Determination of picking order of workpieces

A robot control method executable by a robot control system including at least one processor, the method comprising:

• setting, based on a plurality of workpieces that move along a conveying surface, a window corresponding to n workpieces of the plurality of workpieces, according to an inflow order that is an order in which the plurality of workpieces have moved along the conveying surface, where n>1, and wherein the window is a data structure that virtually indicates the n workpieces;
• determining a picking order for the window by an optimization algorithm, based on a position of each of the n workpieces on the conveying surface, the picking order being an order of picking one or more of the workpieces from the conveying surface and being different from the inflow order;
• selecting m workpieces from the window based on the picking order, where n>m;
• controlling a robot to pick the selected m workpieces from the conveying surface in the picking order;
• deleting the m workpieces from the window, while leaving at least one workpiece of the n workpieces in the window;
• adding one or more workpieces of the plurality of workpieces to the window thereby updating the window to include the one or more workpieces and the at least one workpiece that is left in the window after deleting the m workpieces;
• determining a next picking order for the updated window;
• selecting next m workpieces from the updated window based on the next picking order;
• and
• controlling the robot to pick the next m workpieces from the conveying surface in the next picking order.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions to:

• set, based on a plurality of workpieces that move along a conveying surface, a window corresponding to n workpieces of the plurality of workpieces, according to an inflow order that is an order in which the plurality of workpieces have moved along the conveying surface, where n>1, and wherein the window is a data structure that virtually indicates the n workpieces;
• determine a picking order for the window by an optimization algorithm, based on a position of each of the n workpieces on the conveying surface, the picking order being an order of picking one or more of the workpieces from the conveying surface and being different from the inflow order;
• select m workpieces from the window based on the picking order, where n>m;
• control a robot to pick the selected m workpieces from the conveying surface in the picking order;
• delete the m workpieces from the window, while leaving at least one workpiece of the n workpieces in the window;
• add one or more workpieces of the plurality of workpieces to the window thereby updating the window to include the one or more workpieces and the at least one workpiece that is left in the window after deleting the m workpieces;
• determine a next picking order for the updated window;
• select next m workpieces from the updated window based on the next picking order;
• and
• control the robot to pick the next m workpieces from the conveying surface in the next picking order.