Warehouse scheduling management method, warehouse centralized control hub and warehouse system

Abstract

The application discloses a warehouse scheduling management method, a warehouse centralized control hub and a warehouse system. The warehouse scheduling management method comprises the following steps: acquiring box grabbing and releasing state information reported by a load trolley; if it is determined that the current box grabbing and releasing fails and the guiding column function needs to be started according to the box grabbing and releasing state information, an original task causing the box grabbing and releasing failure is changed into a nine-square grid task based on the box grabbing and releasing state information; based on a target nine-square grid task to be executed, a task storage point and an associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task are determined; whether the associated storage point is successfully locked is judged; if the associated storage points are successfully locked, the load trolley is controlled to start the guiding column function, and the target nine-square grid task is executed based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of warehousing technology, and in particular to a warehousing scheduling and management method, a warehousing centralized control center, and a warehousing system. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, warehouse goods sorting refers to the process of retrieving goods from the warehouse area according to the requirements of the outbound order or the delivery plan, and then classifying and consolidating them in a certain way. At present, the entire warehouse management process, including storing goods, retrieving goods from the warehouse area based on orders, sorting by item type in the order, and packaging and shipping the sorted items, is gradually moving towards intelligent management of the entire process.

[0003] However, during the intelligent management of the entire warehousing system, due to the complexity and diversity of business in actual scenarios, it is difficult to avoid faults such as box picking and placing, and box placement anomalies, that is, failures in picking up or storing items. At this time, manual intervention is required to resolve the faults, which greatly affects the level of intelligence of management and reduces work efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, embodiments of this application propose a warehouse scheduling and management method, a warehouse central control hub, and a warehouse system with a higher degree of intelligent management and improved warehouse work efficiency.

[0005] Firstly, a warehouse scheduling and management method is provided. The warehouse system includes a warehouse control center and a warehouse area. The warehouse area is equipped with multiple layers and multiple rows of running tracks for heavy-duty trolleys to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform located below each layer of the running tracks, and storage points where supply boxes are stacked on the load-bearing platforms. The method is applied to the warehouse control center and includes:

[0006] Obtain the status information of the grabbing and placing boxes reported by the loading trolley;

[0007] Based on the grab-and-place box status information, if it is determined that the current grab-and-place box has failed and the guide column function needs to be activated, the original task that caused the grab-and-place box failure will be changed into a nine-grid task based on the grab-and-place box status information.

[0008] Based on the target nine-square grid task to be executed, determine the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task;

[0009] Determine whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked;

[0010] If all associated storage points are successfully locked, the load-bearing trolley is controlled to activate the guide column function, and the target nine-square grid task is executed based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task.

[0011] Secondly, a warehouse centralized control hub is provided, including a processor and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, it performs the steps of the warehouse scheduling and management method described in any embodiment of this application.

[0012] Thirdly, a warehousing system is provided, including a warehousing control center and a warehousing area. The warehousing area is provided with a multi-layered and multi-column running track for heavy-duty trolleys to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform located below each layer of the running track, and a storage point on the load-bearing platform where supply boxes are stacked and stored.

[0013] The warehouse centralized control center is used to execute the steps of the warehouse scheduling and management method described in any embodiment of this application.

[0014] The warehouse scheduling and management method provided in the above embodiments includes a load-bearing trolley with both ordinary grab-and-place operations without the guide column function and grab-and-place operations with the guide column function enabled. The warehouse system uses a warehouse control center to uniformly track and manage the load-bearing trolley's operations on storing and retrieving items within the warehouse area. These operations rely on the trolley grabbing and transferring containers containing items. When a grab-and-place operation fails, the warehouse control center determines the cause of the failure based on the container status information, thus determining whether enabling the guide column function can resolve the issue. A corresponding nine-grid task is generated. When the warehouse control center controls the load-bearing trolley to execute the nine-grid task, it first calculates the task storage point and associated storage point corresponding to the nine-grid task. By locking the associated storage points to ensure successful locking, the load-bearing trolley is then controlled to activate the guide column function to complete the original task of grabbing and placing boxes. This method is compatible with any known warehouse architecture and ensures that other business scheduling is not affected. By expanding and upgrading the load-bearing trolley function, the failure rate of grabbing and placing boxes can be resolved, greatly reducing the rate of manual intervention in warehouse management. The level of intelligent management of the warehouse system is significantly improved, and warehouse work efficiency can be increased. It has been verified that the average rate of manual intervention in the intelligent scheduling management of current warehouse systems exceeds 0.4%. However, the warehouse scheduling management method provided in this application, using a load-bearing trolley with guide column function, can achieve a success rate of 99.99% in resolving manual intervention scenarios of failed grabbing and placing boxes, which can effectively improve the intelligent management performance of the warehouse system.

[0015] In the above embodiments, the warehouse control center and the warehouse system belong to the same concept as the corresponding warehouse scheduling and management method embodiments, and thus have the same technical effects as the corresponding warehouse scheduling and management method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an application scenario of a warehouse scheduling and management method in one embodiment;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a warehouse scheduling and management method in one embodiment;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram for scenario one, which does not support the nine-square grid task.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram for scenario two, which does not support the nine-square grid task.

[0020] Figure 5 A diagram illustrating various optional scenarios to support the nine-square grid task;

[0021] Figure 6 A schematic diagram to support scenarios with multiple nine-square grid tasks;

[0022] Figure 7 Here is a flowchart of a warehouse scheduling management method in another embodiment;

[0023] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the warehouse centralized control center. Detailed Implementation

[0024] Before describing the embodiments in detail, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the detailed structures or element arrangements described below or in the accompanying drawings. The present invention may be implemented in other ways. Furthermore, it should be understood that the wording and terminology used herein are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as limiting. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and similar expressions used herein mean to include the items listed thereafter, their equivalents, and other additional items. In particular, when describing "an element," the present invention does not limit the number of elements to one, but may include multiple elements.

[0025] Please see Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system used in an embodiment of the warehousing scheduling and management method provided in this application. The warehousing system includes a warehousing control center 10 and a warehousing area 20. The warehousing area 20 is equipped with multiple layers and columns of running tracks 21 for heavy-duty trolleys 24 to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform 27 located below each layer of running tracks 21, and storage points 271 formed on the load-bearing platforms 27 for stacked storage of material boxes. The warehousing area 20 can refer to any area providing storage for goods, such as a warehouse for long-term storage, a warehouse for temporary storage, or a storage area for sorting goods. The multiple layers and columns of running tracks 21 together form a shelf, and the material boxes containing goods can be stacked on the load-bearing platforms 27 below each layer of running tracks 21. The arrangement direction of the storage points 271 on the load-bearing platforms 27 corresponds one-to-one with each running track 21, and each storage point 271 corresponds to a material box placement location. The trolley 24 moves back and forth along the running track 21, and can move to the top of the corresponding material box to grab the material box (grab and drop box), and then move the material box to the position (station) where it is to be placed.

[0026] A bin is a container used to store items. Each bin can serve as an independent unit for picking, storing, and distributing items. Storing, picking, and distributing items by loading them into bins facilitates management. Each bin is uniquely identified, and the loading trolley 24 can identify each bin by scanning the identifier. For example, the bin identifier can be an electronic tag or other label. In some embodiments, the bin identifier can be a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) code. Bins can be used to hold different categories and varieties of goods. Preferably, a bin can hold a specified quantity of items of the same category and variety. For ease of management, items are counted in portions; each portion can include the same number of identical items, or each portion can include identical items of the same weight. A bin can hold a specified number of portions of items of the same category and variety. Optionally, the bin may also have internal storage grids, dividing the space inside the bin into multiple separate compartments. Each compartment contains one item, allowing for delivery in units of one item. The type and quantity of items in each bin are associated with its label. The warehouse control center can track the contents of each bin, its location, and records of items being picked up, providing real-time information on the items in each bin. Based on business needs, the center can control a trolley to move along a track to pick up and place items from the bins.

[0027] Each load-bearing trolley 24 is equipped with a unique identifier. The load-bearing trolley 24 is communicatively connected to the warehouse control center 10 and can report specified types of information collected during task execution to the warehouse control center 10. This includes information such as whether the trolley 24 successfully scans the material box label during material box grabbing, whether the currently grabbed material box matches the task issued by the warehouse control center 10, and the grabbing / releasing status information of the trolley 24's grabbing / releasing components for normal extension and grabbing action. The warehouse control center 10, by receiving the information carrying the trolley 24's identifier, can track and manage the working status of the load-bearing trolley 24 in real time. In this embodiment, each load-bearing trolley 24 is configured to have a guide post function, including both ordinary grabbing / releasing operations without the guide post function and grabbing / releasing operations with the guide post function enabled. When the trolley 24 performs a normal box-grabbing operation, it requires less space and will not affect the operation at adjacent storage points. However, it is prone to box-grabbing failures due to factors such as box tilting. When the trolley 24 performs a box-grabbing operation with the guide column function activated, the outward expansion of the guide column can provide more space to accommodate the box, thereby improving the success rate of box-grabbing. However, it requires more space and may interfere with the operation of adjacent storage points 271 below the adjacent running track 21. Therefore, the warehouse control center 10 adds a nine-grid task control to the box-grabbing operation of each trolley 24. When controlling each trolley 24 to perform a normal task, each trolley 24 performs a normal box-grabbing operation. When controlling the trolley 24 to perform a nine-grid task, the trolley 24 activates the guide column function to increase the success rate of box-grabbing.

[0028] Each running track 21 is equipped with a structure that facilitates the positioning of the travel trajectory of the load-bearing trolley 24. For example, the running track 21 is equipped with regularly distributed positioning holes. During the movement of the load-bearing trolley 24 along the running track 21, the direction of travel can be controlled by the drive device of the load-bearing trolley 24, and the distance traveled can be determined by counting the positioning holes it passes through. In this way, the travel trajectory and current position of the load-bearing trolley 24 can be tracked and managed in real time.

[0029] Optionally, the storage area 20 also includes a track-changing track 22 corresponding to the running track 21 to provide switching for the load-bearing trolley 24 between different running tracks 21, and a track-changing trolley 25 that runs back and forth on the track-changing track 22. The track-changing track 22 is equipped with a track-changing trolley 25 for transferring the load-bearing trolley 24. The track-changing track 22 is located at one end of the running track 21, and the track-changing trolley 25 is mounted on it. The direction in which the track-changing trolley 25 runs back and forth along the track-changing track 22 is perpendicular to the direction in which the load-bearing trolley 24 runs back and forth along the running track 21. Multiple sets of running tracks 21 are arranged parallel to each other and spaced apart within the storage area 20, and the track-changing track 22 connects the multiple sets of running tracks 21. The bottom end of the track-changing trolley 25 is aligned with the running track 21. The load-bearing trolley 24 can move to the end of the running track 21, then move from the running track 21 to the track-changing trolley 25. The trolley 25 then moves along the track-changing track 22 to the end of the next running track 21, and then moves from the track-changing trolley 25 to the next running track 21. This allows the trolley 24 to switch from one running track 21 to the next running track 21 via the track-changing track 22.

[0030] Optionally, the storage area 20 also includes a rescue waiting track 23 for placing the rescue trolley 26. The rescue waiting track 23 can be located on an edge track connected to the track-changing track 22. The edge track can be arranged in the edge area of ​​the storage area 20, making full use of the space of the storage area 20 without occupying the effective storage space of the items in the storage area 20. When the rescue trolley 26 has no rescue task, it can be provided for the rescue trolley 26 to stop; when the rescue trolley 26 receives a rescue task, it can move along the edge track to the track-changing track 22, and then be transported to the running track 21 to be rescued by the track-changing trolley 25. The rescue trolley 26 can be an upgraded load-bearing trolley structure with a greater ability to correct abnormal causes that lead to the failure of grabbing and placing boxes. For example, if the abnormal cause of the failure of grabbing and placing boxes is that the mortar of the box is tilted, causing the load-bearing trolley to be unable to properly nest when grabbing the box, the rescue trolley 26 is constructed to have a larger extension range when grabbing the box, so as to be able to accommodate the box of the tilted mortar, correct it, and complete the nesting. In some alternative embodiments, the warehouse control center 10 controls the load-bearing trolley 24 to perform the nine-square grid task, which also includes the situation where the warehouse control center 10 dispatches the rescue trolley 26 from the rescue waiting track 23 to the position where the grab-and-place box failure occurred to perform the rescue task in order to complete the nine-square grid task accordingly.

[0031] Please see Figure 2 This application provides a warehouse scheduling and management method, which can be applied to, for example... Figure 1 The warehouse centralized control center shown in the figure includes the following steps in its method:

[0032] S101, obtain the status information of the grabbing and releasing box reported by the load trolley.

[0033] The grab-and-place status information includes grab-and-place failure information and / or place-and-place failure information. "Grab-and-place" refers to either grabbing or placing a box; for simplicity, it is collectively referred to as such. The warehouse control center communicates with the trolley. During the warehouse scheduling and management process, the control center issues grab-and-place task instructions to designated trolleys based on order information, controlling the trolleys to move along the track to grab the specified boxes and transport them to the designated location. The trolleys report specified types of work status information to the control center in real time, such as grab-and-place failure status information. In one optional specific example, the grabbing and placing box failure status information could refer to the grabbing and placing box anomaly alarm triggered when the trolley, after receiving the grabbing and placing box task instruction from the warehouse control center, moves above the designated box to perform the grabbing and placing action but fails to successfully nest with the box. In another optional specific example, the grabbing and placing box failure status information could refer to the following: when the trolley, after receiving the grabbing and placing box task instruction from the warehouse control center, moves above the designated box to perform the grabbing action but fails to successfully grab the box, the sensors at the bottom of the trolley are triggered to collect various sensing information indicating the cause of the anomaly.

[0034] S102, based on the grab-and-place box status information, if it is determined that the current grab-and-place box has failed and the guide column function needs to be activated, the original task that caused the grab-and-place box failure will be changed into a nine-grid task based on the grab-and-place box status information.

[0035] There can be various reasons for gripping and releasing box failures. In this embodiment, the failures can be categorized based on their causes, distinguishing between categories that can be resolved by activating the guide column function of the load trolley and categories that cannot. For example, if the failure is due to a malfunction in the load trolley's drive mechanism, the load trolley should be repaired or replaced, and this does not fall under the category of failures that can be resolved by activating the guide column function. However, if the failure is due to tilting of the stacked boxes, and the load trolley is functioning normally, this falls under the category of failures that can be resolved by controlling the load trolley to activate the guide column function. If the warehouse control center determines that the failure falls under the category requiring the load trolley to activate the guide column function based on the gripping and releasing box status information, it will change the original task that caused the failure into a nine-grid task based on the gripping and releasing box status information. Specifically, based on the grab-and-place box status information, the original task that caused the grab-and-place box failure is changed into a nine-grid task. That is, the nine-grid task contains the original task information. In an optional specific example, the nine-grid task includes at least the location of the target box that failed to grab and place the box and the failure task information of the target box.

[0036] The failed task information corresponding to the target material box refers to the original task information that should have been executed when the trolley failed to grab the target material box. For example, the trolley might fail to grab the target material box while preparing to transfer it to a designated workstation (target material box grabbing failure); or it might fail to move an obstacle box above the target material box while performing a grabbing task (obstacle box moving failure); or it might fail to grab the target material box while preparing to place it in a designated storage location while performing an inbound task (target material box grabbing failure), etc. The nine-grid task will contain the failed task information corresponding to the target material box. Therefore, when the warehouse control center controls the trolley to activate the guide column function, it will complete the original task based on the original task information that should have been executed when the trolley failed to grab the target material box.

[0037] S103, based on the target nine-square grid task to be executed, determine the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task.

[0038] The warehouse centralized control center can generate various tasks based on order operations within the warehouse system and the needs of material sorting and distribution. It can then uniformly schedule the trolleys and select the task to be executed in real time based on the status of incomplete tasks and preset task priorities. The target nine-grid task to be executed can refer to a nine-grid task directly generated during the execution of the original task due to a box-grabbing failure, or it can refer to the nine-grid task selected in real time by the warehouse centralized control center based on the status of incomplete tasks and preset task priorities when multiple nine-grid tasks exist. The task storage point of the nine-grid task corresponds to the storage point of the target box where the box-grabbing failure occurred; the associated storage point refers to the adjacent storage point affected by the activation of the guide column function during the execution of the nine-grid task.

[0039] S104, determine whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked.

[0040] Before executing a 3x3 grid task, identifying and locking associated storage points can prevent conflicts and interference between the associated storage points and the currently executing 3x3 grid task.

[0041] S105, if all associated storage points are successfully locked, control the load-bearing trolley to activate the guide column function, and execute the target nine-square grid task based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task.

[0042] The warehouse control center determines whether the associated storage points have been successfully locked. If all associated storage points have been successfully locked, it means that the conditions for executing the nine-grid task are met. The warehouse control center sends a nine-grid task instruction to the trolley and controls the trolley to activate the guide column function. Based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-grid task and the information of the original task, the target nine-grid task is executed.

[0043] In the above embodiments, the load-bearing trolley includes both ordinary grab-and-place operation without the guide column function and grab-and-place operation with the guide column function enabled. The warehousing system uses a warehousing control center to uniformly track and manage the operations of the load-bearing trolley in storing and retrieving items within the warehousing area. All operations of the load-bearing trolley in storing and retrieving items rely on the trolley grabbing and transferring the containers containing items. When the load-bearing trolley fails to grab and place a container, the warehousing control center determines the cause of the failure based on the container status information, thereby determining whether the failure can be resolved by enabling the guide column function of the load-bearing trolley. A corresponding nine-grid task is generated. When the warehousing control center controls the load-bearing trolley to execute the nine-grid task, it first calculates the task storage point and associated storage point corresponding to the nine-grid task, and then processes the associated storage point... The system locks the storage points to ensure they are all successfully locked. Then, it controls the load-bearing trolley to activate the guide column function to complete the original task of grabbing and placing boxes. This method is compatible with any known warehouse architecture and ensures that other business scheduling is not affected. By expanding and upgrading the load-bearing trolley function, it can solve the problem of box grabbing and placing failures, greatly reducing the rate of manual intervention in warehouse management. The level of intelligent management of the warehouse system is significantly improved, and warehouse work efficiency can be increased. It has been verified that the average rate of manual intervention in the intelligent scheduling management of current warehouse systems exceeds 0.4%. However, the warehouse scheduling management method provided in this application, using a load-bearing trolley with guide column function, can achieve a success rate of 99.99% in resolving manual intervention scenarios of box grabbing and placing failures, which can effectively improve the intelligent management performance of the warehouse system.

[0044] In some embodiments, the warehouse scheduling management method further includes:

[0045] Based on the business information within the warehousing system, a scheduling task table is established, which includes a task type field, a task priority field, and a task status field for each task; the task type field of the nine-grid task is a first preset value, and the task status field includes different values ​​representing executed, waiting, and not executed respectively;

[0046] Based on the task with the highest priority in the scheduling task table, the task to be executed is determined.

[0047] In the process of warehouse scheduling and management, the warehouse control center performs various types of tasks, such as ordinary box-grabbing and placing tasks, nine-grid tasks, box return / inbound tasks, station-outbound tasks, and warehouse-outbound tasks. To optimize warehouse scheduling and management, the execution order of each type of task has been optimized, and a task priority strategy has been pre-set. Based on the business information within the warehouse system, the warehouse control center establishes a task scheduling table containing various tasks according to the operations required to complete the business. Taking an order sorting operation as an example, the warehouse control center needs to determine the locations of these items on the warehouse shelves based on the type and quantity of the items in the order. Combining this with the current working status of each trolley, it determines which trolleys will go to which storage points to grab boxes and transport them to designated stations. The station operations then complete the sorting and packaging. The task scheduling table includes the tasks required by the trolleys to grab and place boxes at designated storage locations to complete the order sorting operation.

[0048] The scheduling task table defines each task with at least three fields: task type, task priority, and task status. Different values ​​for each field represent the real-time completion status of the task. For example, task status can be executed, waiting, or not executed, with values ​​of 1 (executed), 5 (waiting), and 0 (not executed), respectively. Similarly, task type can be a regular grab-and-place task or a nine-square grid task, with values ​​of 0 (regular grab-and-place task) and 1 (nine-square grid task), respectively. Task priority can be categorized into task type priority and priority among multiple tasks of the same type. Task type priority refers to the pre-configured task types and their corresponding priorities within the warehouse system. Multiple tasks of the same type may exist simultaneously within the same time period, and their priorities can be determined according to other rules, such as the order in which they are generated. It's understandable that multiple nine-square grid tasks may exist at the same time. The warehouse control center selects the target nine-square grid task to be executed at the current moment based on its generation time. Each task execution relies on the warehouse control center to determine the matching load-bearing trolley and send the corresponding task instruction to it. The warehouse control center establishes a scheduling task table and updates the scheduling task table in real time to track the completion status of each task and determine the task to be executed for scheduling control.

[0049] In the above embodiments, by establishing a scheduling task table, the completion status of the corresponding tasks is recorded in real time by the values ​​of the task type field, task priority field, and task status field corresponding to each task. This helps to simplify the warehouse scheduling management of the warehouse control center and improve accuracy.

[0050] In some embodiments, changing the original task that caused the capture / release box failure to a nine-grid task based on the capture / release box status information includes:

[0051] The task type field corresponding to the original task that caused the capture and release box failure in the scheduling task table is changed to the first preset value, the task status field is changed to the value corresponding to not executed, and the value of the corresponding task priority field is calculated based on all the nine-square grid task information that has not been completed.

[0052] When the trolley operates normally without the guide column function enabled, all box grabbing and placing operations in the warehousing system are initially ordinary box grabbing and placing tasks. When the trolley fails to grab or place a box and reports the box grabbing and placing status information, the warehousing control center determines that the failure can be resolved by enabling the guide column function of the trolley. In this case, the original task of the failed box grabbing and placing is changed to a nine-grid task by updating the scheduling task table. After that, the warehousing control center will perform scheduling and management according to the task type of the nine-grid task.

[0053] In the above embodiments, the load-bearing trolley operates normally in the conventional mode without the guide column function enabled, requiring less space for the box-grabbing and placing operation. However, by configuring each load-bearing trolley to include the guide column function, the success rate of box-grabbing and placing can be improved by controlling the load-bearing trolley to enable the guide column function when a box-grabbing and placing task fails, thereby reducing the need for manual intervention. The task of executing the box-grabbing and placing operation with the guide column function enabled by the load-bearing trolley is defined as a nine-grid task. Before executing the nine-grid task, the associated storage point is locked in advance, thus ensuring compatibility with various known types of warehouse architectures. Without affecting other business scheduling, the box-grabbing and placing failure fault can be resolved by expanding and upgrading the load-bearing trolley function.

[0054] In some embodiments, determining the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task based on the currently pending target nine-square grid task includes:

[0055] When the highest priority task type is a 3x3 grid task, select one or more 3x3 grid tasks that meet the execution conditions as the target 3x3 grid task to be executed, and determine the corresponding storage point in the target 3x3 grid task that causes the failure of the grab-and-place box as the task storage point.

[0056] Based on the location information of the task storage point, it is determined whether the task storage point is adjacent to a preset type of storage area; the preset type of storage area includes a station area and a track-changing area.

[0057] If the task storage point is adjacent to the preset type library area, terminate the target nine-square grid task and issue an alarm message;

[0058] If the task storage point is not adjacent to the preset type library area, determine the associated storage point that is adjacent to the task storage point.

[0059] When a heavy-duty trolley performs a grid task, the guide column function needs to be activated to improve the success rate of grabbing and placing boxes. This requires more space. If the space requirement is insufficient, the heavy-duty trolley cannot perform the grid task in the corresponding scenario, and accurate identification of such scenarios is necessary. Please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 3 and Figure 4 After determining the task storage point for the nine-grid task, it checks whether the location of the task storage point is adjacent to a station area or a track-changing area. If so, it identifies that the corresponding scenario does not support the heavy-duty trolley executing the nine-grid task, terminates the execution of the target nine-grid task, and issues an alarm message. Please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 5 Examples of several optional scenarios to support the heavy-duty trolley in performing a nine-grid task include: the location of the task storage point can be adjacent to nine storage points, or the task storage point can be in a blank area on one side of the horizontal direction, with the task storage point adjacent to five storage points, four of which are associated storage points; or the task storage point can be in a blank area on one side of the vertical direction, with the task storage point adjacent to five storage points, three of which are associated storage points.

[0060] In the above embodiments, the architecture of the storage area is considered, and the unsuitable scenarios for the nine-grid task are identified to improve the security of the nine-grid task execution.

[0061] Optionally, determining the associated storage point adjacent to the task storage point includes:

[0062] Using the task storage point as the center, other storage points among the eight adjacent storage points surrounding the task storage point, excluding those on the same straight line as the task storage point, are identified as associated storage points; or,

[0063] Centered on the task storage point, all eight adjacent storage points surrounding the task storage point are identified as associated storage points.

[0064] Associated storage points refer to additional storage points required during the execution of the current 3x3 grid task due to the activation of the guide column function. Since the running tracks within the storage area are arranged in parallel intervals, and the storage points are also arranged in parallel intervals along the direction of the running tracks, the storage points within the storage area are distributed in a row-column pattern. Centered on the task storage point of a 3x3 grid task, the eight storage points surrounding that task storage point include those adjacent to it. In scenarios where multiple trolleys can operate simultaneously on the same set of running tracks, for the trolley executing the current 3x3 grid task, based on the direction of the guide column extension when the guide column function is activated, other storage points not aligned with the task storage point are identified as associated storage points requiring locking. Storage points aligned with the task storage point can operate normally during the execution of the 3x3 grid task and do not require locking.

[0065] Optionally, the same set of running tracks can also be set to allow only one load-bearing trolley to operate. For the load-bearing trolley performing the current nine-square grid task, the eight adjacent storage points around the task storage point can be directly determined as associated storage points. Before performing the nine-square grid task, all associated storage points can be locked, which can simplify the calculation and locking strategy of associated storage points.

[0066] In the above embodiments, taking into account the characteristics of the guide column opening, a nine-square grid composed of storage points is defined with the task storage point as the center. The storage point space that needs to be occupied for the guide column opening is identified as the associated storage point. By locking the associated storage point before executing the nine-square grid task, interference and conflict can be avoided due to multiple tasks running in parallel within the warehousing system.

[0067] In some embodiments, the warehouse scheduling management method further includes:

[0068] If at least one of the associated storage points fails to lock successfully, the target 3x3 grid task is set as a waiting 3x3 grid task.

[0069] Before a 3x3 grid task can be executed, if any associated storage points cannot be successfully locked, the current 3x3 grid task needs to wait. The execution priority of a waiting 3x3 grid task can be higher than any other unexecuted 3x3 grid task.

[0070] Optionally, the warehouse scheduling management method further includes:

[0071] Based on the storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes involved in the current task, the corresponding storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes will be locked until the current task is completed and then the storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes will be unlocked.

[0072] The step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked includes:

[0073] Whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked depends on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point that is currently locked by a task being executed.

[0074] The system sets the status of each storage point, including locked and unlocked states. Storage points in a locked state are not allowed to be used by the loading trolley for box grabbing and placing operations. Before executing a regular box grabbing and placing task, the warehouse control center locks the target storage point before issuing the grabbing and placing command to the corresponding loading trolley. Before executing a nine-grid task, the warehouse control center identifies associated storage points. When locking these associated storage points, if another ongoing task has already locked one of the associated storage points, the corresponding associated storage point cannot be locked successfully. In this case, the target nine-grid task is changed to a waiting nine-grid task, which needs to wait for the ongoing task to complete and for the corresponding associated storage point to be successfully unlocked before the waiting nine-grid task can successfully lock all associated storage points and execute.

[0075] In the above embodiments, a database can be established to record the locking status of each storage point. Each storage point can only have one lock. Before each task is executed, it is ensured that the corresponding storage point is successfully locked before execution, thus ensuring the security of multi-task parallel execution.

[0076] Optionally, in the warehouse scheduling management method, determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked based on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point currently locked by a task being executed includes:

[0077] If the associated storage points include a storage point that is currently locked by a task being executed, then at least one of the associated storage points has failed to be locked.

[0078] Wait for the storage point currently locked by the executing task to be unlocked, and then return to execute the step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked, until all associated storage points are successfully locked.

[0079] If any associated storage point is locked by another currently executing task, the system will set the current 3x3 task to a waiting state. The system will then periodically poll the task scheduling table for waiting 3x3 tasks, re-evaluating whether their associated storage points can be successfully locked. This process is repeated until all associated storage points are successfully locked, at which point the 3x3 task is executed.

[0080] Optionally, determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked based on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point currently locked by a task being executed includes:

[0081] Determine whether the associated storage points include a storage point currently locked by a task being executed;

[0082] If the storage point is locked by a currently executing task, determine whether the currently locked storage point is an associated storage point of a previously executing 3x3 grid task.

[0083] If the storage point is not currently locked by a task being executed, or if the currently locked storage point is an associated storage point of a previously executed 3x3 grid task, then the associated storage point is considered to have been successfully locked.

[0084] If the currently locked storage point is not the associated storage point of the previously executed 3x3 grid task, then the associated storage point is considered to have failed to lock.

[0085] In some scenarios, multiple parallel 3x3 grid tasks may exist within a storage area. For example, if 3x3 grid tasks exist simultaneously under two adjacent sets of running tracks, some associated storage points of one 3x3 grid task may also be associated storage points of the other 3x3 grid task. Alternatively, if two 3x3 grid tasks exist simultaneously under the same set of running tracks, with their storage points separated by only one storage point, some associated storage points of one 3x3 grid task may also be associated storage points of the other 3x3 grid task. Figure 6 As shown. Before the target 3x3 grid task is executed, when it is determined whether its corresponding associated storage points have been successfully locked, if one or more of the associated storage points are locked, and the corresponding associated storage point that is locked happens to be the associated storage point of another 3x3 grid task that is being executed in advance, then it can be considered that all associated storage points of the current 3x3 grid task have been successfully locked, and the current 3x3 grid task can proceed smoothly.

[0086] In the above embodiments, considering the scenario where there may be multiple parallel 3x3 grid tasks in the storage area, the situation where multiple 3x3 grid tasks have common associated storage points that are locked in advance will not cause conflicts or interference between them is accurately identified, ensuring that multiple 3x3 grid tasks can be executed in parallel and improving the efficiency of storage scheduling.

[0087] In some embodiments, controlling the load-bearing trolley to activate the guide column function, and executing the target nine-square grid task based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task, includes:

[0088] Send a corresponding control command to the load-bearing trolley to activate the guide column function, and receive an execution result command returned by the load-bearing trolley after it has completed the target nine-square grid task according to the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task after receiving the corresponding control command;

[0089] If the execution result instruction is received within a preset time, the associated storage point is unlocked.

[0090] The warehouse control center determines the task storage point and associated storage point of the nine-grid task. After successfully locking all associated storage points, it issues a corresponding control command to the trolley to activate the guide column function. Upon receiving the control command, the trolley executes the nine-grid task and returns an execution result command to the warehouse control center. The execution result command can include a successful execution command or an unsuccessful execution command. If the execution is successful, the task status of the corresponding nine-grid task is "executed," and the nine-grid task ends. If the execution is unsuccessful, it indicates that the current task has failed and cannot be resolved by activating the guide column function of the trolley. The task status of the nine-grid task can also be "executed," the nine-grid task ends, and an alarm message indicating a failure to grab or place the container is issued simultaneously.

[0091] In the above embodiments, after the load-bearing trolley performs the nine-grid task, it returns an execution result instruction. The warehouse control center determines the execution status of the corresponding nine-grid task based on the execution result instruction returned by the load-bearing trolley, and promptly releases the lock on the associated storage point after confirming that the nine-grid task has been completed, so as to avoid affecting the scheduling and management of other businesses in the warehouse area.

[0092] Optionally, the warehouse scheduling management method further includes:

[0093] If the execution result instruction is not received within the preset time, the target 3x3 grid task is reset to an unexecuted 3x3 grid task, and the steps of determining the task storage point and associated storage point of the target 3x3 grid task based on the currently pending target 3x3 grid task are returned.

[0094] The system involves a trolley that executes a nine-grid task and then returns a result command. The warehouse control center determines the execution status of the corresponding nine-grid task based on the result command received from the trolley. If the warehouse control center does not receive the result command from the trolley within a preset time, it sends another control command to the trolley to prevent the nine-grid task from failing due to the trolley's failure to receive the control command.

[0095] Please see Figure 7To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the warehouse scheduling and management method provided in this application, a specific example is used below for illustration. Taking the box-grabbing operation as an example, the warehouse scheduling and management method includes:

[0096] S11, the trolley reports a box-grabbing failure fault code; among them, the trolley reports the corresponding fault code to the warehouse control center according to the reason for the box-grabbing failure, such as the guide column in the trolley guiding the box direction being pushed up, the trolley and the box failing to nest, the trolley's lower platform tilting, etc., which are all reasons for the box-grabbing failure fault codes.

[0097] S121, warehouse control center failed to receive box capture fault code;

[0098] S122, detect the handling method for the failure to grab the box corresponding to the fault code; wherein, the handling method corresponding to different fault codes can be set to be configurable, and the handling method can be configured accordingly based on whether the failure to grab the box represented by different fault codes can be resolved by activating the guide column function.

[0099] S123, confirming the handling method is to enable the guide column function; when a fault code occurs, the configuration can be used to determine whether to enable the guide column.

[0100] S124, change the original task to a nine-grid task; for example, in the task scheduling table, the value of the task type field is 0 to represent a normal task, 1 to represent a nine-grid task, and 2 to represent a single instruction scheduling task.

[0101] S13, calculate the range of the nine-square grid task;

[0102] S131, calculate the storage location within the nine-square grid according to various scenarios;

[0103] S132, locks the calculation range of the nine-square grid;

[0104] S133, determine whether the locking was successful; if successful, execute S14; if unsuccessful, execute S15.

[0105] S14, the scheduler generates an instruction to open the guide post;

[0106] S141, issue the instruction to the load trolley;

[0107] S142, the trolley receives the instruction and executes the task.

[0108] S143 returns the execution result;

[0109] S144, the warehouse centralized control center receives the returned execution result;

[0110] S145, Task completed, warehouse location unlocked;

[0111] S146, The warehouse control center did not receive the returned execution result within the preset time;

[0112] S147, Mission failed;

[0113] S148, Manual resend, generate a new 3x3 grid task, and return to S132;

[0114] S15, other ongoing tasks have locked the storage location for the nine-square grid task calculation;

[0115] S151, the status of the nine-grid task is changed to waiting; where the value of the task status field is 5 indicating waiting, 2 indicating successful execution, and 3 indicating execution failure.

[0116] S152, wait for other normal tasks related to locking the storage location to complete. Each storage location has a locked state, and the locking record can be stored in the database. Before a normal task executes, the target storage location will also be locked. Therefore, if a normal task has already locked storage locations within its range before the nine-grid task executes, the task will wait for that normal task to complete first. The order in which tasks supported by each storage location are locked determines which executes first and which waits.

[0117] S153, poll and lock the storage location according to the preset time frequency, and return to S133.

[0118] In this embodiment, when the loading trolley fails to pick up and place a box, the warehouse control center determines the cause of the failure based on the box status information. It then determines whether activating the guide column function of the loading trolley can resolve the issue. Correspondingly, a nine-grid task is generated. When the warehouse control center controls the loading trolley to execute the nine-grid task, it first calculates the task storage point and associated storage point corresponding to the task, and locks the associated storage points to ensure they are all successfully locked. Then, it controls the loading trolley to activate the guide column function to complete the original box picking and placing operation. This approach is compatible with any known... The warehouse layout, while ensuring no impact on other business scheduling, addresses box-grabbing failures by expanding and upgrading the functionality of the load-bearing trolley, significantly reducing the rate of manual intervention in warehouse management. This substantially improves the level of intelligent management in the warehouse system and enhances warehouse work efficiency. Verification shows that the average rate of manual intervention in the intelligent scheduling management of current warehouse systems exceeds 0.4%, while the warehouse scheduling management method provided in this application, using a load-bearing trolley with guide column functionality, achieves a 99.99% success rate in resolving manual intervention scenarios related to box-grabbing failures, effectively improving the intelligent management performance of the warehouse system.

[0119] Another aspect of the embodiments of this application, please refer to Figure 8The application also provides a warehouse centralized control hub, including a processor 51 and a memory 52. ​​The memory 52 stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by the processor 51, it performs the steps of the warehouse system item outbound control method provided in any embodiment of this application. The processor 51 and the memory 52 may each include one or more. The warehouse centralized control hub, as a platform for unified control of the processes such as item storage and allocation in the warehouse system, may include multiple physically separated servers, computer terminal devices, etc. It implements the steps of the warehouse scheduling and management method by installing computer programs for implementing the warehouse scheduling and management method provided in the embodiments of this application, and by communicating and interacting with each other between servers, between computer terminal devices, and between servers and computer terminal devices.

[0120] Another aspect of the embodiments of this application also discloses a warehousing system, including a warehousing control center and a warehousing area. The warehousing area is provided with a multi-layered and multi-column running track for heavy-duty trolleys to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform located below each layer of the running track, and a storage point where supply boxes are stacked and stored on the load-bearing platform.

[0121] The warehouse centralized control center is used to execute the steps of the warehouse scheduling and management method described in any embodiment of this application.

[0122] The load-bearing trolley includes guide posts located at the four corners, and the load-bearing trolley includes a grabbing and placing box guiding function where the guide posts open outward and converge inward.

[0123] The warehousing system has been upgraded by adding a guide column to the load-bearing trolley, which has an outward opening and inward closing function for grabbing and placing boxes. This design significantly reduces the failure rate of grabbing and placing boxes compared to the conventional grabbing and placing operation of the load-bearing trolley. By adding a nine-grid task execution process and unified scheduling and management through the warehousing control center, the probability of manual intervention when the load-bearing trolley fails to grab and place boxes is greatly reduced. This not only saves a lot of labor costs but also greatly improves the efficiency and accuracy of intelligent management of goods entering and leaving the warehousing system.

[0124] The concepts described herein may be implemented in other forms without departing from their spirit and characteristics. The specific embodiments disclosed should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. Therefore, the scope of the invention is determined by the appended claims, and not by the foregoing description. Any modifications within the literal meaning and equivalent scope of the claims should fall within the scope of those claims.

Claims

1. A warehouse scheduling and management method, characterized in that, The warehousing system includes a warehousing control center and a warehousing area. The warehousing area is equipped with a multi-level, multi-column running track for heavy-duty trolleys to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform located below each running track, and storage points where supply boxes are stacked on the load-bearing platform. The method is applied to the warehouse centralized control center, including: Obtain the status information of the grabbing and placing boxes reported by the loading trolley; Based on the grab-and-place box status information, if it is determined that the current grab-and-place box has failed and the guide column function needs to be activated, the original task that caused the grab-and-place box failure will be changed into a nine-grid task based on the grab-and-place box status information. Based on the target nine-square grid task to be executed, determine the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task; Determine whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked; If all associated storage points are successfully locked, the load-bearing trolley is controlled to activate the guide column function, and the target nine-square grid task is executed based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task.

2. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: Based on the business information within the warehousing system, a scheduling task table is established, which includes task type field, task priority field, and task status field for each task. The task type field of the nine-grid task is a first preset value, and the task status field includes different values ​​representing executed, waiting and not executed respectively. Based on the task with the highest priority in the scheduling task table, the task to be executed is determined.

3. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The step of changing the original task that caused the capture / release box failure to a nine-grid task based on the capture / release box status information includes: The task type field corresponding to the original task that caused the capture and release box failure in the scheduling task table is changed to the first preset value, the task status field is changed to the value corresponding to not executed, and the value of the corresponding task priority field is calculated based on all the nine-square grid task information that has not been completed.

4. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The process of determining the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task based on the currently pending target nine-square grid task includes: When the highest priority task type is a 3x3 grid task, select one or more 3x3 grid tasks that meet the execution conditions as the target 3x3 grid task to be executed, and determine the corresponding storage point in the target 3x3 grid task that causes the failure of the grab-and-place box as the task storage point. Based on the location information of the task storage point, it is determined whether the task storage point is adjacent to a preset type of storage area; the preset type of storage area includes a station area and a track-changing area. If the task storage point is adjacent to the preset type library area, terminate the target nine-square grid task and issue an alarm message; If the task storage point is not adjacent to the preset type library area, determine the associated storage point that is adjacent to the task storage point.

5. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The step of determining the associated storage point adjacent to the task storage point includes: Using the task storage point as the center, other storage points among the eight adjacent storage points surrounding the task storage point, excluding those on the same straight line as the task storage point, are identified as associated storage points; or, Centered on the task storage point, all eight adjacent storage points surrounding the task storage point are identified as associated storage points.

6. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: If at least one of the associated storage points fails to lock successfully, the target 3x3 grid task is set as a waiting 3x3 grid task.

7. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Also includes: Based on the storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes involved in the current task, the corresponding storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes will be locked until the current task is completed and then the storage points of the pick-up and drop-off boxes will be unlocked. The step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked includes: Whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked depends on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point that is currently locked by a task being executed.

8. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked based on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point currently locked by a task being executed includes: If the associated storage points include a storage point that is currently locked by a task being executed, then at least one of the associated storage points has failed to be locked. Wait for the storage point currently locked by the task being executed to be unlocked, and then return to execute the step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked, until all associated storage points are successfully locked.

9. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The step of determining whether the associated storage point has been successfully locked based on whether the associated storage point contains a storage point currently locked by a task being executed includes: Determine whether the associated storage points include a storage point currently locked by a task being executed; If the storage point is locked by a currently executing task, determine whether the currently locked storage point is an associated storage point of a previously executing 3x3 grid task. If the storage point is not currently locked by a task being executed, or if the currently locked storage point is an associated storage point of a previously executed 3x3 grid task, then the associated storage point is considered to have been successfully locked. If the currently locked storage point is not the associated storage point of the previously executed 3x3 grid task, then the associated storage point is considered to have failed to lock.

10. The warehouse scheduling and management method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The control function for opening the guide column of the load-bearing trolley, and the execution of the target nine-square grid task based on the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task, includes: Send a corresponding control command to the load-bearing trolley to activate the guide column function, and receive an execution result command returned by the load-bearing trolley after it has completed the target nine-square grid task according to the task storage point corresponding to the target nine-square grid task and the information of the original task after receiving the corresponding control command; If the execution result instruction is received within a preset time, the associated storage point is unlocked.

11. The warehouse scheduling management method as described in claim 10, characterized in that, Also includes: If the execution result instruction is not received within the preset time, the target nine-square grid task is reset to an unexecuted nine-square grid task, and the step of determining the task storage point and associated storage point of the target nine-square grid task based on the currently pending target nine-square grid task is returned.

12. A warehouse centralized control hub, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program, which, when executed by the processor, performs the steps of the warehouse scheduling management method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A warehousing system, characterized in that, It includes a warehouse control center and a warehouse area. The warehouse area is equipped with a multi-level, multi-column running track for heavy-duty trolleys to travel back and forth, a load-bearing platform located under each running track, and a storage point where supply boxes are stacked on the load-bearing platform. The warehouse centralized control center is used to execute the steps of the warehouse scheduling and management method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. The warehousing system as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The load-bearing trolley includes guide posts located at the four corners, and the load-bearing trolley includes a grabbing and placing box guiding function where the guide posts open outward and converge inward.

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