Material conveying method and device

An unloading device, comprising a robot, a conveyor, and a controller, wherein the robot comprises a goods taking or placing apparatus and at least two first storage layers, and the conveyor comprises a to-be-placed goods conveying layer and a to-be-taken goods conveying layer arranged in parallel from up to down, the robot is configured to take materials from a shelving unit in a warehouse and place the materials to the to-be-placed goods conveying layer, the to-be-placed goods conveying layer is configured to convey the materials from the robot to a workstation for sorting, and after the workstation completes sorting, the to-be-taken goods conveying layer is configured to convey a remained material from the workstation to the robot, the robot is further configured to take the remained material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer and place on the at least two storage layers;

• and
• the controller is configured to:
• control the goods taking or placing apparatus to move in a direction perpendicular to the to-be-placed goods conveying layer and the to-be-taken goods conveying layer, and control, when the remained material obtained from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer exists on the goods taking or placing apparatus, the goods taking or placing apparatus to place the remained material on an unoccupied storage layer which is nearest to a location of the goods taking or placing apparatus;
• wherein the controller is further configured to:
• detect a quantity of materials on the to-be-taken goods conveying layer when no material exists on the at least one goods taking or placing apparatus, and at least one unoccupied storage layer exists in the at least two first storage layers;
• when the material quantity exceeds a preset material quantity threshold, control the goods taking or placing apparatus to take the material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer;
• and
• when the material quantity does not exceed the preset material quantity threshold, control the goods taking or placing apparatus to take the material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer or take a material from one of the at least two first storage layers.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, applicable to an unloading device, wherein the unloading device comprises a robot and a conveyor, the robot comprises at least one goods taking or placing apparatus and at least two first storage layers, and the conveyor comprises a to-be-placed goods conveying layer and a to-be-taken goods conveying layer arranged in parallel from up to down, the robot is configured to take materials from a shelving unit in a warehouse and place the materials to the to-be-placed goods conveying layer, the to-be-placed goods conveying layer is configured to convey the materials from the robot to a workstation for sorting, and after the workstation completes sorting, the to-be-taken goods conveying layer is configured to convey a remained material from the workstation to the robot, the robot is further configured to take the remained material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer and place on the at least two storage layers;

• wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a computer-executable instruction, when executed by a processor, causing a computing device to implement the method of:
• controlling the at least one goods taking or placing apparatus to move in a direction perpendicular to the to-be-placed goods conveying layer and the to-be-taken goods conveying layer;
• controlling, when the remained material obtained from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer exists on a goods taking or placing apparatus, the goods taking or placing apparatus to place the remained material on an unoccupied storage layer which is nearest to a location of the goods taking or placing apparatus;
• controlling the goods taking or placing apparatus to take the remained material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer, when no material exists on the goods taking or placing apparatus, at least one unoccupied storage layer exists in the at least two first storage layers, and the remained material exists on the to-be-taken goods conveying layer;
• and
• controlling the goods taking or placing apparatus to take a material from one of the at least two first storage layers which is nearest to the location of the goods taking or placing apparatus when no material exists on the goods taking or placing apparatus and no unoccupied storage layer exists in the at least two first storage layers;
• when no material exists on the at least one goods taking or placing apparatus, and at least one unoccupied storage layer exists in the at least two first storage layers, detecting a quantity of materials on the to-be-taken goods conveying layer;
• when the material quantity exceeds a preset material quantity threshold, controlling the goods taking or placing apparatus to take the material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer;
• and
• when the material quantity does not exceed the preset material quantity threshold, controlling the goods taking or placing apparatus to take the material from the to-be-taken goods conveying layer or take a material from one of the at least two first storage layers.