# US 12,600,036 B2 · Control device, control method, and storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,600,036 B2 - Document ID: US12600036B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/274,139 - Filed: 2021-01-27 - Published: 2024-12-19 - Granted: 2026-04-14 - Earliest claimed: 2021-01-27 - Assignees: NEC Corporation - Applicants: NEC Corporation - Inventors: Masatsugu Ogawa; Masumi Ichien; Hisaya Wakayama - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12600036B2 ## CPC - B25J 9/1661: {characterised by task planning, object-oriented languages} - B25J 9/16: Program controls (total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, G05B19/418) - B25J 9/1664: {characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning} - B25J 19/023: {including video camera means} - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) ## Abstract A control device 1X mainly includes an operation planning means 15X and a determination means 16X. The operation planning means 15X determines an operation plan of a robot regarding a work of sorting plural items into plural sorting containers. The determination means 16X determines whether or not the sorting containers are replenished. Then, the operation planning means 15X updates the operation plan based on the arrangement of the sorting containers after the replenishment if the sorting containers is replenished. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A control device comprising: at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to: determine an operation plan of a robot regarding a pick-and-place task of moving and sorting plural items into plural first sorting containers based on classification of the items; and determine whether or not a second sorting container is loaded as a replenishment which leads to shift in an arrangement of the first sorting containers, in a case where the second sorting container is loaded, update the operation plan based on the arrangement of the first and second sorting containers after the replenishment, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to control the robot based on the operation plan. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The control device according to claim 1, wherein the robot includes a first robot and a second robot and a movement range of the first robot overlaps with a movement range of the second robot, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to determine the operation plan including an operation of a delivery of an item between the first robot and the second robot. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The control device according to claim 2, wherein a third sorting container outside the movement range of the first robot exists in the movement range of the second robot, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to determine the operation plan including the operation of moving an item, which exists in the movement range of the first robot and outside the movement range of the second robot, into the movement range of the second robot. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The control device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to determine whether or not the item on a conveying machine exists in the movement range of the first robot based on a closest position of the item to the first robot on the conveying machine. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The control device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further execute the instructions to control unloading and the replenishment of the first and second sorting containers. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The control device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured, in a case where a third sorting container to be a sorting destination of one of the plural items is in a predetermined reference state, to execute the instructions to unload the third sorting container in the reference state and load a new sorting container. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The control device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to unload one of the plural first sorting containers and load a new sorting container in a case where there is no candidate, in the plural first sorting containers, for a sorting destination of one of the plural items. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The control device according to claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to select the one of the plural first sorting containers from the plural first sorting containers, based on a number or a ratio of accommodated items in each of the plural first sorting containers. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The control device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to generate, as the operation plan, an operation sequence representing time-step based operation of the robot based on a logical formula, in a form of a temporal logic, representing an objective task to be executed by the robot. ### Claim 10 A control method executed by a computer, the control method comprising determining an operation plan of a robot regarding a pick-and-place task work of moving and sorting plural items into plural first sorting containers based on classification of the items; and determining whether or not a second sorting container is loaded as a replenishment which leads to shift in an arrangement of the first sorting containers, in a case where the second sorting container is loaded, updating the operation plan based on the arrangement of the first and second sorting containers after the replenishment, wherein the computer controls the robot based on the operation plan. ### Claim 11 A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program executed by a computer, the program causing the computer to: determine an operation plan of a robot regarding a pick-and-place task of moving and sorting plural items into plural first sorting containers based on classification of the items; and determine whether or not a second sorting container is loaded as a replenishment which leads to shift in an arrangement of the first sorting containers, in a case where the second sorting container is loaded, update the operation plan based on the arrangement of the first and second sorting containers after the replenishment, wherein the computer controls the robot based on the operation plan.