Carrying method, carrying apparatus, and warehousing system

Abstract

A carrying method, a carrying apparatus, and a warehousing system (100). The method comprises: determining an occupancy proportion of temporary-storage positions (101) in a temporary-storage region (11) of a warehousing system; when the occupancy proportion of the temporary-storage positions is greater than or equal to a proportion threshold value, determining whether there is an object to be delivered in a storage region (12); when there is at least one object to be delivered in the storage region, determining a target storing object from among at least one object to be stored in the temporary-storage region, determining a target storage position from among at least one vacant storage position (102) in the storage region, and determining a target delivering object from among the at least one object to be delivered in the storage region, wherein the temporary-storage region and the storage region are located in the same laneway; and controlling a first carrying device (130) to carry the target storing object from a first temporary-storage position among the temporary-storage positions to the target storage position, and carrying the target delivering object to the first temporary-storage position. The carrying method can improve the efficiency of cargo delivery in a warehousing system.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410316155.X filed on March 19, 2024 and Chinese Patent Application No. 202411885100.7 filed on December 19, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of warehousing and logistics, and in particular, to a transfer method, a transfer apparatus and a warehousing system. BACKGROUND

[0003] In existing warehousing systems, a bin robot (also referred to as a tote robot) can transport a to-be-outbound container stored on an upper layer of a shelf to a buffer position at a bottom layer of the shelf. Then, a transfer robot (also referred to as a latent robot) transfers the to-be-outbound container stored at the bottom-layer buffer position to a workstation, so that staff can pick goods from the to-be-outbound container at the workstation. Correspondingly, the transfer robot can also transport a to-be-inbound container to the bottom-layer buffer position, and the bin robot further transfers the to-be-inbound container stored at the bottom-layer buffer position to an upper-layer storage position. In a case where a large number of inbound and outbound orders are processed simultaneously, bottom-layer buffer positions may be occupied by a great number of to-be-inbound containers. As a result, the to-be-outbound container stored at the upper-layer storage position cannot be timely transferred to the bottom-layer buffer position by the bin robot. This further prevents the transfer robot from timely transferring the to-be-outbound container to the workstation, and ultimately reduces the goods outbound efficiency. SUMMARY

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a transfer method, a transfer apparatus and a warehousing system.

[0005] In a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer method is provided. The method includes: determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, in which the buffer area includes at least one buffer position arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound container or a to-be-outbound container; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determining whether any to-be-outbound container exists in a storage area of the warehousing system, in which the buffer area and the storage area are located in the same aisle, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions arranged at an upper layer of the carrier; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, determining a target inbound container from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area, determining a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining a target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area; and controlling a first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

[0006] In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer method is provided. The method includes: determining a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task; adjusting a ratio threshold corresponding to a buffer area of a warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, in which the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area; determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area; and controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[0007] In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer method is provided. The method includes: determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, in which the buffer area is provided with at least one buffer position, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object; and controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and a ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[0008] In a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus is provided, which includes a determination module and a control module. The determination module is configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, in which the buffer area includes at least one buffer position arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound container or a to-be-outbound container; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determine whether any to-be-outbound container exists in a storage area of the warehousing system, in which the buffer area and the storage area are located in the same aisle, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions arranged at an upper layer of the carrier; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, determine a target inbound container from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area, determine a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determine a target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area. The control module is configured to control a first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

[0009] In a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus is provided, including a determination module, an adjustment module and a control module. The determination module is configured to: determine a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task; and determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area. The adjustment module is configured to: adjust a ratio threshold corresponding to a buffer area according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, in which the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area. The control module is configured to control, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[0010] In a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus is provided, including a determination module and a control module. The determination module is configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, in which the buffer area is provided with at least one buffer position, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object. The control module is configured to control, according to the occupancy ratio and a ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[0011] In a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehousing system is provided. The warehousing system includes a plurality of carriers, a control apparatus, and a first transfer device. The plurality of carriers arranged in an inventory area of the warehousing system, in which a carrier is provided with a buffer area and a storage area, the buffer area is arranged at a lower layer of the carrier, the storage area is arranged at an upper layer of the carrier and located above the buffer area, the buffer area includes at least one buffer position, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions, and a buffer position is configured for placing a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object. The control apparatus configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area of the warehousing system; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determine whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determine a target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determine a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determine a target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; generate a transferring instruction based on the target inbound object, the target storage position and the target outbound object, in which the buffer area and the storage area are arranged in the same aisle. The first transfer device configured to: transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position according to the transferring instruction.

[0012] In an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehousing system is provided, including a control apparatus and a first transfer device. The control apparatus is configured to: determine a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task; adjust a ratio threshold corresponding to a buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, in which the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area; determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area; and generate a transferring instruction according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold. The first transfer device is configured to: transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area according to the transferring instruction.

[0013] In a ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a warehousing system is provided, including a control apparatus and a first transfer device. The control apparatus is configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of the warehousing system, in which the buffer area is arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, the buffer area is provided with at least one buffer position, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object; and generate a transferring instruction according to the occupancy ratio and a ratio threshold. The first transfer device is configured to: transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area according to the transferring instruction, in which the storage area is arranged on an upper layer of the carrier and located above the buffer area.

[0014] In a tenth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions; the processor is configured to read the instructions from the memory and execute the instructions to implement the transfer method according to the foregoing first to third aspects.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The storage medium stores computer program instructions which, when read and executed by a computer, implement the transfer method according to the foregoing first to third aspects.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program includes program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the transfer method according to the foregoing first to third aspects.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program is provided. The computer program, when executed by a processor, is capable of implementing the transfer method according to the foregoing first to third aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a carrier and a first transfer device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating that an occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating that an occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 6A is a scene diagram of a transfer method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 6B is a scene diagram of a transfer method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 6C is a scene diagram of a transfer method according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 6D is a scene diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 6E is a scene diagram of a transfer method according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating that an occupancy ratio of buffer positions is smaller than a ratio threshold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 15A is a schematic diagram of a scenario of an outbound process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 15B is a schematic diagram of a scenario of an inbound process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 15C is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a composite operation process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a transferring process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 19A is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a transferring process according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 19B is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a transferring process according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 19C is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a transferring process according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and to make the above objectives, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more apparent and understandable, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0051] In a warehousing system, a bin robot may transport a to-be-outbound container stored on an upper layer of a shelf to a buffer position at a bottom layer of the shelf, and a transfer robot then transfers the to-be-outbound container stored at the bottom-layer buffer position to a workstation to complete an outbound process. The transfer robot may also transport a to-be-inbound container to a bottom-layer buffer position, and the bin robot transfers the to-be-inbound container stored at the bottom-layer buffer position to an upper-layer storage position to complete an inbound process.

[0052] In a case where a large number of inbound and outbound orders are processed simultaneously in the warehousing system, bottom-layer buffer position of the shelf may be occupied by a great number of to-be-inbound containers. As a result, the to-be-outbound container at the upper-layer storage position cannot be timely transferred to the bottom-layer buffer position by the bin robot, which prevents the transfer robot from conveying the to-be-outbound container to the workstation in a timely manner and further reduces a goods outbound efficiency.

[0053] To solve the above problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a transfer method. In a case where a large number of to-be-inbound containers and to-be-outbound containers exist in a bottom-layer buffer area of a carrier, a first transfer device is controlled to transport a target inbound container upward to a high-layer storage area and transport a target outbound container downward to a bottom-layer buffer area. Accordingly, the present disclosure can timely transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the storage area and timely transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the buffer area, so that the transfer robot can complete outbound processing of the to-be-outbound container in a timely manner, thereby improving the outbound efficiency of the warehousing system.

[0054] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 1, a warehousing system 100 includes an inventory area 110, at least one workstation 120, a plurality of first transfer devices 130, a plurality of second transfer devices 140, and a control apparatus 150. FIG. 1 is a top schematic view of the inventory area 110.

[0056] The inventory area 110 includes a plurality of carriers 111, which may be arranged in a preset layout. For example, the plurality of carriers 111 may be arranged in a single column and multiple rows. As shown in FIG. 1, the inventory area 110 is provided with carriers arranged in 6 columns and 8 rows per column.

[0057] The first transfer device 130 may be a bin robot, which is movable within the inventory area 110. For example, the first transfer device 130 may move in an aisle of the inventory area 110 to perform pick-and-place operations on a container placed on the carriers 111 corresponding to the aisles.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 1, an aisle B between the first row of carriers and the second row of carriers in the inventory area 110 is provided with one first transfer device 130. The first transfer device 130 can move in the aisle B and perform pick-and-place operations on containers placed on any carrier in the first row of carriers or the second row of carriers.

[0059] The second transfer device 140 may be a transfer robot, which is movable within the inventory area 110 and between the inventory area 110 and the workstation 120. For example, the second transfer device 140 may move in the aisle of the inventory area 110 or in a driving channel below the carrier 111 to perform pick-and-place operations on a container placed at a buffer position of the carrier 111.

[0060] For example, the second transfer device 140 may retrieve the container from the buffer position of the carrier 111 and transfer the container to the workstation 120, so that a picking operation is performed on the container via the workstation 120. Alternatively, the second transfer device 140 may transport the container that has been picked at the workstation 120 back to the buffer position of the carrier 111. As shown in FIG. 1, an aisle C between the second row of carriers and the third row of carriers in the inventory area 110 is provided with two second transfer devices 140, and the two second transfer devices 140 have different operation directions in the aisle C.

[0061] The control apparatus 150 is respectively coupled to the workstation 120, the first transfer device 130 and the second transfer device 140, and is configured to control operations of the workstation 120, the first transfer device 130 and the second transfer device 140.

[0062] The control apparatus 150 may be a server, a terminal device, or an apparatus deployed with a warehouse management system (WMS) and a robot management system (RMS). The terminal device may include at least one of a personal computer, a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a portable wearable device. The server may include an independent server or a server cluster composed of multiple servers, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] The control apparatus 150 is communicatively connected to the workstation 120, the first transfer device 130 and the second transfer device 140 for data communication. For example, the control apparatus may communicate with the workstation 120, the first transfer device 130 and the second transfer device 140 via a local area network (LAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN) or other networks.

[0064] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a carrier and a first transfer device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 2, each carrier 111 in the inventory area 110 is provided with a buffer area 11 and a storage area 12. The buffer area 11 is located at a lower layer of the carrier, and the storage area 12 is located at an upper layer of the carrier, that is, the storage area 12 is located above the buffer area 11. The buffer area 11 includes at least one layer of buffer positions and is arranged on a ground-adjacent side of the carrier 111. The storage area 12 is disposed on a side of the buffer area 11 away from the ground, and includes at least one layer of storage positions.

[0066] Each carrier 111 may be provided with a plurality of layers of cross beams, and each layer of cross beam may be provided with a plurality of positions. The carrier 111 may be divided into two parts in a vertical direction according to a quantity of cross beam layers, where the upper partial area is defined as the storage area 12, and the lower partial area is defined as the buffer area 11. A quantity of cross beam layers occupied by the buffer area 11 may be less than a quantity of cross beam layers occupied by the storage area 12.

[0067] The quantity of cross beam layers included in the buffer area 11 is associated with a lifting height of the second transfer device 140. For example, a total height of the cross beam layers of the buffer area 11 may be less than or equal to a maximum lifting height of the second transfer devices 140.

[0068] A bottom cross beam area of the carrier 111 may be defined as the buffer area 11. For example, the buffer area 11 may be a single layer of cross beam adjacent to the ground of the carrier 111, or at least two layers of cross beams adjacent to the ground of the carrier 111. That is, the buffer area 11 may include at least one layer of buffer positions, and a quantity of buffer position layers in the buffer area 11 is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is described by taking a single layer of cross beam adjacent to the ground of the carrier 111 as the buffer area 11 (i.e., the buffer area 11 includes one layer of buffer positions).

[0069] A multi-layer area of cross beams above the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 is defined as the storage area 12. The storage area 12 includes a plurality of layers of storage positions, which are located above the at least one layer of buffer positions.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 111 is a 6-column and 4-layer carrier. The buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 is a bottom area of the carrier 111, and the storage area 12 of the carrier 111 is an upper area (also referred to as a high-layer area) of the carrier 111, that is, the storage area 12 is located above the buffer area 11. In the following embodiments, the bottom layer of the carrier is defined as the first layer, and a layer number increases sequentially from the bottom layer to an upper layer of the carrier (all layers above the bottom layer are upper layers).

[0071] With continued reference to FIG. 2, both the buffer area 11 and the storage area 12 of the carrier 111 are provided with a plurality of positions for placing containers such as bins, pallets and packaging boxes, and the container is used for storing goods. Alternatively, goods may be directly placed on the positions, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The following embodiments are exemplarily described by taking the containers placed on the positions as an example.

[0072] The positions include two types: buffer positions and storage positions. Specifically, the positions in the buffer area 11 are defined as buffer positions 101, and the positions in the storage area 12 are defined as storage positions 102. For example, the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 in FIG. 2 includes 6 buffer positions 101, and the storage area 12 includes 36 storage positions 102.

[0073] The positions in the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 may adopt a single-depth position layout, and the positions in the storage area 12 may adopt a single-depth or multi-depth position layout, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The single-depth position layout means that each layer of cross beam is provided with a single row of positions, and the multi-depth position layout means that each layer of cross beam is provided with at least two rows of positions. As shown in FIG. 2, the position in the storage area 12 of the carrier 111 adopts a double-depth layout, that is, each layer of the storage area is provided with two rows of positions. Specifically, an outer position is defined as an outer storage position, and an inner position is defined as an inner storage position.

[0074] The buffer position 101 and the storage position 102 may or may not be placed with a container. A buffer position 101 placed with a container is defined as a non-idle buffer position 101, and a buffer position 101 without a container is defined as an idle buffer position 101. A storage position 102 placed with a container is defined as a non-idle storage position 102, and a storage position 102 without a container is defined as an idle storage position 102.

[0075] With continued reference to FIG. 2, the first transfer device 130 may be the bin robot movable within the inventory area 110. The first transfer device 130 is equipped with a container pick-and-place apparatus 13, which is movable in the vertical direction and can pick and place the container on the carrier 111 via a telescopic fork, a suction cup or other structures. In addition, the first transfer device 130 is further provided with a plurality of temporary storage positions 14 for placing the container. A layer spacing and a layer number of the temporary storage positions 14 may be set corresponding to a layer spacing and a layer number of the carrier 111. For example, the bottom-most temporary storage position is flush with the bottom-most layer of the carrier 111, and the second-layer temporary storage position is flush with the second layer of the carrier 111, and so on.

[0076] Through horizontal movement of the first transfer device 130 and vertical movement of the container pick-and-place apparatus 13, the first transfer device 130 can transport a to-be-inbound container in the buffer area 11 to the high-layer storage area 12, and transport a to-be-outbound container in the high-layer storage area 12 to the buffer area 11.

[0077] The second transfer devices 140 may be the transfer robot configured to pick and place the container at the bottom-layer buffer position of the carrier 111.

[0078] The second transfer device 140 is movable within the inventory area 110 and between the inventory area 110 and the workstation 120. The second transfer device 140 can transport the to-be-inbound container from the workstation 120 to the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 in the inventory area 110, and transport the to-be-outbound container placed in the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111 to the workstation 120.

[0079] The inbound and outbound processing of containers can be realized via a cooperation between the first transfer device 130 and the second transfer device 140. For example, after the second transfer device 140 transfers the to-be-inbound container from the workstation 120 to the buffer area 11 of the carrier 111, the first transfer device 130 can retrieve the to-be-inbound container via the container pick-and-place apparatus 13, and transport the to-be-inbound container to the idle storage position 102 in the high-layer storage area 12 through horizontal movement of the first transfer device 130 itself and / or vertical movement of the container pick-and-place apparatus 13, so as to complete the inbound process of the container. In addition, the first transfer device 130 can retrieve the to-be-outbound container in the high-layer storage area 12 via the container pick-and-place apparatus 13, transport the to-be-outbound container to the idle buffer position 101 at the bottom layer through horizontal movement of the first transfer device 130 and / or vertical movement of the container pick-and-place apparatus 13. The second transfer device 140 further transfers the to-be-outbound container placed at the buffer position 101 to the workstation 120 to complete the outbound process of the container.

[0080] The transfer method provided by the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0081] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The transfer method shown in FIG. 3 may be implemented by the control apparatus 150 in the warehousing system 100 according to the foregoing embodiments. As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer method may include the following step 310 to step 340.

[0082] At step 310, an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system is determined.

[0083] The buffer area includes at least one buffer position arranged on a lower layer of a carrier and configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object. For specific content related to the buffer area of the carrier, reference may be made to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated herein.

[0084] The storage area includes at least one storage position arranged on an upper layer of the carrier. That is, the storage area is located above the buffer area. The storage position may be placed with the to-be-outbound object or an object that do not need outbound processing temporarily. For specific content related to the storage area of the carrier, reference may be made to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated herein.

[0085] The to-be-inbound object or the to-be-outbound object placed on the buffer position and the object placed on the storage position may be containers such as bins, pallets and goods packaging boxes, or goods themselves. The following embodiments are exemplarily described by taking the containers as the objects placed on the buffer position and storage positions. For example, the buffer position may be placed with a to-be-inbound container or a to-be-outbound container, and the storage position may be placed with a to-be-outbound container or a container that does not need outbound processing temporarily.

[0086] A second transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-inbound container from a workstation to the buffer area of the carrier; and a first transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area to the storage area. In addition, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area to the buffer area, and the second transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container to the workstation. Therefore, the container placed at the buffer position in the buffer area may be the to-be-inbound container or the to-be-outbound container.

[0087] Since the first transfer device is movable in an aisle, the buffer area in the foregoing step 310 may refer to the buffer area of any aisle in the warehousing system. A plurality of carriers may be arranged in one aisle, and the buffer area of the aisle includes buffer areas of the plurality of carriers arranged in the aisle.

[0088] The occupancy ratio of buffer positions may be determined based on a total quantity of buffer positions and a quantity of non-idle buffer positions in the buffer area. The total buffer positions in the buffer area may be located in the same aisle, where one or more carriers may be arranged. That is, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area of each aisle may be calculated separately. The non-idle buffer position refers to a buffer position placed with the to-be-inbound container or the to-be-outbound container.

[0089] An idle state and a non-idle state of the buffer position may be marked by a corresponding parameter. For example, a state of the buffer position may be marked as 1 when the buffer position is in the idle state, and marked as 0 when the buffer position is in the non-idle state. Specifically, if no container is placed in the buffer position, the buffer position is in the idle state and marked as 1; if the container is placed in the buffer position, the buffer position is in the non-idle state and marked as 0. The foregoing marking manners for the idle state and the non-idle state of the buffer position are only examples, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0090] The occupancy ratio of buffer positions may be determined according to a ratio of the quantity of non-idle buffer positions to the total quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area of the aisle.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 2, taking a total of 6 buffer positions in the buffer area 11 in the same aisle as an example, if the quantity of non-idle buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is 4, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area of the aisle is calculated as: the quantity of non-idle buffer positions / the total quantity of buffer positions = 4 / 6 = 0.67. The container placed at the non-idle buffer position in the buffer area 11 may be the to-be-inbound container or the to-be-outbound container, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0092] At step 320, in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, whether any to-be-outbound object exists in a storage area of the warehousing system is determined.

[0093] The ratio threshold may be regarded as an upper water level limit of the buffer position. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the upper water level limit, that is, the buffer positions are excessively occupied. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is lower than the upper water level limit, that is, the buffer positions are less occupied.

[0094] The ratio threshold may be preset or determined according to a task to be processed of the warehousing system. For example, the ratio threshold may be any value ranging from 0 to 1, such as 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8, which may be determined according to actual requirements. The specific value of the ratio threshold is not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure. After the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is determined, a magnitude relationship between the occupancy ratio of buffer positions and the ratio threshold may be further compared, so as to control the first transfer device to perform different tasks under different conditions.

[0095] With continued reference to FIG. 2, taking a ratio threshold of 0.6 and an occupancy ratio of buffer positions of 0.67 in the buffer area 11 as an example, it may be determined that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is greater than the ratio threshold, that is, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the upper water level limit. Taking a ratio threshold of 0.8 and an occupancy ratio of buffer positions of 0.67 in the buffer area 11 as an example, it may be determined that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is less than the ratio threshold, that is, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions does not reach the upper water level limit.

[0096] Reference is made to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, which are schematic diagrams where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0097] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, to vacate more buffer positions, as shown in FIG. 4A, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, so as to reduce the occupancy ratio of buffer positions. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first transfer device may be controlled to first transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, and then transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, thereby ensuring smooth execution of an outbound task.

[0098] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, the first transfer device may be controlled to execute the transfer task shown in FIG. 4A (also referred to as a non-composite operation mode) or the transfer task shown in FIG. 4B (also referred to as a composite operation mode) according to the current operation scenario.

[0099] For example, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold and the current operation scenario prioritizes a container inbound task, the first transfer device may be controlled to preferentially execute a task of only transporting the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, so as to ensure a smooth progress of the inbound task with priority. In a case where the current operation scenario is a scenario involving both container inbound and outbound tasks, the first transfer device may be controlled to preferentially transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, and then transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, so as to ensure a smooth progress of both inbound and outbound tasks.

[00100] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the foregoing step 320 may include the following step 510 and step 520.

[00101] At step 510, a switch state of a composite operation switch is determined in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold.

[00102] A composite operation refers to that the first transfer device transfers a to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the storage area and transfers a to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the buffer area. That is, in a composite operation scenario, the first transfer device needs to transport the to-be-inbound container upward to the idle storage position in the storage area and transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area. After the first transfer device transfers the to-be-inbound container upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, the original buffer position of the to-be-inbound container becomes idle. Therefore, the first transfer device may transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the original buffer position of the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area.

[00103] The composite operation switch may be preset in the warehousing system, and a user may control the switch state of the composite operation switch by adjusting a composite operation parameter.

[00104] The switch state of the composite operation switch is associated with a priority of a container inbound task and a priority of a container outbound task. In a case where the priority of the container outbound task is higher than the priority of the container inbound task, the user may set the composite operation switch to the on state. In a case where the priority of container outbound task is lower than the priority of the container inbound task, the user may set the composite operation switch to the off state.

[00105] The user may set the composite operation parameter to control the switch state of the composite operation switch. For example, the value of the composite operation parameter may be “true” or “false”. In a case where the priority of the container outbound task is lower than the priority of the container inbound task, the user may set the composite operation parameter to “false” to turn off the composite operation switch. In this case, the control apparatus may control the first transfer device to perform a transfer task in a non-composite operation mode, for example, controlling the first transfer device to preferentially transport only the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, so as to ensure the smooth progress of the inbound task with priority.

[00106] In a case where the priority of the container outbound task is higher than the priority of the container inbound task, the user may set the composite operation parameter to “true” to turn on the composite operation switch. In this case, the control apparatus may control the first transfer device to perform the transfer task in a composite operation mode. For example, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, and then transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, so as to ensure the smooth progress of both inbound and outbound tasks and improve outbound efficiency.

[00107] The foregoing values of the composite operation parameter are merely examples, and the composite operation parameter may also be set to other values such as “0” and “1”, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00108] At step 520, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an on state, whether any to-be-outbound object exists in a storage area of the warehousing system is determined.

[00109] In a case where the composite operation switch is in the on state (i.e., the composite operation parameter is set to “true”), the first transfer device may be controlled to first transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, and then transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00110] Containers placed at storage positions in the storage area located in the same aisle as the buffer area may be the to-be-outbound container or a container that does not require outbound processing temporarily. That is, no to-be-outbound container may exist in the storage area located in the same aisle as the buffer area. Therefore, before controlling the first transfer device to execute the transfer task, whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area may be determined firstly. If no to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, only the operation of transporting the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area needs to be performed in the composite operation mode, without transporting the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area. If the to-be-outbound containers exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area and then transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00111] At step 330, in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, a target inbound object is determined from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, a target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and a target outbound object is determined from at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area.

[00112] In a case where at least one to-be-outbound object (hereinafter also referred to as at least one to-be-outbound container) exists in the storage area, the target inbound object (hereinafter also referred to as a target inbound container) may be first determined from at least one to-be-inbound object (hereinafter also referred to as at least one to-be-inbound container) in the buffer area, the target storage position (hereinafter also referred to as a target inbound storage position) may be determined from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and the target outbound object (hereinafter also referred to as a target outbound container) may be determined from at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area.

[00113] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6E are scene diagrams of a transfer method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A method for determining the target inbound container, the target inbound storage position and the target outbound container in the foregoing step 330 is described below with reference to FIG. 6A to FIG. 6E.

[00114] A manner of determining the target inbound container from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area is described.

[00115] In a case where only one to-be-inbound container exists among a plurality of containers placed in the buffer area, the one to-be-inbound container may be determined as the target inbound container.

[00116] As shown in FIG. 6A, when only container A is a to-be-inbound container among a plurality of containers placed in a bottom-layer buffer area of the aisle, container A is determined as the target inbound container. In a case where a plurality of to-be-inbound containers exist among a plurality of containers placed in the bottom-layer buffer area of the aisle, it is necessary to further select one to-be-inbound container from the plurality of to-be-inbound containers as the target inbound container.

[00117] In a case where a plurality of to-be-inbound containers exist among a plurality of containers placed in the buffer area, a distance between the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area and the first transfer device may be determined according to a position of the first transfer device, and the to-be-inbound container closest to the first transfer device among the plurality of to-be-inbound containers may be determined as the target inbound container.

[00118] With continued reference to FIG. 6A, taking container A and container B both being to-be-inbound containers among the plurality of containers placed in the bottom-layer buffer area of the aisle as an example, a distance between the first transfer device 130 and the to-be-inbound container A and a distance between the first transfer device 130 and the to-be-inbound container B may be calculated respectively. As shown in FIG. 6A, container A is the to-be-inbound container closest to the first transfer device 130, so container A may be determined as the target inbound container.

[00119] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure enables the first transfer device to move the shortest horizontal distance when picking up the target inbound container, thereby improving a working efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00120] A manner of determining the target inbound storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area will be described.

[00121] To transport the target inbound container to the upper-layer storage area, it is necessary to further determine which storage position in the storage area the target inbound container shall be transferred to. For example, the target inbound container may be transferred to any idle storage position in the storage area.

[00122] To improve a transferring efficiency, the idle storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container may be preferentially determined as the target inbound storage position. Accordingly, after the first transfer device picks up the target inbound container, horizontal movement of the first transfer device is unnecessary, and the container pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device only needs to move vertically to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position, so as to boost the working efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00123] At least one idle storage position may be first identified from all storage positions in the storage area, and it is determined whether any idle storage position (i.e., candidate inbound storage position) located in the same column as the target inbound container exists among the at least one idle storage position.

[00124] In a case where exactly one candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists among the at least one idle storage position, such candidate inbound storage position may be determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00125] With continued reference to FIG. 6A, taking to-be-inbound container A as the target inbound container as an example, a candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists among the plurality of idle storage positions in the storage area, and there is only one such candidate storage position, namely storage position A (both storage position A and to-be-inbound container A are arranged in Column 2 of the carrier 111). In this case, storage position A may be determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00126] In a case where a plurality of candidate inbound storage positions located in the same column as the target inbound container exist among the at least one idle storage position, a vertical distance between the candidate inbound storage position and the target inbound container may be calculated first, and the candidate inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container among the plurality of candidate storage positions is determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00127] Taking to-be-inbound container A as the target inbound container as an example, if the candidate inbound storage positions in the same column as the target inbound container among the plurality of idle storage positions include storage position A and storage position B, the candidate inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container may be selected as the target inbound storage position.

[00128] In a case where no candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists among the at least one idle storage position, that is, all of the at least one idle storage position are located in columns different from the column of the target inbound container, the idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound container and then the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container may be preferentially determined as the target inbound storage position. In this way, after the first transfer device picks up the target inbound container, the target inbound container can be transferred to the target inbound storage position with the minimum horizontal movement distance of the first transfer device and the minimum vertical movement distance of the container pick-and-place apparatus, which shortens a transferring time of the first transfer device and elevates the transferring efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00129] In a case where there is only one idle storage position located in a column different from the column of the target inbound container, such idle storage position may be directly determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00130] In a case where a plurality of idle storage positions are located in columns different from the column of the target inbound container, a horizontal distance between the idle storage position and the target inbound container is first calculated, and the idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound container among the at least one idle storage position is taken as an alternative inbound storage position. Then, the alternative inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container is determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00131] As shown in FIG. 6B, taking to-be-inbound container A as the target inbound container as an example, the idle storage positions in the storage area 12 include storage position C, storage position D and storage position E, all of which are arranged in columns different from the column of to-be-inbound container A. Storage position C and storage position D are both in Column 3 of the carrier 111, and storage position E is in Column 6 of the carrier 111. Accordingly, storage position C and storage position D are the idle storage positions with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound container A. Between storage position C and storage position D, storage position C is on Layer 3 of the carrier 111 while storage position D is on Layer 4 of the carrier 111, so storage position C is the alternative inbound storage position with the shorter vertical distance to the target inbound container. Storage position C can thus be determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00132] If two alternative inbound storage positions both have the shortest horizontal distance and the shortest vertical distance relative to the target inbound container, any one of the two alternative inbound storage positions may be randomly selected as the target inbound storage position, or other feasible manners may be adopted to determine the target inbound storage position from the two alternative inbound storage positions, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00133] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure ensures that when the first transfer device transfers the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position, the horizontal movement distance of the first transfer device is minimized (including a scenario where no movement in the horizontal direction of the first transfer device is required), and the vertical movement distance of the container pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device is also minimized. This reduces the transferring time of the first transfer device and improves the transferring efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00134] A manner of determining the target outbound container from at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area will be described.

[00135] To complete an outbound processing of the to-be-outbound container, it is necessary to determine which to-be-outbound container among a plurality of containers placed in the storage area shall be transferred to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area.

[00136] In a case where a plurality of to-be-outbound containers exist in the storage area, a priority of an order corresponding to the to-be-outbound container in the storage area may be determined first. The to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority in the storage area is preferentially determined as the target outbound container, so that the to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority can be processed for outbound, ensuring priority outbound of a high-priority order.

[00137] In a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound containers, a preferred outbound container that is located in the same column as the target inbound storage position and has the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound storage position is selected. Accordingly, after the first transfer device transfers the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position, no movement in the horizontal direction is required. The container pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device only needs to move vertically for the shortest distance (including no movement in the vertical direction) to retrieve the preferred outbound container in the same column as the target inbound storage position, thereby shortening the transferring time and improving the transferring efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00138] Determining the target outbound container from at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area includes: determining the priority of the order corresponding to the to-be-outbound container in the storage area, determining the to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority as the preferred outbound container, and determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container.

[00139] In a case where there is only one preferred outbound container, such preferred outbound container may be determined as the target outbound container.

[00140] As shown in FIG. 6C, taking the target inbound container as container A and the target inbound storage position as storage position C as an example, if the only to-be-outbound container corresponding to the highest-priority order among all to-be-outbound containers in the storage area 12 is to-be-outbound container C, to-be-outbound container C may be determined as the target outbound container.

[00141] Determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container includes: in a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound containers and at least one candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target inbound storage position exists among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, determining a candidate outbound container with the shortest distance to the target inbound storage position (i.e., the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound storage position) among the at least one candidate outbound container as the target outbound container.

[00142] With continued reference to FIG. 6C, taking the target inbound storage position as storage position C, and taking to-be-outbound container A and to-be-outbound container B (which are corresponding to the highest-priority order and located in the same column as the target inbound storage position) in the storage area 12 as an example, the target inbound storage position C is located at the 3rd column and 3rd layer of the carrier 111, to-be-outbound container A is located at the 3rd column and 4th layer of the carrier 111, and to-be-outbound container B is located at the 3rd column and 3rd layer of the carrier 111. Therefore, to-be-outbound container B is located in the same column as the target inbound storage position C and has the shortest vertical distance thereto, so to-be-outbound container B may be determined as the target outbound container.

[00143] In a case where there is only one candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target inbound storage position, such candidate outbound container may be directly determined as the target outbound container.

[00144] In a case where two preferred outbound containers both have the shortest horizontal and vertical distances to the target inbound storage position, any one of the two preferred outbound containers may be randomly determined as the target outbound container, or other feasible manners may be adopted for determination, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00145] In a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound containers and no candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target inbound storage position exists among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, that is, all the plurality of preferred outbound containers are located in different columns from the target inbound storage position, a horizontal distance between the preferred outbound container and the target inbound storage position is determined first. The preferred outbound container with the shortest horizontal distance and then the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound storage position is determined as the target outbound container.

[00146] With continued reference to FIG. 6C, taking the target inbound storage position as storage position C, and taking to-be-outbound container C and to-be-outbound container D (which are corresponding to the highest-priority order) in the storage area 12 as an example, the target inbound storage position C is located at the 3rd column and 3rd layer of the carrier 111, to-be-outbound container C is located at the 6th column and 3rd layer of the carrier 111, and to-be-outbound container D is located at the 6th column and 2nd layer of the carrier 111. The horizontal distances from to-be-outbound container C and to-be-outbound container D to the target inbound storage position C are equal, and to-be-outbound container C has the shorter vertical distance to the target inbound storage position C. Therefore, to-be-outbound container C may be determined as the target outbound container.

[00147] In a case where two preferred outbound containers both have the shortest horizontal distance and the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound storage position, any one of the two preferred outbound containers may be randomly determined as the target outbound container, or other feasible manners may be adopted for determination, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00148] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure enables the first transfer device to achieve the shortest horizontal movement distance (including no movement in the horizontal direction) and the shortest vertical movement distance of the container pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device (including no movement in the vertical direction) when picking up the target outbound container in the storage area. This shortens the transferring time and improves the transferring efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00149] At step 340, a first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound object from a first buffer position in the buffer area to the target inbound storage position, and transport the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

[00150] The first buffer position in the buffer area refers to the original buffer position where the target inbound object is located in the buffer area before the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object. After the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object from the buffer area to the target inbound storage position, the original buffer position of the target inbound object in the buffer area becomes idle. In this case, the first transfer device may further transport the target outbound object in the storage area from the storage area to the original buffer position of the target inbound object in the buffer area. The first buffer position is also referred to as the original buffer position of the target inbound object in the buffer area in the following embodiments.

[00151] After the target inbound container, the target inbound storage position and the target outbound container are determined, a transferring instruction may be sent to the first transfer device to control the first transfer device to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position and transport the target outbound container to the original buffer position of the target inbound object in the buffer area.

[00152] As shown in FIG. 6D, taking the target inbound container as to-be-inbound container A (located at the 1st layer of the 2nd column of the carrier 111), the target inbound storage position as storage position C (located at the 3rd layer of the 3rd column of the carrier 111), the target outbound container as to-be-outbound container A (located at the 4th layer of the 3rd column of the carrier 111), and an initial position of the first transfer device 130 as the 2nd column of the carrier 111 as an example, the first transfer device 130 may be controlled to retrieve to-be-inbound container A via the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 at the 1st layer of the carrier 111, and move horizontally to the 3rd column of the carrier 111. Then, the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 3rd layer of the carrier 111 to place to-be-inbound container A at storage position C. Afterwards, the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 4th layer of the carrier 111 to retrieve to-be-outbound container A. Finally, the first transfer device moves horizontally to the 2nd column of the carrier 111, and the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 1st layer of the carrier 111 to place to-be-outbound container A at the original buffer position (the buffer position where to-be-inbound container A was originally located in the buffer area).

[00153] With continued reference to FIG. 6D, taking the target inbound container as to-be-inbound container A (located at the 1st layer of the 2nd column of the carrier 111), the target inbound storage position as storage position C (located at the 3rd layer of the 3rd column of the carrier 111), the target outbound container as to-be-outbound container D (located at the 2nd layer of the 6th column of the carrier 111), and the initial position of the first transfer device 130 as the 1st column of the carrier 111 as an example, the first transfer device 130 may be controlled to move horizontally to the 2nd column of the carrier 111, retrieve to-be-inbound container A via the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 at the 1st layer, and move horizontally to the 3rd column of the carrier 111. Then, the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 3rd layer of the carrier 111 to place to-be-inbound container A at storage position C. Afterwards, the first transfer device moves horizontally to the 6th column of the carrier 111, and the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 2nd layer to retrieve to-be-outbound container D. Finally, the first transfer device moves horizontally to the 2nd column of the carrier 111, and the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 1st layer of the carrier 111 to place to-be-outbound container D at the original buffer position (the buffer position where to-be-inbound container A was originally located in the buffer area).

[00154] During the process in which the first transfer device transfers the target inbound container and the target outbound container, the second transfer device continuously transfers to-be-inbound containers from the workstation to the buffer area. When the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the original buffer position of the target inbound container, if the second transfer device transfers a to-be-inbound container to the original buffer position of the target inbound container, the first transfer device may be unable to transport the target outbound container downward to the original buffer position, which adversely affects a container outbound processing.

[00155] To ensure smooth execution of the outbound task, when the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the original buffer position of the target inbound container, the original buffer position (i.e., the first buffer position) may be locked (also referred to as pre-occupied). When the original buffer position is locked, although no container is placed on the original buffer position, the original buffer position is only allowed to receive the target outbound container transferred by the first transfer device and is prohibited from receiving any to-be-inbound container transferred by the second transfer device. This prevents the original buffer position from being occupied by the to-be-inbound container transferred by the second transfer device, so that the first transfer device can successfully transfer the target outbound container to the original buffer position.

[00156] When the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the original buffer position of the target inbound container, a state of the original buffer position may be marked as a non-idle state (for example, the state of the original buffer position is marked with a parameter of “0”). Accordingly, when the second transfer device transfers the to-be-inbound container to the buffer area, the to-be-inbound container will not occupy the original buffer position of the target inbound container, but will place the to-be-inbound container into the buffer position in an idle state (for example, the buffer positions marked with a parameter of “1”). In this way, when the first transfer device transfers the target outbound container downward to the buffer area, the target outbound container can be transferred onto the original buffer position of the target inbound container. That is, after the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the original buffer position of the target inbound container, although the original buffer position of the target inbound container is idle, this vacant original buffer position can only be used to place the target outbound container transferred by the first transfer device, and cannot be used to place any to-be-inbound container transferred by the second transfer device. After the second transfer device completes outbound transportation of the target outbound container, the original buffer position is released (that is, the state of the original buffer position is marked as the idle state; for example, the state of the original buffer position is marked with a parameter value of “1”). At this time, the original buffer position becomes available for placing the to-be-inbound container transferred by the second transfer device, so as to guarantee smooth execution of the outbound task.

[00157] When the carrier is a multi-depth carrier and the first transfer device transfers the target inbound container on the multi-depth carrier to the target inbound storage position, if the target inbound storage position is located on an inner side of the carrier and another container (i.e., a first blocking container) is placed at an outer storage position of the carrier, the first blocking container needs to be moved away before the target inbound container is transferred into the target inbound storage position. For example, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the first blocking container to a temporary storage position of the first transfer device, or transport the first blocking container to an idle storage position of the storage area, and then transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position. The idle storage position may be an idle storage position located in the same column as the first blocking container and closest to the first blocking container, or may be an idle storage position located in a different column from the first blocking container and having the shortest horizontal distance and then the shortest vertical distance to the first blocking container.

[00158] In particular, when the first blocking container is the target outbound container, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the target outbound container to the temporary storage position of the first transfer device, and then directly transport the target outbound container from the temporary storage position to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area.

[00159] As shown in FIG. 6E, taking the target inbound container as to-be-inbound container A (located at the 1st layer of the 2nd column of the carrier 111), the target inbound storage position as storage position F (located at the inner side of the 3rd layer of the 3rd column of the carrier 111), and the initial position of the first transfer device 130 located at the 2nd column of the carrier 111 as an example, the first transfer device 130 may be controlled to retrieve to-be-inbound container A via the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 at the 1st layer of the carrier 111 and move horizontally to the 3rd column of the carrier 111. Then, the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 3rd layer of the carrier 111, and a first blocking container A is placed on the temporary storage position 14 of the first transfer device 130 (for example, the temporary storage position at the 3rd layer of the first transfer device 130) or placed into an idle storage position in the storage area 12. Afterwards, to-be-inbound container A is placed into storage position F.

[00160] When the carrier is a multi-depth carrier and the first transfer device picks up the target outbound container on the multi-depth carrier, if the target outbound container is located on an inner side of the carrier and another container (i.e., a second blocking container) is placed at an outer storage position of the carrier, the second blocking container needs to be moved away before the target outbound container is transferred to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area. For example, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the second blocking container to a temporary storage position of the first transfer device or to an idle storage position in the storage area. Subsequently, the container pick-and-place apparatus picks up the target outbound container and transfers the target outbound container to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area. The idle storage position may be an idle storage position located in the same column as the second blocking container and closest to the second blocking container; or may be an idle storage position located in a different column from the second blocking container and having the shortest horizontal distance and then the shortest vertical distance to the second blocking container.

[00161] With continued reference to FIG. 6E, taking the target outbound container as to-be-outbound container C (located at the inner side of the 4th layer of the 6th column of the carrier 111) as an example, a second blocking container A exists on the outer side of to-be-outbound container C. In this case, after the first transfer device 130 transfers to-be-inbound container A to storage position F, the first transfer device 130 moves horizontally to the 6th column of the carrier 111. The container pick-and-place apparatus 13 places the second blocking container A on the temporary storage position 14 of the first transfer device 130 (for example, the temporary storage position at the 3rd layer of the first transfer device 130) or into an idle storage position in the storage area 12. Afterwards, the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 picks up to-be-outbound container C. The first transfer device moves horizontally to the 2nd column of the carrier 111, and the container pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to the 1st layer of the carrier 111, so as to place to-be-outbound container C into the original buffer position where to-be-inbound container A was originally located.

[00162] In a case where the storage position of the target outbound container is located on the inner side of the target inbound storage position, the first transfer robot may be controlled to preferentially place the target inbound container on the temporary storage position of the first transfer robot, then retrieve the target outbound container and place the target outbound container on the temporary storage position. Afterwards, the target inbound container on the temporary storage position is placed into the target inbound storage position, and the target outbound container on the temporary storage position is transferred to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area.

[00163] After the first transfer device transfers the target outbound container to the original buffer position of the target inbound container, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the first blocking container placed on the temporary storage positions back to the original storage position of the first blocking container, and to transport the second blocking container placed on the temporary storage position back to the original storage position of the second blocking container.

[00164] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure evaluates the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area based on the ratio threshold. When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold and the to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to preferentially transport the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area to the idle storage position in the storage area and transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area to the original buffer position where the to-be-inbound container was located. Accordingly, the to-be-outbound container in the storage area can be timely transferred to the buffer area, enabling the second transfer device to timely transfer the to-be-outbound container to the workstation and improving the container outbound efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00165] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, after the foregoing step 520, the method further includes the following step 710 and step 720.

[00166] At step 710, in a case where no to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system, a target inbound container is determined from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, and a target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position in the storage area.

[00167] In a case where no to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, it is only necessary to determine the target inbound container and determine the target storage position (also referred to as the target inbound storage position) from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area.

[00168] The manners for determining the target inbound container and the target inbound storage position may refer to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated herein.

[00169] At step 720, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound object to the target storage position.

[00170] After the target inbound container and the target inbound storage position are determined, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position. The target inbound container, the target inbound storage position and the target outbound container may be determined when the to-be-outbound container appears in the storage area, and the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position and then transport the target outbound container to the original buffer position.

[00171] The manner of controlling the first transfer device to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position can refer to the descriptions in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated herein.

[00172] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, after the foregoing step 510, the method further includes the following step 810 and step 820.

[00173] At step 810, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an off state, a target inbound object is determined from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, and a target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position in the storage area.

[00174] In a case where the composite operation switch is in the off state (i.e., the composite operation parameter is set to “false”), it is only necessary to determine the target inbound container and determine the target inbound storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area.

[00175] At step 820, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound object to the target storage position.

[00176] After the target inbound container and the target storage position are determined, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target storage position. That is, the first transfer device preferentially executes the task of only transporting the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, so as to preferentially complete the container inbound task in the warehousing system.

[00177] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, after the foregoing step 310, the method further includes step 910 and step 920 as described below.

[00178] At step 910, in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the to-be-outbound object in the storage area to the idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00179] Reference is made to FIG. 10, which is a schematic diagram illustrating that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00180] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is less than the ratio threshold, as shown in FIG. 10, the first transfer device may be controlled to preferentially transport the to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to any idle buffer position in the buffer area until the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold. Thereafter, the first transfer device is controlled to execute the composite task described in the foregoing embodiments: transporting one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area, and then transporting one to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00181] The first transfer device may be controlled to preferentially transport the to-be-outbound container hit by the order with the highest priority in the storage area, so that the to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority can be processed for outbound, and an impact on an outbound processing of the high-priority order can be avoided.

[00182] At step 920, after the first transfer device transfers the to-be-outbound object to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, the second transfer device is controlled to transport the to-be-outbound object to a workstation.

[00183] After the first transfer device transfers the to-be-outbound container to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, the second transfer device may be controlled to carry the to-be-outbound container to the workstation to complete a container outbound operation of the warehousing system.

[00184] Embodiments of the transfer method provided by the present disclosure are summarized as follows.

[00185] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, the method includes step 1101 to step 1110.

[00186] At step 1101, an occupancy ratio of buffer positions within the same aisle of a warehousing system is calculated.

[00187] The occupancy ratio of buffer positions may be determined based on a total quantity of buffer positions and a quantity of non-idle buffer positions in a buffer area of the same aisle. All buffer positions of the buffer area are located within the same aisle, where one or more carriers may be disposed. A non-idle buffer position refers to a buffer position occupied by a to-be-inbound container or a to-be-outbound container.

[00188] The implementation of step 1101 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 310 in FIG. 3, which will not be repeated herein.

[00189] At step 1102, whether the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than a ratio threshold is determined.

[00190] After calculating the occupancy ratio of buffer positions, it may be determined whether the occupancy ratio is smaller than the ratio threshold. The ratio threshold may be any value between 0 and 1, such as 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and so on. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, step 1103 is executed. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, step 1105 is executed.

[00191] The implementation of step 1102 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 310 in FIG. 3, which will not be repeated herein.

[00192] At step 1103, in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, a first transfer device is controlled to transport a to-be-outbound container in a storage area to an idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00193] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container from the storage area to the idle buffer position in the buffer area. During this process, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area may be calculated in real time, or may be calculated at a preset interval, whether the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than a ratio threshold may be then determined (i.e., executing step 1101 and step 1102). In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, relevant steps from step 1105 to step 1109 are executed.

[00194] At step 1104, after the first transfer device transfers the to-be-outbound container to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, the second transfer device is controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container to the workstation.

[00195] After the first transfer device transfers the to-be-outbound container to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, the second transfer device may be controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container to the workstation to finish the container outbound operation in the warehousing system.

[00196] The implementation of step 1103 and step 1104 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 910 and step 920 in FIG. 9, which will not be repeated herein.

[00197] At step 1105, in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, whether a composite operation switch is in an on state is determined.

[00198] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, whether a composite operation switch is in an on state may be determined. A value of the composite operation parameter may be set to “true” or “false”. In a case where the composite operation switch is in the on state, step 1106 is executed. In a case where the composite operation switch is in an off state, step 1109 is executed.

[00199] The implementation of step 1105 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 510 in FIG. 5, which will not be repeated herein.

[00200] At step 1106, in a case where the composite operation switch is in the on state, whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system is determined.

[00201] In a case where the composite operation switch is in the on state (i.e., the value of the composite operation parameter is set to “true”), it is further determined whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system. If a to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, step 1107 is executed. If no to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, step 1109 is executed.

[00202] The implementation of step 1106 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 520 in FIG. 5, which will not be repeated herein.

[00203] At step 1107, in a case where a to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, a target inbound container, a target inbound storage position and a target outbound container are determined.

[00204] In a case where at least one to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, the target inbound container is selected from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area, the target inbound storage position is selected from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and the target outbound container is selected from at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area.

[00205] The implementation of step 1107 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 330 in FIG. 3, which will not be repeated herein.

[00206] At step 1108, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position, an original buffer position of the target inbound container is locked, and the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target outbound container to the original buffer position.

[00207] After the target inbound container, target inbound storage position and target outbound container are determined, a corresponding instruction is sent to the first transfer device, so as to control the first transfer device to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position and transport the target outbound container to the original buffer position of the target inbound container in the buffer area.

[00208] In addition, when the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the original buffer position of the target inbound container, the original buffer position is locked, ensuring that the first transfer device can transport the target outbound container to the original buffer position.

[00209] During the whole process, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is calculated in real time and compared with the ratio threshold (i.e., step 1101 and step 1102 are executed). In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, relevant steps from step 1105 to step 1109 are executed.

[00210] The implementation of step 1108 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 340 in FIG. 3, which will not be repeated herein.

[00211] At step 1109, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an off state or no to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, a target inbound container and a target inbound storage position are determined.

[00212] In a case where the composite operation switch is in the off state or there is no to-be-outbound container in the storage area, only the target inbound container and target inbound storage position need to be determined.

[00213] The implementation of step 1109 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 810 in FIG. 8 or step 910 in FIG. 9, which will not be repeated herein.

[00214] At step 1110, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position.

[00215] After the target inbound container and target inbound storage position are determined, the first transfer device is controlled to carry the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position. That is, the first transfer device preferentially executes the task of only transporting the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the idle storage position in the storage area to complete the container inbound operation of the warehousing system.

[00216] During this process, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is calculated in real time and compared with the ratio threshold (i.e., step 1101 and step 1102 are executed). In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, relevant steps from step 1105 to step 1109 are executed.

[00217] The implementation of step 1110 may refer to the relevant embodiments of step 820 in FIG. 8 or step 920 in FIG. 9, which will not be repeated herein.

[00218] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure enables the first transfer device to perform different tasks according to the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area. When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the to-be-outbound container from the storage area downward to the idle buffer position in the buffer area. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, different tasks can be executed by the first transfer device via the composite operation switch. In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold and the composite operation switch is in the on state, the first transfer device may be controlled to transport one to-be-inbound container upward to the high-layer storage area and transport one to-be-outbound container downward to the buffer area. Accordingly, the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area can be timely transferred upward to the storage area, and the to-be-outbound container in the storage area can be timely transferred downward to the buffer area, allowing the transfer robot to transport the to-be-outbound container to the workstation timely and improving the outbound efficiency of the warehousing system. In addition, in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold while the composite operation switch is in the off state or no to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transport the target inbound container to the target inbound storage position to finish the container inbound operation of the warehousing system.

[00219] The execution of inbound or outbound tasks by the bin robot is determined according to the upper water level limit of the buffer area (i.e., the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area described in the foregoing embodiments). Normally, the upper water level limit of the buffer area is manually configured by operators. For example, operators need to adjust the upper water level limit according to a dynamical change of volume of inbound and outbound tasks to guarantee the working efficiency of the bin robot and the transfer robot. However, manual configuration of the water level limit may lead to deviations or configuration errors. In addition, manual adjustment suffers from poor timeliness, which impairs the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00220] The transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure adaptively adjusts the upper water level limit of the buffer area based on a relationship between a quantity of to-be-inbound objects and / or to-be-outbound objects in the warehousing system and a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area, to improve timeliness and accuracy of water level limit adjustment and improve the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00221] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The transfer method and an adaptive adjustment process of the ratio threshold in the transfer method are described in detail below with reference to FIG. 12. The transfer method shown in FIG. 12 may also be implemented by the control apparatus 150 in the warehousing system 100 of the foregoing embodiments.

[00222] As shown in FIG. 12, the transfer method includes step 1210 to step 1240 as follows.

[00223] At step 1210, a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task are determined.

[00224] The control apparatus may obtain at least one to-be-processed task and determine a first to-be-inbound object(s) and a first to-be-outbound object(s) corresponding to the at least one to-be-processed task. The at least one to-be-processed task may be to-be-processed task(s) within a preset inventory area range received by the control apparatus at a certain moment (e.g., a current moment), or to-be-processed task(s) within a preset inventory area range received by the control apparatus within a preset time window. The preset inventory area range may be at least one warehouse or at least one warehouse storage area.

[00225] For instance, a to-be-processed task may be generated based on orders or work orders issued by a customer. Each to-be-processed task corresponds to at least one to-be-transferred object, and a to-be-transferred object may be goods or a container. The container may be an original box for holding goods or another container for storing goods. The following embodiments will be described by taking a container as the to-be-transferred object for illustration.

[00226] The to-be-transferred object includes a to-be-inbound object and / or a to-be-outbound object. The to-be-inbound object refers to a to-be-transferred object that needs to be moved onto a carrier; the to-be-outbound object refers to a to-be-transferred object that needs to be moved away from the carrier.

[00227] For example, the to-be-inbound object may include a to-be-transferred object placed in a buffer area and a to-be-transferred object to be transferred to the buffer area. The to-be-transferred object to be transferred to the buffer area include a to-be-transferred object at a workstation and a to-be-transferred object being transferred to an inventory area by a second transfer device. The to-be-outbound object includes a to-be-outbound object placed in a storage area and a to-be-outbound object placed in the buffer area.

[00228] A first to-be-inbound object includes a to-be-inbound object after picking at the workstation, a to-be-inbound object transferred by the second transfer device, and a to-be-inbound object on a buffer position in the buffer area. A first to-be-outbound object includes a to-be-outbound object on a storage position in the storage area.

[00229] The buffer area includes at least one buffer position arranged on a lower layer of the carrier and configured to place the to-be-inbound object or the to-be-outbound object. The storage area includes at least one storage position arranged on an upper layer of the carrier. An object placed on the storage position may be the to-be-outbound object or an object that does not need outbound processing at present. The buffer area and the storage area have been described in the foregoing embodiments, and the description thereof will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[00230] At least one warehouse may be divided into at least one preset inventory area according to actual requirements, and a plurality of standards may be adopted for dividing inventory areas. One inventory area may include at least one storage area and at least one buffer area. For example, at least one warehouse may be taken as a preset inventory area by taking the warehouse as a unit, and each preset inventory area includes at least one storage area and at least one buffer area. Alternatively, one warehouse may be divided into a plurality of preset inventory areas by taking a warehouse aisle as a unit, and each preset inventory area includes at least one storage area and at least one buffer area. As another alternative, the warehouse may be divided into a plurality of preset inventory areas according to a type of stored item, and each preset inventory area includes at least one storage area and at least one buffer area. As a further alternative, the warehouse may be divided into a plurality of preset inventory areas according to a container type, and each preset inventory area includes at least one storage area and at least one buffer area.

[00231] The present disclosure does not specifically limit a division form of preset inventory areas. The buffer area and storage area in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily the buffer area and storage area of a single carrier. The buffer area in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be the buffer area corresponding to the preset inventory area, and the storage area is the storage area corresponding to the preset inventory area. For example, the buffer area and the storage area may be the buffer area and the storage area corresponding to the inventory area, or the buffer area and the storage area corresponding to an aisle, or the buffer area and the storage area corresponding to a zone. The inventory area may include a plurality of zones, and each zone includes a plurality of aisles. The buffer area will be taken as an example for the following description.

[00232] The buffer area may be a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers within the preset inventory area. The preset inventory area may be an inventory area of at least one warehouse or at least part of an inventory area inside one warehouse. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the buffer area may be a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers in the inventory area 110. As another example, the buffer area may be a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers in the first row of carriers corresponding to aisle B, and / or a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers in the second row of carriers. As a further example, the buffer area may be a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers within the zone. As shown in FIG. 1, aisle A and aisle B in the inventory area 110 may be divided into zone A, and the buffer area may be a sum of buffer areas of respective carriers in zone A (i.e., the first row of carriers and the second row of carriers).

[00233] For example, the to-be-inbound objects on buffer positions in the buffer area may include a sum of to-be-inbound objects placed on buffer positions of respective carriers in the preset inventory area, and the to-be-outbound objects on storage positions in the storage area may include a sum of to-be-outbound objects placed on storage positions of respective carriers in the inventory area.

[00234] After determining the to-be-inbound object and the to-be-outbound object respectively corresponding to each to-be-processed task, the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and / or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task are further determined.

[00235] At step 1220, a ratio threshold corresponding to a buffer area of a warehousing system is adjusted according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects, as well as a first quantity.

[00236] The first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area, and a value of the first quantity may be adjusted according to actual requirements. The quantity of buffer positions refers to a total quantity of buffer positions corresponding to respective carriers in the preset inventory area. As shown in FIG. 1, the quantity of buffer positions may be a total quantity of buffer positions corresponding to respective carriers in the inventory area 110.

[00237] For example, the quantity of buffer positions may be a quantity of available buffer positions in the buffer area. An available buffer position refers to a buffer position excluding locked buffer positions and abnormal buffer positions.

[00238] The first quantity may be smaller than the quantity of buffer positions. For example, the first quantity may be a value obtained by multiplying the quantity of buffer positions by a first preset coefficient. The first preset coefficient may be set according to requirements, and may be set to a small value less than 1. For instance, the first preset coefficient may be set to 0.1 or 0.2, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00239] The ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area indicates an upper limit of an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area (also referred to as an upper water level). When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than the ratio threshold, it indicates that the current occupancy ratio of buffer positions has reached the upper limit. It is necessary to release buffer positions of the buffer area to vacate corresponding idle buffer positions.

[00240] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of another transfer method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. The adjustment process of the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area will be described below with reference to FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, step 1220 includes step 1221 and step 1222 as follows.

[00241] At step 1221, in a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfy a preset condition, the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area is adjusted to a first ratio threshold.

[00242] The first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfying the preset condition may include: the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition; or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition; or the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition.

[00243] The three scenarios satisfying the preset condition are described below.

[00244] The quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition includes that: the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, and a first duration is longer than a first time length, in which the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity.

[00245] After determining the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity, the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is compared with the first quantity. If the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity at a current moment, the first duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity starts to be measured from the current moment. When the first duration is greater than or equal to the first time length, it is determined that the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity satisfy the preset condition. The first time length may be set according to requirements, for example, the first time length may be set to 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes or the like.

[00246] In other words, when the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, and a duration maintaining such state (i.e., the first duration) is longer than the first time length, it is determined that the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity satisfy the preset condition. For example, the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity at a first moment. The quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects may change after the first moment. If the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects remains greater than or equal to the first quantity within the first time length starting from the first moment regardless of whether the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects increases or decreases, it is determined that the first duration is greater than or equal to the first time length.

[00247] For example, the first time length is set to 1 minute. The quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity at the first moment; the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects becomes smaller than the first quantity at the 20th second after the first moment, and becomes greater than or equal to the first quantity again at the 30th second. In this case, the duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, namely the first duration (20 seconds), is less than the first time length (1 minute). Therefore, the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the first quantity do not satisfy the preset condition. Since the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity again at the 30th second, measurement may restart from a moment corresponding to the 30th second to determine whether the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects maintains a state of being greater than or equal to the first quantity within a subsequent first time length.

[00248] When the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity and the first duration is longer than the first time length, it indicates that a large number of to-be-inbound objects continuously exist in the warehousing system. In this case, a current operation scenario of the warehousing system is determined as an inbound mode. Under the inbound mode, the first transfer device may preferentially transport the to-be-inbound object located in the buffer area to the storage area.

[00249] When an operation mode of the warehousing system is determined to be the inbound mode, the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area may be adjusted to the first ratio threshold. The first ratio threshold is a relatively small value and may be set according to requirements. For instance, the first ratio threshold may be set to 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 or the like.

[00250] For example, when the operation mode of the warehousing system is determined as the inbound mode, the quantity of to-be-inbound objects is relatively large. The control apparatus automatically adjusts the ratio threshold of the buffer area to the smaller first ratio threshold, so as to trigger the first transfer device to perform inbound operations at an early stage. Accordingly, the first transfer device can start transporting the to-be-inbound objects in the buffer area to the storage area as early as possible, improving the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00251] The quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition includes that: the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and a second duration is longer than a second time length, in which the second duration refers to a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity.

[00252] After determining the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is compared with the first quantity. If the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity at the current moment, the second duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity starts to be measured from the current moment. When the second duration is greater than or equal to the second time length, it is determined that the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfy the preset condition. The second time length can be set according to requirements. The second time length may be the same as or different from the first time length, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the present disclosure will be described by taking a case where the first time length is equal to the second time length as an example. The second time length may be set to 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes or the like.

[00253] In other words, when the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and a duration maintaining such state (i.e., the second duration) is longer than the second time length, it is determined that the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfy the preset condition. For example, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity at a second moment. The quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects may change after the second moment. If the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects remains less than the first quantity within the second time length starting from the second moment regardless of whether the quantity increases or decreases, it is determined that the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfy the preset condition.

[00254] For example, the second time length is set to 1 minute. The quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity at the second moment. The quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects becomes greater than the first quantity at the 10th second after the second moment, and becomes less than the first quantity again at the 20th second after the second moment. In this case, the duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, namely the second duration (10 seconds), is less than the second time length (1 minute). Therefore, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity do not satisfy the preset condition. Since the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity again at the 20th second, measurement may restart from a moment corresponding to the 20th second to determine whether the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects maintains a state of being less than the first quantity within a subsequent second time length.

[00255] When the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity and the second duration is longer than the second time length, it indicates that the quantity of to-be-outbound objects in the warehousing system remains low for a sufficiently long period. In this case, the current operation scenario of the warehousing system may also be determined as the inbound mode. Therefore, the control apparatus may automatically adjust the ratio threshold of the buffer area to the smaller first ratio threshold.

[00256] The quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects and the first quantity satisfying the preset condition includes that: the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, the first duration is longer than the first time length, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and the second duration is longer than the second time length.

[00257] When the warehousing system simultaneously satisfies the following conditions: the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, the first duration is longer than the first time length, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and the second duration is longer than the second time length, it indicates that a large number of to-be-inbound objects continuously exist in the warehousing system, and the quantity of to-be-inbound objects is greater than the quantity of to-be-outbound objects. In this case, the current operation scenario of the warehousing system may be determined as the inbound mode, and it is required to trigger the first transfer device to perform inbound operations as soon as possible. Therefore, the control apparatus may adjust the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area to a smaller first ratio threshold.

[00258] At step 1222, in a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects do not satisfy the preset condition, the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area is adjusted to a second ratio threshold.

[00259] The first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects not satisfying the preset condition includes at least one of the following situations:

[00260] the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is less than the first quantity;

[00261] a first duration is less than or equal to a first time length, where the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity;

[00262] the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity; or

[00263] a second duration is less than or equal to a second time length, where the second duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity.

[00264] In a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects do not satisfy the preset condition, the ratio threshold of the buffer area is adjusted to the second ratio threshold. The second ratio threshold is greater than the first ratio threshold. For example, the second ratio threshold may be set according to requirements, and may be set to 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 or the like, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00265] When the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is relatively small and / or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is relatively large, it indicates that a large number of to-be-outbound objects exist in the warehousing system. In this case, the current operation mode of the warehousing system is determined as a non-inbound mode. The non-inbound mode may include an outbound mode or a picking mode. Under the non-inbound mode, the first transfer device needs to preferentially transport the to-be-outbound object located on the storage position to the buffer position.

[00266] In other examples, when the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than the first quantity but the duration in which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects remains greater than the first quantity, i.e., the first duration, is less than or equal to the first time length, the current operation mode of the warehousing system may also be determined as the non-inbound mode. Alternatively, when the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity but the second duration is less than or equal to the second time length, the current operation mode of the warehousing system may also be determined the non-inbound mode.

[00267] When the operation mode of the warehousing system is determined as the non-inbound mode, a large number of to-be-outbound objects in the storage area need to be transferred to the buffer area by the first transfer device, which requires occupying more buffer positions in the buffer area. Under such circumstances, the control apparatus may adjust the ratio threshold of the buffer area to a larger second ratio threshold, so that the first transfer device can transport more to-be-outbound objects to the buffer positions of the buffer area.

[00268] At step 1230, an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area is determined.

[00269] The occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area may be determined based on a total quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area and a quantity of non-idle buffer positions. A non-idle buffer position refers to a buffer position in the buffer area where the to-be-inbound object or the to-be-outbound object is placed.

[00270] The occupancy ratio of buffer positions may be determined according to a ratio between the quantity of non-idle buffer positions in the buffer area and the total quantity of buffer positions. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, assume that the total quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is 6. Containers are placed on 4 buffer positions in the buffer area 11, and no containers are placed on the other 2 buffer positions, that is, the quantity of non-idle buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is 4. Therefore, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area 11 is calculated as: quantity of non-idle buffer positions / total quantity of buffer positions = 4 / 6 = 0.67.

[00271] The implementation process of step 1230 is similar to the implementation process of step 310 in the foregoing embodiments, and the description thereof will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[00272] At step 1240, a first transfer device is controlled, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, to transport a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area, and / or transport a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[00273] The ratio threshold serves as an upper water level limit of the buffer position. When the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the upper water level limit, meaning that buffer positions are over-occupied. In this case, the to-be-inbound object placed in the buffer area needs to be transferred to the storage position of the storage area. When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is below the upper water level limit, meaning that buffer positions are sparsely occupied. In this case, an outbound task can be preferentially executed, that is, the to-be-outbound object in the storage area is transferred to the buffer position of the buffer area.

[00274] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, the first transfer device may perform an inbound operation task or a composite operation task to vacate more buffer positions. The inbound operation task includes that the first transfer device transfers the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area upward to an idle storage position in the storage area, so as to reduce the occupancy ratio of buffer positions. The composite operation task includes that the first transfer device transfers one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area upward to an idle storage position in the storage area, and transfers one to-be-outbound object in the storage area downward to an idle buffer position in the buffer area. The composite operation task can not only reduce the occupancy ratio of buffer positions, but also ensure smooth execution of outbound tasks.

[00275] For example, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold and the current operation mode prioritizes inbound processing, the first transfer device may be controlled to preferentially perform inbound operations to guarantee smooth execution of inbound tasks. When the current operation mode is an inbound-and-outbound scenario, the first transfer device may be controlled to perform composite operations to ensure that both inbound and outbound tasks are executed smoothly.

[00276] A switch state for the first transfer device to perform composite operations is associated with the occupancy ratio of buffer positions. When a composite operation switch of the first transfer device is in an on state, the first transfer device can execute composite operation tasks. When the composite operation switch is in an off state, the first transfer device executes inbound tasks.

[00277] For example, when the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, the composite operation switch of the first transfer device is in the on state. Alternatively, the state of the composite operation switch may also be associated with a priority of the inbound task and the outbound task. For instance, when the outbound task has a higher priority than the inbound task, the composite operation switch may be in the on state.

[00278] When different ratio thresholds are set, timings for the first transfer device to perform the outbound task, the inbound task or the composite operation task vary.

[00279] When the ratio threshold is set to the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device starts to perform outbound tasks when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the first ratio threshold, and starts to perform inbound tasks or composite operation tasks when the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold. When the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device starts to perform outbound tasks when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the second ratio threshold, and starts to perform inbound tasks or composite operation tasks when the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold. Since the second ratio threshold is greater than the first ratio threshold, in a case where the ratio threshold is set to the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device may start to perform inbound tasks or composite operation tasks at an earlier time, thereby improving the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00280] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of still another transfer method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. A transfer process of the first transfer device in a case where the ratio threshold is the first ratio threshold or the second ratio threshold will be described below with reference to FIG. 14. As shown in FIG. 14, the above step 1240 includes step 1241 to step 1246 as follows.

[00281] In the case where the ratio threshold is set to the first ratio threshold will be described first. As shown in FIG. 14, step 1241 to step 1243 illustrate the transfer process of the first transfer device in the case where the ratio threshold is set to the first ratio threshold.

[00282] At step 1241, in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the first ratio threshold and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position in the buffer area.

[00283] When the ratio threshold is set to the first ratio threshold, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is compared with the first ratio threshold. In a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device enters an outbound operation mode and executes outbound tasks. When the storage area contains at least one to-be-outbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object in the storage area to the buffer area. The at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area includes the target outbound object, and the target outbound object is located at the first storage position of the storage area. The target buffer position is an idle buffer position in the buffer area for placing the target outbound object.

[00284] FIG. 15A is a schematic diagram of a scenario of an outbound process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00285] As shown in FIG. 15A, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device transfers the target outbound object in the storage area downward from the first storage position to the target buffer position in the buffer area. The target buffer position is one of a plurality of idle buffer positions in the buffer area.

[00286] At step 1242, in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

[00287] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device may enter an inbound operation mode and execute inbound tasks. When the buffer area contains at least one to-be-inbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object in the buffer area from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position of the storage area. The at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area includes the target inbound object, and the target inbound object is located at the first buffer position of the buffer area. The target storage position is an idle storage position in the storage area for placing the target inbound object.

[00288] That is to say, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device can execute inbound tasks to release buffer positions in the buffer area, vacate more idle buffer positions and facilitate subsequent execution of outbound tasks.

[00289] FIG. 15B is a schematic diagram of a scenario of an inbound process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00290] As shown in FIG. 15B, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object in the buffer area upward from the first buffer position to the target storage position in the storage area. The target storage position is one of a plurality of idle storage positions in the storage area.

[00291] At step 1243, in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

[00292] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device may also enter a composite operation mode and execute composite operation tasks. When the buffer area contains at least one to-be-inbound object and the storage area contains at least one to-be-outbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object to the target storage position in the storage area and transfer the target outbound object to the target buffer position in the buffer area. The at least one to-be-inbound object includes the target inbound object, and the at least one to-be-outbound object includes the target outbound object. The target inbound object is located at the first buffer position of the buffer area, and the target outbound object is located at the first storage position of the storage area. The target storage position is an idle storage position in the storage area for placing the target inbound object, and the target buffer position is an idle buffer position in the buffer area for placing the target outbound object.

[00293] In the composite operation mode, the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object upward to the idle storage position (namely the target storage position) in the storage area. Accordingly, an original buffer position where the target inbound object is placed (namely the first buffer position) becomes idle. In this case, the first transfer device can transfer the target outbound object in the storage area downward to the first buffer position (i.e., the original buffer position of the target inbound object).

[00294] FIG. 15C is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a composite operation process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00295] As shown in FIG. 15C, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the first ratio threshold, the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object in the buffer area upward from the first buffer position to the target storage position, then the first transfer device transfers the target outbound object in the storage area downward to the target buffer position in the buffer area. In FIG. 15C, the target buffer position is the first buffer position.

[00296] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, if the to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area and the buffer area has no to-be-inbound objects, the first transfer device may also enter the outbound operation mode to transfer the to-be-outbound object in the storage area to the idle buffer position in the buffer area, which thus prevents the first transfer device from being idle and improves the working efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00297] The case where the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold will be described below. As shown in FIG. 14, step 1244 to step 1246 illustrate the transfer process of the first transfer device when the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold.

[00298] At step 1244, in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

[00299] When the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is compared with the second ratio threshold. In a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device enters the outbound operation mode and executes outbound tasks. Since the second ratio threshold is greater than the first ratio threshold, when the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device can execute outbound tasks for a larger quantity of to-be-outbound objects compared with the scenario where the first ratio threshold is adopted.

[00300] A process in which the first transfer device executes outbound tasks has been described in the foregoing step 341, and the description thereof will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[00301] At step 1245, in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

[00302] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device may enter the inbound operation mode and execute inbound tasks. Since the second ratio threshold is greater than the first ratio threshold, when the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device may execute inbound tasks at a later timing compared with the scenario where the first ratio threshold is adopted.

[00303] A process in which the first transfer device executes inbound tasks has been described in the foregoing step 342, and the description thereof will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[00304] At step 1246, in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

[00305] When the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device may also enter the composite operation mode and execute composite operation tasks. Since the second ratio threshold is greater than the first ratio threshold, when the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device enters the composite operation mode later compared with the scenario where the first ratio threshold is adopted, so as to execute outbound tasks for a larger quantity of to-be-outbound objects.

[00306] A process in which the first transfer device executes composite operation tasks has been described in the foregoing step 343, and the description thereof will not be repeated here to avoid redundancy.

[00307] When the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the quantity of to-be-outbound objects is relatively large, and accordingly a quantity of second transfer devices (such as the second transfer device 140 in the foregoing embodiments) for transferring the to-be-outbound objects in the warehousing system increases. The second transfer device is configured to move the to-be-outbound object away from the buffer area for outbound processing.

[00308] The quantity of second transfer devices in the warehousing system is limited. When there are a large number of to-be-outbound objects, all second transfer devices in the warehousing system may be in a non-idle state, that is, the second transfer devices in the warehousing system reach an upper operation limit. In this case, when the ratio threshold is less than the second ratio threshold, after the first transfer device transfers the to-be-outbound object from the storage area to the buffer area, no idle second transfer device is available to carry away the to-be-outbound object. Consequently, the buffer position in the buffer area cannot be released in a timely manner, which further prevents the first transfer device from transferring more to-be-outbound objects from the storage area to the buffer area, and reduces the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00309] To solve the above problem, the first transfer device may be controlled to enter the inbound operation mode or the composite operation mode in advance, so as to transfer the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area to the storage area as early as possible and ensure normal execution of outbound tasks.

[00310] A quantity of second to-be-outbound objects is determined. In a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to a second quantity, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

[00311] When the ratio threshold is set to the second ratio threshold, the control apparatus may dynamically acquire a quantity of to-be-outbound objects in the buffer area, i.e., the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects. The second to-be-outbound objects include the to-be-outbound object on the buffer position of the buffer area.

[00312] For example, the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects may refer to the quantity of to-be-outbound objects stored in the buffer area corresponding to the inventory area, namely the quantity of to-be-outbound objects placed on all buffer positions within the scope.

[00313] The second quantity is associated with the quantity of second transfer devices in the warehousing system. The second quantity may be greater than or equal to the quantity of the second transfer devices. For example, the second quantity may be a value obtained by multiplying the quantity of the second transfer devices by a second preset coefficient. The second preset coefficient can be set according to practical requirements and may be a value greater than or equal to 1. For instance, the second preset coefficient may be set to 2 or 3, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00314] After acquiring the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects and the second quantity, the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is compared with the second quantity. When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the second ratio threshold and the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to the second quantity, the first transfer device may be controlled to enter the inbound mode and execute inbound tasks. That is, even if the occupancy ratio of buffer positions does not reach the second ratio threshold, the first transfer device can enter the inbound mode in advance to release buffer positions in the buffer area once the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects exceeds the second quantity.

[00315] In other examples, when the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to the second quantity, the first transfer device may also enter the composite operation mode and execute composite operation tasks. For example, the first transfer device may transfer the target inbound object in the buffer area upward from the first buffer position to the target storage position in the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object downward from the first storage position to the target buffer position in the buffer area.

[00316] In the transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the ratio threshold (i.e., upper water level limit) of the buffer area is dynamically adjusted according to the relationship between at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects and the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed tasks in the warehousing system, and the quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area (namely the first quantity). After adjusting the ratio threshold of the buffer area, the first transfer device is controlled to perform corresponding transfer tasks such as outbound tasks, inbound tasks or composite operation tasks based on the relationship between the occupancy ratio of buffer positions and the ratio threshold. The embodiments of the present disclosure realize adaptive adjustment of the ratio threshold of the buffer area in the warehousing system, overcome poor timeliness and low accuracy caused by manually configuring the ratio threshold in related arts, and improve the operation efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00317] In the composite operation mode, the first transfer device needs to transfer the target inbound object in the buffer area upward from the first buffer position to the target storage position in the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object downward from the first storage position to the target buffer position in the buffer area. Therefore, a selection of the target inbound object and the target outbound object exerts significant influence on the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device. To further improve the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device, the embodiments of the present disclosure determine an optimal outbound object in the storage area and an optimal inbound object in the buffer area, so that an overhead consumed by the first transfer device for exchanging the to-be-inbound object and the to-be-outbound object is reduced, and the operation efficiency of the warehousing system is improved.

[00318] A process for determining the target inbound object and the target outbound object when the first transfer device enters the composite operation mode will be described below with reference to FIG. 16.

[00319] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of still another transfer method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 16, the method further includes step 1610 to step 1620 as described below. Step 1610 to step 1620 may be performed prior to step 1240.

[00320] At step 1610, in a case where at least one second to-be-inbound object exists in a first buffer area and at least one third to-be-outbound object exists in a first storage area, first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area and second position information of the at least one third to-be-outbound object in the first storage area are acquired.

[00321] The inventory area of the warehousing system may include a plurality of aisles. As shown in FIG. 1, at least one side of each aisle is provided with carriers. The second transfer device can move within the aisle to perform pick-and-place operations on to-be-transferred objects (such as containers) placed on the carriers on one side and / or both sides of the aisle.

[00322] For example, the plurality of aisles in the inventory area include a first aisle, and the first aisle corresponds to the first buffer area and the first storage area. The first storage area is a storage area formed by all carriers corresponding to the first aisle, and the first buffer area is a buffer area formed by all carriers corresponding to the first aisle.

[00323] When the first transfer device executes the composite operation task, the first transfer device is required to transfer the target inbound object from the buffer area to the target storage position and transfer the target outbound object from the storage area to the target buffer position. Therefore, when the first buffer area contains at least one second to-be-inbound object and the first storage area contains at least one third to-be-outbound object, it is necessary to first determine the target inbound object from the at least one second to-be-inbound object and determine the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object.

[00324] For instance, the first position information of a second to-be-inbound object and the second position information of a third to-be-outbound object may be acquired. The first position information may be position information of the buffer position where each to-be-inbound object is located, such as a coordinate position of the buffer position or a position identifier of the buffer position. The second position information may be position information of the storage position where each to-be-outbound object is located, such as a coordinate position of the storage position or a position identifier of the storage position.

[00325] At step 1620, according to the first position information and the second position information, the target inbound object is determined from the at least one second to-be-inbound object, and the target outbound object is determined from the at least one third to-be-outbound object.

[00326] After the first position information and the second position information are obtained, the target inbound object and the target outbound object can be further determined based on the first position information and the second position information.

[00327] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of still another transfer method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 17, the above step 1620 includes step 1621 to step 1625 as follows.

[00328] At step 1621, the target outbound object is determined from the at least one third to-be-outbound object.

[00329] For example, if the first storage area contains one third to-be-outbound object, such third to-be-outbound object can be determined as the target outbound object. If the first storage area contains a plurality of third to-be-outbound objects, the target outbound object can be further selected from the plurality of third to-be-outbound objects.

[00330] When the plurality of third to-be-outbound objects exist in the first storage area, the target outbound object may be determined according to a distance between the third to-be-outbound object and the first transfer device (which may be referred to as movement distance), and / or an outbound priority of the third to-be-outbound object.

[00331] The distance between the third to-be-outbound object and the first transfer device can be determined according to position information of the first transfer device and the second position information of the third to-be-outbound object. A third to-be-outbound object with the shortest distance to the first transfer device among the plurality of third to-be-outbound objects is determined as the target outbound object.

[00332] For example, when retrieving the third to-be-outbound object, the first transfer device needs to move horizontally in the aisle to a position where the third to-be-outbound object is located, and retrieve the third to-be-outbound object via vertical up-and-down movement of a pick-and-place apparatus. Therefore, the distance between the first transfer device and the third to-be-outbound object may include a movement distance required for the first transfer device to retrieve the third to-be-outbound object, and such movement distance includes a horizontal distance that the first transfer device moves in a horizontal direction and / or a vertical distance that the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device moves in a vertical direction.

[00333] As another example, the distance between the first transfer device and the third to-be-outbound object may include at least one of a straight-line distance between the third to-be-outbound object and the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device, a horizontal distance between the third to-be-outbound object and the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device, or a vertical distance between the third to-be-outbound object and the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device.

[00334] In other examples, the outbound priority of each third to-be-outbound object may be determined according to a priority of an order corresponding to each third to-be-outbound object. For example, an order with higher urgency has a higher priority, and the third to-be-outbound object corresponding to such order also has a higher priority. By way of example, the third to-be-outbound object with the highest priority among the plurality of third to-be-outbound objects may be determined as the target outbound object, so as to ensure that the to-be-outbound object corresponding to a high-priority order is outbound preferentially.

[00335] In still other examples, when the target outbound object is determined based on both movement distance and outbound priority, corresponding weight information may be configured for the movement distance and the outbound priority respectively, and the target outbound object is determined according to the movement distance and a distance weight, as well as the outbound priority and a priority weight.

[00336] In further examples, when the target outbound object is determined based on both movement distance and outbound priority, a priority outbound object may first be determined from the plurality of third to-be-outbound objects according to outbound priority. If there is only one priority outbound object, such priority outbound object is determined as the target outbound object. If there are a plurality of priority outbound objects, the priority outbound object with the shortest distance to the first transfer device may be further determined as the target outbound object according to the distance between each priority outbound object and the first transfer device.

[00337] At step 1622, according to the first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object and the second position information of the target outbound object, it is determined whether a candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object.

[00338] After the target outbound object is determined, the target inbound object is further determined based on the second position information of the target outbound object and the first position information of each second to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area.

[00339] To further improve transfer efficiency, it may be prioritized to determine whether a to-be-inbound object (which may be referred to as the candidate inbound object) located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the first buffer area

[00340] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, that two to-be-transferred objects are located in the same column may include: the two to-be-transferred objects are located in the same column of the same carrier. For example, horizontal coordinates in position coordinates of positions where the two to-be-transferred objects are located are the same.

[00341] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a transfer process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 18, container A in the storage area 12 and container B in the buffer area 11 are located in the same column of the carrier 111 (i.e., the second column counted from left to right).

[00342] In other examples, that two to-be-transferred objects are located in the same column as mentioned in the embodiments of the present disclosure may further include: although the two to-be-transferred objects are not located in the same column of the same carrier, the first transfer device does not need to move in the aisle when picking and placing the two to-be-transferred objects. For instance, when the first transfer device performs pick-and-place operations on to-be-transferred objects placed at positions in two adjacent columns on the carrier, there is no need to move horizontally within the aisle. In this case, it may also be determined that the to-be-transferred objects placed at positions in the two adjacent columns are located in the same column.

[00343] Referring to FIG. 18, when the first transfer device 130 picks and places containers at positions of the first column and the second column on the carrier 111, no movement within the aisle is required. Therefore, containers placed at respective positions of the first column and the second column of the carrier 111 can be regarded as containers in the same column. That is, container C placed in the first column and container A placed in the second column may also be referred to as containers located in the same column.

[00344] When the candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the first buffer area, the candidate inbound object may be preferentially determined as the target inbound object. In this case, when the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object and the target outbound object, no movement within the aisle (such as horizontal movement) is required. The pick-and-place operations can be completed via vertical movement of the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device (including a scenario where the pick-and-place apparatus does not need to move). Accordingly, a transfer time of the first transfer device can be shortened, and the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device is improved.

[00345] A scenario where at least one second to-be-inbound object includes a candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object will be described below.

[00346] At step 1623, in a case where the candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, a candidate inbound object closest to the target outbound object is determined as the target inbound object.

[00347] When the candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, if there is only one candidate inbound object, such candidate inbound object is determined as the target inbound object. If there are a plurality of candidate inbound objects, the candidate inbound object closest to the target outbound object in the vertical direction among the plurality of candidate inbound objects is determined as the target inbound object.

[00348] When the buffer area includes one layer of buffer positions, there is only one candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object. When the buffer area includes at least two layers of buffer positions, there may be a plurality of candidate inbound objects located in the same column as the target outbound object. Among the plurality of candidate inbound objects, since each of the candidate to-be-inbound objects is located in the same column, the candidate inbound object closest to the target to-be-outbound object in the vertical direction may be determined as the target inbound object.

[00349] After the target inbound object is determined, it may be further determined whether an idle storage position exists in the first storage area. In a case where at least one idle storage position exists in the first storage area, the target storage position is determined from the at least one idle storage position.

[00350] When the first storage area includes one idle storage position, such idle storage position is determined as the target storage position. When there are a plurality of idle storage positions, the target storage position can be determined based on position information of each idle storage position.

[00351] Since the first transfer device needs to transfer the target inbound object to the target storage position, an idle storage position located in the same column as the target inbound object may be preferentially determined as the target inbound storage position. In this way, after the first transfer device retrieves the target inbound object, no movement in the aisle is required, and the target inbound object can be transferred to the target storage position merely through vertical movement of the pick-and-place apparatus, so as to further improve the working efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00352] When a plurality of idle storage positions are located in the same column as the target inbound object, the idle storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound object is determined as the target idle storage position.

[00353] Still referring to FIG. 18, when container B serves as the target inbound object, container B is located in the second column of the carrier 111, and the storage area 12 is provided with two storage positions in the second column, namely storage position B1 and storage position B2. Since storage position B1 has a shorter vertical distance to container B compared with storage position B2, storage position B1 can be determined as the target storage position for container B.

[00354] In other examples, the storage position of the first storage area may be a single-depth position or a multi-depth position. When the first storage area adopts the multi-depth position, the idle storage position with no blocking object on an outer side can be preferentially determined as the target storage position.

[00355] As shown in FIG. 18, the carrier 111 is a double-depth carrier. When container B is the target inbound object, storage position B3 is also located in the same column as container B, and storage position B3 has a shorter vertical distance to container B than storage position B1. Nevertheless, storage position B3 is an inner storage position, and container A is placed on the outer side of storage position B3. Therefore, when the first transfer device 130 transfers container B to storage position B3, container A needs to be moved away first, which increases a transfer time of the first transfer device 130. For this reason, storage position B1 can be determined as the target storage position for container B.

[00356] That is to say, when a plurality of idle storage positions are located in the same column as the target inbound object, in addition to considering the vertical distance between each idle storage position and the target inbound object, it is also necessary to consider whether a blocking object exists on the outer side of each idle storage position. Idle storage positions without blocking objects are selected preferentially, and then the idle storage position with the shortest vertical distance is selected from the idle storage positions without blocking objects.

[00357] In a case where no candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound object exists in the at least one idle storage position, that is, all of the at least one idle storage position are located in columns different from the column of the target inbound object, the target storage position is determined among the at least one idle storage position in different columns. For example, if there is one idle storage position in a column different from the column of the target inbound object, such idle storage position can be directly determined as the target inbound storage position.

[00358] When a plurality of idle storage positions are in columns different from the column of the target inbound object, a horizontal distance between an idle storage position and the target inbound object may be determined first. The idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound object among the at least one idle storage position is determined as an alternative storage position. Subsequently, the alternative storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound object is determined as the target storage position. As a result, after the first transfer device picks up the target inbound object, the target inbound object can be transferred to the target storage position with the shortest horizontal movement distance and the shortest vertical movement distance of the pick-and-place apparatus. The transfer time of the first transfer device is shortened, and the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device is improved.

[00359] In case there are two alternative storage positions that are closest to the target inbound object in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the target storage position may be randomly determined from the two alternative storage positions, or may be determined from the two alternative storage positions in other possible manners, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00360] After the target storage position is determined, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position.

[00361] After the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position, the first buffer position in the buffer area (i.e., the original buffer position of the target inbound object) becomes idle. Therefore, the first transfer device may transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position.

[00362] For example, after the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object to the target storage position, if the target storage position is an outer storage position and an inner storage position corresponding to the target storage position is in an idle state (that is, no other object is placed on the inner storage position), the first transfer device may push the target inbound object from the target storage position to the inner storage position corresponding to the target storage position.

[00363] Before transferring the target outbound object, the first transfer device may first determine whether a blocking object exists outside the target outbound object. That is, before transferring the target outbound object, it is first determined whether the first storage position where the target outbound object is located is an inner storage position. If the first storage position is the inner storage position, it is determined whether the blocking object is placed on an outer storage position corresponding to the first storage position.

[00364] In a case where no blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to directly transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position. The target buffer position includes the first buffer position.

[00365] That no blocking object exists outside the target outbound object includes: the first storage position where the target outbound object is located is an outer storage position; or the first storage position is an inner storage position and an outer storage position corresponding to the first storage position is in an idle state.

[00366] FIG. 19A to FIG. 19C are schematic diagrams of scenarios of a transfer process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 19A to FIG. 19C are described by way of example where containers are placed at storage positions and buffer positions.

[00367] As shown in FIG. 19A, after the target outbound object a1 is determined, a to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object a1 is determined as the target inbound object b1. An idle storage position A1 that is located in the same column as the target inbound object b1 and closest to the target inbound object b1 is determined as the target storage position. The first transfer device 130 first transfers the target inbound object b1 placed at the buffer position B upward to the storage position A1. Since no blocking object exists outside the target outbound object a1, the first transfer device 130 may transfer the target outbound object a1 downward to the buffer position B. In this case, the target buffer position is the buffer position B.

[00368] As shown in FIG. 19A, since an inner storage position A2 corresponding to the storage position A1 is in an idle state (that is, no other container is placed on the storage position A2), the first transfer device 130 may push the target inbound object b1 from the storage position A1 to the inner storage position A2.

[00369] In a case where a blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position; the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the blocking object to a first temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device; and the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position.

[00370] That the blocking object exists outside the target outbound object includes: the first storage position where the target outbound object is located is an inner storage position, and an outer storage position corresponding to the first storage position is in a non-idle state, that is, the blocking object is placed on the outer storage position corresponding to the first storage position.

[00371] In a case where a blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, the blocking object needs to be moved away before the first transfer device retrieves the target outbound object. For example, the first transfer device may first transfer the blocking object to an idle temporary storage position (e.g., the first temporary storage position) of the first transfer device, and after transferring the blocking object to the first temporary storage position, transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00372] For example, the first temporary storage position may be any idle temporary storage position among the at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device, or may be an idle temporary storage position closest to a current position of the pick-and-place apparatus, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00373] With further reference to FIG. 19A, since a blocking object exists outside a target outbound object a2, after the first transfer device 130 transfers the target inbound object b1 from the buffer position B to the storage position A1, the pick-and-place apparatus 13 of the first transfer device 130 may retrieve the blocking object and place the blocking object at the first temporary storage position. Thereafter, the pick-and-place apparatus 13 retrieves the target outbound object a2 located at the inner storage position, and transfers the target outbound object a2 to the buffer position B.

[00374] In a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area, a second temporary storage position is determined among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device. The first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the second temporary storage position, and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position; and the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to the first storage position.

[00375] For example, after the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the second temporary storage position, the first buffer position becomes idle. Accordingly, the first transfer device may transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position. After the target outbound object is transferred to the first buffer position, the first storage position becomes idle, and the first transfer device may transfer the target inbound object placed at the second temporary storage position to the first storage position. In this case, the target storage position is the first storage position.

[00376] In a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area, the first transfer device cannot transfer the target inbound object into the first storage area. In this case, the first transfer device may transfer the target inbound object to the second temporary storage position of the first transfer device. The second temporary storage position may be any idle temporary storage position among the at least one idle temporary storage position on the first transfer device, or may be an idle temporary storage position closest to the current position of the pick-and-place apparatus, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00377] As shown in FIG. 19B, after the target inbound object and the target outbound object located in the same column are determined, since no idle storage position exists in the first storage area, the first transfer device 130 retrieves the target inbound object via the pick-and-place apparatus 13 and places the target inbound object at the second temporary storage position; then, the first transfer device 130 transfers the target outbound object from the storage position A to the buffer position B via the pick-and-place apparatus 13. After the first storage position A becomes idle, the first transfer device 130 transfers the target inbound container placed at the second temporary storage position to the storage position A.

[00378] In a case where an idle storage position exists in the first storage area, but the idle storage position is located in a different column from the target inbound object and has a horizontal distance exceeding a preset distance threshold, the first transfer device may also be controlled to transfer the target inbound object to the second temporary storage position.

[00379] During a period in which the target inbound object is placed at the second temporary storage position, if the target inbound object is hit by any outbound task, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to any idle buffer position of the first buffer area.

[00380] After the target outbound object is transferred from the first storage position to the first buffer position, although the first storage position is released and enters an idle state, the target inbound object may not be immediately transferred from the second temporary storage position to the first storage position; instead, the target inbound object may remain placed at the second temporary storage position.

[00381] During the period in which the target inbound object is placed at the second temporary storage position, according to information on to-be-processed tasks acquired by the control apparatus, if the target inbound object at the second temporary storage position is hit by any other outbound task within a preset time range, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to any idle buffer position of the first buffer area. Such idle buffer position may be the idle buffer position closest to the current position of the first transfer device.

[00382] In some other examples, if the target inbound object at the second temporary storage position is not hit by any other outbound task within the preset time range, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to any idle storage position of the first storage area. Such idle storage position may be the idle storage position closest to the current position of the first transfer device.

[00383] In the transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first transfer device executes the composite operation task, the target inbound object and the target outbound object located in the same column may be preferentially transferred. Accordingly, movement of the first transfer device within the aisle can be avoided, the transfer time of the first transfer device is shortened, and the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device is improved.

[00384] A case where no candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists among the at least one second to-be-inbound object is described below.

[00385] In a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists among the at least one second to-be-inbound object, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to a third temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device, and transfer the target outbound object to the target buffer position.

[00386] In a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists among the at least one second to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area, the target inbound object is determined from among the at least one second to-be-inbound object located in a different column from the target outbound object. The target inbound object may be the second to-be-inbound object closest to the target outbound object.

[00387] For example, the first transfer device may transfer the target inbound object to the third temporary storage position of the first transfer device. The third temporary storage position may be any idle temporary storage position among the at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device, or may be an idle temporary storage position closest to the current position of the pick-and-place apparatus, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00388] The target buffer position may be any idle buffer position in the first buffer area, or may be an idle buffer position corresponding to the minimum travel distance of the first transfer device. For instance, the target buffer position may or may not be the first buffer position. When the target buffer position is the first buffer position, after the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object to the third temporary storage position, the first buffer position becomes idle, and the first transfer device may transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position. Since the first buffer position is not in the same column as the target outbound object, after picking up the target outbound object, the first transfer device needs to move horizontally within the aisle, and place the target outbound object onto the target buffer position upon arriving at the target buffer position.

[00389] The target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position of the first storage area according to position information of the first transfer device; and the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the third temporary storage position to the target storage position.

[00390] When transferring the target inbound object to the third temporary storage position, the target storage position may be determined from at least one idle storage position of the first storage area according to current position information of the first transfer device. The target storage position may be the idle storage position closest to the current position of the first transfer device.

[00391] For example, a distance between the first transfer device and the target storage position may include: a horizontal distance that the first transfer device moves in the horizontal direction and / or a vertical distance that the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device moves in the vertical direction when the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device reaches the target storage position.

[00392] As shown in FIG. 19C, after the target outbound object and the target inbound object are determined, since the target outbound object and the target inbound object are not located in the same column, the first transfer device 130 may retrieve the target inbound object and place the target inbound object at the third temporary storage position. Thereafter, the first transfer device 130 moves horizontally within the aisle. Upon reaching a position corresponding to the target outbound object, the pick-and-place apparatus 13 moves vertically to retrieve the target outbound object from the first storage position, and transfers the target outbound object to buffer position C1 (i.e., the target buffer position). The buffer position C1 is an idle buffer position in the first buffer area closest to the target outbound object.

[00393] As shown in FIG. 19C, since the target inbound object has been transferred to the third temporary storage position, buffer position C3 is also in an idle state. Nevertheless, because buffer position C1 is closer to the target outbound object than buffer position C3, buffer position C1 may be determined as the target buffer position, and the first transfer device 130 transfers the target outbound object to buffer position C1.

[00394] As shown in FIG. 19C, after the first transfer device 130 places the target outbound object at buffer position C1, since storage position C2 is the idle storage position in the first storage area closest to the current position of the first transfer device, storage position C2 may be determined as the target storage position, and the first transfer device 130 transfers the target inbound object at the third temporary storage position to storage position C2. The current position of the first transfer device may be a position where the first transfer device places the target outbound object at buffer position C1.

[00395] At step 1624, in a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, an idle buffer position with a distance to the target outbound object less than a first preset threshold is determined among at least one idle buffer position of the first buffer area as the target buffer position.

[00396] When no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, the target buffer position may first be determined in the first buffer area. The target buffer position is the idle buffer position with the distance to the target outbound object less than the first preset threshold. The first preset threshold may be set according to actual requirements, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00397] For example, a distance between the target buffer position and the target outbound object may include at least one of a straight-line distance between the target outbound object and the target buffer position, a vertical distance between the target outbound object and the target buffer position, or a horizontal distance between the target outbound object and the target buffer position.

[00398] In a case where there are a plurality of idle buffer positions whose distance to the target outbound object is less than the first preset threshold, the idle buffer position closest to the target outbound object may be determined as the target buffer position. For example, the idle buffer position that is closest to the target outbound object in the horizontal direction may be determined as the target buffer position. Being closest in the horizontal direction ensures that the first transfer device moves the shortest distance within the first aisle, so as to improve the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00399] With further reference to FIG. 19C, buffer position C1 is the idle buffer position closest to the target outbound object in the horizontal direction among a plurality of idle buffer positions of the first buffer area. Therefore, buffer position C1 may be determined as the target buffer position, and the first transfer device 130 transfers the target outbound object to buffer position C1.

[00400] At step 1625, based on position information of the target buffer position, a second to-be-inbound object with a distance to the target buffer position less than a second preset threshold is determined among the at least one second to-be-inbound object as the target inbound object.

[00401] After the target buffer position is determined, the second to-be-inbound object with the distance to the target buffer position less than the second preset threshold is determined as the target inbound object based on the position information of the target buffer position. The second preset threshold may be set according to requirements, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00402] For example, the second to-be-inbound object closest to the target buffer position in the horizontal direction may be determined as the target inbound object. When the target inbound object is closest to the target buffer position in the horizontal direction, after transferring the target outbound object to the target buffer position, the first transfer device may move a short distance to reach the position of the target inbound object, so as to perform an inbound operation for the target inbound object and improve the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device.

[00403] After the target buffer position and the target inbound object are determined, the first transfer device transfers the target outbound object to the target buffer position. The first transfer device moves horizontally in the aisle to the position of the target inbound object, retrieves the target inbound object, and transfers the target inbound object to the target storage position. The target storage position is an idle storage position closest to the target inbound object. The distance between the target storage position and the target inbound object includes: a horizontal movement distance of the first transfer device and / or a vertical movement distance of the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device when the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object to the target storage position.

[00404] According to the transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first transfer device executes the composite operation task and there exist no target inbound object and target outbound object located in the same column, the first transfer device may transfer the target outbound object to the target buffer position closest to the target outbound object and transfer the target inbound object to the target storage position closest to the target inbound object. Consequently, the movement distance of the first transfer device within the aisle is reduced as much as possible, the transfer time of the first transfer device is shortened, and the transfer efficiency of the first transfer device is improved.

[00405] In a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, a second aisle in the warehousing system is determined, the target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position of a second storage area. The first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the first buffer area corresponding to the first aisle to the target storage position of the second storage area, and the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position. The target buffer position includes the first buffer position.

[00406] In a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, the first transfer device may perform a cross-aisle inbound operation. That is, the first transfer device needs to transfer the to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area to a storage area corresponding to another aisle for inbound processing.

[00407] The second aisle may be the aisle closest to the first aisle, or the second aisle and the first aisle may belong to the same zone. The second aisle corresponds to the second storage area and a second buffer area, where the second storage area includes at least one idle storage position.

[00408] For example, after the second aisle is determined, the target storage position is determined among the at least one idle storage position of the second storage area, and the target storage position may be an idle storage position closest to the first transfer device among the at least one idle storage position. Being closest to the first transfer device may include that a movement distance of the first transfer device from the first aisle to the target storage position in the second aisle is the shortest, and / or a movement distance of the pick-and-place apparatus of the first transfer device upon reaching the target storage position is the shortest.

[00409] After the second aisle and the target storage position are determined, the first transfer device is controlled to retrieve the target inbound object from the first buffer position in the first aisle, move with the target inbound object from the first aisle to the second aisle, and transfer the target inbound object to the target storage position of the second storage area. After placing the target inbound object at the target storage position, the first transfer device may move back from the second aisle to the first aisle, retrieve the target outbound object from the first storage position in the first storage area, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position, thereby realizing the cross-aisle inbound operation for the target inbound object.

[00410] A second buffer position is determined among at least one idle buffer position of the second buffer area; a third transfer device is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the first buffer area corresponding to the first aisle to the second buffer position of the second buffer area corresponding to the second aisle; a fourth transfer device corresponding to the second aisle is controlled to transfer the target inbound object from the second buffer position to the target storage position of the second storage area; and the first transfer device is controlled to transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00411] In a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, the cross-aisle inbound operation may also be performed by the third transfer device. The third transfer device may be any idle transfer device in the warehousing system. The third transfer device is of the same type as the second transfer device 140 in FIG. 1 and implements identical functions.

[00412] When the cross-aisle inbound operation is performed by the third transfer device, the second buffer position needs to be determined in the second buffer area of the second aisle. The second buffer position may be any idle buffer position in the second buffer area, or an idle buffer position closest to the first buffer position. Being closest herein means that a movement distance of the third transfer device from the first buffer position to the second buffer position is the shortest.

[00413] After the second buffer position is determined, the third transfer device moves to the first buffer position and transfers the target inbound object at the first buffer position to the second buffer position in the second buffer area. After the target inbound object is transferred to the second buffer position, the fourth transfer device in the second aisle may transfer the target inbound object at the second buffer position to the target storage position of the second storage area. The second aisle includes the fourth transfer device. The fourth transfer device is of the same type as the first transfer device 130 in FIG. 1 and is capable of implementing identical functions. The target storage position may be an idle storage position in the second storage area closest to the second buffer position. That is, the present disclosure may also realize the cross-aisle inbound operation for the target inbound object in a relay manner via the third transfer device and the fourth transfer device.

[00414] For example, after the third transfer device moves the target inbound object away from the first buffer position, the first transfer device of the first aisle may transfer the target outbound object in the first storage area to the first buffer position.

[00415] According to the transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, in a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, the cross-aisle inbound operation for the target inbound object may be performed by the first transfer device. The cross-aisle inbound operation for the target inbound object may be performed by the third transfer device and the fourth transfer device in a relay manner, which can shorten the transfer time of the first transfer device and improve the transfer efficiency of the warehousing system.

[00416] In the composite operation mode, since the first transfer device transfers the target inbound object upward to an idle storage position (i.e., the target storage position) in the storage area, the original buffer position where the target inbound object is placed (i.e., the first buffer position) becomes idle. In this case, the first transfer device may transfer the target outbound object in the storage area downward to the first buffer position (i.e., the original buffer position for the target outbound object).

[00417] Accordingly, the foregoing step 1240 includes: in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, determining whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determining the target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining the target outbound object from at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; and controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00418] When it is determined that the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold (e.g., the first ratio threshold or the second ratio threshold), in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area and at least one to-be-inbound object exists in the buffer area, the target storage position may first be determined in the storage area, and then the target inbound object in the buffer area is transferred from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position. After the target inbound object is moved from the first buffer position to the target storage position, the first buffer position becomes idle. In such case, there is no need to further determine a buffer position (also referred to as target buffer position) for placing the to-be-outbound object among other idle buffer positions in the buffer area. Instead, the target outbound object is directly transferred to the currently-idle first buffer position, thereby avoiding a process of re-determining the target buffer position for the to-be-outbound object and improving the outbound efficiency.

[00419] That is to say, according to the transfer method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control apparatus determines the ratio threshold of the buffer area through step 1220, based on the magnitude relationship between the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, when the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, the first transfer device is controlled to transfer one to-be-inbound object located in the buffer area upward to the high-layer storage area, and transfer one to-be-outbound object in the storage area downward to the original buffer position of the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area (i.e., the first buffer position). Consequently, the transfer robot can timely transfer the to-be-outbound container to the workstation, and further improve the outbound efficiency in the warehousing system.

[00420] Different from step 340 in the foregoing embodiment, the ratio threshold in this transfer process is adaptively determined by the control apparatus, instead of being preset. Since this transfer process has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments (e.g., step 330 to step 340), details are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

[00421] FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a transfer method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 20, the transfer method includes step 2010 to step 2020 as described below.

[00422] At step 2010, an occupancy ratio of buffer positions is determined in a buffer area of a warehousing system.

[00423] The buffer area includes at least one buffer position, and the buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object. The buffer area may be a buffer area formed by carriers of one aisle, a buffer area formed by carriers of partial aisles in the warehousing system, or a buffer area formed by carriers of all aisles in the warehousing system. For example, the occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area may be determined according to a total number of buffer positions in the buffer area and a number of occupied buffer positions (i.e., non-idle buffer positions) in the buffer area.

[00424] Step 2010 has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments (e.g., step 310), and details are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

[00425] At step 2020, a first transfer device is controlled, according to the occupancy ratio and a ratio threshold, to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area, and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

[00426] After the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is determined, a transfer procedure of the first transfer device may be determined according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area. The ratio threshold may be adaptively determined by the control apparatus, or may be preset according to requirements.

[00427] The following describes a scenario where the control apparatus adaptively determines the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area.

[00428] An adjustment process of the ratio threshold may be performed before determining the occupancy ratio (i.e., step 2010), or may be performed after determining the occupancy ratio, which is not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[00429] Prior to the foregoing step 2020, the transfer method further includes: determining a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task; and adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, where the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area.

[00430] The foregoing adjustment process for the ratio threshold has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments (e.g., step 1210 to step 1220), and details are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

[00431] After the control apparatus determines the ratio threshold (e.g., the first ratio threshold or the second ratio threshold), the occupancy ratio is compared with the ratio threshold, and an operation mode of the first transfer device is determined according to the magnitude relationship between the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold.

[00432] When the ratio threshold is adaptively determined by the control apparatus, the specific implementation process of the foregoing step 2020 is similar to step 1240 in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

[00433] When the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is less than the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is below an upper water level limit, i.e., the buffer positions are lightly occupied. In this case, the first transfer device prioritizes executing the outbound task, that is, the first transfer device may transfer the to-be-outbound object in the storage area to the buffer position of the buffer area.

[00434] In some other examples, when the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, it indicates that the occupancy ratio of buffer positions exceeds the upper water level limit, i.e., the buffer positions are heavily occupied. In this case, the first transfer device may enter an inbound mode, that is, the first transfer device transfers the to-be-inbound object placed in the buffer area onto a storage position of the storage area. To guarantee outbound efficiency, the first transfer device may also enter a composite operation mode, that is, the first transfer device transfers one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area upward to an idle storage position of the storage area, and transfers one to-be-outbound object in the storage area downward to an idle buffer position of the buffer area.

[00435] During execution of the composite operation by the first transfer device, the first transfer device transfers the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area to an idle storage position of the storage area, and transfers the to-be-outbound object in the storage area to an idle buffer position of the buffer area. The idle buffer position for placing the to-be-outbound object may be the original buffer position of the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area (i.e., the first buffer position in the foregoing embodiments), or may be another idle buffer position in the buffer area.

[00436] The following describes a scenario where the idle buffer position is the original buffer position of the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area.

[00437] The foregoing step 2020 includes: in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, determining whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determining the target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining the target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; and controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00438] During the foregoing composite operation performed by the first transfer device, the ratio threshold may be preset according to requirements, or may be adaptively determined by the control apparatus. Since the composite operation performed by the first transfer device has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments (e.g., step 320 to step 340), details are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

[00439] FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a transfer apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 21, the transfer apparatus 2100 includes a determination module 2101 and a control module 2102.

[00440] The determination module 2101 is configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, in which the buffer area includes at least one buffer position arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object.

[00441] In a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, it is determined whether any to-be-outbound object exists in a storage area of the warehousing system, in which the buffer area and the storage area are arranged in the same aisle, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions arranged at an upper layer of the carrier.

[00442] In a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, a target inbound object is determined from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, a target storage position is determined from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and a target outbound object is determined from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area.

[00443] The control module 2102 is configured to: control a first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00444] FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 22, a warehousing system 2200 includes a control apparatus 2201 and a first transfer device 2202. The warehousing system 2200 further includes a plurality of carriers, which are arranged in an inventory area of the warehousing system. A carrier is provided with a buffer area and a storage area; the buffer area is arranged at a lower layer of the carrier, the storage area is arranged at an upper layer of the carrier and located above the buffer area, the buffer area includes at least one buffer position, the storage area includes a plurality of storage positions, and a buffer position is configured for placing a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object.

[00445] The control apparatus 2201 is configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area of the warehousing system; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determine whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determine a target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determine a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determine a target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area, where the buffer area and the storage area are arranged in the same aisle.

[00446] The first transfer device 2202 is configured to: transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

[00447] FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device includes one or more processors and a memory. The memory is configured to store one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the transfer method in the foregoing embodiments.

[00448] As shown in FIG. 23, the electronic device 2300 includes a processor 2301 and a memory 2302. The electronic device 2300 may further include a communications interface 2303 and a communication bus 2304.

[00449] The processor 2301, the memory 2302, and the communications interface 2303 communicate with one another via the communication bus 2304. The communications interface 2303 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as network elements of a client or another server.

[00450] The processor 2301 is configured to execute a program 2305, and specifically may perform corresponding steps in the foregoing transfer method embodiments. In particular, the program 2305 may include a program code that includes a computer-executable instruction.

[00451] The processor 2301 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement some embodiments of the present disclosure. The one or more processors included in the electronic device 2300 may be processors of the same type, e.g., one or more CPUs; or may be processors of different types, e.g., one or more CPUs and one or more ASICs.

[00452] The memory 2302 is configured to store the program 2305. The memory 2302 may include a high-speed random access memory (RAM), and may further include a non-volatile memory (NVM), for example, at least one disk storage.

[00453] The program 2305 may be invoked by the processor 2301 to cause the electronic device 2300 to perform operations of the transfer method.

[00454] Some embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores at least one executable instruction. When the at least one executable instruction runs on the electronic device 2300, the executable instruction causes the electronic device 2300 to perform the transfer method in the foregoing embodiments.

[00455] Specifically, the executable instruction is configured to cause the electronic device 2300 to perform operations of the transfer method.

[00456] For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), an RAM, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

[00457] For the beneficial effects achievable by the transfer apparatus, the warehousing system, the electronic device and the computer-readable storage medium provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, reference may be made to the corresponding beneficial effects of the foregoing transfer method, and details are not repeated herein.

[00458] For the embodiments of the present disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” may be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction-execution system, apparatus, or device.

[00459] More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium include the following: electrical connections having one or more wiring harnesses (electronic apparatus), a portable computer disk cartridge (magnetic apparatus), RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical-fiber apparatus, and a portable CD-ROM.

[00460] Furthermore, the computer-readable medium may even be paper or another suitable medium upon which a program is printed. For instance, a program may be electronically obtained by optically scanning the paper or other medium, followed by editing, interpretation, or other suitable processing when necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. It should be understood that parts of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[00461] In the foregoing implementations, a plurality of steps or methods may be implemented by software or firmware stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instructionexecution system. For example, if implemented in hardware, as in another implementation, implementation may be performed by any one or a combination of the following techniques known in the art: discrete logic circuits with logic gates for implementing logic functions on data signals, application-specific integrated circuits with suitable combinational logic gates, programmable gate arrays (PGAs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like.

[00462] The foregoing described implementations of the present disclosure do not limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. All embodiments of the present disclosure may be executed independently or in combination with other embodiments, and all are deemed to fall within the protection scope claimed by the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A transfer method, applied to a control apparatus, comprising:determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, wherein the buffer area comprises at least one buffer position arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound container or a to-be-outbound container;in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determining whether any to-be-outbound container exists in a storage area of the warehousing system, wherein the buffer area and the storage area are located in the same aisle, the storage area comprises a plurality of storage positions arranged at an upper layer of the carrier;in a case where at least one to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, determining a target inbound container from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area, determining a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining a target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area; andcontrolling a first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:locking the first buffer position in a case where the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the first buffer position, so that the first transfer device transfers the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein determining whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold comprises:determining a switch state of a composite operation switch in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, wherein a composite operation refers to that the first transfer device transfers a to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the storage area and transfers a to-be-outbound container in the storage areadownward to the buffer area; anddetermining, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an on state, whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the switch state of the composite operation switch is associated with a priority of a container inbound task and a priority of a container outbound task;the composite operation switch is in the on state in a case where the priority of the container outbound task is higher than the priority of the container inbound task; and the composite operation switch is in an off state in a case where the priority of the container outbound task is lower than the priority of the container inbound task.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein determining the target inbound container from the at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area comprises:determining a distance between the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area and the first transfer device according to a position of the first transfer device; anddetermining the to-be-inbound container closest to the first transfer device among the at least one to-be-inbound container as the target inbound container.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where a candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position comprises:in a case where there is one candidate inbound storage position, determining the candidate inbound storage position as the target storage position; andin a case where there are a plurality of candidate inbound storage positions, determining a vertical distance between the candidate inbound storage position and the target inbound container, and determining the candidate inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container among the plurality of candidate inbound storage positions as the target storage position.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where no candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining a horizontal distance between an idle storage position and the target inbound container;determining the idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound container among the at least one idle storage position as an alternative inbound storage position; anddetermining the target storage position based on the alternative inbound storage position, wherein the target storage position is the alternative inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein determining the target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area comprises:determining a priority of an order corresponding to the to-be-outbound container in the storage area; anddetermining the to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority as a preferred outbound container, and determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container comprises:in a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound containers and there is at least one candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, determining a candidate outbound container closest to the target storage position among the at least one candidate outbound container as the target outbound container;in a case where there is no candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, determining a horizontal distance between the preferred outbound container and the target storage position; anddetermining the preferred outbound container with the shortest horizontal distance and the shortest vertical distance to the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outboundcontainers as the target outbound container.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position comprises:in a case where a first blocking container exists outside the target storage position, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the first blocking container to an idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target inbound container to the target storage position.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein transferring the target outbound container to the first buffer position comprises:in a case where a second blocking container exists outside the target outbound container, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the second blocking container to a temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

13. A transfer method, applied to a control apparatus, comprising:determining a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task;adjusting a ratio threshold corresponding to a buffer area of a warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, wherein the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area;determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area; andcontrolling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as the first quantity comprises:adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area to a first ratio threshold in acase where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfy a preset condition;wherein the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfying the preset condition comprises that:the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, and a first duration is longer than a first time length, wherein the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity; orthe quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and a second duration is longer than a second time length, wherein the second duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity; orthe quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, the first duration is longer than the first time length, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and the second duration is longer than the second time length.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the first ratio threshold and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer areacomprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as the first quantity comprises:adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area to a second ratio threshold in a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects do not satisfy the preset condition, wherein the second ratio threshold is greater than a first ratio threshold;wherein the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects not satisfying the preset condition comprises at least one of the following situations:the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is less than the first quantity;a first duration is less than or equal to a first time length, wherein the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity;the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity;ora second duration is less than or equal to a second time length, wherein the second duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold and the targetoutbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:determining a quantity of second to-be-outbound objects, wherein a second to-be-outbound object comprises a to-be-outbound object on a buffer position of the buffer area;wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to a second quantity, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area,wherein the second quantity is associated with a quantity of second transfer devices in the warehousing system, and a second transfer device is configured to move out the to-be-outbound object in the buffer area or transfer a to-be-inbound object to the buffer position.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

23. The method according to claim 17 or 22, wherein the target outbound object and the target inbound object are both located in a first aisle, the first aisle corresponds to a first storage area and a first buffer area, and the method further comprises:in a case where at least one second to-be-inbound object exists in the first buffer area and at least one third to-be-outbound object exists in the first storage area, acquiring first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area and second position information of the at least one third to-be-outbound object in the first storage area; anddetermining the target inbound object from the at least one second to-be-inbound object and determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object according to the first position information and the second position information.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein determining the target inbound object from the at least one second to-be-inbound object and determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object according to the first position information and the second position information comprises:determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object;determining, according to the first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object and the second position information of the target outbound object, whether a candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object; andin a case where the candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, determining a candidate inbound object closest to the target outbound object as the target inbound object.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising:in a case where at least one idle storage position exists in the first storage area, determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position;determining whether a blocking object exists outside the target outbound object;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:in a case where the blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position;controlling the first transfer device to transfer the blocking object to a first temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position.

26. The method according to claim 24, further comprising:in a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area, determining a second temporary storage position from at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the second temporary storage position, and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to the first storage position, wherein the target storage position comprises the first storage position.

27. The method according to claim 24, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:in a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to a third temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device, and transfer the target outbound object to the target buffer position;determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position of the first storage area according to position information of the first transfer device; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the third temporary storage position to the target storage position.

28. The method according to claim 24, further comprising:in a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, determining an idle buffer position with a distance to the target outbound object less than a first preset threshold among at least one idle buffer position of the first buffer area as the target buffer position; anddetermining, according to position information of the target buffer position, a second to-be-inbound object with a distance to the target buffer position less than a second preset threshold among the at least one second to-be-inbound object as the target inbound object.

29. The method according to claim 24, further comprising:in a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, determining a second aisle in the warehousing system, wherein the second aisle corresponds to a second storage area and a second buffer area;determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position of the second storage area;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the first buffer area corresponding to the first aisle to the target storage position of the second storage area; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position, wherein the target buffer position comprises the first buffer position.

30. The method according to claim 13, wherein a first to-be-inbound object comprises a to-be-inbound object after picking at a workstation in the warehousing system, a to-be-inbound object conveyed by the second transfer device, and a to-be-inbound object placed on the buffer position of the buffer area; and a first to-be-outbound object comprises a to-be-outbound object placed on a storage position of the storage area.

31. The method according to claim 13, wherein in a case where an object comprises a container, controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:determining whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold;in a case where at least one to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area, determining the target inbound container from at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area, determining a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining the target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:locking the first buffer position in a case where the first transfer device moves the target inbound container away from the first buffer position, so that the first transfer device transfers the target outbound container to the first buffer position.

33. The method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein determining whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold comprises:determining a switch state of a composite operation switch in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, wherein a composite operation refers to that the first transfer device transfers a to-be-inbound container in the buffer area upward to the storage area and transfers a to-be-outbound container in the storage area downward to the buffer area; anddetermining, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an on state, whether any to-be-outbound container exists in the storage area of the warehousing system.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the switch state of the composite operationswitch is associated with a priority of a container inbound task and a priority of a container outbound task; the composite operation switch is in the on state in a case where the priority of the container outbound task is higher than the priority of the container inbound task; and the composite operation switch is in an off state in a case where the priority of the container outbound task is lower than the priority of the container inbound task.

35. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 34, wherein determining the target inbound container from the at least one to-be-inbound container in the buffer area comprises:determining a distance between the to-be-inbound container in the buffer area and the first transfer device according to a position of the first transfer device; anddetermining the to-be-inbound container closest to the first transfer device among the at least one to-be-inbound container as the target inbound container.

36. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 35, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where a candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position comprises:in a case where there is one candidate inbound storage position, determining the candidate inbound storage position as the target storage position; andin a case where there are a plurality of candidate inbound storage positions, determining a vertical distance between the candidate inbound storage position and the target inbound container, and determining the candidate inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container among the plurality of candidate inbound storage positions as the target storage position.

38. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 37, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where no candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound container exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining a horizontal distance between an idle storage position and the target inbound container;determining the idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound container among the at least one idle storage position as an alternative inbound storage position; anddetermining the target storage position based on the alternative inbound storage position, wherein the target storage position is the alternative inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound container.

39. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 38, wherein determining the target outbound container from the at least one to-be-outbound container in the storage area comprises:determining a priority of an order corresponding to the to-be-outbound container in the storage area; anddetermining the to-be-outbound container corresponding to the order with the highest priority as a preferred outbound container, and determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein determining the target outbound container based on the preferred outbound container comprises:in a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound containers and there is at least one candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, determining a candidate outbound container closest to the target storage position among the at least one candidate outbound container as the target outbound container;in a case where there is no candidate outbound container located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound containers, determining a horizontal distance between the preferred outbound container and the target storage position; anddetermining the preferred outbound container with the shortest horizontal distance and the shortest vertical distance to the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound containers as the target outbound container.

41. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 40, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound container from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position comprises:in a case where a first blocking container exists outside the target storage position,controlling the first transfer device to transfer the first blocking container to an idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target inbound container to the target storage position.

42. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 41, wherein transferring the target outbound container to the first buffer position of the buffer area where the target inbound container is placed comprises:in a case where a second blocking container exists outside the target outbound container, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the second blocking container to a temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target outbound container to the first buffer position of the buffer area where the target inbound container is placed.

43. A transfer method, applied to a control apparatus, comprising:determining an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, wherein the buffer area is arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, the buffer area is provided with at least one buffer position, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object; andcontrolling, according to the occupancy ratio and a ratio threshold, a first transfer device to transfer a target outbound object stored in a storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer a target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area, wherein the storage area is arranged at an upper layer of the carrier and located above the buffer area.

44. The method according to claim 43, further comprising:determining a quantity of first to-be-inbound objects and / or a quantity of first to-be-outbound objects corresponding to at least one to-be-processed task; andadjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as a first quantity, where the first quantity is associated with a quantity of buffer positions in the buffer area.

45. The method according to claim 44, wherein adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as the firstquantity comprises:adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area to a first ratio threshold in a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfy a preset condition;wherein the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects satisfy the preset condition includes:the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, and a first duration is longer than a first time length, wherein the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity; orthe quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and a second duration is longer than a second time length, wherein the second duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity; orthe quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity, the first duration is longer than the first time length, the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity, and the second duration is longer than the second time length.

46. The method according to claim 45, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the first ratio threshold and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

47. The method according to claim 45 or 46, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

48. The method according to any one of claims 45 to 47, wherein controlling, according tothe occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the first ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

49. The method according to any one of claims 44 to 48, wherein adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area of the warehousing system according to at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects as well as the first quantity comprises:adjusting the ratio threshold corresponding to the buffer area to a second ratio threshold in a case where the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects do not satisfy the preset condition, wherein the second ratio threshold is greater than a first ratio threshold;wherein the first quantity and at least one of the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects or the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects not satisfying the preset condition comprises at least one of the following situations:the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is less than the first quantity;a first duration is less than or equal to a first time length, wherein the first duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-inbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity;the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to the first quantity;ora second duration is less than or equal to a second time length, wherein the second duration is a duration during which the quantity of the first to-be-outbound objects is less than the first quantity.

50. The method according to claim 49, wherein controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object storedin the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

51. The method according to claim 50, further comprising:determining a quantity of second to-be-outbound objects, wherein a second to-be-outbound object comprises a to-be-outbound object on the buffer position of the buffer area;wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is less than the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the quantity of the second to-be-outbound objects is greater than or equal to a second quantity, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area,wherein the second quantity is associated with a quantity of second transfer devices in the warehousing system, and a second transfer device is configured to move out the to-be-outbound object in the buffer area or transfer a to-be-inbound object to the buffer position.

52. The method according to claim 49, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold and the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position to a target storage position of the storage area.

53. The method according to claim 52, wherein transferring the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the second ratio threshold, the target inbound object exists in the buffer area, and the target outbound object exists in the storage area, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area, and transfer the target outbound object from a first storage position to a target buffer position of the buffer area.

54. The method according to claim 48 or 53, wherein the target outbound object and thetarget inbound object are both located in a first aisle, the first aisle corresponds to a first storage area and a first buffer area, and the method further comprises:in a case where at least one second to-be-inbound object exists in the first buffer area and at least one third to-be-outbound object exists in the first storage area, acquiring first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object in the first buffer area and second position information of the at least one third to-be-outbound object in the first storage area; anddetermining the target inbound object from the at least one second to-be-inbound object and determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object according to the first position information and the second position information.

55. The method according to claim 54, wherein determining the target inbound object from the at least one second to-be-inbound object and determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object according to the first position information and the second position information comprises:determining the target outbound object from the at least one third to-be-outbound object;determining, according to the first position information of the at least one second to-be-inbound object and the second position information of the target outbound object, whether a candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object; andin a case where the candidate inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, determining a candidate inbound object closest to the target outbound object as the target inbound object.

56. The method according to claim 55, further comprising:in a case where at least one idle storage position exists in the first storage area, determining a target storage position from the at least one idle storage position;determining whether a blocking object exists outside the target outbound object;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:in a case where the blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, controlling thefirst transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position;controlling the first transfer device to transfer the blocking object to a first temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position.

57. The method according to claim 55, further comprising:in a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area, determining a second temporary storage position from at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the second temporary storage position, and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the first buffer position; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the second temporary storage position to the first storage position, wherein the target storage position comprises the first storage position.

58. The method according to claim 55, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:in a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to a third temporary storage position among at least one idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device, and transfer the target outbound object to the target buffer position;determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position of the first storage area according to position information of the first transfer device; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the third temporary storage position to the target storage position.

59. The method according to claim 55, further comprising:in a case where no to-be-inbound object located in the same column as the target outbound object exists in the at least one second to-be-inbound object, determining an idle buffer position with a distance to the target outbound object less than a first preset threshold among at least one idle buffer position of the first buffer area as the target buffer position; anddetermining, according to position information of the target buffer position, a second to-be-inbound object with a distance to the target buffer position less than a second preset threshold among the at least one second to-be-inbound object as the target inbound object.

60. The method according to claim 55, further comprising:in a case where no idle storage position exists in the first storage area and no idle temporary storage position exists in the first transfer device, determining a second aisle in the warehousing system, wherein the second aisle corresponds to a second storage area and a second buffer area;determining the target storage position from at least one idle storage position of the second storage area;wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position to the target storage position of the storage area and transfer the target outbound object from the first storage position to the target buffer position of the buffer area comprises:controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the first buffer area corresponding to the first aisle to the target storage position of the second storage area; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position, wherein the target buffer position comprises the first buffer position.

61. The method according to claim 44, wherein a first to-be-inbound object comprises a to-be-inbound object after picking at a workstation in the warehousing system, a to-be-inbound object conveyed by the second transfer device, and a to-be-inbound object placed on the bufferposition of the buffer area; and a first to-be-outbound object comprises a to-be-outbound object placed on a storage position of the storage area.

62. The method according to claim 43, wherein controlling, according to the occupancy ratio and the ratio threshold, the first transfer device to transfer the target outbound object stored in the storage area of the warehousing system to the buffer area and / or transfer the target inbound object stored in the buffer area to the storage area comprises:determining whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area in a case where the occupancy ratio is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold;in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determining the target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determining a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determining the target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; andcontrolling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

63. The method according to claim 62, further comprising:locking the first buffer position in a case where the first transfer device moves the target inbound object away from the first buffer position, so that the first transfer device transfers the target outbound object to the first buffer position.

64. The method according to claim 62 or 63, wherein determining whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold comprises:determining a switch state of a composite operation switch in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to the ratio threshold, wherein a composite operation refers to that the first transfer device transfers a to-be-inbound object in the buffer area upward to the storage area and transfers a to-be-outbound object in the storage area downward to the buffer area; anddetermining, in a case where the composite operation switch is in an on state, whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system.

65. The method according to claim 64, wherein the switch state of the composite operationswitch is associated with a priority of an object inbound task and a priority of an object outbound task; the composite operation switch is in the on state in a case where the priority of the object outbound tasks is higher than the priority of the object inbound task; and the composite operation switch is in an off state in a case where the priority of the object outbound task is lower than the priority of the object inbound task.

66. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 65, wherein determining the target inbound object from the at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area comprises:determining a distance between the to-be-inbound object in the buffer area and the first transfer device according to a position of the first transfer device; anddetermining the to-be-inbound object closest to the first transfer device among the at least one to-be-inbound object as the target inbound object.

67. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 66, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where a candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound object exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position.

68. The method according to claim 67, wherein determining the target storage position based on the candidate inbound storage position comprises:in a case where there is one candidate inbound storage position, determining the candidate inbound storage position as the target storage position; andin a case where there are a plurality of candidate inbound storage positions, determining a vertical distance between the candidate inbound storage position and the target inbound object, and determining the candidate inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound object among the plurality of candidate inbound storage positions as the target storage position.

69. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 68, wherein determining the target storage position from the at least one idle storage position in the storage area comprises:in a case where no candidate inbound storage position located in the same column as the target inbound object exists in the at least one idle storage position, determining a horizontal distance between an idle storage position and the target inbound object;determining the idle storage position with the shortest horizontal distance to the target inbound object among the at least one idle storage position as an alternative inbound storage position; anddetermining the target storage position based on the alternative inbound storage position, wherein the target storage position is the alternative inbound storage position with the shortest vertical distance to the target inbound object.

70. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 69, wherein determining the target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area comprises:determining a priority of an order corresponding to the to-be-outbound object in the storage area; anddetermining the to-be-outbound object corresponding to the order with the highest priority as a preferred outbound object, and determining the target outbound object based on the preferred outbound object.

71. The method according to claim 70, wherein determining the target outbound object based on the preferred outbound object comprises:in a case where there are a plurality of preferred outbound objects and there is at least one candidate outbound object located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound objects, determining a candidate outbound object closest to the target storage position among the at least one candidate outbound object as the target outbound object;in a case where there is no candidate outbound object located in the same column as the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound objects, determining a horizontal distance between the preferred outbound object and the target storage position; anddetermining the preferred outbound object with the shortest horizontal distance and the shortest vertical distance to the target storage position among the plurality of preferred outbound objects as the target outbound object.

72. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 71, wherein controlling the first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from the first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position comprises:in a case where a first blocking object exists outside the target storage position, controllingthe first transfer device to transfer the first blocking object to an idle temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target inbound object to the target storage position.

73. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 72, wherein transferring the target outbound object to the first buffer position of the buffer area where the target inbound object is placed comprises:in a case where a second blocking object exists outside the target outbound object, controlling the first transfer device to transfer the second blocking object to a temporary storage position of the first transfer device or an idle storage position of the storage area, and then to transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position of the buffer area where the target inbound object is placed.

74. A transfer apparatus, comprising:a determination module configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in a buffer area of a warehousing system, wherein the buffer area comprises at least one buffer position arranged at a lower layer of a carrier, and a buffer position is configured to place a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determine whether any to-be-outbound object exists in a storage area of the warehousing system, wherein the buffer area and the storage area are arranged in the same aisle, the storage area comprises a plurality of storage positions arranged at an upper layer of the carrier; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determine a target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determine a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determine a target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; anda control module configured to: control a first transfer device to transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position, and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position where the target inbound object is placed.

75. A warehousing system, comprising:a plurality of carriers arranged in an inventory region of the warehousing system, wherein a carrier is provided with a buffer area and a storage area, the buffer area is arranged at a lowerlayer of the carrier, the storage area is arranged at an upper layer of the carrier and located above the buffer area, the buffer area comprises at least one buffer position, the storage area comprises a plurality of storage positions, and a buffer position is configured for placing a to-be-inbound object or a to-be-outbound object;a control apparatus configured to: determine an occupancy ratio of buffer positions in the buffer area of the warehousing system; in a case where the occupancy ratio of buffer positions is greater than or equal to a ratio threshold, determine whether any to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area of the warehousing system; in a case where at least one to-be-outbound object exists in the storage area, determine a target inbound object from at least one to-be-inbound object in the buffer area, determine a target storage position from at least one idle storage position in the storage area, and determine a target outbound object from the at least one to-be-outbound object in the storage area; generate a transferring instruction based on the target inbound object, the target storage position and the target outbound object, wherein the buffer area and the storage area are arranged in the same aisle; anda first transfer device configured to: transfer the target inbound object from a first buffer position of the buffer area to the target storage position and transfer the target outbound object to the first buffer position according to the transferring instruction.

76. An electronic device, comprising one or more processors and a memory configured to store one or more programs, wherein the one or more processors execute the one or more programs to implement the transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 73.

77. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 73.

78. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 73.

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