shelf 10, so as to be able to pick up and place goods in each storage location on the shelf 10.

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a robot climbing a shelf provided in the disclosed embodiment. FIG2 is a front view of the storage system. As shown in FIG2, vertical and straight rails 11 are provided corresponding to the storage locations of different columns of the shelf 10, and the vertical and straight rails 11 on the shelves 10 on both sides of the lane correspond to each other, and the width of the robot 20 matches the width of the lane. The control device 30 can control the robot 20 to move up and down along the vertical and straight rails 11 so that the robot 20 reaches the storage locations of each layer of the shelf 10 to pick up or put goods. When the robot 20 moves up and down, since the two sides of the robot 30 will simultaneously abut and cooperate with the vertical and straight rails 11 of the shelves 10 on both sides of the lane, the lifting process of the robot 20 is more stable.

When the robot 20 completes the picking and placing operation in an aisle, the control device 30 controls the robot 20 to descend to the ground along the vertical straight track, and moves to other aisles or to the user's work area through the public area on the ground (such as the area surrounded by the dotted line in Figure 1).

The inventor discovered in the process of implementing the present disclosure that in actual applications, there will be multiple robots 20 in the storage area, and each robot 20 can move freely in the public area on the ground. In this way, conflicts are likely to occur between different robots during movement, making it more difficult for the control device 30 to schedule the robots 20.

In order to solve the above technical problems, in the disclosed embodiment, a circular track can be set around multiple shelves in the horizontal direction, and the control device can control the robot to move unidirectionally on the circular track. In this way, since different robots move unidirectionally on the circular track, conflicts between them can be avoided, the difficulty of scheduling can be reduced, and the work efficiency of the robot can be improved.

The following is a detailed description of some implementation methods of the present disclosure in conjunction with the attached figures. The following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other if there is no conflict between the embodiments.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of a robot control method provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the method of this embodiment includes:

S301: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, the next target position of the robot is determined.

Among them, the first lane can be any lane in the storage area.

The control device controls the robot to move to the first lane to perform pick-up and put-down operations. The robot can perform pick-up and put-down operations on multiple storage locations in the first lane. Among them, the pick-up and put-down operations include pick-up operations and/or put-down operations. The robot can perform pick-up operations on some storage locations and put-down operations on other storage locations in the first lane. Pick-up refers to taking goods/cargo boxes out of the storage location, and put-down refers to putting goods/cargo boxes into the storage location.

For example, assume that the robot needs to perform pick-up and put-out operations on the first, fourth, and sixth levels of storage in the first lane. After the robot moves to the first lane, it first performs pick-up and put-out operations on the first level of storage, then rises along the vertical straight track to the fourth level of storage to perform pick-up and put-out operations, and then rises along the vertical straight track to the sixth level of storage to perform pick-up and put-out operations. At this point, the robot completes the pick-up and put-out operations in the first lane.

Specifically, the next target position of the robot can be determined according to the handling task planned by the control device for the robot in advance. For example, if the handling task planned by the control device for the robot includes: taking out the first container from shelf A, taking out the second container from shelf B, and then transporting the first container and the second container to the user's work area. Then, when the robot completes the picking operation in the lane corresponding to shelf A, the next target position of the robot is the lane corresponding to shelf B. When the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the lane corresponding to shelf B, the next target position of the robot is the user's work area.

S302: If the next target location is the first user work area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In this embodiment, multiple shelves are arranged at intervals in the storage area, and a circular track is arranged around the multiple shelves in the horizontal direction. The circular track can form a closed shape surrounding the storage area. This embodiment does not limit the shape of the circular track, which can be circular, elliptical, or a rectangle corresponding to the outer periphery of multiple shelves, or any other closed shape.

When the robot needs to move to the first user work area, the control device can plan a path for the robot through the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area, and then control the robot to move along the planned path to reach the first user work area. Since the robot moves to the first user work area along the circular track, compared with the existing technology in which the robot moves freely in the public area on the ground to the user work area, it can avoid conflicts between different robots to a certain extent.

Furthermore, when the robot enters the circular track, the control device can control the robot to move in a preset direction on the circular track. For example, it can move in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction. It should be understood that when different robots enter the circular track, they all move in the same preset direction, so that conflicts caused by opposite movements of different robots can be avoided.

The robot control method provided in this embodiment, after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, if it is determined that the next target position of the robot is the first user operation area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area to reach the first user operation area, wherein the robot moves along the preset direction on the circular track, thus avoiding the probability of conflict between different robots and reducing the difficulty of scheduling the robot.

In addition, the circular track provides the robot with additional moving space and path, so that the robot does not need to travel back and forth between the storage location and the ground along the vertical and straight tracks in the first lane. That is to say, after the robot rises from the ground along the vertical and straight tracks to the designated storage location of the shelf to pick up and place goods, it can leave the first lane through the circular track instead of descending along the vertical and straight tracks to the ground and then leaving the first lane. This will not affect the work of other robots that enter the first lane later, thereby improving the overall work efficiency of the warehousing system.

Based on the above embodiments, the following further describes the control method of the robot in combination with several possible settings of the circular track.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a storage system provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG4, the circular rail 50 is arranged at the top of the plurality of shelves 10. In addition, a first linear rail 60 is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends. The height of the first linear rail 60 is the same as that of the circular rail 50, and the two ends of the first linear rail 60 are respectively connected to the circular rail 50. That is, the two ends of the first linear rail 60 are respectively connected to different rail sections of the circular rail 50.

After the robot 20 completes the task of picking up and placing goods in the first lane, the robot 20 can be controlled to rise along the vertical track in the first lane. When the robot rises to the height of the circular track 50, the robot 20 is controlled to move along the first linear track 60 in the first lane to the circular track.

It should be understood that since each lane is provided with a first linear track 60, the robots 20 working in different lanes can move along the vertical linear track to the corresponding first linear track 60, and move along the first linear track 60 to the circular track 50. Since the robots entering the circular track 50 all move unidirectionally along the preset direction, the robots entering the circular track 50 from different first linear tracks 60 will not interfere with each other.

By setting a circular track 50 surrounding multiple shelves on the top of the shelf, the robot 20 can continue to rise along the vertical track after completing the pick-up and placement operation in the first lane, and enter the circular track through the first linear track 60 to leave the first lane without descending to the ground along the vertical track, thereby avoiding conflicts with other robots in the first lane, making the dispatch of the robot simpler.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another storage system provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG5, multiple circular rails 50 can be arranged around multiple shelves 10 in the horizontal direction, and different circular rails 50 are arranged at different heights.

In each lane, multiple first linear rails 60 are arranged along the direction in which the lane extends. The heights of the multiple first linear rails 60 correspond to the heights of the multiple circular rails 50 one by one, and both ends of each first linear rail 60 are connected to the circular rails 50 of the corresponding height. The robot can move along the first linear rails 60 and enter the circular rails 50 of the corresponding height.

In one example, as shown in FIG5 , a circular track 50 may be provided at the top of the shelf 10, and one or more circular tracks 50 may be provided at the middle of the shelf 10. FIG5 shows an example of providing two circular tracks 50 at the middle of the shelf 10. In this way, the robot may move along the circular track at the top of the shelf or along the circular track in the middle of the shelf.

In another example, a circular track 50 can be set at the height corresponding to each layer of the shelf 10. In this way, a "track shell" is formed around the outside of multiple shelves 10, and the robot can move on any circular track, making the robot's movement path more flexible.

It should be noted that FIG5 only illustrates the first straight track corresponding to the circular track at the top of the shelf, and the first straight track corresponding to the other circular tracks is not shown.

After the robot completes the pick-up and placement operation in the first lane, if the control device determines that the robot needs to move to the first user's work area, the control device can determine the target circular track from multiple circular tracks, and plan a path through the first lane, the target circular track to the first user's work area, and then control the robot to move along the planned path to reach the first user's work area.

The following feasible methods can be used to determine the target circular orbit from multiple circular orbits.

Method 1: Select the target circular track based on the height proximity principle.

Specifically, if there is a first circular track among multiple circular tracks, and the height of the first circular track is the same as the current height of the robot, the first circular track is determined as the target circular track. In this way, the robot does not need to ascend or descend along the vertical straight track, but directly enters the circular track at the same height as the robot, making the scheduling of the robot simple.

If the heights of multiple circular rails are different from the current height of the robot, the circular rail with the closest height to the current height of the robot is selected from the multiple circular rails as the target circular rail. For example, assuming that the third and sixth layers of the shelf are provided with circular rails, if the robot is currently on the fourth layer, the circular rail on the third layer is selected as the target circular rail; if the robot is currently on the fifth layer, the circular rail on the sixth layer is selected as the target circular rail.

Method 2: Select the target circular track based on the shortest path principle.

Specifically, for each of the plurality of circular tracks, a candidate path is planned from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to obtain a plurality of candidate paths; the lengths of the plurality of candidate paths are determined respectively, and the circular track with the shortest length of the candidate path corresponding to the plurality of circular tracks is determined as the target circular track. This method enables the robot to reach the first user work area along the shortest path, thereby improving the work efficiency of the robot.

Method 3: Select the target circular track based on the principle of shortest time consumption.

Specifically, for each of the multiple circular tracks, a candidate path is planned from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to obtain multiple candidate paths; the time required for the robot to reach the first user work area along each candidate path is determined respectively, and the circular track with the shortest corresponding time among the multiple circular tracks is determined as the target circular track. This method enables the robot to reach the first user work area in the shortest time, thereby improving the robot's work efficiency.

After determining the target circular orbit, the control device can control the robot to move from the current position to the target circular orbit.

In one example, if the height of the target circular track is equal to the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track. For example, assuming that the target circular track is a circular track set on the 6th layer of the shelf, and the robot is currently on the 6th layer, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track set on the 6th layer in the first lane to the target circular track.

In another example, if the height of the target circular track is higher than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to rise along the vertical straight track in the first lane. When the robot rises to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track. For example, assuming that the target circular track is a circular track set on the 6th layer of the shelf, and the robot is currently on the 4th layer, the robot is controlled to rise along the vertical straight track in the first lane to the 6th layer, and then move along the first straight track set on the 6th layer in the first lane to the target circular track.

In another example, if the height of the target circular track is lower than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane. When the robot descends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track. For example, assuming that the target circular track is a circular track set on the 6th layer of the shelf, and the robot is currently on the 8th layer, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane to the 6th layer, and then move along the first straight track set on the 6th layer in the first lane to the target circular track.

The above embodiment describes the way in which the control device controls the robot to enter the circular track. When the user's work area is located on the ground, the robot also needs to move to the user's work area on the ground through the circular track.

In one possible implementation, each circular track may also be provided with an exit, and a slide rail extending from the circular track to the ground may be provided at the exit position. In this way, when the robot enters the circular track, the control device may control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit, and then control the robot to move along the slide rail at the exit position to the first user operation area.

Optionally, the slide rail may be a vertical structure extending along the height direction of the shelf, or may have a certain inclination relative to the vertical direction.

Optionally, the exit can be located at the edge of the storage area, and the slide rail can be close to the user work area outside the storage area. In this way, the robot can directly reach the user work area along the slide rail without interfering with other robots, thereby improving the work efficiency of the robot.

It should be understood that when a plurality of circular rails are provided in the storage area, each circular rail is provided with an exit, and the exit positions of different circular rails may be the same or different, and this embodiment does not limit this.

In one possible implementation, each circular track can be provided with multiple exits. Each exit can be provided at a different track section of the circular track. In this way, the robot can move to the ground through one of the exits.

In one example, the principle of the closest distance can be used to select which exit to move to the ground. Specifically, when the robot enters the circular track, the control device can determine the first exit closest to the current position of the robot from multiple exits, control the robot to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the first exit, move to the ground through the slide rail set at the first exit, and then reach the first user work area. This method can shorten the robot's moving path and improve the robot's work efficiency.

In another example, the slide rails corresponding to different exits extend to different user work areas, and the corresponding exits can be determined according to the first user work area that the robot needs to reach. Specifically, after the robot enters the circular track, a second exit extending to the first user work area is determined from multiple exits, and the robot is controlled to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the second exit, and then moves to the first user work area through the slide rail set at the second exit. This method allows the robot to directly reach the first user work area from the circular track, which can improve the robot's work efficiency on the one hand, and avoid conflicts between different robots on the other hand, reducing the difficulty of scheduling.

In the above embodiment, the circular track can be used to move to the user's work area. In some possible implementations, the circular track can also be used for the robot to move from the first lane to the second lane, which is described below in conjunction with Figure 6.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the process of another robot control method provided by this disclosed embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, the method of this embodiment includes:

S601: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, the next target position of the robot is determined.

It should be understood that the implementation of S601 is similar to S301 in Figure 3, and will not be elaborated here.

S602: If the next target position is the second lane, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

When the robot needs to move to the second lane, the control device can plan a path for the robot through the first lane, the circular track to the second lane, and then control the robot to move along the planned path to reach the second lane. It should be understood that the specific control principle of this embodiment is similar to the above embodiment and will not be described in detail here. The following is just an example.

For example, taking the warehousing system shown in Figure 3 as an example, assume that the circular track is set at the top of the shelf. If the robot is currently located on the third floor of the first lane, the robot can be controlled to rise to the top of the shelf along the vertical and straight track in the first lane, and move along the first straight track in the first lane to the circular track. Furthermore, the robot is controlled to move along the preset direction on the circular track until it reaches the docking position of the circular track and the first straight track in the second lane. The robot is controlled to turn at the docking position and move along the first straight track in the second lane to the target storage location. Furthermore, the robot can also be controlled to descend to the target height along the vertical and straight track corresponding to the target storage location to complete the pick-up and place operations in the second lane.

In this embodiment, the robot can be controlled to move to the second lane along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane, so that the robot can move to other lanes through the circular track without returning to the ground and going to other lanes via the outer detour of the storage area, thereby improving the robot's movement efficiency between multiple lanes.

On the basis of the above-mentioned embodiments, in the disclosed embodiment, a cross-lane track can also be set in the storage area to further improve the efficiency of the robot's cross-lane movement. The following is described in conjunction with Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the process of another robot control method provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the method of this embodiment includes:

S701: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, the next target position of the robot is determined.

It should be understood that the implementation of S701 is similar to S301 in Figure 3, and will not be elaborated here.

S702: If the next target position of the robot is the second lane, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the second straight track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

In this embodiment, the second straight track can also be called a cross-lane track. The second straight track can pass through multiple lanes so that the robot can move from one lane to another.

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another storage system provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG8, a second linear track 70 can be set on the top of multiple shelves 10, and the length direction of the second linear track 70 is perpendicular to the length direction of the shelf 10.

Specifically, since the lanes between adjacent shelves are relatively independent and the extension directions of different lanes are parallel to each other, the robot cannot move directly from one lane to another in the existing technology. By setting a second linear track on the top of the shelf, the robot can move to other lanes through the second linear track after moving to the top of the shelf, without having to return to the ground and go to other lanes via the outer side of the storage area, thereby improving the robot's movement efficiency between multiple lanes.

Optionally, the second linear track 70 can be arranged along the midpoint of each shelf 10 in the length direction, so that the robot can quickly move to the second linear track no matter where it is located.

FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a robot movement provided by the disclosed embodiment. FIG9 takes the storage system shown in FIG8 as an example, and illustrates the movement of the robot on the circular track, the first linear track, and the second linear track at the top of the shelf. Referring to FIG9, the robot can move along the first linear track 60 corresponding to each lane to the circular track 50, and the robot can move unidirectionally along the preset direction (for example, counterclockwise) on the circular track. In addition, the robot can also move from one lane to another along the second linear track.

For example, assume that there are 9 storage locations on each shelf, the first end of the shelf is storage location 1, the second end is storage location 9, and the second linear track is set at the top of the midpoint storage location (i.e., storage location 5) of the multiple shelves. Assume that the robot is currently located at the second storage location on the third floor of Lane 1, and the next target location is the seventh storage location on the fifth floor of Lane 2. The control process of the robot is as follows: control the robot to rise to the top of the shelf along the vertical linear track in Lane 1, and move along the first linear track in Lane 1 at the top of the shelf toward the second end of the shelf until it moves to the junction of the first linear track and the second linear track in Lane 1. The robot is controlled to turn at the docking position and move along the second straight track toward Lane 2 until it reaches the docking position of the second straight track and the first straight track in Lane 2. Furthermore, the robot is controlled to turn at the docking position and move along the first straight track in Lane 2 toward the second end of the shelf until it reaches location 7. The robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in Lane 2 to the third level location.

Optionally, there can be multiple second linear rails, and the multiple second linear rails can be arranged parallel to each other at intervals, so that the first linear rail and the second linear rail on the top of the shelf can be staggered vertically and horizontally to form a rail network, providing more possibilities for robot scheduling, so that the entire warehousing system can be applied to more complex cargo transportation tasks.

When multiple second linear tracks are set up, when the robot needs to move across lanes, it can select one of the second linear tracks to cross the lanes.

In one example, the moving distances required for the robot to move from the first lane to each second straight track can be obtained respectively; the second straight track with the shortest moving distance is selected from multiple second straight tracks as the target straight track, and the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane, the target straight track to the second lane to reach the second lane.

For example, suppose there are three second linear tracks, which are set at the top of location 2, location 5, and location 8 of each shelf. If the robot is currently located at location 3 in the first aisle, the second linear track at the top of location 2 is used as the target linear track. If the robot is currently located at location 7 in the first aisle, the second linear track at the top of location 8 is used as the target linear track.

In this embodiment, the robot can be controlled to move to the second lane along the path from the first lane and the second straight track to the second lane, so that the robot can move to other lanes through the second straight track without returning to the ground and going to other lanes via the outer detour of the storage area, thereby improving the robot's movement efficiency between multiple lanes.

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a robot control device provided in the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG10 , the robot control device 1000 provided in the present embodiment may include: a determination module 1001 and a control module 1002.

The robot is located in a storage area, which includes a plurality of shelves arranged at intervals, and a lane is formed between adjacent shelves. At least one circular track is arranged around the plurality of shelves in the horizontal direction.

The determination module 1001 is used to determine the next target position of the robot after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane; the control module 1002 is used to control the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area if the next target position is the first user work area, so as to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along the preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple circular tracks, and different circular tracks are set at different heights; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: determine the target circular track from the multiple circular tracks; and control the robot to move to the target circular track through the first lane.

In a possible implementation, the control module 1002 is specifically used to: if there is a first circular track among the multiple circular tracks, and the height of the first circular track is the same as the current height of the robot, then the first circular track is determined as the target circular track; or, if the heights of the multiple circular tracks are different from the current height of the robot, then the circular track whose height is closest to the current height of the robot is selected from the multiple circular tracks as the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, the control module 1002 is specifically used to: plan a candidate path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area for each of the multiple circular tracks, and obtain multiple candidate paths; determine the lengths of the multiple candidate paths respectively; and determine the circular track with the shortest length of the candidate path corresponding to the multiple circular tracks as the target circular track.

In one possible implementation, a plurality of first linear rails are arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the heights of the plurality of first linear rails correspond one-to-one to the heights of the plurality of circular rails, and both ends of each first linear rail are connected to the circular rails of the corresponding heights; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: if the height of the target circular rail is equal to the current height of the robot, control the robot to move along the first linear rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail to the target circular rail; or, if the height of the target circular rail is higher than the current height of the robot, control the robot to move to the target circular rail. The robot rises along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot rises to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track; or, if the height of the target circular track is lower than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot descends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track.

In a possible implementation, there is one circular rail, which is arranged at the top of the plurality of shelves, and a first straight rail is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the height of the first straight rail is the same as the height of the circular rail, and both ends of the first straight rail are connected to the circular rail; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: control the robot to rise along the vertical straight rail in the first lane; when the robot rises to the height of the circular shelf, control the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane to the circular rail.

In a possible implementation, the first user work area is located on the ground; an exit is provided on the circular track, and a slide rail extending from the circular track to the ground is provided at the exit position; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit; control the robot to move along the slide rail at the exit position to the first user work area.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: determine the first exit closest to the current position of the robot from the multiple exits; and control the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the first exit.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple exits, and the slide rails corresponding to different exits extend to different user work areas; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: determine the second exit extending to the first user work area from the multiple exits; control the robot to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the second exit.

In a possible implementation, the control module 1002 is also used to: if the next target position is the second lane, control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track.

In a possible implementation, a second linear track is provided on the top of the plurality of shelves, and the length direction of the second linear track is perpendicular to the length direction of the shelves; the control module 1002 is also used to: if the next target position of the robot is the second lane, control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the second linear track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane.

In a possible implementation, there are multiple second linear tracks; the control module 1002 is specifically used to: obtain the moving distance required for the robot to move from the first lane to each of the second linear tracks; select the second linear track with the shortest moving distance from the multiple second linear tracks as the target linear track; and control the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the target linear track to the second lane to reach the second lane.

The robot control device provided in this embodiment can be used to execute any of the above method embodiments. Its implementation principles and technical effects are similar and will not be elaborated here.

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a control device provided by the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG11 , the control device of the embodiment may include: at least one processor 1101; and a memory 1102 connected to the at least one processor in communication; wherein the memory 1102 stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor 1101, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor 1101, so that the control device executes the method described in any of the above embodiments.

Optionally, the memory 1102 can be independent or integrated with the processor 1101.

The implementation principle and technical effects of the control device provided in this embodiment can be found in the aforementioned embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

The disclosed embodiment also provides a warehousing system, including the control device described in any of the aforementioned embodiments and multiple shelves and robots.

In the storage system provided by this disclosed embodiment, the specific working principle, process and beneficial effects of the control equipment can be found in the aforementioned embodiment and will not be elaborated here.

This disclosed embodiment also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer-readable storage medium stores a computer execution instruction. When a processor executes the computer execution instruction, the method described in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

In the several embodiments provided in this disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to implement the present embodiment.

In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present disclosure can be integrated into a processing unit, each module can exist as a separate entity, or two or more modules can be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned module-composed unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

The above-mentioned integrated module implemented in the form of a software function module can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software function module is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or a processor to execute some steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the above processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the invention can be directly implemented as a hardware processor, or can be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

The memory may include high-speed random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk memory, which can also be a flash drive, a removable hard drive, a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

The bus can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, the bus in the figures of this disclosure is not limited to only one bus or one type of bus.

The above storage medium may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random-access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic storage, flash memory, magnetic disk or optical disk. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in an electronic device or a main control device.

A person skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of implementing the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions. The above-mentioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the execution includes the steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments; and the above-mentioned storage medium includes: ROM, RAM, disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this disclosure, rather than to limit them. Although this disclosure is described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or replace part or all of the technical features therein with equivalent ones; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure.

S301: After the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determine the next target position of the robot

S302: If the next target location is the first user work area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track

Claims (17)

A control method for a robot, characterized in that the robot is located in a storage area, the storage area includes a plurality of shelves arranged at intervals, a lane is formed between adjacent shelves, a circular track is arranged around the plurality of shelves in the horizontal direction, a first straight track is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the height of the first straight track is the same as the height of the circular track, and both ends of the first straight track are connected to the circular track; the method comprises: after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane, determining the next target position of the robot; if the next target If the position is the first user operation area, the robot is controlled to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area to reach the first user operation area; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area includes: controlling the robot to rise along the vertical straight track in the first lane; when the robot rises to the height of the circular track, controlling the robot to move along the first straight track in the first lane to the circular track. As described in claim 1, the number of the circular tracks is multiple, and the heights of different circular tracks are different; the control method further includes: determining a target circular track from the multiple circular tracks; Controlling the robot to move along the first straight track in the first lane to the circular track, including: controlling the robot to move along the first straight track in the first lane to the target circular track. The control method as described in claim 2, wherein determining the target circular orbit from the plurality of circular orbits comprises: if there is a first circular orbit among the plurality of circular orbits, and the height of the first circular orbit is the same as the current height of the robot, then determining the first circular orbit as the target circular orbit; or, if the heights of the plurality of circular orbits are different from the current height of the robot, then selecting the circular orbit whose height is closest to the current height of the robot from the plurality of circular orbits as the target circular orbit. The control method as described in claim 2, wherein determining the target circular track from the plurality of circular tracks comprises: planning a candidate path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user operation area for each of the plurality of circular tracks, and obtaining a plurality of candidate paths; determining the lengths of the plurality of candidate paths respectively; and determining the circular track with the shortest length of the candidate paths corresponding to the plurality of circular tracks as the target circular track. A control method as described in claim 3 or 4, wherein the number of the first straight rails is multiple, the heights of the multiple first straight rails correspond to the heights of the multiple circular rails one by one, and both ends of each first straight rail are connected to the circular rails of the corresponding height; controlling the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane to the target circular rail, including: if the height of the target circular rail is equal to the current height of the robot, then controlling the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail to the target circular rail; or, if the height of the target circular rail is higher than the current height of the robot, then controlling the robot to move along the first straight rail in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular rail to the target circular rail. If the robot is at the current height, the robot is controlled to ascend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot ascends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track; or, if the height of the target circular track is lower than the current height of the robot, the robot is controlled to descend along the vertical straight track in the first lane, and when the robot descends to the height of the target circular track, the robot is controlled to move along the first straight track in the first lane corresponding to the height of the target circular track to the target circular track. A control method as described in claim 1, wherein the number of the circular track is one, and the circular track is arranged at the top of the plurality of shelves. A control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6, wherein the first user work area is located on the ground; an exit is provided on the circular track, and a slide rail extending from the circular track to the ground is provided at the exit position; Controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area, including: controlling the robot to move along a preset direction on the circular track to the exit; controlling the robot to move along the slide rail at the exit position to the first user work area. The control method as described in claim 7, wherein there are multiple exits; controlling the robot to move to the exit along a preset direction on the circular track comprises: determining the first exit closest to the current position of the robot from the multiple exits; and controlling the robot to move to the first exit along the preset direction on the circular track. The control method as described in claim 7, wherein there are multiple exits, and the slide rails corresponding to different exits extend to different user work areas; controlling the robot to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the exit, comprising: determining a second exit extending to the first user work area from the multiple exits; and controlling the robot to move along the preset direction on the circular track to the second exit. A control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6, wherein the method further comprises: if the next target position is the second lane, controlling the robot to move along a path from the first lane, the circular track to the second lane to reach the second lane; wherein the robot moves along a preset direction on the circular track. A control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6, wherein a second linear track is provided on the top of the plurality of shelves, and the length direction of the second linear track is perpendicular to the length direction of the shelves; the method further comprises: if the next target position of the robot is the second lane, controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the second linear track to the second lane, so as to reach the second lane. The control method as described in claim 11, wherein there are multiple second straight rails; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the second straight rail to the second lane to reach the second lane, comprises: obtaining the moving distance required for the robot to move from the first lane to each of the second straight rails; selecting the second straight rail with the shortest moving distance from the multiple second straight rails as the target straight rail; controlling the robot to move along the path from the first lane, the target straight rail to the second lane to reach the second lane. A control device for a robot, characterized in that the robot is located in a storage area, the storage area includes a plurality of shelves arranged at intervals, a lane is formed between adjacent shelves, at least one circular track is arranged around the plurality of shelves in the horizontal direction, a first straight track is arranged in each lane along the direction in which the lane extends, the height of the first straight track is the same as the height of the circular track, and both ends of the first straight track are connected to the circular track; the control device includes: a determination module, which is used to determine the robot after the robot completes the picking and placing operation in the first lane The control module is used to control the robot to move along the path from the first lane and the circular track to the first user work area if the next target position is the first user work area, so as to reach the first user work area; wherein the robot moves along the preset direction on the circular track; the control module is specifically used to: control the robot to rise along the vertical straight track in the first lane; when the robot rises to the height of the circular track, control the robot to move along the first straight track in the first lane to the circular track. A control device, characterized in that it includes: at least one processor; and a memory connected to the at least one processor in communication; wherein the memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the control device executes the control method as described in any one of claim items 1-12. A control system, characterized by comprising: a plurality of shelves, a robot, and a control device as described in claim 14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer execution instruction is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when a processor executes the computer execution instruction, a control method as described in any one of claim items 1-12 is implemented. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the control method described in any one of claim items 1-12 is implemented.

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