Robot, server, warehousing system, warehouse and warehouse-out method

Abstract

The invention relates to a robot, a server, a warehousing system, a warehouse and a warehouse-out method, and the warehousing system comprises a goods shelf which is provided with a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area; the carrying robot is used for receiving the first dispatching instruction and conveying the raw material box to the first stopping position of the target sorting work station from the first goods position according to the first dispatching instruction; the sorting robot is used for receiving a second dispatching instruction and arriving at a second stopping position of the target sorting work station according to the second dispatching instruction, so that the to-be-sorted goods in the raw material box on the carrying robot at the first stopping position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second stopping position to become sorted goods; and the sorted goods or the target order boxes containing the sorted goods are conveyed to the second goods allocation from the second parking position. According to the robot, the server, the warehousing system, the warehouse and the warehouse-out method, the warehousing area can be saved, and the flexibility of the warehousing process is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of intelligent logistics technology, and in particular to a robot, a server, a warehousing system, a warehouse, and a warehouse delivery method. Background Art

[0002] With the development of artificial intelligence and logistics automation, intelligent warehousing technology, as an important part of it, is becoming more and more mature. As for intelligent warehousing, it can provide intelligent warehousing services, ensure the efficiency of each link in warehouse management, and grasp the warehousing data in real time and accurately.

[0003] In the related art, when the goods are put into storage, sorted, and shipped out to realize intelligent warehousing, especially when sorting goods, the operator usually sorts the goods and puts the required sorted goods on the seeding wall or conveyor line, and then uses the robot to transport the sorted goods from the seeding wall or conveyor line to the corresponding cargo position. The above sorting method makes the area occupied by intelligent warehousing larger and reduces the flexibility of the warehousing process. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve or partially solve the problems existing in the related technologies, the present application provides a robot, a server, a warehousing system, a warehouse and a warehousing method, which can save storage area and improve the flexibility of the warehousing process.

[0005] The first aspect of the present application provides a warehousing system, which includes: a shelf, a handling robot and a sorting robot. The shelf has a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area. The handling robot is used to receive a first scheduling instruction, and transport the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the first scheduling instruction. The sorting robot is used to receive a second scheduling instruction, and arrive at the second parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the second scheduling instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position to become sorted goods, and the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods are transported from the second parking position to the second cargo position. The first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0006] The second aspect of the present application provides a method for outbound delivery, which is executed by a server, and the method includes: sending a first scheduling instruction to a handling robot so that the handling robot performs a first type of task. The first type of task includes: transporting a raw material box from a first cargo position to a first parking position of a target sorting workstation according to the first scheduling instruction. And, sending a second scheduling instruction to a sorting robot so that the sorting robot performs a second type of task. The second type of task includes: reaching a second parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the second scheduling instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position to become sorted goods, and transporting the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second parking position to the second cargo position. Wherein, the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0007] The third aspect of the present application provides a server for a warehousing system, the server comprising: a processor and a memory. The memory stores executable code, and when the executable code is executed by the processor, the processor executes the above-mentioned method for discharging goods applied to the server.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a transport robot, comprising: a first chassis, a first bearing device, and a first controller. The first chassis is used to walk on a support surface. The first bearing device is arranged on the first chassis. The first bearing device comprises: a first bearing member and a first transfer mechanism. The first bearing member is used to carry a raw material box. The first transfer mechanism is used to move the raw material box to or away from the first bearing member. The first controller is configured to receive a first scheduling instruction, and control the first transfer mechanism to move the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first bearing member according to the first scheduling instruction, and control the first chassis to move, so as to transport the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of the target sorting workstation, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box are sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position of the target sorting workstation at the target sorting workstation to become sorted goods, and then transported to the second cargo position by the sorting robot. The first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a sorting robot, comprising: a second chassis, a second bearing device and a second controller. The second chassis is used to walk on a supporting surface. The second bearing device is arranged on the second chassis. The second bearing device comprises: a second bearing member and a second transfer mechanism. The second bearing member is used to carry sorted goods or a target order box. The second transfer mechanism is used to move the sorted goods or the target order box to or from the second bearing member. The second controller is configured to receive a second scheduling instruction, and control the second chassis to move to a second parking position of a target sorting workstation according to the second scheduling instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position of the target sorting workstation can be sorted to the second bearing member to become sorted goods, and control the second chassis to move so as to transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second parking position to a second cargo position. Wherein, the first cargo position is a cargo position in a raw material box storage area of ​​a shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0010] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a warehouse, comprising: a storage area and a sorting workstation. The storage area is provided with at least one shelf, and the shelf has a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area. The sorting workstation is arranged on one side of the storage area, and the sorting workstation is provided with a first docking position and a second docking position. The first docking position is for a transport robot to dock, and the transport robot carries a raw material box transported from the first cargo position. The second docking position is for a sorting robot to dock. At the sorting workstation, the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the transport robot at the first docking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second docking position to become sorted goods and then transported to the second cargo position. Among them, the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0011] The technical solution provided by this application may have the following beneficial effects:

[0012] Through the coordinated actions of the transport robot and the sorting robot, the two are docked at the target sorting workstation. The transport robot transports the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of the target sorting workstation, and the sorting robot arrives at the second parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the second scheduling instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the transport robot at the first parking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position to become sorted goods, thereby completing the sorting of goods. There is no need to set up additional equipment such as seeding walls or conveyor lines that require a large space. The corresponding goods can be directly sorted from the transport robot to the sorting robot according to order requirements, saving the steps of sorting the goods to the seeding wall or conveyor line and then picking them up by another robot. At the same time, the first cargo position and the second cargo position are both cargo positions in the corresponding storage area on the shelf, which can realize three-dimensional storage of goods. The entire warehousing system occupies a smaller area, making the warehousing process more flexible and efficient.

[0013] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present application will become more apparent by describing in more detail exemplary embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals generally represent the same components in the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0015] Figure 1 It is one of the regional layout diagrams of the warehouse shown in the embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a sorting workstation in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the layout of the sorting workstation and the inventory area in the embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 4 It is one of the flow charts of the operation control process of the conveyor belt type robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 5 This is the second flow chart of the operation control process of the conveyor belt robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 6 It is a flowchart of the operation control process of the flip-table robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of a push-plate type robot in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 8It is a flowchart of the operation control process of the push-plate type robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a single-layer flip-plate sorting robot in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-layer flip-plate sorting robot in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Fig.11 This is one of the flow charts of the operation control process of the flip-plate type robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Fig.12 This is the second flow chart of the operation control process of the flip-plate type robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Fig.13 It is a flowchart of the method for outbound delivery shown in the embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Fig.14 This is a schematic diagram of the collection and delivery process of the airport duty-free shop in the embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Fig.15 It is a flow chart of a method for sorting goods in a batch order scenario in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Fig.16 It is a flowchart of a method for processing returned goods executed by a server in a return scenario in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Fig.17 This is the second schematic diagram of the regional layout of the warehouse shown in the embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Fig.18 This is a schematic diagram of the cargo handling process in the cargo handling and loading mode in the embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Fig.19 This is a schematic diagram of the cargo handling process in the first-in-last-out mode in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Fig. 20 This is a schematic diagram of the cargo handling process in the first-arrange-then-enter mode in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Fig.21 It is a flow chart of the method for handling returned goods executed by a warehouse robot in a return scenario in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the embodiments of the present application are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present application can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present application more thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0037] The terms used in this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application. The singular forms of "a", "said" and "the" used in this application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0038] It should be understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used in this application to describe various information, this information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of this application, the first information may also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as the first information. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0039] Reference to "embodiments" herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of the phrase in various locations in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0040] In the related art, traditional warehouses used for goods storage generally have independent storage areas, picking areas and sorting areas. The warehouse occupies a large area, and the sorting area generally uses a seeding wall. Since the seeding wall can provide limited storage slots for order boxes, the number of order boxes that can be placed on the wall is small, resulting in unreasonable warehouse layout and low storage efficiency.

[0041] An embodiment of the present application provides a warehouse, see Figure 1The warehouse includes an incoming storage area 11, an incoming replenishment workstation 12, a storage area 13, a sorting workstation 14, a collection area 15 and an outgoing packaging workstation 16.

[0042] Among them, the temporary storage area 11 of the incoming warehouse is mainly used to receive the goods entering the warehouse, and then the goods are sent to the incoming warehouse replenishment station 12. After inspection and box change at the incoming warehouse replenishment station 12, the goods are loaded into the raw material box and stored in the storage area 13. When there is an order task, the raw material box will be moved out to the sorting station 14 for picking and sorting, and the sorted goods will be delivered to the corresponding order box. After the sorting task is completed, the order box is moved to the collection area 15 for collection. When it is time to leave the warehouse, the order box will be transported from the collection area 15 to the outbound packaging station 16 for packaging and shipment.

[0043] At least one shelf is provided in the inventory area 13. In one embodiment, the shelf has a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area. The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area can be arranged in a variety of ways, as follows:

[0044] The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area is located below the raw material box storage area; or,

[0045] The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area and the raw material box storage area are arranged alternately in the height direction or in the horizontal direction; or,

[0046] The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on different shelves, and the order box storage area is closer to the picking workstation than the raw material box storage area.

[0047] It is understandable that, considering that the task of transporting the sorted goods is heavier than the task of transporting the raw material boxes, the order box storage area can be set below the raw material box storage area on the same shelf. The order box storage area and the raw material box storage area can also be arranged alternately on the same shelf. For example, when they are arranged alternately in the height direction, they can be arranged alternately according to the same number of interval layers or different numbers of interval layers. For example, when they are arranged alternately in the horizontal direction, they can be arranged alternately according to the same number of columns or different numbers of columns of storage locations. The order box storage area and the raw material box storage area can also be set on different shelves, and the order box storage area can be set on a shelf closer to the target sorting workstation, so as to ensure the transportation efficiency of the sorted goods.

[0048] The collection area 15 is mainly used to collect the goods to be shipped out after sorting. The collection area 15 can be set outside the storage area 13. In this case, the collection area 15 and the storage area 13 are independent of each other. The collection area 15 can also be set inside the storage area 13. In this case, the collection area 15 occupies part of the shelves or cargo spaces on the shelves in the storage area 13.

[0049] In one embodiment, the collection area 15 in the warehouse can be set on the shelf, that is, the shelf can also be provided with the collection area 15. There are also multiple layout methods when the collection area 15 is set on the shelf, which is specifically reflected in the difference in the regional division of the shelf where the collection area 15 is located. In actual application, the shelf where the collection area 15 is located can be arranged according to the following scheme:

[0050] The shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area partially overlap; or,

[0051] The shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area do not overlap; or,

[0052] The shelf where the goods collection area is located does not have a raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area is closer to the outbound packaging workstation of the storage system than the raw material box storage area.

[0053] It can be understood that the collection area and the raw material box storage area can be set on the same shelf. In this case, some of the storage locations in the raw material box storage area can be used as part of the collection locations in the collection area, so that the raw material box storage area and the collection area partially overlap; the collection area can also be arranged in the area outside the raw material box storage area on the same shelf, so that the raw material box storage area and the collection area do not overlap.

[0054] In this embodiment, the cargo collection area and the raw material box storage area partially overlap or do not overlap, and the overlap can be understood as at least part of the cargo locations in the cargo collection area are the same as at least part of the cargo locations in the raw material box storage area, that is, at least part of the cargo locations in the cargo collection area adopt the cargo locations in the raw material box storage area.

[0055] In actual applications, the collection area and the raw material box storage area can also be set on different shelves. In this case, in order to make the subsequent outbound delivery process more efficient, the collection area can be set on the shelf of the outbound packaging workstation of the warehousing system that is closer to the raw material box storage area.

[0056] In some embodiments, the shelf is further provided with a crawling rail for the robot to climb, so that the robot can move to the target cargo position on the shelf by climbing to pick up and place the goods.

[0057] In the warehouse provided in this embodiment, the sorting workstation 14 may be arranged at one side of the inventory area 13. In one embodiment, the sorting workstation 13 may specifically include a sorting position, and a first channel and a second channel arranged at both sides of the sorting position, wherein:

[0058] The first docking position is arranged in the first channel, the second docking position is arranged in the second channel, and the sorting position is located between the first docking position and the second docking position.

[0059] It is understandable that the first channel and the second channel can be used for different robots to walk on them. For example, in the sorting process, the first channel is used for the transport robot that transports the raw material box to walk, and the second channel is used for the sorting robot that transports the sorted goods or the order box containing the sorted goods to walk.

[0060] By setting the first channel and the second channel, the driving trajectories of different robots can be separated so that different robots do not interfere with each other during work. For example, the transport robot and the sorting robot do not interfere with each other in the sorting link, thereby ensuring the orderly progress of the sorting process.

[0061] In one embodiment, the first channel and the second channel may be spaced apart from each other, the sorting position is disposed in the space between the first channel and the second channel, and the first parking position and the second parking position are both adjacent to the sorting position.

[0062] The first channel and the second channel are both U-shaped channels, the openings of the U-shaped channels are both facing the inventory area, one side of the opening is the entrance of the U-shaped channel, and the other side is the exit of the U-shaped channel.

[0063] The entrances and exits of the first channel and the second channel are both toward the inventory area.

[0064] It is understandable that the first channel and the second channel can be arranged at intervals from each other, for example, the first channel and the second channel can be symmetrically arranged on both sides of the sorting position. The first channel and the second channel can be arranged in the same or different directions, for example, the first channel and the second channel can be arranged in parallel, or in two different directions, for example, in an "eight" shape.

[0065] In a specific implementation, the U-shaped channel has two parallel branch channels, and there is an opening between the ends of the two branch channels. The end of the branch channel on one side of the opening forms the entrance of the U-shaped channel, and the end of the branch channel on the other side of the opening forms the exit of the U-shaped channel.

[0066] In some embodiments, the first channel and the second channel may also adopt other curved structural channels similar to the U-shaped channel, mainly having entrances and exits for corresponding robots to enter and exit the station, so as to meet the entry and exit work requirements of different robots. At the same time, in order to facilitate the sorting link, the handling robots and the sorting robots can efficiently transport goods between the inventory area and the sorting workstation, the entrances and exits of the channels can be facing the inventory area.

[0067] Figure 2 The structure of the first channel 31 and the second channel 32 is shown as an example. Figure 2 , the first channel 31 and the second channel 32 are both U-shaped channels.

[0068] Among them, the first channel 31 includes a first branch channel 311, a second branch channel 312 and a first connecting portion 313. There is an opening between the ends of the first branch channel 311 and the second branch channel 312. The end of the first branch channel 311 forms the entrance of the U-shaped channel, and the end of the second branch channel 312 forms the exit of the U-shaped channel. The first docking position A is set at the first connecting portion 313. In actual applications, taking the sorting link as an example, the transport robot can load the raw material box from the first cargo position according to the received first scheduling instruction and then transport the raw material box to the first docking position A through the first branch channel 311. After the current round of sorting is completed, the transport robot leaves the target sorting workstation through the second branch channel 312.

[0069] The second channel 32 includes a third branch channel 321, a fourth branch channel 322 and a second connecting portion 323. There is an opening between the ends of the third branch channel 321 and the fourth branch channel 322. The end of the third branch channel 321 forms the entrance of the U-shaped channel, and the end of the fourth branch channel 322 forms the exit of the U-shaped channel. The second docking position B is provided at the second connecting portion 323. Still taking the sorting link as an example, the sorting robot can move to the second docking position B via the third branch channel 321 according to the received second scheduling instruction, and the operator at the sorting position C takes the target goods from the raw material box on the transport robot and puts it on the sorting robot so that the goods become sorted goods. After the current round of sorting is completed, the sorting robot transports the sorted goods to the second cargo position via the fourth branch channel 322.

[0070] It is understandable that when the transport robot moves on the first channel 31, it is not limited to entering from the first branch channel 311 and leaving from the second branch channel 312, but can also enter from the second branch channel 312 and leave from the first branch channel 311. In the sorting process, it is necessary to ensure that the two robots occupy one channel respectively, so that the driving tracks of the two robots do not intersect in the sorting process.

[0071] In one embodiment, the storage area may include a plurality of shelves, and lanes are formed between adjacent shelves. The entrance and exit of the U-shaped passage may correspond to the lanes respectively.

[0072] It is understandable that during the warehousing process, the robot that transports goods needs to travel in the lanes to pick up and place goods from designated shelves. In order to facilitate the robot to travel efficiently between the shelves and the target sorting workstation, the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel and the second channel can be arranged to correspond to the entrances of multiple lanes respectively. In this way, the robot's driving trajectory during the transportation of goods is closer to a straight line with fewer turns, so that while completing the sorting task, the driving route is shorter and more efficient.

[0073] In a specific implementation, the specific directions of the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel and the second channel can be determined according to the storage area corresponding to the goods carried by the robot driving on the channel. For example, the transport robot drives on the first channel. Since the transport robot carries raw material boxes, the directions of the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel can be determined according to the storage area of ​​the raw material boxes. For example, the raw material boxes are stored on three of the multiple shelves, and two lanes are formed between the three shelves. The entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel can correspond to the lane openings of the two lanes.

[0074] For another example, the raw material boxes and the sorted goods do not correspond to specific shelves when they are stored, and the same shelf has both a storage area for the raw material boxes and a storage area for the sorted goods. In this case, the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel and the second channel can correspond to the lane entrances near the middle of all the shelf areas, so that the distance from each shelf to the first channel or the second channel is closer when the robot transports the goods.

[0075] In actual applications, multiple sorting workstations can be set up, and each sorting workstation can include a sorting position, and a first channel and a second channel arranged on both sides of the sorting position. In the scenario of multiple sorting workstations, corresponding sorting tasks can be assigned to each sorting workstation. For example, corresponding pending orders can be assigned to each sorting workstation, and according to the assigned pending orders, the handling robot and the sorting robot are dispatched to move to the first channel and the second channel of the corresponding sorting workstation to perform the sorting task.

[0076] When allocating corresponding sorting tasks to each sorting workstation, sorting tasks corresponding to pending orders with shorter delivery routes can be allocated to it according to the cargo information on both sides of the laneway entrance corresponding to the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel and the second channel. For example, if the two sides of the laneway entrance corresponding to the entrances and exits of the two branch channels of the first channel and the second channel of a certain sorting workstation have D-type cargo and E-type cargo stored, and the cargo information of the target pending order only contains a certain number of D-type cargo and E-type cargo, then the target pending order can be allocated to the group of the first channel and the second channel.

[0077] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the layout of the aisles and shelves 20 is shown as an example when there are two sorting workstations. Figure 3, taking one of the sorting workstations as an example, the outlet of the branch channel of the first channel 31 corresponds to the lane formed between the third and fourth rows of shelves arranged from left to right, and the inlet of the branch channel of the first channel 31 corresponds to the lane formed between the fourth and fifth rows of shelves arranged from left to right. The outlet of the branch channel of the second channel 32 corresponds to the lane formed between the second and third rows of shelves arranged from left to right, and the inlet of the branch channel of the second channel 32 corresponds to the lane formed between the first and second rows of shelves arranged from left to right.

[0078] Taking the example of the transport robot driving on the first channel 31 and the sorting robot driving on the second channel 32, the driving directions of the transport robot and the sorting robot can be referred to in Figure 3 As shown by the arrow in the middle, see Figure 3 After receiving the first dispatch instruction, the handling robot takes out the raw material box from the first cargo position of the designated layer on the fifth row of shelves arranged from left to right, and transports the raw material box to the first parking position through a side branch channel of the first channel 31.

[0079] After receiving the second dispatch instruction, the sorting robot arrives at the second docking position via a branch channel on one side of the second channel 32, loads the sorted goods, and transports the sorted goods via a branch channel on the other side of the second channel 32 to the second cargo position on the designated layer of the third row of shelves arranged from left to right.

[0080] After this round of sorting is completed, the transport robot leaves the target sorting workstation through the branch channel on the other side of the first channel 31. At this time, if the raw material box on the transport robot is not empty, the transport robot will transport the raw material box to the designated raw material box storage location for further storage. If the raw material box on the transport robot is empty, the transport robot will transport the empty box to the recycling operation table for recycling. During the movement, the transport robot can climb the shelf 20 or move on the ground.

[0081] In one embodiment, the U-shaped passage is a ramp, and the heights of the exit and the entrance of the U-shaped passage are both lower than the height of the first parking position or the second parking position.

[0082] It is understandable that if the sorting process requires manual sorting, during the sorting process, the operator takes the goods from the raw material box on the handling robot at the sorting position and places them on the sorting robot. In this case, on the one hand, the height of the first channel and the second channel close to the sorting position (i.e., the side away from the exit and the entrance) can be set to take into account the operating comfort of the operator. The height of the first stop and the second stop close to the sorting position can be set to a height that the operator can touch when standing or sitting, so that the operator can complete the sorting operation without performing complex body movements such as bending over.

[0083] On the other hand, when setting the heights of the exits and entrances of the first channel and the second channel, the driving safety of the robot needs to be considered, and the heights of the exits and entrances can be set to the heights allowed for safe driving of the robot.

[0084] Taking the above two factors into consideration, the end of the ramp far away from the sorting position is lower, and the end close to the sorting position is higher. This setting can take into account both the operator's working comfort and the robot's driving safety.

[0085] In one embodiment, the first channel and / or the second channel may be provided with an anti-skid structure, which may specifically include anti-skid strips and / or anti-skid bumps distributed according to the wheelbase of the corresponding robot.

[0086] It is understandable that when the first channel and the second channel are ramps, the robot may slip during the climbing process due to insufficient friction between the robot's running wheels and the ramp surface, affecting the robot's driving safety and stability. By adding an anti-slip structure, the risk of slippage can be reduced and the robot's driving safety and stability can be improved.

[0087] In a specific implementation, when the anti-skid structure is anti-skid strips distributed according to the wheel base of the robot, two or more anti-skid strips can be provided, and the spacing between two adjacent anti-skid strips is equal to the wheel base of the robot or the difference between the two is within a specified numerical range, so as to ensure that the walking wheels of the robot can accurately contact the anti-skid strips during ramp driving.

[0088] When the anti-skid structure is an anti-skid bump distributed according to the wheelbase of the robot, the anti-skid bumps may be arranged in two or more groups. Each group of anti-skid bumps may be arranged along the extension direction of the ramp. Two adjacent anti-skid bumps in each group of anti-skid bumps may be spaced apart by a specified spacing, and the spacing between two adjacent groups of anti-skid bumps, or the spacing between two adjacent anti-skid bumps in the width direction of the ramp is equal to the wheelbase of the robot, or the difference between the two is within a specified numerical range, so as to ensure that the walking wheels of the robot can accurately contact the anti-skid bumps during the ramp driving process.

[0089] In practical applications, the anti-slip structure may also be other structural forms, such as one or more anti-slip layers laid on the surface of the first channel and / or the second channel, or one or more anti-slip pads fixed on the surface of the first channel and / or the second channel. The specific structure can be reasonably set according to actual conditions.

[0090] In one embodiment, the height of the first parking position is higher than the height of the second parking position.

[0091] It is understandable that in the sorting process, the operator needs to take out the goods to be sorted from the raw material box on the handling robot and put them on the sorting robot. Since the sorting robot can be a flip-plate type robot, if the flip plate is set in multiple layers, the flip plate itself has a certain height. In order to ensure that the operator can place the goods on the sorting robot more conveniently, the height of the second docking position for the sorting robot to dock can be set slightly lower, thereby improving the operator's working comfort.

[0092] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 In the situation shown, for a sorting robot with a single-layer structure without a flap, there is no need to consider the influence of the flap height on the operator's working comfort. In this case, considering that the raw material box carried by the transport robot has a certain height, in order to facilitate the operator to easily take the goods from the raw material box, the height of the first docking position for the transport robot can be set slightly lower, so that the height of the first docking position is lower than the height of the second docking position, thereby improving the operator's working comfort.

[0093] In the warehouse provided in this embodiment, the outbound packaging workstation is mainly used to pack the sorted order boxes according to the outbound requirements. For example, the outbound order boxes corresponding to the same delivery address can be packed and sent out uniformly.

[0094] To sum up, through the reasonable layout of the warehouse, the three-dimensional storage of goods can be realized through the shelves in the inventory area, and the inventory functions such as raw material box storage, order box storage and collection can be integrated, which improves the space utilization rate in the inventory area. Through the reasonable structural design of the sorting workstation, sorting and picking work can be carried out simultaneously, which improves the efficiency of goods sorting and picking and reduces the floor space of the sorting area.

[0095] An embodiment of the present application also provides a storage system, see Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the warehousing system specifically includes: a shelf 20, a handling robot 21 and a sorting robot 22. Optionally, the shelf 20 has a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area. The handling robot 21 and the sorting robot 22 are respectively connected to the server through a network, and the corresponding instructions sent by the server can respectively control the handling robot 21 and / or the sorting robot 22 to perform corresponding actions. The network can be a wired network or a wireless network, which is not specifically limited here. It can be understood that the server can include one or more management terminals and / or one or more management servers.

[0096] The server is at least used to send a first scheduling instruction and a second scheduling instruction. It can be understood that the first scheduling instruction or the second scheduling instruction is not limited to a single instruction, but may also be a combination of multiple instructions.

[0097] The transport robot 21 is used to receive the first dispatch instruction, and transport the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position A of the target sorting workstation according to the first dispatch instruction.

[0098] The sorting robot 22 is used to receive the second dispatching instruction and arrive at the second stop position B of the target sorting workstation according to the second dispatching instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot 21 at the first stop position A can be sorted to the sorting robot 22 at the second stop position B to become sorted goods. The sorting robot 22 is also used to transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second stop position to the second cargo position.

[0099] The first cargo location is a cargo location in the raw material box storage area, and the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0100] It can be understood that the transport robot 21 can be a first robot capable of performing a cargo transport task, and the sorting robot 22 can be a second robot capable of performing a cargo delivery task after sorting.

[0101] In actual applications, the server can determine the type and quantity of goods to be sorted according to the type and quantity of goods required by multiple orders involved in an order sorting task, and dispatch one or more transport robots 21 according to inventory information to transport the raw material boxes containing the corresponding goods to be sorted to the first docking position of the target sorting workstation for the next step of sorting.

[0102] It is understandable that the number of goods in the raw material box transported by the transport robot 21 can be greater than or equal to the number of corresponding goods required by multiple orders. In addition, according to the load capacity of the transport robot 21, a transport robot 21 can be dispatched to obtain multiple raw material boxes from the same or different cargo locations and transport them to the first stop of the target sorting workstation at one time, thereby reducing the number of transports and improving the transport efficiency.

[0103] In a specific implementation, the server generates a first scheduling instruction based on pre-stored inventory information, received information on the required goods of multiple orders involved in an order sorting task, and the current state information of the transport robot 21. The first scheduling instruction includes the location information of the first cargo location, which is the location where the goods to be sorted are placed determined based on the required goods information of multiple orders. The current state information of the transport robot 21, for example, includes the current location of the transport robot 21, whether it is currently idle, etc.

[0104] On the other hand, the server generates a second dispatch instruction according to the second cargo location corresponding to the order with the sorted goods among the multiple orders and the current state information of the sorting robot 22. The second dispatch instruction includes the location information of the second cargo location. The current state information of the sorting robot 22 includes, for example, the current location of the sorting robot 22 and whether it is currently idle.

[0105] In some embodiments, the storage system includes a plurality of transport robots 21 and / or a plurality of sorting robots 22. The plurality of transport robots 21 move along the same first motion trajectory (eg Figure 3 The first motion trajectory includes a first entry trajectory and a first exit trajectory; the plurality of sorting robots 22 move along the same second motion trajectory (e.g. Figure 3 The second motion track (the route indicated by the arrow in the middle) enters and exits the second stop position B of the target sorting workstation in sequence, and the second motion track includes a second entry track and a second exit track; wherein the first motion track and the second motion track do not intersect. By setting the fixed and non-intersecting first motion track and the second motion track, the action routes of the handling robot 21 and the sorting robot 22 during the dispatching process are optimized to improve efficiency, ensure sorting accuracy while improving efficiency, and avoid confusion in the transportation of goods in the storage system.

[0106] In an optional embodiment, when multiple transport robots 21 and multiple sorting robots 22 enter and exit the target sorting workstation along the first motion trajectory and the second motion trajectory, the specific cargo information required by the order box, the performance, work efficiency, cost and other actual conditions of the transport robots 21 and the sorting robots 22 can be comprehensively considered to control the scheduling of the multiple transport robots 21 and the sorting robots 22, so as to complete the sorting work of the cargo directly from the transport robots 21 to the sorting robots 22. Several situations are listed below, but are not limited to the following:

[0107] In the first case, when the goods to be sorted in the raw material box transported by the transport robot 21 located at the first docking position are more than the goods required for multiple orders involved in an order sorting task, the transport robot 21 can remain motionless at the first docking position A, and dispatch multiple sorting robots 22 to queue up and enter and exit the second docking position B in sequence, so as to sort the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the same transport robot 21 to different sorting robots 22, and enable the sorting robots 22 that obtain the sorted goods to move in sequence from the second docking position B to the second cargo position for storing the order boxes corresponding to the sorted goods.

[0108] It is understandable that the sorting robot 22 may move to the second cargo position after obtaining part of the required goods of the corresponding order, or may move to the second cargo position after obtaining all the required goods of the corresponding order.

[0109] In the second case, for example, when the goods required for multiple orders involved in a sorting task exceed the cargo carrying capacity of a transport robot 21 or other cases where multiple transport robots 21 are most efficient in transporting raw material boxes, multiple transport robots 21 can be dispatched to transport raw material boxes according to demand. Taking the case where two transport robots (the first transport robot and the second transport robot) are required to transport raw material boxes as an example, the two transport robots enter the first channel in sequence, the first transport robot arrives at the first docking position, the second transport robot is located thereafter, and the sorting robot is located at the second docking position. After the first transport robot sorts the required goods to the sorting robot, the first transport robot is dispatched to move out from the first docking position, and the second transport robot is dispatched to move to the first docking position. After the second transport robot sorts the other required goods to the sorting robot, the sorting robot moves from the second docking position to the second cargo position. As for the second transport robot, the server can determine whether the second transport robot has the required goods according to the next order demand. If so, the second transport robot can continue to stay at the first docking position, and the next sorting robot in the queue can be dispatched to enter the second docking position to achieve sorting. Otherwise, the second transport robot is dispatched to move out from the first docking position.

[0110] In the third case, based on the second case, the sorting robot 22 may also include a first sorting robot and a second sorting robot. The first sorting robot is arranged in front of the second sorting robot. When the first sorting robot obtains the sorted goods and moves to the second cargo position, the second sorting robot enters the second docking position in sequence. If the transport robot currently located at the first docking position cannot meet the demand of the order corresponding to the second sorting robot, but the transport robot can still meet the order demand of the sorting robot arranged behind the second sorting robot, in order not to affect the sorting of subsequent orders, the second sorting robot is dispatched to go out along the second exit track and then turn to the sorting robot at the tail and re-queue until it obtains the goods to be transported and moves to the second cargo position.

[0111] In some embodiments, the sorting robot 22 detects whether the transported sorted goods match the target goods according to the sorting detection instruction. The sorting detection instruction can be sent by the server, or generated by the sorting robot 22 after detecting and obtaining the sorted goods.

[0112] In a specific implementation, the second dispatch instruction or the sorting detection instruction may include the type and / or quantity of the target goods. After the sorting robot 22 obtains the sorted goods, it can detect the type and / or quantity of the obtained sorted goods, and compare it with the type and / or quantity of the target goods in the second dispatch instruction to determine whether the obtained sorted goods match the target goods. The sorting robot 22 can take an image to determine the type and / or quantity of the obtained sorted goods, or it can detect it through a sensing device, such as a weight sensor. If the obtained sorted goods match the target goods, the sorted goods will be transported to the second cargo position; if they do not match, for example, feedback can be given to the server. The server makes the next decision, such as allowing the sorting robot 22 located at the second stop position to continue moving to the second cargo position, or return to the end to queue again, or move to a preset fault handling position, etc.

[0113] It is understandable that the raw material box transported by the transport robot 21 can be determined according to the quantity and / or type of goods to be sorted required by multiple orders involved in one order sorting task, and the quantity of goods to be sorted in the raw material box is not less than the order requirement. That is, when the goods to be sorted are transported by the transport robot 21, the quantity, type and other information of the goods required by the order can be obtained in advance, and according to the order requirement, one or more transport robots 21 go to the corresponding first cargo position according to the corresponding first dispatch instruction to obtain the goods to be sorted of the corresponding type and the quantity of which is not less than the order requirement.

[0114] In a specific implementation, in the target sorting workstation, the operator stands at the sorting position and can sort the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot 21 located on one side of the operator, and directly sort the goods from the handling robot 21 to the sorting robot 22. In this way, the sorting work of the goods to be sorted can be conveniently and quickly implemented according to the order requirements corresponding to the sorting robot 22.

[0115] In some embodiments, the warehousing system can also be configured for automatic sorting, and the warehousing system includes at least one sorting mechanism, and the target sorting workstation is located in the working area of ​​the sorting mechanism. The sorting mechanism is used to replace the manual sorting described above, so that the goods required for the order can be obtained from the raw material box of the transport robot 21 to the sorting robot 22 by controlling the sorting mechanism.

[0116] It should be noted that the handling robot 21 and the sorting robot 22 can be robots of the same structure or robots of different structures. When picking up and placing goods, the first cargo position and / or the second cargo position can be a storage cargo position on the shelf, and the handling robot 21 and / or the sorting robot 22 can climb the shelf and move to the target cargo position to pick up and place the goods. In this case, the handling robot 21 and / or the sorting robot 22 has a climbing wheel train that is compatible with the climbing track of the shelf, and can move freely on the climbing track of the shelf through the climbing wheel train to realize the function of climbing the shelf to pick up and place goods.

[0117] In one embodiment, the transport robot may include: a first chassis for walking on a support surface, a first bearing device provided on the first chassis, and a first controller. The first bearing device specifically includes: a first bearing member for bearing a raw material box, and a first transfer mechanism for moving the raw material box to or away from the first bearing member. The first controller may be electrically connected to the first chassis, the first bearing member, and the first transfer mechanism, and the first controller may control the first chassis, the first bearing member, and the first transfer mechanism to accurately move, thereby completing the corresponding transport task.

[0118] For example, in the sorting process, the first controller can be configured to receive a first dispatching instruction, and control the first transfer mechanism to move the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first carrier according to the first dispatching instruction. The first controller can be configured to control the movement of the first chassis to transport the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of the target sorting workstation, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box are sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position of the target sorting workstation at the target sorting workstation to become sorted goods, and then transported to the second cargo position by the sorting robot. Among them, the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0119] In some embodiments, the first transfer mechanism of the handling robot may be a double-holding fork, a suction cup, a hook, etc.

[0120] In one embodiment, the sorting robot specifically includes: a second chassis for walking on a supporting surface, a second bearing device arranged on the second chassis, and a second controller. The second bearing device specifically includes: a second bearing member and a second transfer mechanism, the second bearing member is used to carry target goods or target containers, such as sorted goods or target order boxes; the second transfer mechanism is used to move the target goods or target containers to or from the second bearing member, such as sorted goods or target order boxes to or from the second bearing member; the second controller is used to control the actions of the second chassis, the second bearing member, and the second transfer mechanism to complete the corresponding transportation task.

[0121] For example, in the sorting process, the second controller can be configured to receive a second dispatch instruction, and control the second chassis to move to the second parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the second dispatch instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position of the target sorting workstation can be sorted to the second carrier to become sorted goods. The second controller can be configured to control the movement of the second chassis to transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second parking position to the second cargo position. The first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0122] In practical applications, the sorting robot may be a robot with a single-layer flip plate or a multi-layer flip plate structure, and the second transfer mechanism may be a conveyor belt, a flip plate or a push plate.

[0123] Conveyor belt robots can be further divided into two structural forms. In the first structural form, the conveyor belt can only perform translational motion. In this case, taking the sorting robot as an example, the second transfer mechanism may include a conveyor belt, which is sleeved on the second carrier, and carries the sorted goods together with the second carrier, and can rotate relative to the second carrier, so as to move the sorted goods on the conveyor belt to the second cargo position.

[0124] See also Figure 4 When there is a cargo delivery task and the conveyor belt can only move in translation, the operation control process of the conveyor belt robot is as follows:

[0125] S410, controlling the chassis of the conveyor belt robot to move to the target cargo location, and aligning the conveyor belt with the target cargo location.

[0126] S420, controlling the conveyor belt to move toward the target cargo position to move the cargo on the conveyor belt or the container containing the cargo to the second cargo position.

[0127] In the second structural form, the conveyor belt can perform translation and flipping movements. In this case, taking the sorting robot as an example, the second transfer mechanism may include a conveyor belt and a driving member, the conveyor belt is sleeved on the second carrier and can rotate relative to the second carrier, that is, move along the surface of the carrier. The driving member is connected to the second carrier, and is used to drive the second carrier and the conveyor belt to flip relative to the second chassis, so that the sorted goods can be delivered to the second cargo position by moving the conveyor belt and tipping the conveyor belt and the second carrier.

[0128] See also Figure 5 When there is a task of transporting goods, and the conveyor belt can perform translation and flipping movements, the operation and control process of the conveyor belt robot is as follows:

[0129] S510, controlling the chassis of the conveyor belt robot to move to the target cargo location, and aligning the conveyor belt with the target cargo location.

[0130] S520, controlling the conveyor belt to move toward the target cargo position, and controlling the driving member to drive the conveyor belt and the second carrier to flip relative to the chassis, so as to deliver the goods on the conveyor belt to the container in the second cargo position.

[0131] For a tilting robot, the goods can be dumped to the target cargo position by tilting the tilting plate relative to the chassis. Taking the sorting robot as an example, the second carrier may include a tilting plate, and the second transfer mechanism is connected to the tilting plate and is used to drive the tilting plate to tilt relative to the second chassis to dump the sorted goods to the second cargo position.

[0132] See also Figure 6 ,When there is a cargo delivery task, the operation and control process of the tilting robot is as follows:

[0133] S610, controlling the chassis of the tilting robot to move to the target cargo location, and aligning the tilting robot with the target cargo location.

[0134] S620, controlling the second transfer mechanism to drive the turnover plate to flip sideways relative to the chassis, so as to dump the goods on the turnover plate to the target cargo position.

[0135] For push-plate robots, the goods can be pushed to the target location by pushing the plate. Figure 7 The second transfer mechanism may include a push plate 41 disposed on the second carrier, and the push plate 41 may translate relative to the second carrier to push the sorted goods on the second carrier to the second cargo position.

[0136] See also Figure 8 ,When there is a cargo delivery task, the operation control process of the push-plate robot is as follows:

[0137] S710, control the chassis of the push-plate robot to move to the target cargo location, and align the push plate with the target cargo location.

[0138] S720, controlling the push plate to move toward the target cargo position to push the cargo on the second carrier to the second cargo position.

[0139] For a single-layer flip-plate or multi-layer flip-plate type robot, the goods can be dropped onto the carrier by flipping the flip-plate, and then the goods on the carrier are moved to the target cargo position by the transfer mechanism. Taking a single-layer flip-plate type sorting robot as an example, in one embodiment, see Fig. 9 The second carrying device further comprises a flap 51 disposed above the second carrying member. The flap 51 is used to carry the sorted goods, and the flap 51 can be turned relative to the second carrying member so that the sorted goods on the flap 51 fall onto the second carrying member.

[0140] It is understandable that for scenarios with lower requirements for cargo handling efficiency or smaller sorting tasks, the flap can be set to a single layer. Fig. 9 The figure shows the robot structure with a single-layer flap. For scenarios with high requirements for cargo handling efficiency or large sorting tasks, the flap can also be set up with multiple layers. When multiple layers of flaps are set up, each layer of flap can be arranged in parallel and separated by a certain distance to ensure that each layer of flap can accommodate a sufficient number of goods to be sorted.

[0141] Fig.10 The structure of a multi-layer flip-plate sorting robot is shown as an example. Fig.10 As shown, the sorting robot includes a second chassis 52 and a second bearing device disposed on the second chassis 52. The second bearing device specifically includes a second bearing member 53, a multi-layer flap 51 and a second transfer mechanism (not shown). The second bearing member 53 is used to carry the order box.

[0142] Taking the sorting process as an example, at the operating position, the operator can sort out the goods required in the order corresponding to the order box on the second carrier 53 into sorted goods, and place the sorted goods in the order box on the second carrier 53. The operator continues to sort and places the sorted goods on any layer of the flap 51. In some other embodiments, the second carrier 53 can directly carry goods instead of carrying order boxes.

[0143] It is understandable that the sorting robot adopts a single-layer or multi-layer flip-plate structure, and the flip-plate and the second transfer mechanism can cooperate to simultaneously transport a variety of sorted goods, and complete the delivery task of multiple order boxes in one transportation link, thereby improving the sorting efficiency of goods.

[0144] When there is a cargo delivery task, the operation control process of the flip-plate robot is divided into two situations, one situation is the situation where cargo is directly placed on the carrier, and the other situation is the situation where a container is placed on the carrier.

[0145] See also Fig.11 , when there are goods placed directly on the carrier, the operation and control process of the flip-plate robot is as follows:

[0146] S810, control the chassis of the flip-plate robot to move to the target cargo location, and align the carrier with the container on the target cargo location.

[0147] S820, controlling the transfer mechanism to move the current goods on the carrier to the container on the target cargo location.

[0148] S830, controlling the bottom flap to open, so as to drop the goods on the flap onto the empty carrier.

[0149] S840, controlling the chassis to move to another target cargo location, and aligning the carrier with the container on the other target cargo location.

[0150] S850, controlling the transfer mechanism to move the current goods on the carrier to a container on another target cargo location.

[0151] Among them, step S830 can be executed before, after or during the execution of step S840.

[0152] See also Fig.12 When a container is placed on the carrier, the operation control process of the flip-plate robot is as follows:

[0153] S910, controlling the chassis of the flip-plate robot to move to the target cargo location.

[0154] S920, controlling the transfer mechanism to move the container on the carrier to the target cargo position.

[0155] S930, controlling the chassis to move to another target cargo position, and aligning the carrier with the container on the other target cargo position.

[0156] S940, controlling the transfer mechanism to take out the container from another target cargo position and place it on the empty carrier.

[0157] S950, controlling the bottom flap to open so that the goods on the flap fall into the current container on the carrier.

[0158] S960, controlling the transfer mechanism to move the current container containing the goods to another target cargo location.

[0159] Among them, step S950 can be executed before, after or during the execution of step S960.

[0160] In one embodiment, the transport robot may reach the first cargo location by climbing the shelves and obtain the raw material box from the first cargo location; and / or, the sorting robot may transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo location by climbing the shelves.

[0161] In some embodiments, the transport robot and / or the sorting robot may also have two sets of wheel train structures, one set of wheel train structures is used for the transport robot or the sorting robot to walk on the ground, and the other set of wheel train structures is used for the transport robot or the sorting robot to climb shelves.

[0162] In a specific implementation, the robot may further include: a climbing component and a walking component. Specifically, the climbing component includes a climbing wheel train and a climbing drive component for driving the climbing wheel train. The climbing wheel train can drive the chassis to climb along the shelf under the drive of the climbing drive component. The walking component includes a walking wheel train and a walking drive component for driving the walking wheel train. The walking wheel train drives the chassis to move along the supporting surface under the drive of the walking drive component. The supporting surface may be the ground, or a horizontal guide rail on the shelf.

[0163] It should be noted that the robot mentioned in this specific implementation can be a handling robot or a sorting robot, and accordingly, the chassis can be the first chassis or the second chassis.

[0164] In practical applications, the handling robot and the sorting robot can be configured to match the same shelf for lifting and lowering. In this way, the role of each shelf can be flexibly adjusted or changed without being limited to whether the handling robot and the sorting robot can lift and unload. Alternatively, the handling robot and the sorting robot can be configured to match any shelf for climbing.

[0165] In this embodiment, the transport robot can transport the raw material boxes. Before the sorting stage, the raw material boxes need to be placed in the first cargo position in the raw material box storage area according to the raw material box storage strategy to ensure that in the subsequent sorting stage, the transport robot can accurately transport the required raw material boxes from the first cargo position according to the first scheduling instruction.

[0166] In actual applications, there are many ways to determine the first cargo position according to the raw material box warehousing strategy. This embodiment mainly implements the reasonable warehousing of raw material boxes based on the principle that raw material boxes corresponding to various types of goods to be sorted are evenly distributed in each lane, and / or the principle that hotter goods to be sorted are placed on the lower shelves.

[0167] In one embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy specifically includes: calculating the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane according to the current inventory data. According to the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, and in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, determining the first cargo location corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored.

[0168] In this embodiment, each raw material box can be stored in the corresponding storage location according to the principle that the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted are evenly distributed in each lane. In practical applications, the warehousing tasks of the goods to be sorted in the current lane can be replaced with the warehousing tasks of other goods to be sorted in other lanes, and finally the number of SKUs in the warehouse in each lane is nearly balanced. In this embodiment, the goods to be sorted can be various types of SKUs. It can be understood that SKU is the smallest inventory unit, which is called Stock Keeping Unit, that is, the basic unit for measuring inventory in and out.

[0169] In some embodiments, the process of warehousing the raw material boxes can be divided into two steps, as follows:

[0170] The first step is to carry out initial sorting of incoming raw material boxes according to the principle that the number of incoming boxes in each lane is equal, to ensure that the incoming storage tasks in each lane are balanced after the initial sorting.

[0171] The second step is to calculate the number of boxes in stock in each lane based on the current inventory information. In accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, fine-tune the warehousing tasks corresponding to at least some lanes after the initial sorting. During the fine-tuning process, the warehousing tasks obtained by the initial sorting in the current lane can be replaced with the warehousing tasks of other lanes, ultimately ensuring that the number of boxes in stock for each SKU in each lane is close to balanced.

[0172] The following takes the allocation of 100 boxes of raw materials to be stored in the first lane and the second lane as an example to illustrate the allocation process of the raw material boxes. In this embodiment, the 100 boxes of raw materials to be stored correspond to four storage tasks, namely the first storage task, the second storage task, the third storage task and the fourth storage task. Among them, the first storage task requires 10 boxes of Class A SKUs, the second storage task requires 30 boxes of Class A SKUs, the third storage task requires 40 boxes of Class A SKUs, and the fourth storage task requires 20 boxes of Class A SKUs. The specific allocation process of the above-mentioned boxes of raw materials to be stored is as follows:

[0173] First, according to the principle that each lane has an equal number of incoming boxes, the first and third incoming tasks are assigned to the first lane, and the second and fourth incoming tasks are assigned to the second lane. After the initial division, it can be ensured that the first lane and the second lane are each allocated 50 boxes of Class A SKUs.

[0174] Then, based on the current inventory information, it is calculated that the number of boxes of Class A SKUs in stock in the first lane is 10 boxes, and the number of boxes of Class A SKUs in stock in the second lane is 30 boxes. At this time, in order to ensure that the number of boxes of Class A SKUs in stock in the two lanes is balanced, the first warehousing task assigned to the first lane can be replaced with the fourth warehousing task assigned to the second lane, ultimately ensuring that the number of boxes of Class A SKUs in stock in the first lane and the second lane are both 70 boxes.

[0175] In actual applications, it is allowed for the same type of goods to be sorted to have N boxes in a single lane that is higher than the number of boxes in other lanes, but it is necessary to ensure that the N value does not exceed a specified threshold. The specified threshold can be determined by the order structure and is not specifically limited here.

[0176] In another embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy specifically includes:

[0177] According to the current inventory data and the historical sales popularity data of various types of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored is determined according to the goal of placing the more popular goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

[0178] In this embodiment, each raw material box can be stored in the corresponding storage location according to the principle that the hottest goods to be sorted are placed on the lower shelves. In actual applications, the probability of goods with high historical sales popularity being sorted and shipped out later is relatively high. Placing such goods on the bottom shelf can reduce the walking distance of the handling robot in the height direction during the process of picking up goods, reduce the length of the robot's handling track, and improve the efficiency of cargo transportation.

[0179] In practical applications, the popularity of various types of goods to be sorted can be sorted according to their historical sales popularity, and the storage shelves for various types of goods to be sorted can be determined based on the sorting results and the principle that popularity is negatively correlated with shelf height. The specific shelf locations and storage areas can be reasonably allocated based on the number of raw material boxes corresponding to the goods to be sorted. For example, if the number of raw material boxes corresponding to a certain type of goods to be sorted can occupy one layer of the shelf and the historical sales popularity of this type of goods to be sorted is the highest, all storage locations on the lowest layer of the shelf can be used as the storage area for this type of goods to be sorted.

[0180] In another embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy specifically includes:

[0181] According to the current inventory data, the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle, and the historical sales popularity data of each type of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored is determined in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle and placing the hotter goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

[0182] In this embodiment, each raw material box can be stored in a corresponding storage location according to the principle that the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted are evenly distributed in each aisle and the hotter goods to be sorted are placed on the lower shelves. The above-mentioned raw material box warehousing method can take into account the two factors of uniform distribution of raw material boxes in each aisle and storage of high-temperature raw material boxes on the bottom layer of the shelf. Determining the first storage location according to this strategy can not only ensure the convenience of the raw material box retrieval process in the subsequent sorting link, but also ensure the efficiency of the handling robot in transporting goods in the sorting link.

[0183] In practical applications, we can first determine the number of boxes of goods corresponding to each aisle based on the principle that the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted are evenly distributed in each aisle, and then determine the storage locations of the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted based on the principle that the hotter goods to be sorted are placed on the lower shelves, thereby allocating more reasonable storage locations for the raw material boxes of each type of goods to be sorted.

[0184] It should be noted that the lanes mentioned in the above embodiments are formed by the gap between two adjacent shelves. Since multiple shelves for storing raw material boxes can be set up in the inventory area, multiple lanes can be formed through the gap between every two shelves in the multiple shelves.

[0185] For the order boxes containing sorted goods, a second cargo location can be determined from multiple cargo locations in the order box storage area in the inventory area according to the order box allocation strategy, so that in the sorting process, the sorting robot can accurately transport the sorted goods to the second cargo location.

[0186] In one embodiment, the order box allocation strategy may specifically include:

[0187] According to the data of the current outbound order set, the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current outbound order set are determined according to the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order. The data of the current outbound order set at least includes the SKU and quantity required for each order.

[0188] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

[0189] When allocating empty order boxes to each lane, this embodiment allocates them according to the goal of balancing the sorting task volume of the robots in each lane, ensuring that after the order boxes are allocated, the sorting task volume of the robots in each lane is basically the same, thereby avoiding the problem of congestion in these lanes and affecting the transportation efficiency due to a large amount of sorting tasks in one or several lanes.

[0190] In actual applications, the robot sorting task volume of a certain lane is allowed to be higher than that of other lanes, but the robot sorting task volume of each lane has a specified upper limit, and the robot sorting task volume of each lane should not exceed the specified upper limit. For example, the specified upper limit can be set to 1.1 times the average of the robot sorting task volume of each lane. In this case, the robot sorting task volume of a single lane is not allowed to exceed 10% of the average. If the robot sorting task volume of a lane exceeds the average by more than 10%, the order boxes between lanes can be replaced to ensure the balance of robot sorting task volumes between lanes. The replacement method of order boxes can refer to the replacement method of raw material boxes mentioned above.

[0191] In some embodiments, determining the required number of order boxes specifically includes:

[0192] Multiply the quantity of goods corresponding to each order by the unit volume of the goods to obtain the total volume of goods corresponding to each order.

[0193] The total volume of goods in each order is divided by the unit volume of the order box to obtain the required number of order boxes for each order.

[0194] It is understandable that when determining the number of order boxes required for each order, it can be determined based on the total volume of the goods corresponding to the order and the unit volume of the order box. If the total volume of the goods for each order is divided by the unit volume of the order box, the value obtained is not an integer. In this case, an integer slightly larger than the value needs to be taken as the required number of order boxes. For example, if the value obtained by the quotient is 8.3, 9 should be taken as the required number of order boxes for the order to ensure that all the goods corresponding to the order can be loaded into the corresponding order box.

[0195] The number of sorting times for each order can be determined based on the number of sorting times for each order box corresponding to the order. The number of sorting times for an order box can be determined based on the quantity and type of goods required in the order box and the maximum number of each type of goods that the sorting robot can transport at one time.

[0196] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, in the step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes, order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the same shelf layer in the same lane.

[0197] It is understandable that when determining the second cargo location, the order box corresponding to each lane can be determined first, that is, the lane where each order box is located can be determined. This process needs to be aimed at balancing the sorting task volume of the robots in each lane. The following is a detailed explanation through an example:

[0198] For example, there are 8 lanes in the inventory area of ​​the current storage system, and each lane is recorded as R1 to R8; the currently generated robot sorting tasks are recorded as A(n), B(n)...H(n). When assigning robot sorting tasks, first assign tasks A(1) to A(8) to lanes R1 to R8. At this time, each lane corresponds to a group of robot sorting tasks, and each lane also corresponds to a group of outbound tasks when outbound.

[0199] According to the above allocation method, tasks B(1) to B(8), tasks C(1) to C(8), and tasks D(1) to D(8) are allocated to lanes R1-R8 in turn. At this time, each lane corresponds to 4 groups of tasks, and the number of tasks in each lane is balanced.

[0200] For tasks E(1) to E(6) and tasks F(1) to F(6), they need to be assigned to lanes R1 to R6 in order. At this time, lanes R1 to R6 correspond to 6 groups of tasks, and lanes R7 and R8 only correspond to 4 groups of tasks.

[0201] For the unassigned tasks G(1) and G(2) and tasks H(1) and H(2), we can first summarize the number of tasks corresponding to lanes R1 to R8, sort them in reverse order, and assign tasks G(1) and G(2) and tasks H(1) and H(2) to lanes R7 and R8 respectively. At this time, the number of tasks in all lanes is balanced, and each corresponds to 6 groups of robot sorting tasks, thereby achieving a balanced allocation of robot sorting tasks.

[0202] After determining the aisle where each order box is located, the corresponding shelf location of each order box in the determined aisle can be determined based on the condition that the order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear in the same aisle and the same layer of the shelf, and the order boxes corresponding to the same SKU that have been allocated to the same aisle can be allocated to different layers of the aisle.

[0203] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes includes:

[0204] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, combined with the currently allocated task volume of each aisle, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each aisle in the designated multiple aisles, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple aisles.

[0205] In some embodiments, when the number of order boxes required is large, the order box allocation process can be divided into two steps, as follows:

[0206] The first step is to sort the first group of order boxes based on the condition that the order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the wall of the same aisle and layer of the shelf. After the initial sorting, the SKU-hit order boxes are summarized by aisle, and the sorting task volume corresponding to each aisle after the initial sorting of the first group of order boxes is counted.

[0207] In the second step, for the second group of order boxes that do not meet the wall conditions, they are allocated to the shelves in each aisle and each layer according to the card distribution principle. After the allocation is completed according to the card distribution principle, the sorting task volume corresponding to each aisle is counted again to obtain the average sorting task volume of a single aisle. If the sorting task volume corresponding to a certain aisle exceeds the average sorting task volume of a single aisle by more than 10%, the order boxes between aisles can be replaced to ensure the balance of sorting task volumes between aisles.

[0208] It should be noted that if order boxes of the same SKU have been allocated to each floor of the same lane, the other order boxes of the SKU are all the second group of order boxes that do not meet the wall mounting conditions.

[0209] It is understandable that the second cargo location can be allocated in combination with the currently allocated task volume of each lane so that the robot sorting task volume between each lane is balanced, thereby ensuring that the sorting robot will not cause congestion due to frequent appearance in one or more lanes during the transportation of goods, thereby improving the reliability and safety of the sorting process.

[0210] After the sorting process is completed, the sorted goods are loaded into the corresponding order box, and when the outbound task is received later, the outbound process will be executed. In some embodiments, the task of carrying the order box during the outbound process can be performed by the fifth robot, and the specific process can be as follows:

[0211] After receiving the fifth dispatching instruction, the fifth robot can transport the target order box that meets the outbound conditions from the second cargo location or the collection location in the collection area to the outbound packaging workstation according to the fifth dispatching instruction.

[0212] It is understandable that the outbound condition may be that the preset delivery time has been reached, or the target order box has been collected, at which time the target order box to be outbound can be transported to the outbound packaging workstation. In this embodiment, the outbound packaging workstation can pack the target order box to be outbound according to the delivery requirements and send it out at the specified delivery time.

[0213] It is understandable that the fifth robot may have the same structure as the transport robot or the sorting robot, or may have a different structure from the transport robot or the sorting robot. In some embodiments, the fifth robot has a shelf climbing structure, and can take out the target order box from the second cargo position of the designated shelf by climbing the shelf, and transport the target order box to the target location.

[0214] In actual applications, the fifth robot can be directly dispatched to transport the target order box from the second cargo position to the outbound packaging workstation, and the target order box can be directly shipped out after the specified delivery time is reached. The fifth robot can also be dispatched to transport the target order box to the collection position in the collection area for collection. When the outbound conditions are met, such as the outbound time is reached or all order boxes corresponding to the current order are packed, the fifth robot is dispatched to transport the target order box from the collection position to the outbound packaging workstation for shipment.

[0215] It is understandable that the outbound packaging workstation is mainly used to pack and send out the goods in the outbound order box according to the outbound requirements, such as packing all the goods in the order placed by the ordering customer and sending them out at the same time.

[0216] In some embodiments, in order to ensure the balance of outbound tasks in each lane, the outbound link can be implemented according to a preset outbound strategy. When the warehousing system receives an outbound task, it will summarize the order picking number information in the outbound task, combine the inventory information of each SKU, count the number of boxes moved for each SKU, and evenly distribute the box-picking tasks to each lane. Because the raw material boxes have been evenly distributed to each lane during the raw material box warehousing link, it can ensure that the handling robot has a high probability of picking up the raw material box corresponding to the target SKU in other lanes, thus reducing the probability of multiple handling robots picking up the same SKU raw material box in the same lane, and avoiding the problem of congestion during the operation of the handling robot affecting the operation efficiency.

[0217] Before leaving the warehouse, the order boxes can also be collected as needed. Specifically, the order boxes that have completed the sorting task can be placed in the corresponding collection position in the collection area for caching. For the warehousing and logistics center, the punctuality of the distribution link is an important indicator to measure the warehouse operation capacity, and the collection link is a key factor restricting the distribution efficiency. In the related technology, the collection link is usually completed by manual operation. The manual collection mode adopts the layout design of upper storage and lower picking. While ensuring the inventory in the warehouse area, a zero picking position is set on the bottom of the high-level shelf, saving the space for setting up an independent picking area. In addition, by setting up a picking conveyor line, the walking of the picking personnel is reduced, and the lane merging is done by the picking conveyor line, which improves the efficiency of manual picking. However, the manual collection mode also has great disadvantages, such as the conveyor line rigidly divides the warehouse area into a forklift replenishment area and a manual picking area. On the one hand, it is impossible to form a forklift circulation path, which reduces the efficiency of warehousing replenishment and zero picking replenishment. On the other hand, the pick-up area is divided into single lanes. If the traffic volume in a single lane or several lanes increases sharply, it is difficult to ensure the efficiency of outbound delivery, and it is easy to have task timeouts or warehouse overflows. Therefore, the traditional collection method has the problems of unreasonable layout of the collection area and low collection efficiency.

[0218] In some embodiments, the collection area for collecting goods may be set on the shelf, and the collection task may be performed by a third robot. The specific process is as follows:

[0219] After receiving the third dispatching instruction, the third robot transports the order boxes that meet the preset conditions in the order box storage area to the collection locations in the collection area for collection according to the third dispatching instruction and the collection strategy, so as to release the storage locations in the order box storage area.

[0220] It is understandable that the third robot can be a handling robot different from the one for handling raw material boxes, or can be another handling robot. The third robot can have the same structure as the handling robot, or can have a different structure from the handling robot. In some embodiments, when the collection position is set on a shelf, the third robot can be equipped with a shelf climbing structure.

[0221] By collecting goods in order boxes, the order boxes can be cached centrally according to certain rules after sorting is completed and before shipment. When the shipment conditions are met, the order boxes in the collection area can be shipped out quickly, which can improve the efficiency of goods shipment.

[0222] In one embodiment, the order boxes that meet the preset conditions include: an order box that has completed order picking but has not yet reached the shipping time, or an order box that has been full but has not yet reached the shipping time, or an order box that has completed a specified task but has not yet reached the shipping time.

[0223] It is understandable that the order boxes that meet the preset conditions are mainly for some order boxes that have not yet reached the delivery time. If the order boxes that have not yet reached the delivery time have been picked, or have been filled, or have completed the specified task, the order box can be placed in the collection area for collection and caching, and can be shipped after meeting the delivery conditions. When the order includes multiple sets of kits, each set of kits needs to be packaged separately, and then the multiple sets of kits in the order are collected and packaged. In this case, the order box completes the specified task, which means that the order box has accommodated all the goods corresponding to a kit. For example, an order includes 10 sets of kits consisting of a computer, a mouse, and a keyboard. The order requires 10 order boxes, and each order box only contains one computer, one mouse, and one keyboard. In the delivery packaging area, first pack one computer, one mouse, and one keyboard in each order box into a small package, and then pack the 10 small packages into a large package. At this time, the order box completes the specified task, which means that the order box has accommodated one computer, one mouse, and one keyboard.

[0224] In one embodiment, the triggering condition of the third scheduling instruction specifically includes:

[0225] The storage spaces in the order box storage area are all occupied, and the order boxes on the storage spaces in the order box storage area cannot meet the shelving requirements for all order boxes in a single wave or on a single day.

[0226] It is understandable that if all available cargo spaces in multiple preset order box storage areas are occupied and it is still impossible to ensure that all order boxes in a single wave or a single day are on the shelves, it is necessary to add new empty order boxes multiple times through dynamic release to increase the number of order boxes on the shelves to meet the demand for all order boxes in a single wave or a single day. Dynamic release can alleviate the storage pressure of goods in the order box storage area and facilitate the efficient delivery of subsequent goods.

[0227] In one embodiment, the shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area partially overlap; or,

[0228] The shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area do not overlap; or,

[0229] The shelf where the goods collection area is located does not have a raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area is closer to the outbound packaging workstation of the storage system than the raw material box storage area.

[0230] In one embodiment, the collection strategy includes:

[0231] According to the order collection information of the order box that meets the preset conditions, the collection area and the collection position of the order box that meets the preset conditions are determined from multiple collection areas.

[0232] Among them, multiple collection areas correspond to different order collection information, and the multiple collection areas do not overlap, and are respectively located on shelves corresponding to different aisles, different columns of shelves corresponding to the same aisle, or different layers of shelves corresponding to the same aisle.

[0233] The order collection information includes at least one of store information, delivery routes, delivery areas, and delivery waves.

[0234] It is understandable that in the collection stage, multiple independent collection areas can be set up, and the multiple collection areas can be divided according to different stores, different delivery routes, or different delivery areas. For example, the collection area can be divided according to different stores, and the order boxes belonging to the same store are stored in the collection area corresponding to the store; or the collection area can be divided according to different delivery routes, and the order boxes on the same delivery route are stored in the collection area corresponding to the delivery route. In the division process, the collection areas with close delivery routes can be arranged adjacently; or the order boxes belonging to the same delivery area can be divided into the same collection area according to different delivery areas.

[0235] By dividing the collection area in the above manner, the delivery efficiency of order boxes when leaving the warehouse can be improved, and the probability of wrong or missed delivery of order boxes can be reduced.

[0236] In actual applications, different collection areas correspond to different order collection information. Different collection areas can be distinguished by different columns, different layers or different areas on the same shelf, or can be distinguished by different shelves, for example, each collection area corresponds to one shelf.

[0237] In some embodiments, it may be necessary to collect goods along multiple routes, with multiple stores distributed on each route. In this case, a lane may be set as the collection area for the same route, a row may be set as the collection area for a store, or several rows may be set as the collection area for a route.

[0238] During the collection process, some cargo spaces in the order box storage area are released and are in an idle state. In order to meet the demand for more order boxes to be put on the shelves, empty order boxes can be added to the released cargo spaces to improve the utilization rate of the cargo spaces. In some embodiments, the task of adding empty order boxes can be performed by the fourth robot. The specific process is as follows:

[0239] After receiving the fourth dispatching instruction, the fourth robot replenishes the released storage spaces in the order box storage area with empty order boxes according to the fourth dispatching instruction and the order box allocation strategy.

[0240] In a specific implementation, the empty order box to be replenished can be determined based on order information, the cargo information carried by the handling robot and / or the sorting robot currently in the target sorting workstation, and the like. For example, when the required cargo corresponding to the order associated with the order box that meets the preset conditions has not been sorted out, the empty order box can be determined based on the order information corresponding to the unsorted order. For another example, if the sorted cargo carried by the sorting robot currently in the target sorting workstation corresponds to the type and quantity of cargo required for a pending order, the empty order box can be determined based on the order information corresponding to the pending order. In addition, the empty order box can also be determined based on the order's delivery time and the urgency of delivery, which is not specifically limited here.

[0241] It is understandable that the fourth robot can adopt the same or different structure as the third robot. In some embodiments, the third robot and / or the fourth robot can adopt a transport robot. When the order box storage location is set on the shelf, the fourth robot can be configured with a shelf climbing structure.

[0242] In practical applications, the outbound strategy of the outbound link can be related to the division method of the collection area. A single lane can not only place the order boxes to be shipped corresponding to one route, but also when the number of cargo locations in a single lane is much larger than the number of order boxes of the same route, the order boxes corresponding to other outbound tasks not in this wave can be arranged to be stored in the lane.

[0243] In some embodiments, the number of routes that can be shipped in the same time period is determined by the back-end crossing, and one crossing corresponds to one route. In actual applications, when the logistics center ships, a logistics batch table will be generated. Through this table, different shipping time periods and logistics routes covered in this time period can be viewed. For example, a logistics center warehouse that ships to stores in the East China region ships from Platform 4 to stores in the Ningbo area during the time period from 13:00 to 15:00. The time period described above is the wave, and the shipment from Platform 4 to the Ningbo area is the route. When collecting goods, the warehousing system allocates cargo locations based on waves and routes, that is, goods of different waves and routes are distributed in a single lane. For example, the goods corresponding to wave 1 and route 1 are in lane M1, the goods corresponding to wave 1 and route 2 are in lane M2, and the goods corresponding to wave 2 and route 1 can be in lane 1 or lane 2. At the same time, order boxes are stored according to the layout of the waves closer to the outbound packaging workstation.

[0244] Based on the wave and route, the outbound tasks can be evenly distributed to each lane according to the licensing principle. For example, Lane M1 sends out 100 boxes, Lane M2 sends out 100 boxes, and the handling robots move boxes in a rhythmic manner according to the lanes. There will be no problem of multiple robots moving boxes in the same lane, which affects the robot's transportation efficiency. If a certain lane is emptied in advance, the storage system can immediately make up for the outbound tasks of other routes in the corresponding lane.

[0245] If the collection requirements are met, for example, some order boxes have been sorted, the order boxes will be taken out by the handling robot from the lower shelf order box location or some upper shelf locations, and transferred to the collection location for temporary storage. When the outbound order is issued, the handling robot will carry the order box to the outbound packaging workstation, and then move it to the collection temporary storage area along the collection conveyor line. The end of the collection conveyor line is divided into multiple diversion gates, each of which can correspond to a certain logistics route. The order boxes flow out from different gates and are manually stacked on pallets corresponding to different stores, completing the collection operation according to the logistics route and store.

[0246] Based on at least some of the related solutions in the above warehouse, storage system and storage process of raw material box warehousing, order box warehousing, outbound and collection process, the present application also provides an outbound method, which can be executed by the server, see Fig.13 , the outbound method specifically includes:

[0247] S1010, sending a first scheduling instruction to the transport robot so that the transport robot performs a first type of task, the first type of task including: transporting the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first docking position of the target sorting workstation according to the first scheduling instruction.

[0248] S1020, sending a second dispatch instruction to the sorting robot so that the sorting robot performs a second type of task, the second type of task including: arriving at the second stop position of the target sorting workstation according to the second dispatch instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first stop position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second stop position to become sorted goods, and transporting the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second stop position to the second cargo position. The first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0249] In some embodiments, the transport robot may reach the first cargo location by climbing the shelf and obtain the raw material box from the first cargo location; and / or,

[0250] The sorting robot can transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo location by climbing the shelves.

[0251] In some embodiments, the raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area is located below the raw material box storage area; or,

[0252] The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area and the raw material box storage area are arranged alternately in the height direction or in the horizontal direction; or,

[0253] The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on different shelves, and the order box storage area is closer to the target picking workstation than the raw material box storage area.

[0254] In one embodiment, the order box allocation strategy includes:

[0255] According to the data of the current outbound order set and the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order, the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current outbound order set is determined; wherein the data of the current outbound order set includes at least the SKU and quantity required for each order.

[0256] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

[0257] When allocating empty order boxes to each lane, this embodiment allocates them according to the goal of balancing the sorting task volume of the robots in each lane, ensuring that after the order boxes are allocated, the sorting task volume of the robots in each lane is basically the same, thereby avoiding the problem of robots being congested in these lanes due to a large amount of sorting tasks in one or several lanes, thereby affecting the transportation efficiency.

[0258] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, in the step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes, order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the same shelf layer in the same lane.

[0259] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes includes:

[0260] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, combined with the currently allocated task volume of each aisle, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each aisle in the designated multiple aisles, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple aisles.

[0261] It is understandable that the second cargo location can be allocated in combination with the currently allocated task volume of each lane so that the robot sorting task volume between each lane is balanced, thereby ensuring that the sorting robot will not cause congestion due to frequent appearance in one or more lanes during the transportation of goods, thereby improving the reliability and safety of the sorting process.

[0262] In one embodiment, before sending the first scheduling instruction to the transport robot, the method further includes:

[0263] The first cargo location is determined according to the raw material box storage strategy, so that the raw material boxes to be stored containing the goods to be sorted are stored in the first cargo location.

[0264] In one embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes:

[0265] Based on the current inventory data, calculate the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle.

[0266] According to the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, and in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, determine the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored.

[0267] In one embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes:

[0268] According to the current inventory data and the historical sales popularity data of various types of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored is determined according to the goal of placing the more popular goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

[0269] In one embodiment, determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes:

[0270] According to the current inventory data, the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle, and the historical sales popularity data of each type of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored is determined in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle and placing the hotter goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

[0271] In one embodiment, before sending the second scheduling instruction to the sorting robot, the method further includes:

[0272] According to the order box allocation strategy, the corresponding second cargo locations are determined for the multiple empty order boxes of the current outbound order set.

[0273] Send a sixth scheduling instruction to the sixth robot to enable the sixth robot to perform a sixth type of task. The sixth type of task includes: obtaining an empty order box from a designated box pickup location and transporting the empty order box to a corresponding second cargo location.

[0274] In actual applications, the function of the sixth robot can be realized by a handling robot. The handling robot is mainly used to carry raw material boxes. During idle periods, it can also be used to carry empty order boxes and perform empty order box warehousing tasks, thereby making full use of equipment resources and reducing overall equipment investment.

[0275] In a specific implementation, the sixth robot can first go to the designated box picking location in the empty order box storage area to obtain the empty order box. After manually scanning the code of the empty order box to bind the order information, the sixth robot is placed on the box receiving conveyor line. After the sixth robot receives the box from the conveyor line by relying on the transfer mechanism, it goes to the designated second cargo location. After arriving at the second cargo location, the empty order box is unloaded to the second cargo location by relying on the transfer mechanism. At this point, the empty order box shelving operation is completed, and the above operation process is repeated until all empty order box warehousing tasks are completed.

[0276] In actual applications, the storage areas for order boxes on the shelves are cleared every day, indicating that all outbound tasks for the day have been completed so that more order boxes can be put on the shelves the next day.

[0277] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned warehouse-out method further includes:

[0278] When the trigger conditions are met, a third scheduling instruction is sent to the third robot to enable the third robot to perform a third type of task. The third type of task includes: transporting the order boxes that meet the preset conditions in the order box storage area to the collection locations in the collection area according to the collection strategy for collection, so as to free up the storage locations in the order box storage area.

[0279] In some embodiments, the order boxes that meet the preset conditions include: order boxes that have completed order picking but have not yet reached the shipping time, or order boxes that have been filled but have not yet reached the shipping time, or order boxes that have completed designated tasks but have not yet reached the shipping time.

[0280] In some embodiments, the shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area partially overlap; or,

[0281] The shelf where the collection area is located has a raw material box storage area, and the collection area and the raw material box storage area do not overlap; or,

[0282] The shelf where the goods collection area is located does not have a raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area is closer to the outbound packaging workstation of the storage system than the raw material box storage area.

[0283] The various area layout methods of the shelves where the above-mentioned collection areas are located can all achieve efficient collection functions. The specific layout method can be reasonably selected according to actual warehousing needs. For example, for storage scenarios with large storage space and high requirements for the independence of the collection function, the shelf where the collection area is located can be selected without a raw material box storage area, and the collection area can be selected. The area layout method is that the shelf where the collection area is located does not have a raw material box storage area, and the collection area is closer to the outbound packaging workstation of the storage system than the raw material box storage area.

[0284] In some embodiments, the collection strategy includes:

[0285] According to the order collection information of the order box that meets the preset conditions, the collection area and the collection position of the order box that meets the preset conditions are determined from multiple collection areas.

[0286] Among them, multiple collection areas correspond to different order collection information, and the multiple collection areas do not overlap, and are respectively located on shelves corresponding to different aisles, different columns of shelves corresponding to the same aisle, or different layers of shelves corresponding to the same aisle.

[0287] The order collection information includes at least one of store information, delivery routes, delivery areas, and delivery waves.

[0288] Through the collection method, the sorted order boxes can be centrally cached according to the collection strategy. Since the collection strategy refers to the store information, delivery routes and other information related to centralized outbound delivery in the order collection information, the subsequent outbound delivery link can uniformly send out the goods to be shipped from the collection area, effectively improving the outbound delivery efficiency.

[0289] In some embodiments, the triggering condition of the third scheduling instruction includes:

[0290] The storage spaces in the order box storage area are all occupied, and the order boxes on the storage spaces in the order box storage area cannot meet the shelving requirements for all order boxes in a single wave or on a single day.

[0291] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned warehouse-out method further includes:

[0292] A fourth dispatch instruction is sent to the fourth robot to enable the fourth robot to perform a fourth type of task. The fourth type of task includes: replenishing the released cargo spaces in the order box storage area with empty order boxes according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0293] It is understandable that dynamic release can alleviate the storage pressure of goods in the order box storage area, and also facilitate the efficient delivery of subsequent goods.

[0294] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned warehouse-out method further includes:

[0295] The fifth dispatching instruction is sent to the fifth robot, so that the fifth robot transports the target order box that meets the outbound conditions from the second cargo location or the collection location to the outbound packaging workstation according to the fifth dispatching instruction.

[0296] It can be understood that the process of dispatching the fifth robot to realize the cargo outbound is more efficient than the method of manually transporting the cargo outbound.

[0297] The outbound delivery method of the above embodiment can be applied to the outbound delivery scenario of goods corresponding to ordinary orders, such as one order corresponding to the same customer, or multiple orders corresponding to the same customer, but the goods of multiple orders are located in the same warehouse area. In the above scenarios, the outbound delivery method provided in the above embodiment can be used to achieve efficient outbound delivery of goods.

[0298] In one application scenario, the same customer may generate multiple orders, and the goods of multiple orders need to be packed into one package. For example, the order grouping scenario is common in some airport duty-free shops at home and abroad, such as Fig.14 The example shows the process of collecting and shipping orders at an airport duty-free shop. Fig.14 , customer 61 may purchase multiple items in the airport duty-free shop 62 and generate multiple orders. For example, three orders are generated, and the three orders need to be shipped from the first warehouse area 63, the second warehouse area 64, and the third warehouse area 65 respectively. Then the goods in the three warehouse areas are collected into the same package, packed and shipped uniformly, and delivered directly to the boarding gate 66 before the customer boards the plane, so that the customer can take them away directly.

[0299] For the above-mentioned order collection scenario, an embodiment of the present application provides a cargo sorting method, that is, another outbound method applied to the order collection scenario, see Fig.15 , the cargo sorting method comprises:

[0300] S1110, obtaining pending orders and determining order types of the pending orders; wherein order types include new orders and additional orders.

[0301] S1120, if the pending order is a new order, a target order box is allocated for the new order and a second cargo location is determined; if the pending order is an additional order, a target order box and a second cargo location are determined according to an established order corresponding to the additional order.

[0302] S1130: Send a second dispatch instruction to the sorting robot according to the second cargo location, so that the sorting robot transports the sorted goods corresponding to the order to be processed or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo location.

[0303] It is understandable that the pending order can be an order that has been generated but has not been sorted. The newly added order is the first order to be processed under the same order ID. For example, if the same customer purchases multiple items and generates multiple orders, the newly added order is the first order to enter the order processing link among the multiple orders corresponding to the same customer. At this time, since this order is the first order to be processed, the order is not associated with an order box, so a target order box needs to be assigned to the newly added order.

[0304] The additional order is an order that is not the first one to be processed under the same order ID. For example, if there are multiple orders corresponding to the same delivery address and the same recipient, there are orders that have been assigned order boxes or orders that have been processed. The additional order is the Nth order to be processed, where N is greater than or equal to 2. Since there are orders that have been assigned order boxes or orders that have been processed under the same order ID before the additional order, the target order box can be determined according to the established order corresponding to the additional order. In this embodiment, the second cargo location is the storage location for the target order box.

[0305] The server determines the order type of the pending order and determines the target order box and the second cargo location corresponding to the pending order according to the order type. The sorting robot is then dispatched to transport the sorted goods corresponding to the pending order or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo location, thereby realizing automatic sorting of goods in the order collection scenario. Compared with the manual sorting process, the goods sorting process saves time and effort, and effectively improves the sorting efficiency of goods in the order collection scenario.

[0306] In one embodiment, the second dispatching instruction further enables the sorting robot to arrive at a target sorting workstation to obtain the sorted goods.

[0307] Before sending the second dispatch instruction to the sorting robot according to the second cargo location, the above-mentioned warehouse delivery method may further include:

[0308] A first dispatch instruction is sent to the transport robot, so that the transport robot transports the raw material box from the first cargo position to the target sorting workstation, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the transport robot can be sorted to the sorting robot to become sorted goods; wherein the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area.

[0309] In one embodiment, allocating a target order box for a newly added order and determining a second cargo location includes:

[0310] After determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy, the target order box on the second cargo location is bound to the newly added order; or,

[0311] A target order box is determined for the new order, and after the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy, the target order box is bound to the second cargo location.

[0312] There are two situations in which the target order box is allocated to the new order: one is that an empty order box has been placed on the second cargo position. In this case, the second cargo position can be determined first, and then the target order box on the second cargo position is bound to the new order. The other is that no empty order box is placed on the second cargo position. In this case, the target order box can be determined first, and then the second cargo position can be allocated to the target order box, and then the new order, the target order box and the second cargo position can be bound.

[0313] The above two methods can be selected according to the actual situation, so as to allocate the new orders to reasonable target order boxes.

[0314] In one embodiment, if the order to be processed is an additional order, determining the target order box according to the established order corresponding to the additional order includes:

[0315] If the order to be processed is an additional order, determine whether the goods of the additional order can be placed in the order box of the established order corresponding to the additional order.

[0316] If possible, determine the order box of the established order as the target order box of the additional order; if not, assign a new target order box to the additional order and associate the new target order box with the order box of the established order.

[0317] It is understandable that for additional orders, it is first determined whether the goods of the additional order can be placed in the order box of the established order corresponding to the additional order. For example, if the order box of the established order corresponding to the additional order is full, the goods of the additional order cannot be placed in the order box of the established order corresponding to the additional order. At this time, a new target order box needs to be allocated for the additional order. The allocation process of the new target order box is generally the same as the process of allocating the target order box for the new order.

[0318] In one embodiment, before sending the first scheduling instruction to the transport robot, the method further includes:

[0319] The first cargo location is determined according to the raw material box storage strategy, so that the raw material boxes to be stored containing the goods to be sorted are stored in the first cargo location.

[0320] Among them, the first cargo location is determined according to the raw material box storage strategy, including:

[0321] According to the current inventory data, calculate the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane; according to the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, determine the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored in the warehouse in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each lane; or,

[0322] According to the current inventory data and the historical sales popularity data of various types of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material box to be stored is determined according to the goal of placing the more popular goods to be sorted on the lower shelves; or,

[0323] According to the current inventory data, the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle, and the historical sales popularity data of each type of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material boxes to be stored is determined in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle and placing the hotter goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

[0324] In one embodiment, before sending the second scheduling instruction to the sorting robot, the method further includes:

[0325] According to the order box allocation strategy, the corresponding second cargo locations are determined for the multiple empty order boxes of the current outbound order set.

[0326] The sixth scheduling instruction is sent to the sixth robot, so that the sixth robot obtains the target empty order box from the designated box picking position according to the sixth scheduling instruction, and transports the target empty order box to the corresponding second cargo position.

[0327] In one embodiment, the order box allocation strategy includes:

[0328] According to the data of the current outbound order set, and in accordance with the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order, the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current order set is determined; wherein the data of the current order set includes at least the SKU and quantity required for each order.

[0329] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

[0330] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, in the step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes, order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the same shelf layer in the same lane.

[0331] In one embodiment, according to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes includes:

[0332] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, combined with the currently allocated task volume of each aisle, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each aisle in the designated multiple aisles, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple aisles.

[0333] In one embodiment, the cargo sorting method may further include:

[0334] A third dispatching instruction is issued to the third robot, so that the third robot transports the order boxes that meet the preset conditions in the order box storage area to the collection location in the collection area for collection according to the third dispatching instruction, so as to release the storage location in the order box storage area.

[0335] In one embodiment, the cargo sorting method may further include:

[0336] A fourth dispatching instruction is issued to the fourth robot, so that the fourth robot replenishes the released storage space in the order box storage area with empty order boxes according to the fourth dispatching instruction and the order box allocation strategy.

[0337] In one embodiment, the triggering condition of the third scheduling instruction includes:

[0338] The storage spaces in the order box storage area are all occupied, and the order boxes on the storage spaces in the order box storage area cannot meet the shelving requirements for all order boxes in a single wave or on a single day.

[0339] In one embodiment, the sorting robot may transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo position by climbing the shelf; and / or

[0340] The transport robot reaches the first cargo location by climbing the shelf and obtains the raw material box from the first cargo location.

[0341] In some embodiments, after the delivery deadline is reached, the sorting robot can move the picked and complete order boxes directly to the outbound packaging workstation for review and packaging, and randomly ship them out of the warehouse, thereby ensuring that after multiple orders from customers are grouped into the same order box, the completed order box can be shipped in a timely manner.

[0342] To sum up, through the cooperation between the server and the sorting robot and the handling robot, the sorting and warehousing processing processes of goods in the collection scenario can be realized. Compared with the manual processing solution in the collection scenario, it saves time and effort, and can complete the cargo processing tasks in the collection scenario more conveniently and efficiently, and can better meet the high-timeliness delivery requirements in the collection scenario.

[0343] In the return scenario, the goods handling process in the warehousing system not only includes processes such as warehousing, sorting, collection and outbound delivery, but also involves a goods return plan. The returned goods returned to the warehouse need to undergo a series of processing and then be put into storage again, and then the above-mentioned goods processing process must be carried out before resale.

[0344] See also Fig.16 An embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing returned goods, which is executed by a server and specifically includes:

[0345] S1210, determining a target cargo location for storing a raw material box of the to-be-warehoused returned goods according to the goods information of the to-be-warehoused returned goods.

[0346] S1220, dispatching the transport robot to run to the workstation to obtain the returned goods to be stored, and transporting the returned goods to be stored to the target storage location, wherein the returned goods to be stored are the goods that have been processed for return.

[0347] It should be noted that the goods to be returned are goods sent to the warehouse in units of SKU, that is, the goods to be returned are SKUs one by one.

[0348] It is understandable that the cargo information may include cargo identification, cargo category, etc. of the cargo to be returned. In practical applications, the label on the cargo to be returned may be scanned by a scanning device to upload the cargo information of the cargo to be returned to the server.

[0349] The raw material box for storing the current returned goods to be stored can be determined through the goods information. In practical applications, the raw material box can be allocated to the returned goods to be stored according to the goods information, for example, the raw material box can be allocated according to the goods category in the goods information, and then the target storage location corresponding to the raw material box can be further determined.

[0350] In a specific implementation, the returned goods to be stored are goods that have undergone return processing, and the return processing may include a series of processes such as quality inspection, label change, tag change, ironing, folding and cleaning.

[0351] Through the cooperation of the server and the handling robot, accurate processing of returned goods can be achieved. Compared with manual processing, this processing method saves time and effort, and can process returned goods more conveniently and efficiently.

[0352] In one embodiment, determining a target cargo location of a raw material box for storing the returned goods to be stored according to the goods information of the returned goods to be stored includes:

[0353] Based on the cargo information of the returned goods to be stored, determine whether there is an existing raw material box that matches the cargo information.

[0354] If there is an existing raw material box and the existing raw material box has storage space, the cargo location of the existing raw material box is determined as the target cargo location for storing the raw material box of the returned goods to be stored.

[0355] If there is no existing raw material box, or if there is an existing raw material box but there is no storage space in the existing raw material box, a new raw material box is allocated for the returned goods to be warehoused, and the storage location corresponding to the new raw material box is determined as the target storage location for storing the raw material box for the returned goods to be warehoused.

[0356] It can be understood that in the step of determining the raw material box, it is possible to first determine whether there is an existing raw material box that matches the goods information of the current returned goods to be warehoused, and whether the existing raw material box has storage space. Based on the results of the above two judgment steps, the raw material box is matched with the returned goods to be warehoused, and then the target storage location corresponding to the raw material box is determined.

[0357] Through the above process, the server can be used to implement the target cargo location recommendation function, providing favorable conditions for the accurate and efficient warehousing of returned goods.

[0358] In one embodiment, when there is no existing raw material box, or when there is an existing raw material box but there is no storage space in the existing raw material box, dispatching a transport robot to transport the returned goods to be stored to a target cargo location includes:

[0359] Dispatching a handling robot to transport the returned goods to the target cargo location for unloading into a new raw material box at the target cargo location; or,

[0360] The dispatch handling robot will deliver the new raw material box containing the returned goods to be stored to the target storage location.

[0361] It is understandable that if there is no existing raw material box, or there is an existing raw material box but there is no storage space in the existing raw material box, a new raw material box needs to be allocated for the returned goods to be warehoused. In the warehouse entry stage, there are the following two situations:

[0362] In one case, the new raw material box can be placed at the target location first, and then the handling robot is dispatched to transport the returned goods to be stored to the target location, and unload the returned goods to be stored into the new order box at the target location.

[0363] In another case, the transport robot can be dispatched to transport the new raw material box to the workstation, where the returned goods to be stored can be loaded into the new raw material box, and then the new raw material box containing the returned goods to be stored can be transported to the target storage location.

[0364] Both of the above situations can realize the warehousing process of returned goods to be stored, and the process of warehousing returned goods by dispatching handling robots is more efficient and convenient than the manual warehousing process.

[0365] In one embodiment, dispatching a transport robot to transport a new raw material box containing returned goods to be stored to a target cargo location includes:

[0366] Determine the target cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy to deliver the new raw material box containing the returned goods to be stored to the target cargo location.

[0367] Among them, the target cargo location is determined according to the raw material box warehousing strategy, including:

[0368] According to the current inventory data, calculate the number of boxes of each type of returned goods to be warehoused in each lane; according to the number of boxes of each type of returned goods to be warehoused in each lane, determine the target cargo position corresponding to the new raw material box in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of returned goods to be warehoused in each lane; or,

[0369] Based on the current inventory data and the historical sales popularity data of various types of returned goods to be stored, the target location corresponding to the new raw material box is determined according to the goal of placing the returned goods with higher popularity on the lower shelves; or,

[0370] Based on the current inventory data, the number of boxes of each type of returned goods in each aisle, and the historical sales popularity data of each type of returned goods, the target storage location corresponding to the new raw material box is determined in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of returned goods in each aisle and placing the more popular returned goods on the lower shelves.

[0371] In one embodiment, the workstation is a return processing workstation, which is used to perform return processing on the return goods to be processed in the return package so that they become return goods to be stored.

[0372] It is understandable that returned goods are usually sent to the return warehouse in the form of packages, and the return packages usually contain multiple pieces of returned goods to be processed. In actual applications, the return packages can be transported to the return processing workstation for return processing, such as quality inspection, label change, tag change, ironing, stacking and cleaning, etc. After the return processing, the returned goods to be stored are obtained. At this time, the returned goods to be stored usually exist in the form of SKU.

[0373] In the case of returns, Fig.17The regional layout of a warehouse with a return function is shown as an example, see Fig.17 The return area in the warehouse is equipped with a return receiving area 71 and a return processing workstation 72. Consistent with the above warehouse layout, the return warehouse also includes a storage area 13, a sorting workstation 14, a collection area 15 and a warehouse outbound packaging workstation 16.

[0374] Among them, the return receiving area 71 is used to receive return packages returned by various stores or customers, and can also process the return packages into the warehouse, such as verifying and recording the goods information of the return packages entering the warehouse.

[0375] The return processing workstation 72 is used to process the returned goods to be processed in the return package. In actual application, the return processing workstation 72 is equipped with return processing equipment, such as cleaning and ironing machines, which can perform a series of processes such as quality inspection, label change, tag change, ironing, stacking and cleaning on the returned goods to be processed.

[0376] The storage area 13 is used to store the goods entering the return warehouse. For example, the storage area 33 can store the returned goods to be stored, and one or more shelves can be set in the storage area 13 to achieve three-dimensional storage of the goods and reduce the floor space.

[0377] The sorting workstation 14 is used to pick and sort goods.

[0378] The collection area 15 is used to collect the designated order boxes containing the sorted goods.

[0379] The outbound packaging workstation 16 is used to temporarily store the order boxes to be shipped out, and directly send them out after the outbound conditions are met.

[0380] also, Fig.17 Also shown is an incoming storage area 11 and an incoming replenishment workstation 12. After the goods from the supplier are inspected and changed into boxes in the incoming storage area 11, they can be transported to the incoming replenishment workstation 12 for full box storage.

[0381] In one embodiment, the goods to be returned are return packages that are directly transported from the return receiving area to the return processing workstation for return processing.

[0382] This embodiment is a processing flow corresponding to the processing and input mode. Fig.18 In the sorting and warehousing mode, the return parcel will be transported directly from the return receiving area 71 to the return processing workstation 72. After the return processing is carried out at the return workstation 72, the returned goods to be stored in the warehouse will be transported by the handling robot to the target location in the inventory area 13 for storage. The entire processing flow can be simplified to a process of sorting and warehousing at the same time.

[0383] In the sorting and storage mode, since the return packages will be directly processed and put into storage, the entire return goods processing process is more efficient, does not occupy additional space, and has lower site area requirements.

[0384] In one embodiment, before dispatching the transport robot to run to the workstation to obtain the returned goods to be stored, the following steps may also be included:

[0385] The dispatching handling robot obtains the material box for pending return processing and transports it to the cache location in the inventory area for caching. The material box for pending return processing is a material box for storing pending return goods, and the pending return goods are the goods in the return package that have been changed into boxes and have not been returned.

[0386] The dispatching handling robot transports the material box to be returned from the cache location to the return processing workstation to perform return processing on the returned goods in the material box to be returned.

[0387] This embodiment is a processing flow corresponding to the first-in, last-out mode. Fig.19 In the first-in-last-processing mode, after receiving the return package, the return package can be first changed into a box in the return receiving area 71. Specifically, the return goods to be processed in the return package can be mixed and loaded into the return processing box. At this time, the goods in the return processing box have not been returned and sorted. The server then dispatches the handling robot to obtain the return processing box and transport it to the cache location in the inventory area 13 for caching.

[0388] Subsequently, the handling robot can be dispatched to take out the return processing material box from the cache storage location and transport it to the return processing workstation 72 for return processing. In this process, the return processing material box of the same batch of storage cache can be located by the server, and the return processing material box of the same batch can be transported to the return processing workstation 72. The return goods to be stored in the return processing are transported to the target storage location in the inventory area 13 by the handling robot, thereby completing the processing task of the return goods.

[0389] In the first-in-last-processing mode, since the pending return goods in the return package can be directly cached without return processing and sorting, the returned goods can be quickly returned and put on the shelf, eliminating the need for temporary storage of returned goods and reducing the requirements for the site. At the same time, the subsequent return processing process can be completed in a timely manner according to the actual situation, which can alleviate the cargo processing pressure of the return processing workstation 72 to a certain extent and avoid the problem of the pending return goods being piled up in the return processing workstation and affecting the progress of return processing.

[0390] In one embodiment, the workstation is a sorting workstation, and before dispatching the transport robot to run to the workstation to obtain the returned goods to be stored, the process also includes:

[0391] The handling robot is dispatched to transport the returned goods to be stored from the inventory area to the sorting workstation.

[0392] In this embodiment, the returned goods to be warehoused stored in the inventory area are stored in a mixed manner in the material box. After the mixed returned goods to be warehoused are sorted at the sorting workstation, they need to be re-packed in separate boxes according to the single SKU, so that the returned goods to be warehoused stored in the target storage location can be directly picked and sorted before being packed into the order box.

[0393] In one embodiment, before dispatching the transport robot to transport the returned goods to be stored from the storage area to the sorting workstation, the process further includes:

[0394] The dispatching handling robot transports the returned goods that have been processed by the return processing workstation to be stored in the cache location in the inventory area for caching.

[0395] This embodiment is a processing flow corresponding to the first-process-last-in mode. Fig. 20 After the return receiving area 71 receives the return package, the return goods to be processed in the return package can be directly transported to the return processing workstation 72. After the return processing, the return goods to be stored are obtained, and the return goods to be stored are mixed and loaded into the material box. The handling robot is dispatched to transport the return goods to be stored to the cache location in the inventory area 13 for caching. At this time, the return goods are stored in mixed boxes with SKU.

[0396] In order to facilitate the picking of returned goods, the handling robot can be dispatched to transport the returned goods to be stored in the cache storage location from the inventory area to the sorting workstation 14, and the mixed returned goods to be stored in the sorting workstation 14 are sorted, and the raw material boxes are reallocated to them in the form of single SKU single box storage, and the returned goods to be stored in the inventory area 13 are transported by the handling robot to the target storage location in the inventory area 13, thereby completing the processing task of the returned goods.

[0397] In the first-sort-then-enter mode, the pending return goods in the return package can be processed for return first and then mixed into the warehouse cache, which can efficiently realize the rapid shelving of returned goods and avoid the problem of backlog of return packages affecting the normal operation of the warehouse. Later, the pending return goods in the mixed box cache can be sorted and put into the warehouse again. The pending return goods can be delivered to the sorting workstation in time according to the workload of the sorting workstation, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the sorting workstation.

[0398] In one embodiment, the transport robot transports the returned goods to be stored to the target storage location by climbing the shelves.

[0399] In one embodiment, after the returned goods to be stored are transported to the target cargo location, the method further includes:

[0400] Dispatching a handling robot to transport the raw material box from the first cargo location to the sorting workstation; and,

[0401] The sorting robot is dispatched to the sorting workstation so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the transport robot can be sorted to the sorting robot to become sorted goods, and the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods are transported from the sorting workstation to the second cargo position.

[0402] Among them, the goods to be sorted are the goods to be returned after being transported to the target cargo location.

[0403] It is understandable that some returned goods can be sold again after being processed and put into storage. During the re-sale process, the goods to be sorted stored in the target storage location need to be sorted according to the order information and then loaded into the target order box.

[0404] It should be noted that the above-mentioned handling robots performing different handling tasks may be the same handling robot or different handling robots, or some of the handling robots performing different handling tasks may be the same robot. The specific settings may be reasonable based on actual cargo handling needs.

[0405] In one embodiment, before the sorting robot is dispatched to arrive at the sorting workstation, the method further includes:

[0406] According to the order box allocation strategy, a corresponding second cargo location is determined for each of the multiple empty order boxes in the current outbound order set.

[0407] The sixth robot is dispatched to obtain the target empty order box from the designated box picking location, and the target empty order box is transported to the corresponding second cargo location.

[0408] In one embodiment, the order box allocation strategy includes:

[0409] According to the data of the current outbound order set and the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order, the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current outbound order set is determined; wherein the data of the current outbound order set includes at least the SKU and quantity required for each order.

[0410] According to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

[0411] In one embodiment, the method for shipping out of the warehouse in the above return scenario may further include:

[0412] The third robot is dispatched to transport the order boxes that meet the preset conditions in the order box storage area to the collection locations in the collection area for collection according to the collection strategy to release the storage locations in the order box storage area.

[0413] In one embodiment, the method for processing returned goods in the above return scenario may further include:

[0414] The fourth robot is dispatched to replenish the empty order boxes into the released cargo spaces in the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

[0415] In the return scenario, an embodiment of the present application also provides a method for processing returned goods, which is executed by a warehouse robot, see Fig.21 , the method comprising:

[0416] S1310, receiving a dispatch instruction, the dispatch instruction including a pickup location and a target location, the pickup location including a workstation, and the target location including a target cargo location determined according to cargo information of the returned cargo to be stored.

[0417] S1320, running to the workstation according to the dispatching instruction to obtain the returned goods to be stored, and transporting the returned goods to be stored to the target cargo location, wherein the returned goods to be stored are the goods that have been processed for return.

[0418] It should be noted that the storage robot that executes the method in this embodiment may be the above-mentioned transport robot.

[0419] In one embodiment, the pickup location in the dispatch instruction also includes a cache location for a material box to be returned, and the target location in the dispatch instruction also includes a return processing workstation.

[0420] Before running to the workstation to obtain the returned goods to be put into storage, the above method may also include:

[0421] According to the dispatching instructions, the material box to be returned is transported from the cache location to the return processing workstation to carry out return processing of the returned goods in the material box to be returned.

[0422] In one embodiment, the pickup location in the dispatch instruction also includes a storage area, and the target location in the dispatch instruction also includes a sorting workstation.

[0423] Before running to the workstation to obtain the returned goods to be put into storage, the above method may also include:

[0424] According to the dispatching instructions, the returned goods to be stored are transported from the storage area to the sorting workstation, so that the returned goods to be stored are sorted to the handling robots at the sorting workstation.

[0425] It can be understood that some features of the method embodiments in the above-mentioned order collection scenario and the method embodiments in the return scenario can refer to the specific description of the corresponding features in the previous warehouse, warehousing system and the outbound method embodiments in the common scenario, and will not be repeated here.

[0426] The present application also provides a server for a warehousing system, the server comprising a memory and a processor. It can be understood that the server may include one or more management terminals and / or one or more management servers.

[0427] The electronic device includes a memory and a processor.

[0428] The processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0429] The memory may include various types of storage units, such as system memory, read-only memory (ROM), and permanent storage. Among them, ROM can store static data or instructions required by the processor or other modules of the computer. The permanent storage device may be a readable and writable storage device. The permanent storage device may be a non-volatile storage device that does not lose the stored instructions and data even after the computer is powered off. In some embodiments, the permanent storage device uses a large-capacity storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk, flash memory) as a permanent storage device. In other embodiments, the permanent storage device may be a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk, optical drive). The system memory may be a readable and writable storage device or a volatile readable and writable storage device, such as a dynamic random access memory. The system memory may store some or all instructions and data required by the processor at run time.

[0430] In addition, the memory may include any combination of computer-readable storage media, including various types of semiconductor memory chips (e.g., DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, flash memory, programmable read-only memory), and magnetic disks and / or optical disks may also be used. In some embodiments, the memory may include a removable storage device that can be read and / or written, such as a laser disc (CD), a read-only digital versatile disk (e.g., DVD-ROM, double-layer DVD-ROM), a read-only Blu-ray disk, an ultra-density optical disk, a flash memory card (e.g., SD card, min SD card, Micro-SD card, etc.), a magnetic floppy disk, etc. Computer-readable storage media do not include carrier waves and transient electronic signals transmitted wirelessly or wired.

[0431] The memory stores executable codes, and when the executable codes are processed by the processor, the processor can execute part or all of the methods described above.

[0432] In addition, the method according to the present application may also be implemented as a computer program or a computer program product, which includes computer program code instructions for executing some or all of the steps in the above method of the present application.

[0433] Alternatively, the present application can also be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium (or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium or machine-readable storage medium) on which executable code (or computer program or computer instruction code) is stored. When the executable code (or computer program or computer instruction code) is executed by a processor of an electronic device (or server, etc.), the processor executes part or all of the steps of the above-mentioned method according to the present application.

[0434] The embodiments of the present application have been described above, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and changes will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The selection of terms used herein is intended to best explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications, or improvements to the technology in the market, or to enable other persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A storage system, characterized in that: include: Shelves with storage areas for raw material boxes and order boxes; a transport robot, configured to receive a first dispatch instruction and transport the raw material box from a first cargo position to a first parking position of a target sorting workstation according to the first dispatch instruction; as well as The sorting robot is used to receive a second dispatching instruction and arrive at a second parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the second dispatching instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second parking position to become sorted goods, and to transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second parking position to the second cargo position; The first cargo location is a cargo location in the raw material box storage area, and the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

2. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transport robot reaches the first cargo position by climbing the shelf and obtains the raw material box from the first cargo position; and / or, The sorting robot transports the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods to the second cargo position by climbing the shelf.

3. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area is located below the raw material box storage area; or, The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area and the raw material box storage area are alternately arranged in the height direction or in the horizontal direction; or, The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on different shelves, and the order box storage area is closer to the target sorting workstation than the raw material box storage area.

4. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The order box allocation strategy includes: According to the data of the current outbound order set, and in accordance with the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order, determine the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current outbound order set; wherein the data of the current outbound order set at least includes the SKU and quantity required for each order; According to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

5. The storage system according to claim 4, characterized in that: In the step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes according to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes, order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the same shelf layer in the same lane.

6. The storage system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes according to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times and the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes includes: Based on the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, combined with the currently allocated task volume of each lane, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

7. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shelf also has a collection area; The warehousing system also includes a third robot, which is used to receive a third scheduling instruction, and according to the third scheduling instruction, transport the order boxes in the order box storage area that meet the preset conditions to the collection locations in the collection area for collection according to the collection strategy, so as to release the storage locations in the order box storage area.

8. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The order boxes that meet the preset conditions include: order boxes that have completed order picking but have not yet reached the delivery time, or order boxes that have been full but have not yet reached the delivery time, or order boxes that have completed designated tasks but have not yet reached the delivery time.

9. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes a fourth robot, which is used to receive a fourth scheduling instruction and replenish the released storage spaces in the order box storage area with empty order boxes according to the fourth scheduling instruction and the order box allocation strategy.

10. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The triggering condition of the third scheduling instruction includes: The cargo spaces in the order box storage area are all occupied, and the order boxes on the cargo spaces in the order box storage area cannot meet the shelving requirements of all order boxes in a single wave or a single day.

11. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The shelf where the goods collection area is located has the raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area and the raw material box storage area partially overlap; or, The shelf where the goods collection area is located has the raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area and the raw material box storage area do not overlap; or, The shelf where the goods collection area is located does not have the raw material box storage area, and the goods collection area is closer to the outbound packaging workstation of the storage system than the raw material box storage area.

12. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The cargo collection strategy includes: According to the order collection information of the order box that meets the preset conditions, determining the collection area and the collection position of the order box that meets the preset conditions from multiple collection areas; The multiple collection areas correspond to different order collection information, the multiple collection areas do not overlap, and are respectively located on shelves corresponding to different lanes, different columns of shelves corresponding to the same lane, or different layers of shelves corresponding to the same lane; The order collection information includes at least one of store information, delivery routes, delivery areas, and delivery waves.

13. The storage system according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes a fifth robot, which is used to receive a fifth scheduling instruction and transport the target order box that meets the outbound conditions from the second cargo location or the collection location to the outbound packaging workstation according to the fifth scheduling instruction.

14. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sorting robot comprises: a chassis for walking on a supporting surface; A carrying device is arranged on the chassis, and the carrying device comprises: Carriers, used to carry sorted goods or target order boxes; a flap, disposed above the carrier, the flap being used to carry the sorted goods, and the flap being used to flip the sorted goods on the flap onto the carrier or a target order box on the carrier by flipping; and The transfer mechanism is arranged on the carrier and is used for: moving the sorted goods on the carrier to a target order box located at the second cargo location; Move the target order box from the second cargo location to the carrier; or The target order box containing the sorted goods on the carrier is moved from the carrier to the second cargo position.

15. The storage system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a sixth robot, which is used to receive a sixth scheduling instruction, obtain an empty order box from a designated box picking location according to the sixth scheduling instruction, and transport the empty order box to the corresponding second cargo location.

16. A method for outbound delivery, executed by a server, characterized in that: include: Sending a first dispatching instruction to the transport robot so that the transport robot performs a first type of task, wherein the first type of task includes: transporting the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of the target sorting workstation according to the first dispatching instruction; and Sending a second dispatching instruction to the sorting robot so that the sorting robot performs a second type of task, wherein the second type of task includes: arriving at a second stop position of the target sorting workstation according to the second dispatching instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first stop position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second stop position to become sorted goods, and transporting the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second stop position to the second cargo position; The first cargo location is a cargo location in a raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to an order box allocation strategy.

17. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 16, characterized in that: The order box allocation strategy includes: According to the data of the current outbound order set, and in accordance with the principle that a single order box corresponds to a unique order, determine the number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times required for the current outbound order set; wherein the data of the current outbound order set at least includes the SKU and quantity required for each order; According to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each of the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

18. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 17, characterized in that: In the step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes according to the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes, order boxes corresponding to the same SKU do not appear on the same shelf layer in the same lane.

19. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 17, characterized in that: The step of determining the second cargo location from the order box storage area of ​​the shelves corresponding to the designated multiple lanes according to the required number of order boxes and / or the number of sorting times and the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes includes: Based on the required number of order boxes and / or sorting times, combined with the currently allocated task volume of each lane, and in accordance with the goal of balancing the robot flow in each lane in the designated multiple lanes, the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf corresponding to the designated multiple lanes.

20. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 16, characterized in that: Before sending the first scheduling instruction to the transport robot, the method further includes: The first cargo location is determined according to the raw material box storage strategy, so that the raw material box to be stored containing the goods to be sorted is stored in the first cargo location.

21. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 20, characterized in that: The determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes: According to the current inventory data, calculate the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle; According to the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, and in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each lane, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material box to be stored is determined.

22. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 20, characterized in that: The determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes: According to the current inventory data and the historical sales popularity data of various types of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material box to be stored is determined according to the goal of placing the more popular goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

23. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 20, characterized in that: The determining the first cargo location according to the raw material box storage strategy includes: According to the current inventory data, the number of boxes of each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle, and the historical sales popularity data of each type of goods to be sorted, the first cargo position corresponding to the raw material box to be stored is determined in accordance with the goal of evenly distributing the raw material boxes corresponding to each type of goods to be sorted in each aisle and placing the hotter goods to be sorted on the lower shelves.

24. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 16, characterized in that: Before sending the second scheduling instruction to the sorting robot, the method further includes: Determine the second cargo location corresponding to each of the multiple empty order boxes of the current outbound order set according to the order box allocation strategy; Send a sixth scheduling instruction to the sixth robot to enable the sixth robot to perform a sixth type of task, wherein the sixth type of task includes: obtaining an empty order box from a designated box pickup location, and transporting the empty order box to a corresponding second cargo location.

25. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 16, characterized in that: The outbound method also includes: When the trigger conditions are met, a third scheduling instruction is sent to the third robot to enable the third robot to perform a third type of task. The third type of task includes: transporting the order boxes in the order box storage area that meet the preset conditions to the collection locations in the collection area according to the collection strategy for collection, so as to release the storage locations in the order box storage area.

26. The method for removing goods from storage according to claim 25, characterized in that: The outbound method also includes: A fourth dispatch instruction is sent to the fourth robot to enable the fourth robot to perform a fourth type of task, wherein the fourth type of task includes: replenishing the released storage spaces in the order box storage area with empty order boxes according to the order box allocation strategy.

27. A server, characterized in that: include: processor; as well as A memory having executable codes stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to execute the warehouse withdrawal method according to any one of claims 16 to 26.

28. A transport robot, characterized in that: include: A first chassis, for walking on a supporting surface; A first bearing device is provided on the first chassis, wherein the first bearing device comprises: A first carrier, used for carrying a raw material box; and A first transfer mechanism is used to move a raw material box to or from the first carrier; and a first controller is configured to receive a first scheduling instruction, and control the first transfer mechanism to move the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first carrier according to the first scheduling instruction, and control the movement of the first chassis to transport the raw material box from the first cargo position to the first parking position of a target sorting workstation, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box are sorted at the target sorting workstation to the sorting robot at the second parking position of the target sorting workstation to become sorted goods, and then transported to the second cargo position by the sorting robot, wherein the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

29. The handling robot according to claim 28, characterized in that: The first controller is also configured to: receive a third scheduling instruction, and control the first chassis to move to the position of the order box that meets the preset conditions in the order box storage area according to the third scheduling instruction, control the first transfer mechanism to transfer the order box that meets the preset conditions to the first carrier, and control the first chassis to move so as to transport the order box that meets the preset conditions to the collection position of the collection area for collection, thereby releasing the storage position of the order box storage area.

30. The handling robot according to claim 28, characterized in that: The first controller is also configured to: receive a fifth scheduling instruction, and control the first chassis to move to the second storage location or collection location where the target order box that meets the outbound delivery conditions is located according to the fifth scheduling instruction, control the first transfer mechanism to transfer the target order box that meets the outbound delivery conditions to the first carrier, and control the movement of the first chassis to transport the target order box that meets the outbound delivery conditions to the outbound delivery packaging workstation.

31. A sorting robot, characterized in that: include: a second chassis for walking on a supporting surface; A second carrying device is arranged on the second chassis, and the second carrying device comprises: A second carrier, used to carry sorted goods or target order boxes; and A second transfer mechanism is used to move the sorted goods or the target order box to or from the second carrier; and The second controller is configured to receive a second scheduling instruction, and control the second chassis to move to a second parking position of a target sorting workstation according to the second scheduling instruction, so that the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first parking position of the target sorting workstation can be sorted onto the second carrier to become sorted goods, and control the movement of the second chassis to transport the sorted goods or the target order box containing the sorted goods from the second parking position to the second cargo position, wherein the first cargo position is a cargo position in the raw material box storage area of ​​the shelf, and the second cargo position is determined from the order box storage area of ​​the shelf according to the order box allocation strategy.

32. The sorting robot according to claim 31, characterized in that: The second carrier is used to carry the sorted goods; wherein, The second transfer mechanism comprises a conveyor belt, which is sleeved on the second carrier, carries the sorted goods together with the second carrier, and can rotate relative to the second carrier, so as to move the sorted goods on the conveyor belt to the second cargo position; or, The second carrier includes a turning plate, the second transfer mechanism is connected to the turning plate, and is used to drive the turning plate to turn sideways relative to the second chassis to dump the sorted goods to the second cargo position; or, The second transfer mechanism includes a conveyor belt and a driving member, wherein the conveyor belt is sleeved on the second carrier and can rotate relative to the second carrier, and the driving member is connected to the second carrier and is used to drive the second carrier and the conveyor belt to flip relative to the second chassis, so that the sorted goods are delivered to the second cargo position by moving the conveyor belt and tipping the conveyor belt and the second carrier; or, The second transfer mechanism includes a push plate disposed on the second carrier, and the push plate can translate relative to the second carrier to push the sorted goods on the second carrier to the second cargo position.

33. The sorting robot according to claim 31, characterized in that: The second carrier is used to carry the target order box; wherein, The second transfer mechanism includes a robotic arm disposed on the second carrier, and the robotic arm can be extended and retracted relative to the second carrier to move the target order box to or from the second carrier.

34. The sorting robot according to claim 31, characterized in that: The second carrying device further comprises a flap disposed above the second carrying member, the flap being used to carry the sorted goods, and the flap being flippable relative to the second carrying member so that the sorted goods on the flap fall onto the second carrying member.

35. The sorting robot according to claim 34, characterized in that: The second controller is further configured to: Control the second transfer mechanism to move the sorted goods on the second carrier to the target order box on the second carrier at the second cargo position, control the flap to flip so that the sorted goods on the flap fall onto the empty second carrier, and control the second transfer mechanism to deliver the sorted goods on the second carrier to another target order box on the third cargo position at the third cargo position; or, At the second cargo position, the second transfer mechanism is controlled to place the target order box on the second carrier to the second cargo position; at the third cargo position, the second transfer mechanism is controlled to take out another target order box from the third cargo position and place it on the empty second carrier; then, the flap is controlled to flip so that the sorted goods on the flap fall into the other target order box; and the second transfer mechanism is controlled to move the other target order box with the sorted goods from the second carrier to the third cargo position.

36. The sorting robot according to any one of claims 31 to 35, characterized in that: The sorting robot also includes: A climbing assembly, comprising a climbing wheel train and a climbing drive component for driving the climbing wheel train, wherein the climbing wheel train can drive the second chassis to climb along the shelf under the drive of the climbing drive component; and / or The travel assembly comprises a travel wheel train and a travel driving component for driving the travel wheel train. The travel wheel train drives the second chassis to move along a horizontal guide rail on the shelf under the drive of the travel driving component.

37. A warehouse, characterized in that: include: A storage area, wherein the storage area is provided with at least one shelf, and the shelf has a raw material box storage area and an order box storage area; as well as A sorting workstation, the sorting workstation is arranged at one side of the storage area, and the sorting workstation is provided with a first docking position and a second docking position; the first docking position is for a handling robot to dock, the handling robot carries a raw material box transported from the first cargo position; the second docking position is for a sorting robot to dock; at the sorting workstation, the goods to be sorted in the raw material box on the handling robot at the first docking position can be sorted to the sorting robot at the second docking position to become sorted goods and then transported to the second cargo position; The first cargo location is a cargo location in the raw material box storage area, and the second cargo location is determined from the order box storage area according to the order box allocation strategy.

38. The warehouse according to claim 37, characterized in that The shelf is provided with a crawling rail for the robot to climb, so that the transport robot can reach the first cargo location by climbing and obtain the raw material box from the first cargo location; or the sorting robot can reach the second cargo location by climbing and place the order box at the second cargo location, or place the sorted goods in the order box at the second cargo location.

39. The warehouse according to claim 37, characterized in that The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area is located below the raw material box storage area; or, The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on the same shelf, and the order box storage area and the raw material box storage area are alternately arranged in the height direction or in the horizontal direction; or, The raw material box storage area and the order box storage area are located on different shelves, and the order box storage area is closer to the sorting workstation than the raw material box storage area.

40. The warehouse according to claim 37, characterized in that The sorting workstation comprises a sorting position, and a first channel and a second channel arranged on both sides of the sorting position, wherein: The first channel is used for the transport robot to walk, and the first parking position is arranged in the first channel; The second channel is used for the sorting robot to walk, and the second parking position is arranged in the second channel; The sorting position is located between the first parking position and the second parking position.

41. The warehouse according to claim 40, characterized in that The first channel and the second channel are spaced apart from each other, the sorting position is located in the space between the first channel and the second channel, and the first parking position and the second parking position are both adjacent to the sorting position; The first channel and the second channel are both U-shaped channels, the openings of the U-shaped channels are both facing the storage area, one side of the opening is the entrance of the U-shaped channel, and the other side is the exit of the U-shaped channel; The inlets and the outlets of the first channel and the second channel are both oriented toward the inventory area.

42. The warehouse according to claim 41, characterized in that The storage area includes a plurality of shelves, and lanes are formed between adjacent shelves; The inlet and the outlet of the U-shaped channel correspond to the lanes respectively.

43. The warehouse according to claim 41, characterized in that The U-shaped passage is a ramp, and the heights of the exit and the entrance of the U-shaped passage are both lower than the height of the first parking position or the second parking position.

44. The warehouse according to claim 40, characterized in that The first channel and / or the second channel is provided with an anti-slip structure; The anti-skid structure includes anti-skid strips and / or anti-skid bumps distributed according to the wheelbase of the corresponding robot.

45. The warehouse according to claim 37, characterized in that The height of the first parking position is higher than the height of the second parking position.

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