Warehouse dispatching system and method

Abstract

The application provides a warehouse scheduling system and method, wherein the warehouse scheduling system comprises: a control server, a loading work point, a carrier handling device, a plurality of movable carriers, the loading work point corresponding to a loading device and a buffer carrier; the control server is used for determining a hit movable carrier according to business demand information, counting a first hit quantity of hit containers, and sending a first carrier handling instruction to the carrier handling device in the case that the first hit quantity is less than a preset delivery threshold; the carrier handling device is used for handling the hit movable carrier to a target loading work point; the control server is further used for obtaining a second hit quantity of hit containers in the target loading work point, counting a total hit quantity of the first hit quantity and the second hit quantity, and sending a first loading instruction to the loading device in the case that the total hit quantity is less than the preset delivery threshold; and the loading device is used for handling the hit containers in the hit movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of intelligent warehousing technology, and particularly to a warehouse scheduling system. This application also relates to a warehouse scheduling method, a computing device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of e-commerce, it is playing an increasingly important role in consumers' lives. The number of user orders is growing exponentially every year. At the same time, as e-commerce becomes more mature, users are placing higher demands on the quality of e-commerce services, and the processing capacity of warehousing and scheduling is also undergoing severe tests.

[0003] To improve the efficiency of goods picking in the warehouse scheduling system, the PopPick solution was proposed. Containers are stored in mobile carriers, which are then transported to picking workstations by carrier handling equipment for goods picking. However, a PopPick shelf stores a large number of containers. If a picking order only hits a small number of containers, it will lead to high picking costs and low returns for the picking process. Therefore, how to improve the picking efficiency in the PopPick scenario has become an urgent problem for technical personnel to solve. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a warehouse scheduling system. This application also relates to a warehouse scheduling method to address the aforementioned problems in the prior art.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of this application, a warehouse scheduling system is provided, the system including a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles;

[0006] The control server is used to determine the hit mobile vehicle based on business demand information, and count the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than a preset shipping threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0007] The vehicle handling equipment is used to move the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction;

[0008] The control server is also used to obtain the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, count the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and send a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold.

[0009] The sorting equipment is used to, in response to the first sorting instruction, move the hit container in the hit movable vehicle to the buffer vehicle.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the embodiments of this application, a warehouse scheduling method is provided, which is applied to a warehouse scheduling system. The system includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles.

[0011] The method includes:

[0012] The control server determines the hit mobile vehicle based on the business demand information and counts the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than the preset shipping threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0013] The vehicle handling equipment moves the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction;

[0014] The control server obtains the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, counts the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and sends a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold.

[0015] In response to the first sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves the hit container in the hit movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

[0016] The warehousing scheduling system provided in this application includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles. The sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles. The control server is used to determine the target mobile vehicle based on business demand information and count the first number of hits of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first number of hits is less than a preset shipping threshold, the control server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. The vehicle handling equipment is used to move the hit mobile vehicle to the target sorting work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction. The control server is also used to obtain a second number of hits of the hit containers in the target sorting work point, count the total number of hits of the first number and the second number, and send a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment if the total number of hits is less than the preset shipping threshold. The sorting equipment is used to respond to the first sorting instruction by moving the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle to the buffer vehicle.

[0017] One embodiment of this application implements a system that, after determining the hit containers and hit mobile carriers based on business demand information, first determines the number of hit containers on the hit mobile carriers. If the number is insufficient, the hit mobile carriers are moved to the sorting work point. Then, the total number of hit containers in the sorting work point and the total number of hit containers in the carriers are determined. If the total number is still insufficient to meet the shipping threshold, the hit containers in the hit mobile carriers are placed in the sorting work point, and the system waits until the total number reaches the threshold before moving them to the picking workstation for picking. Through this system, mobile carriers with lower hit rates are moved to the sorting work point first, and after centralized sorting at the sorting work point, the mobile carriers are moved to the picking workstation. This avoids moving the mobile carriers to the picking workstation every time, improving handling and picking efficiency, and saving costs. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the system structure of a warehouse scheduling system provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a mobile vehicle with dense storage provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a tallying work point provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the picking workstation and the sorting work point provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the exchange of containers between a mobile vehicle and a cache vehicle according to an embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of a warehouse scheduling method provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0024] Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a full understanding of this application. However, this application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar extensions without departing from the spirit of this application; therefore, this application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0025] The terminology used in one or more embodiments of this application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of one or more embodiments of this application. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” used in one or more embodiments of this application and in the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” used in one or more embodiments of this application refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0026] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc., may be used to describe various information in one or more embodiments of this application, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, first may also be referred to as second without departing from the scope of one or more embodiments of this application, and similarly, second may also be referred to as first. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "when," "when," or "in response to a determination."

[0027] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, data stored, data displayed, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties. Furthermore, the collection, use and processing of the relevant data must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of the relevant countries and regions, and corresponding operation portals are provided for users to choose to authorize or refuse.

[0028] This application provides a warehouse scheduling system and also relates to a warehouse scheduling method, which will be described in detail in the following embodiments.

[0029] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the system structure of a warehouse scheduling system according to an embodiment of this application is shown. The system includes one or more control servers 110, an inventory area 120, and multiple movable vehicles 130 in the inventory area 120. A channel is formed between the multiple movable vehicles 130 in the inventory area 120, and one or more vehicle handling devices 140 operate in the channel. Outside the inventory area 120, multiple sorting work points 150 and multiple picking workstations 160 are also provided.

[0030] The control server 110 is wirelessly connected to the vehicle handling equipment 140. The operator operates the control server 110 through the control console 114. The control server 110 is a software system running on a server with data storage and information processing capabilities. It can be wirelessly connected to the software systems of the vehicle handling equipment 140 and the workstation 160. The control server 110 may include one or more servers and can be a centralized control architecture or a distributed computing architecture. The control server 110 has a processor 111 and a memory 112. The memory 112 may contain an order pool 113, which stores order information.

[0031] The storage area 120 can be a dense storage area or a non-dense storage area. Multiple mobile carriers 130 are provided in the storage area 120. The mobile carriers include, but are not limited to, partition shelves, container shelves, picking shelves, mobile shelves, etc. It should be noted that, in practical applications, the mobile carriers provided in this application refer to carriers for placing containers, which are used to load goods.

[0032] In one specific embodiment provided in this application, the movable carrier is a movable shelf, which includes at least one partition that divides the movable shelf 130 into at least two layers. At least one storage space is provided on the partition of the movable shelf 130, and each storage space can accommodate at least one container. Furthermore, the container placed in each storage space can be a cargo box.

[0033] The mobile carrier 130 can be either a high-density storage rack or a non-high-density storage rack; see [link / reference]. Figure 2 , Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a mobile vehicle with dense storage provided in an embodiment of this application is shown, such as... Figure 2 As shown, multiple compartments in the mobile vehicle are used to store containers. The mobile vehicle is a dense storage rack with very small gaps between the containers.

[0034] Furthermore, the movable carrier 130 can be a single-sided carrier or a double-sided carrier. In practical applications, taking the PopPick shelving as an example, the PopPick shelving is a double-sided shelving with 30 storage positions on each side, for a total of 60 storage positions on both sides.

[0035] A passageway is formed between multiple movable carriers 130 in the storage area 120, and a carrier handling device 140 operates in the passageway. The carrier handling device 140 is used to move the movable carriers 130. Specifically, the carrier handling device 140 includes a shelf handling robot.

[0036] The sorting work point 150 is used to sort out outbound goods. There are sorting equipment and buffer carriers at the sorting work point 150. The function of the sorting work point is to move the container between the movable carrier and the buffer carrier. Therefore, any work point with this function can be understood as a sorting work point.

[0037] In practical applications, a tallying work point can be a fixed work point or a mobile work point. For example, when the tallying work point is fixed, it can be understood as a tallying workstation, which contains tallying equipment and buffer carriers. When the tallying workstation is mobile, it can be understood as a container handling device with multiple buffer containers, where the container handling device's container picking and placing equipment can be understood as tallying equipment, and the container handling device's multi-container buffer mechanism can be understood as a buffer carrier. For ease of understanding, the following description in this application will use a tallying workstation as an example for explanation.

[0038] The buffer carrier has multiple storage slots, each capable of holding at least one container. In practical applications, the buffer carrier can be configured as a fixed carrier or a movable carrier; this application does not limit the specific form of the buffer carrier. The tallying workstation also includes a carrier docking area for parking movable carriers; see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 3 , Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a sorting workstation provided in an embodiment of this application is shown, as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the cargo handling workstation includes a vehicle docking area and a buffer vehicle. Cargo handling equipment is set between the vehicle docking area and the buffer vehicle. The cargo handling equipment can be a robotic arm, a container handling device, etc. When a mobile vehicle docks in the vehicle docking area, the cargo handling equipment can take out the containers from the mobile vehicle and place them in the buffer vehicle, or take out the containers from the buffer vehicle and place them in the mobile vehicle.

[0039] Picking station 160 is a goods picking area. After the mobile carrier 130 is transported to picking station 160, containers are taken out of the mobile carrier 130 by manual or automated equipment at picking station 160, and the goods required for the order are taken out of the containers. The automated equipment includes automated robotic arms, container picking and placing equipment, etc.

[0040] In practical applications, to further improve picking efficiency, preferably, the first distance from the sorting workpoint 150 to the inventory area 120 is smaller than the second distance from the picking workstation 160 to the inventory area 120. This allows mobile vehicles in the inventory area to first go to the sorting workpoint, sort the matched containers, and then move the matched containers to the picking workstation to complete the outbound operation.

[0041] In the specific embodiments provided in this application, the control server is used to determine the hit mobile vehicle based on business demand information, and count the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than a preset shipping threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0042] The vehicle handling equipment is used to move the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction;

[0043] The control server is also used to obtain the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, count the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and send a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold.

[0044] The sorting equipment is used to, in response to the first sorting instruction, move the hit container in the hit movable vehicle to the buffer vehicle.

[0045] Specifically, business requirement information can be understood as specific goods processing information, such as order information for picking tasks, sorting information for sorting tasks, and so on.

[0046] The control server determines the target mobile vehicle based on business requirements information. Specifically, the control server first determines the target container based on business requirements information, and then further determines the target mobile vehicle where the target container is located. After determining the target mobile vehicle, it needs to count the first hit number of containers in that target mobile vehicle. Specifically, the target container refers to the container that is transported to the same picking workstation as determined by business requirements information, and the first hit number specifically refers to the number of target containers in the target mobile vehicle.

[0047] For example, if 10 containers are identified based on business requirements, and 4 of these containers are moved to picking workstation 1 and 6 are moved to picking workstation 2, then the first 4 containers are referred to as the first hit containers, and the latter 6 containers can be referred to as the second hit containers. In this application, the explanation is based on the example of hit containers belonging to the same picking workstation. The processing method remains the same for cases involving multiple picking workstations.

[0048] When the number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, the control server can determine the target picking station corresponding to the hit mobile vehicle and send a third vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. The vehicle handling equipment then moves the hit mobile vehicle to the target picking station according to the third vehicle handling instruction.

[0049] When the number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold, the control server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. Specifically, the first vehicle handling instruction refers to the instruction to move the movable vehicle from the inventory area to the sorting work point.

[0050] In practical applications, a preset shipment threshold is a pre-set minimum number of containers that should be picked from the mobile carriers transported to the picking station. For example, a preset shipment threshold of 10 means that at least 10 containers from the mobile carriers must be transported to the picking station. Furthermore, to further improve picking efficiency, the preset shipment threshold can be defined as the minimum number of containers that should be picked from the mobile carriers transported to the same picking station. For example, still using a preset shipment threshold of 10, at least 10 containers from mobile carrier 1 must be transported to the same picking station. Setting a preset shipment threshold aims to improve the efficiency of transporting mobile carriers to the picking station and reduce handling costs.

[0051] After the control server counts the first number of containers hit in the mobile carrier, it compares this number with a preset shipping threshold. If the first number of hits is less than the preset shipping threshold, it means that the mobile carrier cannot be directly moved to the picking station. Instead, the target container on the mobile carrier can be moved to the sorting station for temporary storage. Therefore, the control server sends the first carrier moving instruction to the carrier handling equipment.

[0052] In response to the first vehicle handling instruction, the vehicle handling equipment first moves to the location of the target mobile vehicle in the inventory area and then transports the target mobile vehicle to the target sorting station. Specifically, the vehicle handling equipment transports the mobile vehicle from the inventory area to the vehicle docking area of ​​the target sorting station.

[0053] In practical applications, there is a correspondence between sorting workpoints and picking workstations. For example, one sorting workpoint may correspond to multiple picking workstations. (See [link to relevant documentation]). Figure 4 , Figure 4 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the picking workstation and the sorting workpoint provided in one embodiment of this application, as follows: Figure 4 As shown, sorting work point 1 corresponds to picking workstation 1 and picking workstation 2, and sorting work point 2 corresponds to picking workstation 3 and picking workstation 4.

[0054] Specifically, when the control server sends the first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment, it first needs to determine the target picking station corresponding to the hit container in the movable vehicle, that is, which picking station the hit container needs to be moved to. After determining the target picking station, the corresponding target sorting workpoint is determined based on the correspondence between the target picking station and the sorting workpoint, thus determining which sorting workpoint the hit container needs to be moved to.

[0055] The control server further obtains the second hit count of containers at the target sorting workpoint. It's important to note that this count includes containers at the target sorting workpoint that belong to the same target picking station as those hit on mobile vehicles. For example, if four containers on mobile vehicles need to be moved to picking station 1, the control server needs to count the second hit count of these containers at the target sorting workpoint that also need to be moved to picking station 1. Specifically, the second hit count refers to the number of containers at the target sorting workpoint. Then, the first and second hit counts are summed to obtain the total number of hit containers. This total number is then compared to a preset shipping threshold. If the total number of hits is still less than the preset shipping threshold, it means that the containers cannot be moved to the target picking station at this point.

[0056] Based on this, the control server will send the first tallying instruction to the tallying equipment located at the target tallying work point. Specifically, the first tallying instruction is the instruction to move the hit container in the hit movable vehicle to the buffer vehicle.

[0057] The sorting equipment located at the target sorting work point, according to the first sorting instruction, moves the target container in the movable carrier to the buffer carrier, thus achieving the sorting effect.

[0058] In practical applications, the buffer carrier of the target sorting work point is also equipped with multiple storage slots. The number of storage slots in the buffer carrier is determined based on the preset shipment threshold and the number of picking workstations corresponding to the sorting work point.

[0059] Specifically, the maximum storage space of the buffer carrier = (preset shipping threshold - 1) * number of picking stations. For example, if the preset shipping threshold is 5 and the number of picking stations corresponding to the sorting work point is 3, the number of storage spaces of the buffer carrier in the sorting work point is: (5-1)*3 = 12.

[0060] The sorting equipment located at the target sorting work point, in response to the first sorting instruction, moves the hit container located in the hit movable carrier to the free storage space of the buffer carrier.

[0061] The warehousing scheduling system provided in this application, when the number of hit containers in the mobile vehicle is less than the preset shipping threshold, and the sum of the hit containers in the target sorting vehicle is also less than the preset shipping threshold, places the hit containers in the mobile vehicle at the target sorting work point, thus saving handling costs.

[0062] In another specific embodiment provided in this application, there may also be a situation where the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the shipping threshold. Based on this, the control server is further configured to send a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold.

[0063] The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the second sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier.

[0064] In this embodiment, if the control server determines that the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, it sends a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment. Specifically, the second sorting instruction is an instruction to move the hit containers in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier.

[0065] After receiving the second handling instruction, the handling equipment moves the hit containers in the buffer vehicle to the hit movable vehicle, thus achieving the effect of concentrating the hit containers in the same hit movable vehicle.

[0066] After the sorting equipment gathers the hit containers into the same hit mobile carrier according to the second sorting instruction, the control server is also used to determine the target picking workstation corresponding to the hit mobile carrier and send the second carrier handling instruction to the carrier handling equipment.

[0067] The vehicle handling equipment is further configured to handle the hit movable vehicle to the target picking station according to the second vehicle handling instruction, wherein the number of hit containers in the hit movable vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold.

[0068] The second vehicle handling instruction is used to control the vehicle handling equipment to move the hit mobile vehicle to the target picking station. Specifically, the control server determines the target picking station corresponding to the hit container, and then sends the second vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment based on the target picking station. At this time, the sorting equipment has moved the hit container in the buffer vehicle to the hit mobile vehicle. That is, if the number of hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, it can be moved to the target picking station.

[0069] After receiving the second carrier handling instruction, the carrier handling equipment will move the hit mobile carrier containing the hit container to the target picking station so that the hit container can complete the corresponding processing operations, such as picking and outbound, at the target picking station.

[0070] In another specific embodiment provided in this application, each mobile vehicle is provided with multiple storage slots, each of which can hold a container. When a storage slot is not occupied by a container, that storage slot is referred to as an idle storage slot. In practical applications, all storage slots in a mobile vehicle may be occupied by containers, while some storage slots may remain idle.

[0071] Based on this, the control server is also configured to determine the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, and send a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the number of free slots is greater than or equal to the second number of hits.

[0072] The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the second sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to an empty storage location in the hit movable carrier.

[0073] Once the control server determines that the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, it must further determine the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicles. If the number of free slots is greater than or equal to the second number of hits, it means that there are enough free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicles to place the hit containers in the cache vehicles. At this time, the second sorting instruction can be sent directly to the sorting equipment.

[0074] According to the second cargo handling instruction, the cargo handling equipment removes the hit container from the buffer vehicle and places it in the free storage space of the hit movable vehicle.

[0075] For example, if there are 10 free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle and 4 hit containers in the cache vehicle that need to be moved to the hit mobile vehicle, the sorting equipment can directly move the 4 hit containers from the cache vehicle to the free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle.

[0076] In another specific embodiment provided in this application, there may be a situation where the number of idle spaces in the hit mobile vehicle is less than the second hit number. Based on this, the control server is further configured to determine the number of idle storage spaces in the hit mobile vehicle when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, and to determine the adjustment container in the hit mobile vehicle when the number of idle spaces is less than the second hit number, and to send a third sorting instruction to the sorting equipment, wherein the adjustment container is the non-hit container in the hit mobile vehicle;

[0077] The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the third sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to the storage location of the hit movable carrier, and move the adjustment container in the movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

[0078] After the control server counts the total number of hits, it further counts the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicles, provided that the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold. If the number of free slots is less than the second number of hits, it means that there are not enough free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicles. For example, if there are 5 free slots and the second number of hits is 7, the free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicles cannot completely accommodate the hit containers in the cache vehicles.

[0079] In this case, the control server needs to further determine the adjustment container in the hit mobile vehicle. The adjustment container is determined from the non-hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. The non-hit container is a container that is located in the hit mobile vehicle but has not been hit by the business requirement information. The adjustment container is a container selected from the non-hit containers that needs to be exchanged with the hit container in the cache vehicle.

[0080] For example, if there are 50 containers in a hit mobile vehicle, and the business requirement information hits 10 of them, these 10 containers are called hit containers, and the remaining 40 containers are called miss containers. At this point, 10 hit containers in the cache container need to be moved to the hit mobile vehicle, but the hit mobile vehicle only has 4 free storage slots. The control server then needs to select 6 adjustment containers from the 40 containers and place these 6 adjustment containers in the cache vehicle, thus freeing up 10 free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle to accommodate the 10 hit containers in the cache vehicle.

[0081] After the control server identifies the adjustment container, it sends a third sorting instruction to the sorting equipment. Based on this third sorting instruction, the sorting equipment swaps the hit container in the cache vehicle with the adjustment container in the hit movable vehicle.

[0082] In practical applications, there are further judgment rules for determining the adjustment container from the non-hit containers. Specifically, the hit containers corresponding to other picking workstations are selected first. For example, sorting workstation 1 corresponds to picking workstation 1 and picking workstation 2. If the business demand information hits the hit container corresponding to picking workstation 1, the hit container corresponding to picking workstation 1 cached in the sorting workstation needs to be placed in the hit mobile carrier. The hit container corresponding to picking workstation 2 in the hit mobile carrier is cached in the sorting workstation first. That is, the hit container corresponding to picking workstation 2 is used as the adjustment container.

[0083] There may be non-hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. When the first hit container and the second hit container in the hit mobile vehicle both reach the preset shipment threshold, the adjustment container can be identified in the non-hit container. The first hit container and the second hit container are containers that are transported to different picking workstations.

[0084] For example, taking the sorting workstation 1 as corresponding to picking workstation 1 and picking workstation 2, there are 4 first-hit containers that are transported to picking workstation 1 and 7 second-hit containers that are transported to picking workstation 2 in the hit mobile carrier. The preset shipment threshold is 10. At this time, the buffer carrier has 7 first-hit containers and 3 second-hit containers. After judgment, the total number of first-hit containers and the total number of second-hit containers have both reached the preset shipment threshold. At this time, an adjustment container can be determined in the non-hit carriers that hit the mobile carrier. The adjustment container is used to replace the 7 first-hit containers and 3 second-hit containers in the buffer carrier.

[0085] As described above, before arriving at the cargo handling point, the mobile vehicle does not know whether it needs to remove containers from the buffer vehicle or place them in the buffer vehicle. Container exchange between the mobile vehicle and the buffer vehicle requires a corresponding container exchange algorithm, which is specifically as follows:

[0086] 1. Determine the maximum number of storage slots that can be provided in the mobile vehicle.

[0087] 2. Transfer the hit container from the cache vehicle to the movable vehicle.

[0088] 3. If the number of hit containers in the cache carrier is greater than the maximum number of storage bits, then identify the missing containers from the movable carriers and swap them with the hit containers in the cache carriers.

[0089] 4. If there is still a hit container in the cache vehicle after the non-hit container is swapped, then the second hit container (the container hit by another picking workstation) is determined from the movable vehicle and swapped with the hit container.

[0090] In one specific embodiment provided in this application, after the sorting equipment moves the hit container to the hit movable carrier, the control server can send a movement command to the carrier handling equipment, and the carrier handling equipment can move the hit movable carrier to the target picking workstation for picking.

[0091] In another specific embodiment provided in this application, the containers in the cache carrier can also be sorted. Specifically, the control server is also used to determine the containers to be moved in the cache carrier, determine the target location with the moving containers, and send a fourth sorting instruction to the sorting equipment.

[0092] The sorting equipment is also used to, in response to the fourth sorting instruction, move the container to be moved in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier;

[0093] The control server is also used to send a fourth vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment;

[0094] The vehicle transport device is also configured to transport the hit movable vehicle to the target location in response to the fourth vehicle transport command.

[0095] In practical applications, the control server will also count and determine the containers to be moved in the cache carrier, as well as the target locations of the containers to be moved. The containers to be moved specifically refer to the containers that need to be removed from the cache carrier, and the target locations specifically refer to the locations where the containers to be moved need to be placed.

[0096] For example, when the container to be moved is a stalled container, the target location corresponds to the inventory area; when the container to be moved is a second hit container, the target location corresponds to the second sorting work point of the second hit container.

[0097] Specifically, a "stuck container" refers to a container that was not hit. A stuck container can be a container that was swapped from a hit mobile vehicle to a cache vehicle. A "second hit container" refers to a hit container that belongs to a different target picking station than the hit container. For example, the hit container is the container corresponding to picking station 1, and the second hit container is the container corresponding to picking station 2.

[0098] In practical applications, the stranded containers need to be moved back to the storage area, and the second-hit containers need to be moved to the corresponding sorting work points.

[0099] It is important to note that when the container to be moved is the second hit container, it is necessary to further determine whether the tallying work point corresponding to the second hit container is the current tallying work point. Only when the tallying work point corresponding to the second hit container is not the current workstation is it necessary to determine the second hit container as the container to be moved.

[0100] After determining the container to be moved and its corresponding target location, the control server can schedule vehicle transport equipment to move the container to the target location.

[0101] In practical applications, during the process of dispatching a vehicle transport device to transport a hit mobile vehicle, the container to be moved can be taken away according to the number of free storage spaces in the hit mobile vehicle; alternatively, a mobile vehicle can be specially dispatched to transport the container to be moved. In this application, there is no limitation on this.

[0102] One embodiment of this application implements a system that, after determining the hit containers and hit mobile carriers based on business demand information, first determines the number of hit containers on the hit mobile carriers. If the number is insufficient, the hit mobile carriers are moved to the sorting work point. Then, the total number of hit containers in the sorting work point and the total number of hit containers in the carriers are determined. If the total number is still insufficient to meet the shipping threshold, the hit containers in the hit mobile carriers are placed in the sorting work point, and the system waits until the total number reaches the threshold before moving them to the picking workstation for picking. Through this system, mobile carriers with lower hit rates are moved to the sorting work point first, and after centralized sorting at the sorting work point, the mobile carriers are moved to the picking workstation. This avoids moving the mobile carriers to the picking workstation every time, improving handling and picking efficiency, and saving costs.

[0103] The sorting process is asynchronous. If a mobile vehicle malfunctions at a sorting work point, it will not affect the sorting process of other mobile vehicles. Furthermore, the same sorting work point can correspond to multiple picking workstations. Containers picked at different picking workstations can be processed together on the same mobile vehicle, improving container processing efficiency.

[0104] Example 1

[0105] This embodiment provides a warehouse scheduling system, which includes a control server, a sorting workstation, a vehicle handling equipment, multiple mobile vehicles, and a picking workstation. The sorting workstation is equipped with sorting equipment and a buffer vehicle.

[0106] The control server determines four hit containers based on business requirements. These four containers are located in the same mobile carrier 1 and need to be moved to picking workstation 1 for picking. In this embodiment, the preset shipment threshold is 8. At this time, there are 4 hit containers, which does not meet the shipment threshold. Therefore, the control server sends a carrier moving instruction to the carrier moving equipment.

[0107] The carrier handling equipment, according to the carrier handling instruction, moves the movable carrier 1 to the sorting workstation 1. The control server counts that the number of hit containers in the sorting workstation 1 that need to be moved to the picking workstation 1 is 2, and then counts that the total number of hit containers that need to be moved to the picking workstation 1 for picking is 6. At this point, the shipment threshold is still not met, so the control server sends a sorting instruction to the sorting equipment. In response to the sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves 4 hit containers from the movable carrier 1 to the buffer shelf of the sorting workstation.

[0108] Example 2

[0109] This embodiment provides a warehouse scheduling system, which includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, multiple mobile vehicles, and picking workstations, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles.

[0110] The control server determines four hit containers based on business requirements. These four containers are located in the same mobile carrier 1 and need to be moved to picking workstation 1 for picking. In this embodiment, the preset shipment threshold is 8. At this time, there are 4 hit containers, which does not meet the shipment threshold. Therefore, the control server sends a carrier moving instruction to the carrier moving equipment.

[0111] The carrier handling equipment, according to the carrier handling instruction, moves the movable carrier 1 to the sorting workstation 1. The control server counts that the number of hit containers in the sorting workstation 1 that need to be moved to the picking workstation 1 is 5, and then counts that the total number of hit containers that need to be moved to the picking workstation 1 for picking is 9. At this time, the shipping threshold is met, so the control server sends a sorting instruction to the sorting equipment. The sorting equipment responds to the sorting instruction and moves the 5 hit containers in the buffer shelf of the sorting workstation 1 to the movable carrier 1.

[0112] The control server sends a handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment, which then moves the movable vehicle 1 to the picking station 1. At this point, there are 9 hit containers in the movable vehicle 1.

[0113] Example 3

[0114] This embodiment provides a warehouse scheduling system, which includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, multiple mobile vehicles, and picking workstations, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles.

[0115] A control server is used to determine four hit containers based on business needs. These four hit containers are located in the same mobile carrier 1. Three of these four hit containers are first hit containers corresponding to picking workstation 1, and one is a second hit container corresponding to picking workstation 2. In this embodiment, the preset shipment threshold is 5. At this time, the number of both the first hit containers and the second hit containers does not meet the preset shipment threshold. Therefore, the mobile carrier 1 is moved to the sorting workstation 1. It should be noted that both picking workstation 1 and picking workstation 2 correspond to the sorting workstation 1.

[0116] The vehicle handling equipment moves the mobile vehicle 1 to the tallying work point 1. At this point, there are no containers on the buffer rack, so the three first-hit containers and one second-hit container from the mobile vehicle 1 need to be placed on the buffer rack at the tallying work point. See also... Figure 5 , Figure 5 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the exchange of containers between the movable vehicle and the cache vehicle provided in this embodiment.

[0117] like Figure 5 As shown in a, when the mobile vehicle 1 arrives at the cargo handling point 1, it places 3 first hit containers and 1 second hit container in the cache shelf.

[0118] The control server determines one second-hit container based on business needs. This second-hit container is located on mobile vehicle 2. After moving mobile vehicle 2 to the sorting work point, the total number of second-hit containers is 2. At this point, the shipment threshold of 5 is still not met. Therefore, see... Figure 5 In step b, the sorting equipment places the second hit container from the mobile carrier 2 into the cache shelf.

[0119] The control server identifies two first-hit containers based on business needs. These two first-hit containers are located on mobile vehicle 3. Since the number of these two first-hit containers has not reached the shipping threshold of 5, the control server schedules vehicle handling equipment to move mobile vehicle 3 to the sorting work point. At this point, the control server counts the total number of first-hit containers in the buffer shelf and mobile vehicle 3 as 5, thus reaching the shipping threshold of 5. See [link / reference] Figure 5 At point c, the sorting equipment can place the three first-hit containers from the buffer shelf into the mobile carrier 3. Then, the carrier handling equipment will move the mobile carrier 3 to the picking station 1 to pick the first-hit containers.

[0120] See Figure 6 , Figure 6 A flowchart of a warehouse scheduling method according to an embodiment of this application is shown. The method is applied to a warehouse scheduling system, which includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles;

[0121] The method includes:

[0122] Step 602: The control server determines the hit mobile vehicle based on the business requirement information, and counts the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than the preset shipment threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0123] Step 604: The vehicle handling equipment moves the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction.

[0124] Step 606: The control server obtains the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, counts the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and sends a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment if the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold.

[0125] Step 608: In response to the first sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves the hit container in the hit movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

[0126] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, the method further includes:

[0127] If the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, the control server sends a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment.

[0128] The sorting equipment responds to the second sorting instruction by moving the hit container in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier.

[0129] In one optional embodiment provided in this application, the system further includes a picking workstation;

[0130] The method further includes:

[0131] The control server determines the target picking workstation corresponding to the hit mobile vehicle and sends a second vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0132] The vehicle handling equipment moves the hit movable vehicle to the target picking workstation according to the second vehicle handling instruction, wherein the number of hit containers in the hit movable vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold.

[0133] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, when the first hit count is less than a preset shipping threshold, the control server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment, including:

[0134] When the number of hits is less than a preset shipment threshold, the control server determines the target picking workstation based on the hit container in the hit mobile vehicle, determines the target sorting work point based on the target picking workstation, and sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment based on the target sorting work point.

[0135] In one optional embodiment provided in this application, the mobile vehicle is provided with multiple storage slots, each storage slot holding a container;

[0136] The method further includes:

[0137] If the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, the control server determines the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle, and if the number of free slots is greater than or equal to the second number of hits, it sends a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment.

[0138] In response to the second sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves the hit container in the buffer carrier to an empty storage location in the hit movable carrier.

[0139] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, the method further includes:

[0140] When the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, the control server determines the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle; when the number of free slots is less than the second number of hits, it determines the adjustment container in the hit mobile vehicle and sends a third sorting instruction to the sorting equipment, wherein the adjustment container is the unhit container in the hit mobile vehicle.

[0141] In response to the third sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves the hit container in the buffer carrier to the storage location of the hit movable carrier, and moves the adjustment container in the movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

[0142] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, the method further includes:

[0143] When the first number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, the control server determines the target picking station corresponding to the hit mobile vehicle and sends a third vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment.

[0144] The vehicle handling equipment moves the hit movable vehicle to the target picking workstation according to the third vehicle handling instruction.

[0145] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, the method further includes:

[0146] The control server determines the container to be moved in the cache carrier, determines the target location with the moving container, and sends a fourth sorting instruction to the sorting equipment;

[0147] In response to the fourth cargo handling instruction, the cargo handling equipment moves the container to be moved in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier.

[0148] The control server sends a fourth vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment;

[0149] The vehicle transport device, in response to the fourth vehicle transport command, transports the hit movable vehicle to the target location.

[0150] In an optional embodiment provided in this application, the method further includes:

[0151] If the container to be moved is a stagnant container, the target location is the inventory area; and / or,

[0152] If the container to be moved is the second hit container, the target location is the second sorting work point corresponding to the second hit container.

[0153] The method provided in this application allows for the first transport of mobile vehicles with lower hit rates to the sorting work point. After centralized sorting at the sorting work point, the mobile vehicles are then transported to the picking work station. This avoids transporting the mobile vehicles to the picking work station every time, thereby improving handling and picking efficiency and saving costs.

[0154] The sorting process is asynchronous. If a mobile vehicle malfunctions at a sorting work point, it will not affect the sorting process of other mobile vehicles. Furthermore, the same sorting work point can correspond to multiple picking workstations. Containers picked at different picking workstations can be processed together on the same mobile vehicle, improving container processing efficiency.

[0155] The foregoing has described specific embodiments of this application. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than that shown in the embodiments and may still achieve the desired results. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0156] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, the foregoing method embodiments are all described as a series of actions. However, those skilled in the art should understand that this application is not limited to the described order of actions, as some steps may be performed in other orders or simultaneously according to this application. Furthermore, those skilled in the art should also understand that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily essential to this application.

[0157] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions in other embodiments.

[0158] The preferred embodiments disclosed above are merely illustrative of this application. The optional embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementations described. Clearly, many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this application. These embodiments are selected and specifically described in this application to better explain the principles and practical applications of this application, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize this application. This application is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A warehouse scheduling system, characterized in that, The system includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles; The control server is used to determine the hit mobile vehicle based on business demand information, and count the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than a preset shipping threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. The vehicle handling equipment is used to move the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction; The control server is also used to obtain the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, count the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and send a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold. The sorting equipment is used to, in response to the first sorting instruction, move the hit container in the hit movable vehicle to the buffer vehicle.

2. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The control server is also used to send a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold. The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the second sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier.

3. The system as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The system also includes a picking workstation; The control server is also used to determine the target picking workstation corresponding to the hit mobile vehicle and send a second vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment; The vehicle handling equipment is further configured to handle the hit movable vehicle to the target picking station according to the second vehicle handling instruction, wherein the number of hit containers in the hit movable vehicle is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold.

4. The system as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The control server is further configured to determine the target picking workstation based on the hit container in the hit mobile vehicle when the first hit quantity is less than a preset shipping threshold, and to determine the target sorting work point based on the target picking workstation.

5. The system as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The mobile vehicle is provided with multiple storage slots, each of which holds a container; The control server is further configured to determine the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipment threshold, and send a second sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the number of free slots is greater than or equal to the second number of hits. The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the second sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to an empty storage location in the hit movable carrier.

6. The system as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The control server is further configured to, when the total number of hits is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, determine the number of free storage slots in the hit mobile vehicle, and when the number of free slots is less than the second number of hits, determine the adjustment container in the hit mobile vehicle, and send a third sorting instruction to the sorting equipment, wherein the adjustment container is the unhit container in the hit mobile vehicle. The sorting equipment is configured to, in response to the third sorting instruction, move the hit container in the buffer carrier to the storage location of the hit movable carrier, and move the adjustment container in the movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

7. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The number of storage slots in the buffer carrier is determined based on the preset shipment threshold and the number of picking workstations corresponding to the sorting workpoint.

8. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The sorting and handling work point is equipped with a vehicle parking area, which is used to park movable vehicles.

9. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The system also includes a picking workstation; The control server is also configured to determine the target picking workstation corresponding to the hit mobile vehicle when the first hit number is greater than or equal to the preset shipping threshold, and send a third vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. The vehicle handling equipment is used to transport the hit movable vehicle to the target picking workstation according to the third vehicle handling instruction.

10. The system as described in claim 9, characterized in that, The system also includes an inventory area; The first distance between the sorting work point and the inventory area is less than the second distance between the picking workstation and the inventory area.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The control server is also used to determine the container to be moved in the cache carrier, determine the target location with the moving container, and send a fourth sorting instruction to the sorting equipment; The sorting equipment is also used to, in response to the fourth sorting instruction, move the container to be moved in the buffer carrier to the hit movable carrier; The control server is also used to send a fourth vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment; The vehicle transport device is also configured to transport the hit movable vehicle to the target location in response to the fourth vehicle transport command.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that, If the container to be moved is a stagnant container, the target location is the inventory area; and / or, If the container to be moved is the second hit container, the target location is the second sorting work point corresponding to the second hit container.

13. A warehouse scheduling method, characterized in that, This system is applied to a warehouse scheduling system, which includes a control server, sorting work points, vehicle handling equipment, and multiple mobile vehicles, wherein the sorting work points correspond to sorting equipment and buffer vehicles. The method includes: The control server determines the hit mobile vehicle based on the business demand information and counts the first hit number of the hit containers in the hit mobile vehicle. If the first hit number is less than the preset shipping threshold, the server sends a first vehicle handling instruction to the vehicle handling equipment. The vehicle handling equipment moves the hit movable vehicle to the target cargo handling work point according to the first vehicle handling instruction; The control server obtains the second number of containers hit in the target sorting work point, counts the total number of hits of the first number of hits and the second number of hits, and sends a first sorting instruction to the sorting equipment when the total number of hits is less than the preset shipment threshold. In response to the first sorting instruction, the sorting equipment moves the hit container in the hit movable carrier to the buffer carrier.

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