Pallet Loading Apparatus and Pallet Loading Method

A method of operating an unmanned forklift, the method comprising:

• transferring a first cup-feet pallet loaded on a fork of the unmanned forklift to a destination;
• radiating laser light by using a lidar;
• converting range data reflected from a stationary second cup-feet pallet to 3D point cloud data;
• converting the 3D point cloud data to a 2D bird's-eye view (BEV) image;
• performing channel normalization with input data of the 2D BEV image;
• recognizing a cup position through calculation using convolutional neural network (CNN);
• identifying a difference between a cup position of the first cup-feet pallet loaded on the fork and a cup position of a stationary second cup-feet pallet;
• and
• applying a control signal for adjustment to a matching position to a forklift controller that controls operation of the unmanned forklift.

A server for controlling stacking of cup-feet pallets by an unmanned forklift operated in a production factory, the server comprising:

• a lidar signal collection unit configured to collect range data reflected from a first cup-feet pallet from an infrastructure lidar and convert the range data to a 3D point cloud data;
• a bird's eye view (BEV) conversion unit configured to convert the 3D point cloud data to a 2D BEV image;
• a cup recognition unit configured to perform channel normalization with input data of the 2D BEV image and recognize a cup position through calculation using convolutional neural network (CNN);
• a forklift management unit configured to collect status information to track a position and operation status of the unmanned forklift;
• a transmission/reception unit connected to the unmanned forklift through wireless communication and configured to collect the status information and transmit a control signal for transfer and stacking of the first cup-feet pallet;
• and
• a central processing unit configured to identify a difference between a cup position of the first cup-feet pallet loaded on a fork of the unmanned forklift and a cup position of a stationary second cup-feet pallet and transmit a control signal for adjustment to a matching position to the unmanned forklift through the transmission/reception unit.