LI Jia-shun, ZHAO Er-xun, SONG Rong-rong, LIU Hai-tao, LYU Zhen-qi
During the inbound phase of warehouse logistics, it is necessary to inspect, count the incoming goods, and update the inventory records. Traditional inbound inventory counting methods require manual visual inspection and the use of handheld terminal devices to input inventory information. Based on this scenario and aligning with the trend of automation and intelligence transformation in modern logistics, an automated visual stocktaking algorithm for pallet-loads using multi-camera collaboration was designed. Multi-angle images of the pallet-load are captured, and deep learning models are used to detect cartons and the pallet. Specifically, for the front, rear, left, and right side view images, an object detection model is used to calculate the quantity, types, and arrangement of the cartons. For the top view image, an instance segmentation model combined with depth information is used to calculate the number of cartons on the top layer of the pallet-load. The detection results from the five surfaces of the pallet-load are comprehensively processed, and the total number of cartons in the entire pallet-load is calculated through spatial logic reasoning. During the counting process, anomaly detection is performed on the pallet-load based on the positional relationships and type information among cartons, achieving full automation of the entire inventory stocktaking task. An experimental setup was built on a conveyor for testing, and it was found that this stocktaking algorithm achieves an average accuracy of 98%. The calculation process of this algorithm is traceable, solving the problems of traditional manual counting, namely high labor cost and the susceptibility to errors caused by fatigue and distraction. This research, starting from the warehouse inbound process, has realized an automated workflow for pallet-load stocktaking, providing both solutions and theoretical foundations for logistics automation.