Workstation, warehousing system, method for picking goods at workstation and storage medium

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of intelligent warehousing, and discloses a work station, a warehousing system, a method for picking goods in the work station and a storage medium, and the work station comprises a stock box area, an order box area and a picking position; the stock box area comprises a first station entering channel, a goods taking position and a first station exiting channel which are arranged in sequence, and further comprises a candidate channel adjacent to the first station entering channel; the order box area comprises a second pull-in channel, a delivery position and a second pull-out channel which are arranged in sequence, and further comprises a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the second pull-in channel and the second pull-out channel; the plurality of temporary storage positions are used for temporarily storing the order boxes which do not complete order task sorting, the second transfer robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions enter the second pull-in channel according to a first sequence, and the first sequence is determined according to a second sequence of the stock boxes in the first pull-in channel, so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery positions are matched with the stock boxes arriving at the goods taking positions. The work station sorting efficiency is improved, and the wrong sorting rate is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of warehousing and logistics technology, and specifically to a workstation, a warehousing system, a method for picking goods at a workstation, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] Logistics picking is an important part of logistics warehousing and distribution. Ensuring continuous and efficient picking can improve the overall outbound efficiency of goods. In related technologies, the warehousing system of the logistics center generally includes shelves, picking workstations, transportation equipment and other devices. Among them, the picking workstation usually adopts the traditional seed wall workstation. When the goods are in and out of the warehouse, the picking work is completed by the pickers. When picking, the goods are classified according to the order task or the type of goods. According to the classification results, the goods are placed in the corresponding storage slots of the seed wall. The goods in the storage slots are transported by transportation equipment such as handling robots to complete the transportation operation of goods in and out of the warehouse.

[0003] However, the current picking efficiency of the sowing wall workstation is low and it is easy to have problems with missorting goods. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a workstation, a warehousing system, a method for picking goods at a workstation, and a storage medium to solve the problems in the prior art of low picking efficiency at workstations and easy missorting of goods.

[0005] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a workstation for picking goods, the workstation comprising an inventory box area, an order box area and a picking position;

[0006] The inventory box area includes a first entry channel, a pickup position and a first exit channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a standby channel adjacent to the first entry channel;

[0007] The first station entry channel is used for a first transport robot that enters the inventory box area to walk to the pickup position, and the first transport robot transports the inventory box containing the goods;

[0008] The standby channel is used for the first handling robot entering the inventory box area to park and wait to move into the first station entrance channel when there is no vacant queue position in the first station entrance channel;

[0009] The first exit channel is used for the first transport robot that has driven out from the pickup position to drive out of the inventory box area;

[0010] The order box area includes a second inbound channel, a delivery position, and a second outbound channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel;

[0011] The second entry channel is used for a second transport robot that enters the order box area to walk to the delivery position, the second transport robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box;

[0012] The multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robots carrying the first type of order boxes, the first type of order boxes are order boxes containing partially picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robots in the second station entry channel or the second station exit channel, and the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions enter the second station entry channel according to a first sequence, the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first station entry channel, so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery position match the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position;

[0013] The second exit channel is used for allowing the second handling robot that has driven out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for allowing the second handling robot that has driven out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position;

[0014] The picking position is adjacent to the pickup position and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position.

[0015] The embodiment of the present application divides the workstation into a stock box area, an order box area, and a picking position. The first handling robot that carries the stock box enters the first station entry channel of the stock box area in sequence to queue up, and then carries the stock box to the pickup position of the stock box area in sequence. At the same time, the second handling robot that carries the order box enters the second station entry channel of the order box area in sequence, and then carries the order box to the delivery position of the order box area. The picking personnel or the picking device take out the goods from the stock box at the pickup position and put them into the order box at the delivery position. The order box that has not completed the picking of all order tasks is carried away from the delivery position by the second handling robot and then enters the temporary storage position of the order box area for temporary storage, and then enters the second station entry channel according to the first sequence, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the stock boxes in the first station entry channel, so that the order box that arrives at the delivery position again matches the stock box that arrives at the pickup position. In this way, the first handling robot transports the inventory boxes to the picking position next to the picking position, and the second handling robot transports the order boxes to the delivery position next to the picking position, and the second handling robot caches, sorts and switches the order boxes according to the sequence of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel, so that the inventory boxes arriving at the picking position and the order boxes arriving at the delivery position are matched for picking by pickers or picking devices, thereby improving the picking efficiency of the workstation, reducing the labor intensity of the pickers, and reducing the wrong picking rate.

[0016] In some embodiments, the standby channel is also used for the first transport robot in the first entry channel to move in to adjust the second sequence.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first inbound channel, the standby channel, the first outbound channel, the second inbound channel, the multiple temporary storage locations, and the second outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, the inbound direction of the first inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the first outbound channel, and the inbound direction of the second inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the second outbound channel.

[0018] In some embodiments, the first inbound channel, the standby channel, and the first outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along a second direction, and the inbound direction of the first inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the first outbound channel;

[0019] The second station entrance channel, the plurality of temporary storage locations, and the second station exit channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, and the station entrance direction of the second station entrance channel is opposite to the station exit direction of the second station exit channel;

[0020] The first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. In the first direction, the inventory box area and the order box area are respectively located on both sides of the picking position.

[0021] In some embodiments, the inventory box area further includes a standby pickup position located upstream of the pickup position, and the standby pickup position and the pickup position are arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the first inbound channel and the first outbound channel;

[0022] The order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the standby delivery position and the delivery position being arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel;

[0023] In the first direction, the inventory box area and the order box area are located on the same side of the picking location.

[0024] In some embodiments, the inventory box area further includes a standby pickup position located upstream of the pickup position, and the standby pickup position, the pickup position and the first exit channel are arranged in sequence along the exit direction of the first exit channel;

[0025] The order box area also includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, and the standby delivery position and the delivery position are arranged in sequence along a circular arc path between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel.

[0026] In some embodiments, the temporary storage position among the multiple temporary storage positions that is closest to the delivery position is the first temporary storage position, and the candidate delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path.

[0027] In some embodiments, the backup channel is located between the first inbound channel and the first outbound channel.

[0028] In some embodiments, the workstation further includes an isolation portion disposed between the inventory box area and the picking location, and between the order box area and the picking location.

[0029] In some embodiments, the isolation portion includes a first stopper and a second stopper, wherein the first stopper is located between the inventory box area and the picking location, and the second stopper is located between the order box area and the picking location.

[0030] In some embodiments, the first entry channel includes a plurality of first queue positions, the standby channel includes a plurality of standby positions, the pickup position, each of the first queue positions, and each of the standby positions are provided with an identification element, and the identification element is used to be identified by the first handling robot to realize the positioning of the first handling robot;

[0031] The second entry channel includes a plurality of second queue positions, the second exit channel includes a plurality of second exit positions, the delivery position, each second queue position, each second exit position and each temporary storage position are provided with identification elements, and the identification elements are used to be identified by the second handling robot to achieve positioning of the second handling robot.

[0032] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a workstation for picking goods, the workstation comprising an inventory box conveyor line, an order box area, and a picking position;

[0033] The inventory box conveyor line has a pickup position, the first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to the entrance of the inventory box conveyor line in sequence, and the inventory box conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes from the entrance to the pickup position to provide the inventory boxes at the pickup position in a second sequence, wherein the inventory boxes are used to store goods;

[0034] The inventory box conveyor line is also used to convey the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line, and the first transport robot is also used to transport the inventory box to the entrance and then walk to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line, take out the inventory box at the exit and then drive out of the workstation;

[0035] The order box area includes an order box inbound channel, a delivery position, and an order box outbound channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box inbound channel and the order box outbound channel;

[0036] The order box entry channel is used for a second handling robot to drive into the order box area and walk to the delivery position, the second handling robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box;

[0037] The multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robots carrying the first type of order boxes, the first type of order boxes are order boxes containing partially picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robots in the order box inlet channel or the order box outlet channel, and the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions enter the order box inlet channel according to a first sequence, and the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence, so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery position are matched with the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position;

[0038] The order box exit channel is used for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position;

[0039] The picking position is adjacent to the projection of the pickup position on the ground and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position.

[0040] The embodiment of the present application divides the workstation into a stock box conveyor line, an order box area, and a picking position. The first handling robot that carries the stock box sequentially carries the stock box to the stock box conveyor line, and the stock box conveyor line transports the stock box to the pickup position in sequence. At the same time, the second handling robot that carries the order box sequentially enters the order box entry channel of the order box area, and then carries the order box to the delivery position of the order box area. The picking personnel or the picking device take out the goods from the stock box at the pickup position and put them into the order box at the delivery position. The order box that has not completed the picking of all order tasks is carried away from the delivery position by the second handling robot and enters the temporary storage position of the order box area for temporary storage, and then enters the order box entry channel according to the first sequence, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the stock boxes on the stock box conveyor line, so that the order box that arrives at the delivery position again matches the stock box that arrives at the pickup position. In this way, the inventory boxes are transported to the picking position next to the picking position by the first handling robot and the inventory box conveyor line, and the order boxes are transported to the delivery position next to the picking position by the second handling robot, and the second handling robot caches, sorts and switches the order boxes according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes on the inventory box conveyor line, so that the inventory boxes arriving at the picking position and the order boxes arriving at the delivery position are matched for picking by pickers or picking devices, thereby improving the picking efficiency of the workstation, reducing the labor intensity of the pickers, and reducing the wrong picking rate.

[0041] In some embodiments, in the vertical direction, the inventory box conveyor line is located on an upper level of the order box area.

[0042] In some embodiments, the inventory box conveyor line includes a first conveyor line, a second conveyor line and a third conveyor line, the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are arranged in parallel along a first direction, the third conveyor line is arranged along a second direction and is used to connect the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line, and the pickup position is provided at the exit of the third conveyor line or at the entrance of the second conveyor line, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and the conveying directions of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are opposite;

[0043] The first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to the entrance of the first conveyor line in sequence, the first conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes to the third conveyor line, and the third conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes to the pickup position, so as to provide the inventory boxes at the pickup position according to the second sequence;

[0044] The second conveyor line is used to convey the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit of the second conveyor line, and the first transport robot is also used to transport the inventory box to the entrance of the first conveyor line and then walk to the exit of the second conveyor line, take out the inventory box at the exit of the second conveyor line and then drive out of the workstation;

[0045] The order box inbound channel, the multiple temporary storage locations and the order box outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along the first direction, and the inbound direction of the order box inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the order box outbound channel.

[0046] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, and the standby delivery position and the delivery position are arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the order box inbound channel and the order box outbound channel;

[0047] In the second direction, the inventory box conveyor line and the order box area are located on the same side of the picking location.

[0048] In some embodiments, the temporary storage position among the multiple temporary storage positions that is closest to the delivery position is the first temporary storage position, and the candidate delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path.

[0049] In some embodiments, the workstation further comprises a partition disposed between the order box area and the picking location.

[0050] In some embodiments, the order box inbound channel includes a plurality of order box queue positions, the order box outbound channel includes a plurality of order box outbound positions, the delivery position, each of the order box queue positions, each of the order box outbound positions and each of the temporary storage positions are provided with identification elements, and the identification elements are used to be identified by the second handling robot to achieve positioning of the second handling robot.

[0051] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a warehousing system, comprising a shelf, a first transport robot, a second transport robot, and a workstation as described in any of the above embodiments;

[0052] The shelf is used to store the inventory boxes and the order boxes;

[0053] The first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to be picked from the shelf to the workstation and to transport the picked inventory boxes from the workstation to the shelf;

[0054] The second transport robot is used to transport the empty order boxes from the shelf to the workstation and to transport the order boxes after order task picking is completed out of the workstation.

[0055] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a method for picking goods at a workstation is provided, which is applied to a server in a warehousing system, wherein the workstation includes an inventory box area, an order box area and a picking position; the inventory box area includes a first entry channel, a pickup position and a first exit channel which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a standby channel adjacent to the first entry channel; the first entry channel is used for a first handling robot entering the inventory box area to walk to the pickup position, the first handling robot carrying an inventory box with goods stored therein; the standby channel is used for the first handling robot entering the inventory box area to dock and wait to move into the first entry channel when there is no idle queue position in the first entry channel; the first exit channel is used for the first handling robot exiting from the pickup position to exit the inventory box area; the order box area includes a second entry channel, a delivery position and a second exit channel which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storages located between the second entry channel and the second exit channel. position; the second inbound channel is used for the second handling robot that enters the order box area to walk to the delivery position, the second handling robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box; the multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robot that carries a first type of order box, the first type of order box is an order box containing partially picked goods, and the walking direction of the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot in the second inbound channel or the second outbound channel; the second outbound channel is used for the second handling robot that drives out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot that drives out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; the picking position is adjacent to the pick-up position and the delivery position, respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set picking devices, so that the picking personnel or the picking devices take out the goods from the inventory box located at the pick-up position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position;

[0056] The method comprises:

[0057] Get order tasks;

[0058] Controlling the first transport robot to transport the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the pickup location;

[0059] Controlling the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery location;

[0060] After determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, controlling the first transport robot to drive out of the inventory box area, and determining whether the order task has been picked;

[0061] If the order task is completed, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the order box area;

[0062] If the order task has not completed picking, the second handling robot is controlled to enter an empty temporary storage position, and the second handling robot is controlled to enter the second entry channel from the temporary storage position according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel so that the order box arriving at the delivery position matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position.

[0063] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0064] Predicting the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, determining the second order of the inventory boxes in the first inbound channel according to the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, and determining the first order according to the second order; or,

[0065] Obtain the position of the first handling robot in the first entry channel, determine the second order of inventory boxes in the first entry channel according to the position, and determine the first order according to the second order.

[0066] In some embodiments, the second inbound channel, the plurality of temporary storage locations, and the second outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, and the inbound direction of the second inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the second outbound channel;

[0067] The controlling the second transport robot from the temporary storage position to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes:

[0068] Determine a first position of the order box carried by the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position in the first sequence, and determine a second position in the second inbound channel that is parallel to the temporary storage position in a second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction;

[0069] If the second transport robot transporting the order box located after the first position in the first sequence enters the second station entrance channel, control the second transport robot transporting the order box located after the first position in the first sequence to wait upstream of the second position in the second station entrance channel;

[0070] Determine whether all order boxes located before the first position in the first sequence are on the second inbound channel and are located downstream of the second position in the second inbound channel;

[0071] If so, control the second transport robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second position in the second entry channel.

[0072] In some embodiments, controlling the second transport robot from the temporary storage location to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes:

[0073] Determine whether the paths of all order boxes located before the order box in the first sequence to reach the delivery location are shorter than the path of the order box to reach the delivery location;

[0074] If yes, control the second transport robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second station entrance channel, so that the position of the order box in the second station entrance channel conforms to the first sequence;

[0075] If not, the second transport robot is controlled to continue to be temporarily stored in the temporary storage position until the paths of all order boxes located before the order box in the first sequence reaching the delivery position are shorter than the path of the order box reaching the delivery position, and the second transport robot is controlled to move from the temporary storage position into the second entry channel so that the position of the order box in the second entry channel conforms to the first sequence.

[0076] In some embodiments, if the order task has not been picked, the method further includes:

[0077] determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position;

[0078] If the next position of the order box in the first sequence is adjacent to the current position, then

[0079] The second transport robot is controlled to stay at the delivery position to wait for the next inventory box to arrive at the pickup position for picking again.

[0080] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery location upstream of the delivery location;

[0081] If the order task has not been picked, the method further includes:

[0082] determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position;

[0083] If the order box is one position apart from the next position in the first sequence and the current position, the second transport robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position, and move into the standby delivery position to wait after the second transport robot located at the standby delivery position moves into the delivery position.

[0084] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path;

[0085] The controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and a current position;

[0086] If the order box is two positions apart from the next position in the first sequence and the current position, the second transport robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position and move into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

[0087] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path;

[0088] The controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and a current position;

[0089] If the order box is spaced at least three positions between the next position and the current position in the first sequence, determining whether there is an order box in the order boxes between the current position and the next position in the first sequence that needs to use the first temporary storage position;

[0090] If so, control the second transport robot to move out of the delivery position and move into an idle temporary storage position other than the first temporary storage position for temporary storage;

[0091] If not, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery position and then drive into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

[0092] In some embodiments, determining whether there is an order box in the order boxes between the current position and the next position in the first sequence that needs to use the first temporary storage position includes:

[0093] Determine whether there is an order box that appears repeatedly with at least one position between the current position and the next position in the first sequence.

[0094] In some embodiments, controlling the second transport robot to move out of the delivery location and into an idle temporary storage location other than the first temporary storage location for temporary storage includes:

[0095] Determine the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position from all the idle temporary storage positions except the first temporary storage position;

[0096] The second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery location and into a temporary storage location which is closest to the delivery location for temporary storage.

[0097] In some embodiments, after controlling the second transport robot to drive out of the order box area, the method further includes:

[0098] The second transport robot that carries the empty order boxes is controlled to drive into the order box area from the second entry channel.

[0099] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a method for picking goods at a workstation is provided, wherein the workstation comprises an inventory box conveyor line, an order box area and a picking position; the inventory box conveyor line has a pickup position; the order box area comprises an order box entry channel, a delivery position and an order box exit channel arranged in sequence, and also comprises a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box entry channel and the order box exit channel; the order box entry channel is used for a second handling robot to drive into the order box area and walk to the delivery position, the second handling robot carrying an order box, the order box being used to receive goods picked from the inventory box; the plurality of temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robot carrying a first type of order box, The first type of order box is an order box containing partially picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot in the order box inlet channel or the order box outlet channel; the order box outlet channel is used for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; the picking position is adjacent to the projection of the pickup position on the ground and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set picking devices, so that the picking personnel or picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position;

[0100] The method comprises:

[0101] Get order tasks;

[0102] Control the first handling robot to carry the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the entrance of the inventory box conveyor line, so that the inventory box conveyor line conveys the inventory box from the entrance to the pickup position, so as to provide the inventory box at the pickup position according to a second sequence, wherein the inventory box is used to store goods; control the first handling robot to move to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line after carrying the inventory box to the entrance;

[0103] Control the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery position; after determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, control the inventory box conveyor line to transport the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit;

[0104] Controlling the first transport robot to take out the inventory box located at the exit and then drive out of the workstation, and determining whether the order task has been picked;

[0105] If the order task is completed, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the order box area;

[0106] If the order task has not completed picking, the second transport robot is controlled to enter an empty temporary storage position, and the second transport robot is controlled from the temporary storage position to enter the order box entry channel according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence so that the order box arriving at the delivery position matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position.

[0107] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein executable instructions are stored in the storage medium. When the executable instructions are executed on an electronic device, the electronic device executes the method for picking goods at a workstation as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0108] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present application. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present application, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are listed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0109] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below. The accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be considered as limiting the present application. Also, the same reference symbols are used throughout the accompanying drawings to represent the same components. In the accompanying drawings:

[0110] Figure 1 A schematic plan view of a storage system provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0111] Figure 2 A schematic plan view of a workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0112] Figure 3 A schematic plan view of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0113] Figure 4 A schematic plan view of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0114] Figures 5a to 5g A schematic diagram of the flow of picking goods at a workstation is shown;

[0115] Figures 6a to 6d It shows several flow diagrams of order boxes after they are picked at the delivery location;

[0116] Figures 7a to 7d Several situations of the order box entering the second inbound channel from the temporary storage position are shown;

[0117] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a process of picking goods at a workstation provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0118] Figure 9a A schematic diagram of the structure of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0119] Figure 9b A schematic plan view of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0120] Fig.9c A schematic diagram showing the structure of an order box area of ​​another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0121] Fig.10 A flow chart of another method for picking goods at a workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0122] The reference numerals in the specific implementation manner are as follows:

[0123] 1. Warehousing system; 10. Shelves; 20. First handling robot; 30. Second handling robot; 40. Workstation; 50. Server; 60. Ground; 21. Top holder;

[0124] 41. Inventory box area; 411. First entry channel; 4111. First queue position; 412. Pick-up position; 413. First exit channel; 414. Standby channel; 4141. Standby position; 415. Standby pickup position; 42. Order box area; 421. Second entry channel; 4211. Second queue position; 422. Delivery position; 423. Second exit channel; 4231. Second exit position; 424. Temporary storage position; 4241. First temporary storage position; 425. Standby delivery position; 43. Picking position; 44. Isolation unit; 441. First stopper; 442. Second stopper;

[0125] 45. Inventory box conveyor line; 451. Entrance; 452. Exit; 453. First conveyor line; 454. Second conveyor line; 455. Third conveyor line; 4531. First gap; 4541. Second gap. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0126] The following embodiments of the technical solution of the present application are described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, and are therefore only used as examples, and cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

[0127] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by technicians in the technical field to which this application belongs; the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application; the terms "including" and "having" in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned figure descriptions and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0128] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish different objects, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number, specific order or primary and secondary relationship of the indicated technical features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is more than two, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0129] 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.

[0130] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating any combination of the listed objects. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists, A and B exist at the same time, or B exists. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0131] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "multiple" refers to more than two (including two). Similarly, "multiple groups" refers to more than two groups (including two groups), and "multiple pieces" refers to more than two pieces (including two pieces).

[0132] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "lateral", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments of the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0133] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, technical terms such as "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, and it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0134] When using traditional seed wall workstations to pick and sort goods, pickers need to determine which compartment of the seed wall to deliver the goods to, and usually need to walk a long distance to deliver the goods. At the same time, pickers need to manually replace empty and full boxes in the seed wall. During this process, pickers need to pick up and put down barcode scanners many times to scan the boxes. Therefore, this method of related technology not only has poor ergonomics and poor experience for pickers, but also has low picking efficiency and is prone to delivery errors. In addition, after the seed wall workstation is deployed, due to the poor flexibility of the equipment, it cannot adapt well to changes, cannot be expanded or moved at any time, and it occupies a large area.

[0135] In order to solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a workstation, a warehousing system, a method for picking goods at a workstation, and a storage medium, which can improve the picking efficiency and reduce the wrong picking rate.

[0136] Some implementation modes of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the absence of conflicts between the various embodiments, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0137] For convenience of explanation, an XY coordinate axis is defined in the embodiment of the present application, where the X axis is the first direction, the Y axis is the second direction, the X axis includes a positive direction of the X axis and a negative direction of the X axis, and the Y axis includes a positive direction of the Y axis and a negative direction of the Y axis.

[0138] Figure 1 FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan view of a storage system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a warehousing system 1, including a shelf 10, a first handling robot 20, a second handling robot 30, and a workstation 40 for picking goods.

[0139] The rack 10 is used to store inventory boxes and order boxes.

[0140] The inventory boxes store goods, which may be industrial parts, electronic accessories or products, medicines, clothing accessories, food, books, etc. The first transport robot 20 is used to transport the inventory boxes to be picked (i.e., the inventory boxes hit by the order task) from the shelf 10 to the workstation 40 and to transport the picked inventory boxes from the workstation 40 to the shelf 10.

[0141] An order task is used to pick one or more goods, and each order task includes the type and quantity of goods to be picked. The inventory box corresponding to the order task is hit according to the type and quantity of goods in the order task. For example, order task O1 is to pick 20 red pens, and inventory box S1 storing 100 red pens is hit by order task O1. For another example, order task O1 is to pick 20 red pens and 10 black pens, and inventory box S1 storing 100 red pens and inventory box S2 storing 200 black pens are hit by order task O1.

[0142] The order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box. The inventory box is hit by the order task, and the order box corresponding to the order task is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box corresponding to the order task. A single order box is used to receive the goods of an order task. There can be multiple partitions inside the order box, which are used to place different types of goods respectively; of course, there can also be no partitions inside the order box, and different types of goods can be placed together.

[0143] When the order task corresponding to an order box includes multiple goods, multiple pickings are required to complete the picking of the order box. For example, the order task O1 corresponding to order box A is to pick 20 red pens and 10 black pens. The inventory box S1 storing 100 red pens and the inventory box S2 storing 200 black pens are hit by the order task O1. After the workstation 40 completes the picking of 20 red pens for the inventory box S1, at this time, the order box A only contains part of the picked goods, and the workstation 40 needs to pick 10 black pens for the inventory box S2 again, that is, two pickings are required to complete the picking of order box A.

[0144] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application divides the types of order boxes into first-class order boxes and second-class order boxes. The second-class order boxes are empty order boxes that do not contain any goods, and the first-class order boxes are order boxes that contain some picked goods. The second handling robot 30 is used to carry the second-class order boxes on the shelf 10 to the workstation 40 and to carry the order boxes that have completed the order task picking out of the workstation 40. The order boxes that have completed the order task picking can be directly carried out of the warehouse by the second handling robot 30, or they can be carried by the second handling robot 30 to the shelf 10 for temporary storage, waiting for other handling robots to carry the order box from the shelf 10 out of the warehouse.

[0145] The first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 may be jack-up storage robots that can pick up and place a single cargo box (inventory box or order box), have a small size, a fast operating speed, and a low cost.

[0146] The warehousing system 1 also includes a server 50, on which scheduling system software is installed or scheduling system software in the cloud can be called, which can schedule the first transport robot 20 and the second transport robot 30, and interact with the workstation 40 to send picking information and receive picking completion status.

[0147] Combine the following Figure 1 The workstation 40 of the embodiment of the present application is further described, and the arrows in the figure indicate the moving directions of the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30. Figure 1 As shown, the workstation 40 includes an inventory box area 41, an order box area 42, and a picking position 43. In the first direction X, the inventory box area 41 and the order box area 42 are located on the same side of the picking position 43. For example, as shown in the figure, the inventory box area 41 and the order box area 42 are both located on the right side of the picking position 43. The inventory box area 41 and the order box area 42 are located on the same side of the picking position 43 to save space.

[0148] The inventory box area 41 includes a first inbound channel 411, a pickup position 412, and a first outbound channel 413, which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a standby channel 414 adjacent to the first inbound channel 411. The order box area 42 includes a second inbound channel 421, a delivery position 422, and a second outbound channel 423, which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions 424 located between the second inbound channel 421 and the second outbound channel 423. The picking position 43 is adjacent to the pickup position 412 and the delivery position 422, respectively.

[0149] Figure 1In the illustrated embodiment, the first inbound channel 411, the standby channel 414, the first outbound channel 413, the second inbound channel 421, the plurality of temporary storage locations 424, and the second outbound channel 423 are all arranged in parallel along the first direction X, the inbound direction (negative direction of the X-axis) of the first inbound channel 411 and the outbound direction (positive direction of the X-axis) of the first outbound channel 413 are opposite, and the inbound direction (negative direction of the X-axis) of the second inbound channel 421 and the outbound direction (positive direction of the X-axis) of the second outbound channel 423 are opposite.

[0150] The first entry channel 411 is used for the first handling robot 20 entering the inventory box area 41 to walk to the pickup position 412. The first entry channel 411 has a plurality of first-line positions 4111, each of which can be used to queue for a stock box, and the order of the stock boxes in the first entry channel 411 is the second order. The standby channel 414 is used for the first handling robot 20 entering the inventory box area 41 to dock and wait for moving into the first entry channel 411 when there are no idle first-line positions 4111 in the first entry channel 411. For example, the first entry channel 411 includes four first-line positions 4111. If the four first-line positions 4111 are occupied by the stock boxes S1, S2, S3 and S4 from left to right, the handling robot carrying the stock box S5 needs to dock at the standby channel 414 after entering the stock box area 41, and wait for the stock box S4 to move forward one position before moving into the first entry channel 411.

[0151] In some embodiments, the standby channel 414 is also used for the first handling robot 20 in the first entry channel 411 to move in to adjust the order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411. For example, the order of the inventory boxes in the current first entry channel 411 is S1-S2-S3-S4 from left to right. If the order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411 needs to be adjusted to S1-S2-S4-S3, the first handling robot 20 carrying the inventory box S3 moves from the first entry channel 411 to the standby channel 414, and waits for the first handling robot 20 carrying the inventory box S4 to move forward one position. Then, the first handling robot 20 carrying the inventory box S3 enters the first entry channel 411 from the standby channel 414 again. At this time, the order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411 is S1-S2-S4-S3.

[0152] like Figure 1As shown in , the standby channel 414 is located between the first entrance channel 411 and the first exit channel 413. Since the entrance direction (negative direction of the X-axis) of the first entrance channel 411 and the exit direction (positive direction of the X-axis) of the first exit channel 413 are opposite, the first handling robot 20 needs to turn when driving from the first entrance channel 411 to the pickup position 412 and then from the pickup position 412 to the first exit channel 413, and turning requires space, so there is a certain distance between the first entrance channel 411 and the first exit channel 413. Setting the standby channel 414 between the first entrance channel 411 and the first exit channel 413 can reasonably utilize the space between the entrance and exit channels. In other embodiments, the standby channel 414 can also be located on the other side of the first entrance channel 411, for example Figure 1 Above the first entry channel 411 in the orientation shown.

[0153] The second entry channel 421 is used for the second handling robot 30 that enters the order box area 42 to walk to the delivery position 422.

[0154] The picking position 43 is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices can take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box located at the delivery position 422.

[0155] After the inventory box is picked at the pickup position 412 , the first transport robot 20 transporting the inventory box can drive out of the inventory box area 41 , and the first exit channel 413 is used for the first transport robot 20 driving out of the pickup position 412 to drive out of the inventory box area 41 .

[0156] After the picking personnel or picking device picks the inventory boxes and order boxes, if the order task corresponding to the order box has been picked (the picking of all types of goods under its corresponding order task has been completed), the second transport robot 30 transporting the order box can drive out of the order box area 42.

[0157] After the picking personnel or the picking device picks the inventory boxes and the order boxes, if the order task corresponding to the order box has not been picked (only the picking of some types of goods under its corresponding order task has been completed), it belongs to the first type of order box, and the second handling robot 30 carrying the order box cannot drive out of the order box area 42. At this time, the temporary storage position 424 can be used to temporarily store the second handling robot 30.

[0158] The second exit channel 423 is also used for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive into the temporary storage position 424. The multiple temporary storage positions 424 are used to temporarily store the second handling robot 30 carrying the first type of order boxes. The walking direction (negative direction of the Y axis) of the second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 424 is perpendicular to the walking direction (negative direction of the X axis or positive direction of the X axis) of the second handling robot in the second entry channel 421 or the second exit channel 423. The second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 424 enters the second entry channel 421 according to the first sequence, which is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411, so that the order box arriving at the delivery position 422 matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position 412.

[0159] In the embodiment of the present application, a workstation 40 is divided into an inventory box area 41, an order box area 42 and a picking position 43. The first handling robot 20 that carries the inventory boxes sequentially enters the first entry channel 411 of the inventory box area 41 to queue up, and then carries the inventory boxes to the pickup position 412 of the inventory box area 41 in sequence. At the same time, the second handling robot 30 that carries the order boxes sequentially enters the second entry channel 421 of the order box area 42, and then carries the order boxes to the delivery position 422 of the order box area 42. The picking personnel or the picking device take the goods from the inventory box at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box at the delivery position 422. The order boxes that have not completed all order task picking are carried away from the delivery position 422 by the second handling robot 30 and then temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 424 of the order box area 42, and then enter the second station entry channel 421 according to the first sequence, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first station entry channel 411, so that the order boxes that arrive at the delivery position 422 again match the inventory boxes that arrive at the pickup position 412. In this way, the inventory boxes are respectively carried by the first handling robot 20 to the pickup position 412 next to the picking position 43, and the second handling robot 30 carries the order boxes to the delivery position 422 next to the picking position 43, and the second handling robot 30 implements the caching, sorting and switching of the order boxes according to the sequence of the inventory boxes in the first station entry channel 411, so that the inventory boxes that arrive at the pickup position 412 match the order boxes that arrive at the delivery position 422, so that the picking personnel or the picking device can pick them up, thereby improving the picking efficiency of the workstation 40, reducing the labor intensity of the picking personnel, and reducing the wrong picking rate.

[0160] In addition, the embodiments of the present application reduce the number of pickers, thereby reducing costs; the workstation 40 only needs to divide the area on the ground (including the ground and the supporting surface elevated above the ground) to set each channel and position, and multiple transport robots are involved in realizing flexible scheduling of picking, so that the workstation 40 has high equipment flexibility, easy expansion and relocation, and better adaptability to order structure and business.

[0161] Figure 2FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a workstation provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the inventory box area 41 further includes a standby pickup position 415 located upstream of the pickup position 412, and the standby pickup position 415 and the pickup position 412 are arranged in sequence along the arc path between the first inbound channel 411 and the first outbound channel 413. The order box area 42 further includes a standby delivery position 425 located upstream of the delivery position 422, and the standby delivery position 425 and the delivery position 422 are arranged in sequence along the arc path between the second inbound channel 421 and the second outbound channel 423.

[0162] By setting up a standby pickup position 415 and a standby delivery position 425, and both the standby pickup position 415 and the standby delivery position 425 are arranged along the arc path between the entry and exit channels, the turning space of the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 can be reasonably utilized, and the standby delivery position 425 can be used to sort the order boxes. When the order box currently located at the delivery position 422 is delivered, the next order box can wait at the standby delivery position 425. After the order box currently located at the delivery position 422 leaves the delivery position 422, the order box located at the standby delivery position 425 can be directly moved into the delivery position 422 for picking. Compared with entering the delivery position 422 from the second entry channel 421, the time required is shortened, thereby improving the picking efficiency.

[0163] In some embodiments, the first entry channel 411 includes a plurality of first-row seats 4111, the standby channel 414 includes a plurality of standby seats 4141, and the pickup position 412, each first-row seat 4111, and each standby seat 4141 may be provided with an identification piece, and the identification piece is used to be recognized by the first handling robot 20 to achieve the positioning of the first handling robot 20. The second entry channel 421 includes a plurality of second-row seats 4211 (not all of which are shown in the figure), and the second exit channel 423 includes a plurality of second exit seats 4231 (not all of which are shown in the figure), and the delivery position 422, each second-row seat 4211, each second exit seat 4231, and each temporary storage position 424 may be provided with an identification piece, and the identification piece is used to be recognized by the second handling robot 30 to achieve the positioning of the second handling robot 30.

[0164] The identification member may be set on the ground. The identification member may be a QR code, a barcode or an electronic tag (such as an RFID tag) that can be recognized by the handling robot for positioning. For example, each identification member is used to indicate the X-coordinate value and Y-coordinate value of each member in the horizontal plane coordinate system, or each identification member is used to indicate the identification code of the position where it is set (for example, the identification codes of each first-row position 4111 are 101, 102, 103 and 104 in the order of the negative direction of the X-axis, and the identification codes of each candidate position 4141 are 201, 202, 203 and 204 in the order of the negative direction of the X-axis...).

[0165] The workstation 40 further includes an isolation section 44, which is provided between the inventory box area 41 and the picking position 43 and between the order box area 42 and the picking position 43. The isolation section 44 is provided to isolate the picker and the handling robot, thereby preventing the handling robot from colliding with the picker and causing personal injury.

[0166] The isolation part 44 includes a first stopper 441 and a second stopper 442. The first stopper 441 is located between the inventory box area 41 and the picking position 43, and the second stopper 442 is located between the order box area 42 and the picking position 43. The first stopper 441 and the second stopper 442 can be processed separately and then connected as a whole. There can also be a distance between the two, as long as they can each achieve isolation of the transport robots and pickers walking in their respective areas. Providing stops for the inventory box area 41 and the order box area 42 for isolation is more convenient for the production of the isolation part 44 and for on-site installation than providing a complete isolation part 44.

[0167] Figure 3 FIG. 2 shows a plan view of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 As shown, Figure 1 and Figure 2 Similar to the embodiment, the order box area 42 also includes a standby delivery position 425 located upstream of the delivery position 422, and the standby delivery position 425 and the delivery position 422 are arranged in sequence along the arc path between the second inbound channel 421 and the second outbound channel 423.

[0168] The storage box area 41 also includes a standby pickup position 415 located upstream of the pickup position 412. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The difference is that the standby pickup position 415 , the pickup position 412 and the first exit channel 413 are arranged in sequence along the exit direction (positive direction of the X-axis) of the first exit channel 413 .

[0169] In this embodiment, the standby pickup position 415 of the inventory box area 41 is not located on the arc path in the walking path of the first handling robot 20, but is located on the straight line segment in the walking path of the first handling robot 20. In the process of the inventory box moving from the standby pickup position 415 to the pickup position 412, the first handling robot 20 walks in a straight line. Since the first handling robot 20 needs to overcome a greater centrifugal force when walking along an arc, the time required for the first handling robot 20 to move from the standby pickup position 415 to the pickup position 412 along a straight line is shorter. Furthermore, the picking operation includes grabbing goods and delivering goods. Grabbing goods can only begin after the inventory box arrives at the pickup position 412. Therefore, shortening the time it takes for the inventory box to move from the standby pickup position 415 to the pickup position 412 can further improve the picking efficiency.

[0170] In addition, in this embodiment, the standby pickup position 415 and the pickup position 412 are arranged in a straight line on one side of the picker, and the picker's arm span can cover the standby pickup position 415. Therefore, for some goods that are easy to pick, the picker can start to grab the goods while the first handling robot 20 is walking from the standby pickup position 415 to the pickup position 412, thereby further improving the picking efficiency.

[0171] Figure 4 FIG. 2 shows a plan view of another workstation provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the first inbound channel 411, the standby channel 414, and the first outbound channel 413 are all arranged in parallel along the second direction Y, and the inbound direction (negative direction of the Y axis) of the first inbound channel 411 is opposite to the outbound direction (positive direction of the Y axis) of the first outbound channel 413. The second inbound channel 421, a plurality of temporary storage locations 424, and the second outbound channel 423 are all arranged in parallel along the first direction X, and the inbound direction (negative direction of the X axis) of the second inbound channel 421 is opposite to the outbound direction (positive direction of the X axis) of the second outbound channel 423. In the first direction X, the inventory box area 41 and the order box area 42 are located on both sides of the picking location 43, respectively.

[0172] In this embodiment, the inventory box area 41 is located on the left side of the picking position 43, and the first handling robot 20 only moves on the left side of the picking position 43; the order box area 42 is located on the right side of the picking position 43, and the second handling robot 30 only moves on the right side of the picking position 43; the walking paths of the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 do not intersect with each other, avoiding the situation where the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 need to give way to each other when entering and exiting the workstation 40 due to easy overlap of paths, resulting in reduced traffic, thereby meeting the needs of high-traffic scenarios.

[0173] and Figure 3 Similar to the illustrated embodiment, the standby pickup position 415 of the inventory box area 41 in this embodiment is also not located on the arc path in the walking path of the first handling robot 20, but is located on a straight line segment in the walking path of the first handling robot 20.

[0174] The numbers of the first-row seats 4111, the standby seats 4141, the second-row seats 4211, the second exit seats 4231, and the temporary storage positions 424 shown in the above figures are only examples, and the numbers of these positions can also be other numbers, which are not limited by the present application. Among them, the more the number of temporary storage positions 424, the more the number of second handling robots 30 that can be accommodated in the order box area 42, and the lower the interruption rate of the workstation 40. However, too many temporary storage positions 424 will also cause inconvenience in subsequent scheduling, and preferably seven temporary storage positions 424 can be set.

[0175] The corresponding relationship between order tasks, inventory boxes and order boxes is explained below.

[0176] After the server 50 of the warehousing system 1 obtains the order task, it controls the first handling robot 20 to carry the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the inventory box area 41. The order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411 is the second order, and the inventory boxes arrive at the pickup position 412 in sequence according to the second order. The server 50 also controls the second handling robot 30 to carry the empty order box to the delivery position 422. The empty order box is not bound to the order task before arriving at the delivery position 422. The second handling robot 30 can carry any empty order box to the delivery position 422; when the empty order box arrives at the delivery position 422 for the first time, it will be bound to the order task corresponding to the inventory box that arrives at the pickup position 412 at about the same time as the order box, that is, the order box has the order task corresponding to it. The goods that need to be picked for an order task can be one or more, and the inventory box corresponding to an order task can be one or more. After being bound to the order task, the empty order box needs to receive the goods of one or more inventory boxes. For an order box that needs to receive goods from multiple inventory boxes, before the order box receives all the goods for the order task (that is, before the order task is completed), after each picking operation is performed for the order task, the server 50 needs to control the order box to be temporarily stored at the temporary storage location 424 according to the order in which subsequent inventory boxes arrive at the pickup location 412, and then arrive at the delivery location 422 again to complete the delivery of the remaining goods.

[0177] For example, the server 50 receives order tasks O1, O2 and O3, and the above order tasks include goods G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5, wherein order task O1 includes goods G1 and G2, order task O2 includes goods G3, and order task O3 includes goods G4 and G5. The first multiple handling robots 20 respectively carry the inventory boxes corresponding to the goods required for all order tasks (for example, S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5, respectively providing goods G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5) to the pickup position 412 in sequence. The second multiple handling robots 30 successively carry the empty order boxes to the delivery position 422. After the first empty order box A arrives at the delivery position 422, it is bound to the order task O1 corresponding to the inventory box S1 that arrives at the pickup position 412 at the same time. The goods that order box A needs to receive are G1 and G2, and the corresponding inventory boxes are S1 and S2. After order box A completes receiving the goods from inventory box S1, since the order task O1 corresponding to order box A has not yet completed picking (it still needs to pick up the goods G2), at this time, order box A is a first-class order box. The server 50 needs to determine the order in which order box A needs to arrive at the delivery position 422 again according to the order in which inventory box S2 arrives at the pickup position 412, and control the flow of order box A according to the order in which order box A needs to arrive at the delivery position 422 again. If the order task corresponding to the inventory box that arrives at the pickup position 412 at the same time as the empty order box A that arrives at the delivery position 422 for the first time only includes one type of goods, for example, order task O2 (corresponding only to inventory box S3), the empty order box A can directly drive out of the order box area 42 after completing receiving the goods from inventory box S3.

[0178] Figures 5a to 5g The following is a schematic diagram of the flow of picking goods at the workstation. Figure 5a to Figure 5g The process of picking goods at workstation 40 is introduced. Figure 5a to Figure 5g by Figure 2 The workstation 40 shown in the figure is used as an example to illustrate the process of picking goods at the workstation 40. The process of picking goods at the workstation 40 in other embodiments of the present application is similar to this and will not be described one by one. For the convenience of illustration, the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 are marked with the code of the inventory box or order box they are carrying (for example, inventory box S1 / S2 / S3 / S4, etc., and order box A / B / C / D, etc.). Figure 5aAs shown, multiple first handling robots 20 that carry inventory boxes (for the convenience of illustration, only some of the first handling robots 20 are marked, and not all of them are marked) successively enter the first entrance channel 411, and multiple second handling robots 30 that carry order boxes (for the convenience of illustration, only some of the second handling robots 30 are marked, and not all of them are marked) successively enter the second entrance channel 421. The four first-row positions 4111 of the first entrance channel 411 all have first handling robots 20, that is, there are no vacant first-row positions 4111. At this time, the first handling robot 20 that carries inventory box S5 that enters the inventory box area 41 stops at the standby position 4141 in the standby channel 414.

[0179] Regarding the sorting of the second handling robot 30 in the second inbound channel 421, since there is a sequence for the inventory boxes to arrive at the pickup position 412, and each inventory box corresponds to at least one order box, a sequence of order boxes can be generated based on the sequence of the inventory boxes.

[0180] In some embodiments, the scheduling system software can predict the order in which several inventory boxes arrive at the workstation 40 in the future, which is the sequence of the inventory boxes (e.g., S1-S2-S3-S4-S5), and the sequence of the order boxes (e.g., ABCDE) needs to match the sequence of the inventory boxes (e.g., the order task corresponding to order box A hits inventory box S1, the order task corresponding to order box B hits inventory box S2... and so on), so that the order box arriving at the delivery position 422 matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position 412. Therefore, the scheduling system software determines the second order of the inventory boxes in the first inbound channel 411 according to the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation 40 by predicting the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation 40, and then determines the first order of the second handling robot 30 entering the second inbound channel 421 according to the second order, that is, the order of the second handling robot 30 in the second inbound channel 421.

[0181] In other embodiments, when the scheduling system software cannot predict the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation 40 in the future, the sequence of the inventory boxes can be directly determined according to the order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411. Specifically, the scheduling system software obtains the position of the first handling robot 20 in the first entry channel 411, determines the second order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411 according to the position of the first handling robot 20 in the first entry channel 411, and determines the first order of the second handling robot 30 entering the second entry channel 421 according to the second order. For example, the scheduling system software determines that the second order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel 411 is S1-S2-S4-S5-S3 according to the position of the first handling robot 20 in the first entry channel 411, and then determines that the first order of the second handling robot 30 entering the second entry channel 421 is ABDEC, wherein the order task corresponding to order box A hits inventory box S1, the order task corresponding to order box B hits inventory box S2, the order task corresponding to order box D hits inventory box S4, the order task corresponding to order box E hits inventory box S5, and the order task corresponding to order box C hits inventory box S3

[0182] like Figure 5b As shown, the first transport robot 20 carrying inventory box S1 arrives at the standby pickup position 415, and the first transport robot 20 behind it moves forward one position in turn, and the first transport robot 20 carrying inventory box S5 moves into the last first queue position 4111 of the first entry channel 411; similarly, the second transport robot 30 carrying order box A arrives at the standby delivery position 425.

[0183] like Figure 5c As shown, the first transport robot 20 transporting inventory box S1 arrives at the picking position 412, and the first transport robot 20 transporting inventory box S2 arrives at the standby picking position 415; similarly, the second transport robot 30 transporting order box A arrives at the delivery position 422, and the second transport robot 30 transporting order box B arrives at the standby delivery position 425.

[0184] like Figure 5d As shown, after the picker picks the inventory box S1 and the order box A at the picking position 43, the first handling robot 20 carrying the inventory box S1 drives out from the pickup position 412, enters the first exit channel 413, and then directly flows out of the workstation 40 through the first exit channel 413; the second handling robot 30 carrying the order box A drives out from the delivery position 422, and enters the second exit channel 423.

[0185] like Figure 5eAs shown, since the order task corresponding to order box A has been picked, the second transport robot 30 carrying order box A flows out of the workstation 40 through the second exit channel 423, and at the same time absorbs a second transport robot 30 carrying an empty order box H into the workstation 40 from the second entry channel 421, so that there are always a number of flowing order boxes in the workstation 40.

[0186] like Figure 5f As shown, after the order box B is picked at the delivery position 422, it has not yet completed the picking of all order tasks. It is a first-class order box and needs to be picked again. The second handling robot 30 carrying the order box B drives out of the delivery position 422 and enters the idle temporary storage position 424 for temporary storage.

[0187] like Figure 5g As shown, when it is determined according to the first sequence that the second handling robot 30 carrying the order box B needs to enter the second inbound channel 421, the second handling robot 30 moves from the temporary storage position 424 into the second inbound channel 421, and then performs the second picking of the order box B according to the above process. After the second picking, it is determined whether the third picking is required, and then the order box B can be out of the station (such as Figure 5e As shown), it is still necessary to continue to enter the idle temporary storage position 424 for temporary storage (for example Figure 5f shown).

[0188] For order boxes that need to be picked up again, when the order box area 42 also includes a standby delivery position 425, in addition to being temporarily stored at the temporary storage position 424, they can also be temporarily stored at the standby delivery position 425 to wait for a second picking. The flow of order boxes after picking at the delivery position 422 is described below.

[0189] Figures 6a to 6d Several flow diagrams of order boxes after being picked at the delivery position 422 are shown. As shown in the figure, the temporary storage position 424 closest to the delivery position 422 among the multiple temporary storage positions 424 is the first temporary storage position 4241, and the standby delivery position 425, the delivery position 422 and the first temporary storage position 4241 are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path. Such an arrangement can facilitate the sorting of order boxes. After picking, the order boxes that have not completed the picking of all types of goods can return to the delivery position 422, the standby delivery position 425 through the roundabout according to the order of the subsequent inventory boxes, or enter the idle temporary storage position 424 among the temporary storage positions 424 through the second exit channel 423.

[0190] like Figure 6aAs shown, the sequence of order boxes determined according to the sequence S1-S2-S3-S4-S5 of the inventory boxes is AABCD (the goods in the inventory boxes S1 and S2 are all the goods of the order task corresponding to the order box A), that is, when the order box A completes a picking process, since the next position of the order box A in the order box sequence is adjacent to its current position, the first handling robot 20 that transports the order box A stays at the delivery position 422 and does not move, and only the first handling robot 20 that transports the inventory boxes circulates, and after the first handling robot 20 that transports the inventory box S2 arrives at the pickup position 412, the second picking of the order task corresponding to the order box A is performed.

[0191] like Figure 6b As shown, the sequence of order boxes determined according to the sequence S1-S2-S3-S4-S5 of the inventory boxes is ABACD (the goods in the inventory boxes S1 and S3 are all the goods of the order task corresponding to the order box A), that is, when the order box A completes a picking process, since the next position of the order box A in the order box sequence is separated by one position from its current position, the first handling robot 20 that transports the order box A transfers to the standby delivery position 425 through the roundabout (before this, the second handling robot 30 that transports the order box B enters the delivery position 422 from the standby delivery position 425), waiting for the second picking of the order task corresponding to the order box A.

[0192] like Figure 6c As shown, the sequence of order boxes determined according to the sequence S1-S2-S3-S4-S5 of the inventory boxes is ABCAD (the goods in the inventory boxes S1 and S4 are all the goods of the order task corresponding to the order box A), that is, when the order box A completes a picking process, since the next position of the order box A in the order box sequence is two positions away from its current position, the first handling robot 20 that transports the order box A transfers to the first temporary storage position 4241 through the roundabout (before this, the second handling robot 30 that transports the order box B enters the delivery position 422 from the standby delivery position 425, and the second handling robot 30 that transports the order box C enters the standby delivery position 425), waiting for the second picking of the order task corresponding to the order box A.

[0193] In a preferred embodiment, when order box A completes a picking process, there is still an Nth inventory box corresponding to it, and before the order box is delivered again, no other order box needs to occupy the first temporary storage position 4241, then the second handling robot 30 that carries the order box can be as follows Figure 6c As shown, the first temporary storage position 4241 is entered to prepare for the next picking process. Wherein, N is a positive integer, N≥5, that is, the next position of the order box A in the first sequence is at least three positions away from the current position.

[0194] like Figure 6d As shown, the sequence of order boxes determined according to the sequence of inventory boxes S1-S2-S3-S4-S5 is ABCBA (the goods in inventory boxes S1 and S5 are the goods of the order task corresponding to order box A, and the goods in inventory boxes S2 and S4 are the goods of the order task corresponding to order box B). That is, when order box A completes a picking process, the next position of order box A in the first sequence is separated from the current position by three positions, and order box B needs to enter the standby delivery position 425 through the first temporary storage position 4241 to wait for the second picking after completing its first picking process (order box A). Box B belongs to the order box that appears repeatedly between the current position and the next position of order box A in the order box sequence with at least one position interval), and the second picking of order box A is after the second picking of order box B in the order box sequence, which is equivalent to the first temporary storage position 4241 being reserved by the more urgent order box B. Then, the first handling robot 20 that carries order box A enters one of the idle temporary storage positions 424 for temporary storage according to the urgency of the order box's need to return to the delivery position 422 again and the vacancy of the temporary storage position 424, and re-enters the second inbound channel 421 to queue when the sorting conditions are met. When selecting an idle temporary storage position 424 according to the urgency of the order box's need to return to the delivery position 422 again, the earlier the time in the order box sequence, the higher the urgency, and the idle temporary storage position 424 at the front can be selected. In some embodiments, the temporary storage position 424 closest to the delivery position 422 can also be selected from the idle temporary storage positions 424 for temporary storage, so as to shorten the path and time for the order box to reach the delivery position 422.

[0195] The following describes how the order box enters the second inbound channel 421 from the temporary storage position 424. Figure 5f situation shown). Figures 7a to 7d Several situations are shown in which the order box enters the second inbound channel 421 from the temporary storage position 424.

[0196] First, the spatial relationship between the order boxes in the order box sequence is described. The path of an order box from a position in the order box area 42 to the delivery position 422 is relatively fixed. For example, to leave the delivery position 422 and then return to the delivery position 422, it needs to pass through the first temporary storage position 4241-the standby delivery position 425-the delivery position 422, or through the second exit channel 423-a certain idle temporary storage position 424-the second entry channel 421-the standby delivery position 425-the delivery position 422. The shorter the path of each order box from its current position to the delivery position 422, the more forward the order box is in space.

[0197] like Figure 7a As shown, the current order box sequence is ABDEF, and order box C does not appear in the current order box sequence, so order box C is temporarily stored in temporary storage position 424.

[0198] Order box C appears after the current order box sequence. The scheduling system software checks whether there is an order box that is earlier in time than order box C:

[0199] like Figure 7b As shown, the current order box sequence is CGHIJ, and there is no order box earlier in time than order box C, so the scheduling system software schedules the second transport robot 30 that transports order box C to go directly to the delivery position 422 for picking;

[0200] like Figure 7c As shown, the current order box sequence is GHCIJ, and there are order boxes G and H that are earlier in time than order box C. The scheduling system software schedules to detect whether order boxes G and H are also earlier in space than order box C. Since order boxes G and H are earlier in space than order box C, the second transport robot 30 that transports order box C is scheduled to leave the temporary storage position 424 and queue up behind order boxes G and H.

[0201] like Figure 7d As shown, the current order box sequence is GHCIJ, and order boxes G and H are later in space than order box C, then order box C is first temporarily stored in temporary storage position 424 until order boxes G and H are earlier in space than order box C (for example, Figure 7c The second transport robot 30 that transports the order box C is dispatched to move from the temporary storage position 424 into the second entry channel 421 to queue.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first position of the order box in the first sequence carried by the second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 424 can be determined, and the second position P ( Figure 7c As shown in the figure, the second handling robot 30 is located at the second position P after moving from the temporary storage position 424 into the second entry channel 421; if the second handling robot 30 carrying the order box located after the first position in the first sequence enters the second entry channel 421, it is necessary to control the second handling robot 30 carrying the order box located after the first position in the first sequence to be located upstream of the second position P in the second entry channel 421 (for example Figure 7c I and J in the first order) waiting; determine whether the order boxes before the first position in the first sequence are all on the second inbound channel 421 and the positions in the second inbound channel 421 are all downstream of the second position P (for example Figures 7a to 7cIn the second inbound channel 421, the left side is downstream and the right side is upstream); if so, the second handling robot 30 is controlled to move from the temporary storage position 424 to the second position P in the second inbound channel 421. By judging whether the order boxes before the first position (for example, the order box sequence is GHCIJ, and the order boxes before the first position of order box C are G and H) are all on the second inbound channel 421 and their positions in the second inbound channel 421 are all downstream of the second position P, it is judged whether the order boxes in the order box sequence that are earlier than the order box handled by the second handling robot 30 in time are also earlier than the order box in space. If the order boxes located before the first position in the first sequence are all on the second inbound channel 421 and their positions in the second inbound channel 421 are all downstream of the second position P, the second handling robot 30 is controlled to move into the second inbound channel 421.

[0203] Figure 8A flow chart of a method for picking goods at a workstation 40 provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown, the method being applied to a server 50 in a warehousing system 1, the workstation 40 comprising an inventory box area 41, an order box area 42 and a picking position 43; the inventory box area 41 comprises a first entry channel 411, a pickup position 412 and a first exit channel 413 arranged in sequence, and also comprises a standby channel 414 adjacent to the first entry channel 411; the first entry channel 411 is used for a first handling robot 20 entering the inventory box area 41 to walk to the pickup position 412 , the first handling robot 20 carries the inventory box containing goods; the standby channel 414 is used for the first handling robot 20 entering the inventory box area 41 to dock and wait for moving into the first entry channel 411 when there is no vacant queue position in the first entry channel 411; the first exit channel 413 is used for the first handling robot 20 exiting from the pickup position 412 to exit the inventory box area 41; the order box area 42 includes a second entry channel 421, a delivery position 422, and a second exit channel 423 which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a channel located between the second entry channel 421 and the first exit channel 423. A plurality of temporary storage positions 424 between the two exit channels 423; the second entry channel 421 is used for the second handling robot 30 that enters the order box area 42 to walk to the delivery position 422, and the second handling robot 30 carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box; the plurality of temporary storage positions 424 are used to temporarily store the second handling robot 30 that carries the first type of order box, and the first type of order box is an order box containing part of the picked goods, and the walking direction of the second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position 424 is aligned with the second entry channel 421 or The walking direction of the second handling robot 30 in the second exit channel 423 is vertical; the second exit channel 423 is used for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive out of the order box area 42 or for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive into the temporary storage position 424; the picking position 43 is adjacent to the pickup position 412 and the delivery position 422 respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set picking devices, so that the picking personnel or picking devices can take the goods from the inventory box at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box at the delivery position 422. The workstation 40 can also be the above Figure 1 to Figure 7d The workstation 40 of any embodiment.

[0204] like Figure 8 As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0205] Step 810: Get order tasks;

[0206] Step 820: Control the first transport robot to transport the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the pickup position;

[0207] Step 830: Control the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery location;

[0208] Step 840: After determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, control the first transport robot to drive out of the inventory box area, and determine whether the order task has been picked;

[0209] Step 850: If the order task is completed, control the second transport robot to move out of the order box area;

[0210] Step 860: If the order task has not been picked, the second transport robot is controlled to enter an empty temporary storage position, and the second transport robot is controlled to enter the second entry channel from the temporary storage position according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again.

[0211] The first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first inbound channel so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery position match the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position.

[0212] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0213] Predicting the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, determining a second order of the inventory boxes in the first inbound channel according to the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, and determining the first order according to the second order; or,

[0214] The position of the first handling robot in the first entry channel is obtained, the second order of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel is determined according to the position, and the first order is determined according to the second order.

[0215] In some embodiments, controlling the second handling robot from the temporary storage position to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes:

[0216] Determine a first position of the order box carried by the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position in the first sequence, and determine a second position of the second handling robot in the second station entry channel, wherein the second position is a position parallel to the temporary storage position in the second direction;

[0217] Determine whether all order boxes located before the first position in the first sequence are on the second inbound channel and are located downstream of the second position in the second inbound channel;

[0218] If yes, control the second handling robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second position in the second station entry channel.

[0219] In some embodiments, controlling the second handling robot from the temporary storage position to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes:

[0220] Determine whether the paths of all order boxes that are located before the order box in the first sequence and arrive at the delivery location are shorter than the path of the order box that arrives at the delivery location;

[0221] If yes, control the second handling robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second inbound channel, so that the position of the order box in the second inbound channel conforms to the first sequence;

[0222] If not, the second handling robot is controlled to continue to be temporarily stored in the temporary storage position until the paths of all order boxes located before the order box in the first sequence reaching the delivery position are shorter than the path of the order box reaching the delivery position, and the second handling robot is controlled to move from the temporary storage position into the second entry channel so that the position of the order box in the second entry channel conforms to the first sequence.

[0223] In some embodiments, if the order task has not been picked, the method further includes:

[0224] Determine the next position of the order box in the first sequence in relation to the current position;

[0225] If the next position of the order box in the first sequence is adjacent to the current position, then

[0226] The second handling robot is controlled to stay at the delivery position to wait for the next inventory box to arrive at the pickup position for picking again.

[0227] In some embodiments, the order box area also includes a backup delivery location upstream of the delivery location;

[0228] If the order task has not been picked, the method further includes:

[0229] Determine the next position of the order box in the first sequence in relation to the current position;

[0230] If the order box is one position apart from the next position in the first sequence and the current position, the second transport robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position, and move into the standby delivery position to wait after the second transport robot at the standby delivery position moves into the delivery position.

[0231] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path;

[0232] Controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position;

[0233] If the order box is two positions apart from the next position and the current position in the first sequence, the second handling robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position and move into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

[0234] In some embodiments, the order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path;

[0235] Controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position;

[0236] If the order box is spaced at least three positions between the next position and the current position in the first sequence, determining whether there is an order box in the order boxes between the current position and the next position in the first sequence that needs to use the first temporary storage position;

[0237] If yes, control the second handling robot to drive out from the delivery position and drive into an empty temporary storage position other than the first temporary storage position for temporary storage;

[0238] If not, the second handling robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery position and drive into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

[0239] In some embodiments, determining whether there is an order box in the first sequence between the current position and the next position that needs to use the first temporary storage position includes:

[0240] It is determined whether there is an order box that appears repeatedly with at least one position between the current position and the next position in the first sequence.

[0241] In some embodiments, controlling the second handling robot to drive out of the delivery position and into an idle temporary storage position other than the first temporary storage position for temporary storage includes:

[0242] Determine the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position from all the free temporary storage positions except the first temporary storage position;

[0243] The second handling robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery position and into a temporary storage position which is closest to the delivery position for temporary storage.

[0244] In some embodiments, after controlling the second transport robot to drive out of the order box area, the method further includes:

[0245] The second transport robot that carries the empty order boxes is controlled to drive into the order box area from the second entry channel.

[0246] The embodiment of the present application also provides a workstation in a storage system, Figure 9a A schematic diagram of the structure of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 9b FIG. 2 shows a plan view of another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.9cA schematic diagram of the structure of an order box area of ​​another workstation provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. For the convenience of explanation, an XYZ coordinate axis is defined in the embodiment of the present application, where the X axis is a first direction, the Y axis is a second direction, the Z axis is a third direction, the X axis includes a positive direction of the X axis and a negative direction of the X axis, and the Y axis includes a positive direction of the Y axis and a negative direction of the Y axis.

[0247] like Figures 9a to 9c As shown, the workstation 40 includes a storage box conveyor line 45, an order box area 42 and a picking position 43. The arrow in the figure shows the conveying direction of the storage box conveyor line 45.

[0248] The inventory box conveyor line 45 is arranged on the ground 60, and the conveying plane of the inventory box conveyor line 45 is spaced apart from the ground 60, so that in the vertical direction (third direction Z), the inventory box conveyor line 45 is located on the upper layer of the order box area 42, that is, in the workstation 40, the upper layer is used to convey inventory boxes, and the lower layer is used to convey order boxes. The space between the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the ground 60 can be used for the first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 to move, so as to save space. The first handling robot 20 and the second handling robot 30 can be jack-up storage robots that can pick up and place a single cargo box (inventory box or order box), are small in size, fast in operation speed, and low in cost.

[0249] The inventory box conveyor line 45 has a pickup position 412, and the first handling robot 20 is used to sequentially carry the inventory boxes to the entrance 451 of the inventory box conveyor line 45. The inventory box conveyor line 45 is used to transport the inventory boxes from the entrance 451 to the pickup position 412, so as to provide the inventory boxes at the pickup position 412 in a second order, wherein the inventory boxes are used to store goods. The first handling robot 20 also moves to the exit 452 of the inventory box conveyor line 45 after carrying the inventory boxes to the entrance 451, and waits to take the inventory boxes transported to the exit 452.

[0250] The inventory box conveyor line 45 is also used to convey the inventory boxes output from the pickup position 412 to the exit 452 of the inventory box conveyor line 45 , and the first handling robot 20 takes out the inventory box located at the exit 452 and then drives out of the workstation 40 .

[0251] Specifically, the inventory box conveyor line 45 may include a first conveyor line 453, a second conveyor line 454 and a third conveyor line 455. The first conveyor line 453 and the second conveyor line 454 are arranged in parallel along the first direction X, wherein the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 453 (negative direction of the X axis) is opposite to the conveying direction of the second conveyor line 454 (positive direction of the X axis), and the third conveyor line 455 is arranged along the second direction Y and is used to connect the first conveyor line 453 and the second conveyor line 454. The conveying direction of the third conveyor line 455 is the positive direction of the Y axis, forming a U-shaped conveying structure, which can save space in the first direction X. Of course, if the area allows, the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the order box area 42 can also be arranged along the first direction X. The picking position 412 is located at the exit of the third conveyor line 455 or the entrance of the second conveyor line 454. The first handling robot 20 is used to carry the inventory boxes to the entrance 451 of the first conveyor line 453 in sequence, and then walk to the exit 452 of the second conveyor line 454 to wait. The first conveyor line 453 is used to convey the inventory boxes to the third conveyor line 455, and the third conveyor line 455 is used to convey the inventory boxes to the pickup position 412, so as to provide the inventory boxes on the pickup position 412 in the second sequence. The second conveyor line 454 is used to convey the inventory boxes output from the pickup position 412 to the exit 452 of the second conveyor line 454. The first handling robot 20 at the exit 452 takes out the inventory boxes at the exit 452 of the second conveyor line 454 and then drives out of the workstation 40.

[0252] The inventory box conveyor line 45 can be a belt conveyor line, a roller conveyor line, or any other conveying structure that can realize the conveying of articles. Since the inventory box needs to be conveyed from the first conveyor line 453 to the third conveyor line 455 and from the third conveyor line 455 to the second conveyor line 454, the conveying directions of the first conveyor line 453 and the third conveyor line 455 are perpendicular, and the conveying directions of the second conveyor line 454 and the third conveyor line 455 are also perpendicular, a transfer mechanism, such as a movable push rod or baffle, can be further provided on one or more of the first conveyor line 453, the second conveyor line 454, and the third conveyor line 455, so that the inventory box can be conveyed between the conveyor lines by the movement of the transfer mechanism.

[0253] As for the connection method between the first handling robot 20 and the conveyor line, as shown in the figure, a first notch 4531 is provided at the entrance 451. When the first handling robot 20 for handling the inventory box moves to the vicinity of the entrance 451, the first handling robot 20 can insert the top holding member 21 for holding the inventory box into the first notch 4531, walk a short distance along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 453, and then control the top holding member 21 to descend to place the inventory box on the first conveyor line 453. A second notch 4541 is also provided at the exit 452. After the first handling robot 20 moves to the bottom of the second notch 4541, when the second conveyor line 454 conveys the inventory box to the top of the second notch 4541, the top holding member 21 of the first handling robot 20 in a descending state can rise and be inserted into the second notch 4541, hold the inventory box and walk a short distance along the conveying direction of the second conveyor line 454 to take the inventory box out from the second conveyor line 454.

[0254] The first handling robot 20 may be connected to the conveyor line in other ways, which are not limited in this application. For example, a comb structure is provided at the inlet 451 or the outlet 452 for connection, and a top holding member adapted to the comb structure is provided on the first handling robot 20, and the top holding member can pass through the comb structure to achieve connection with the conveyor line.

[0255] The order box area 42 includes an order box inbound channel, a delivery position 422 and an order box outbound channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box inbound channel and the order box outbound channel. The order box inbound channel, the plurality of temporary storage positions and the order box outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along the first direction X, and the inbound direction (negative direction of the X axis) of the order box inbound channel and the outbound direction (positive direction of the X axis) of the order box outbound channel are opposite, forming a U-shaped channel structure, which can save space in the first direction X.

[0256] The order box entry channel is used for the second handling robot 30 to enter the order box area 42 and walk to the delivery position 422. The second handling robot 30 carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box. Multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robot 30 carrying the first type of order box. The first type of order box is an order box containing some picked goods. The walking direction of the second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot 30 in the order box entry channel or the order box exit channel. The second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position enters the order box entry channel according to a first sequence. The first sequence is determined according to the second sequence, so that the order box arriving at the delivery position 422 matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position 412. The order box exit channel is used for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive out of the order box area 42 or for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive into the temporary storage position. In this embodiment, the specific structure and working principle of the order box area 42 are the same as those in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 to Figure 7d The embodiment in is similar, and reference may be made to the aforementioned embodiment. Figures 9a to 9c No detailed instructions are given.

[0257] The picking position 43 is adjacent to the projection of the pickup position 412 on the ground 60 and the delivery position 422, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices can take goods from the inventory box at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box at the delivery position 422.

[0258] In the embodiment of the present application, in the second direction Y, the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the order box area 42 are located on the same side of the picking position 43. For example, as shown in the figure, the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the order box area 42 are both located on the left side of the picking position 43. The way that the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the order box area 42 are located on the same side of the picking position 43 can save space.

[0259] The workstation 40 further includes an isolation portion 44, which is disposed between the order box area 42 and the picking position 43. The isolation portion 44 is provided to isolate the picking personnel and the second handling robot 30, thereby preventing the second handling robot 30 from colliding with the picking personnel and causing personal injury.

[0260] This embodiment and Figures 1 to 8 The differences between the illustrated embodiments mainly lie in the different circulation methods of the inventory boxes. Figures 1 to 8In the illustrated embodiment, the first handling robot 20 walks in the inventory box area 41 according to the set channel to realize the transportation of the inventory box. Specifically, the first handling robot 20 directly transports the inventory box to the pickup position 412. In this embodiment, the inventory box circulation mode is as follows: the first handling robot 20 transports the inventory box to the entrance 451 of the inventory box conveyor line 45, and the inventory box conveyor line 45 transports the inventory box to the pickup position 412. The inventory box conveyor line 45 then transports the selected inventory box to the exit 452 of the inventory box conveyor line 45. After the first handling robot 20 transports the inventory box to the entrance 451, it goes to the exit 452 to wait. When the selected inventory box is transported to the exit 452, the first handling robot 20 takes out the inventory box located at the exit 452 and then leaves the workstation 40. In this embodiment, the first handling robot 20 and the inventory box conveyor line 45 jointly realize the transportation of the inventory box. In this embodiment, the inventory box conveyor line 45 and the order box area 42 can share a part of the floor space, which can save floor space.

[0261] The circulation mode of the order box in this embodiment is similar to Figures 1 to 8 The embodiments shown are identical.

[0262] The embodiment of the present application divides the workstation 40 into a stock box conveyor line 45, an order box area 42 and a picking position 43. The first handling robot 20 that handles the stock box sequentially handles the stock box to the stock box conveyor line 45. The stock box conveyor line 45 sequentially transports the stock box to the pickup position 412. At the same time, the second handling robot 30 that handles the order box sequentially enters the order box entry channel of the order box area 42, and then handles the order box to the delivery position 422 of the order box area 42. The picking personnel or the picking device take out the goods from the stock box at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box at the delivery position 422. The order box that has not completed the picking of all order tasks is carried away from the delivery position 422 by the second handling robot 30 and then enters the temporary storage position of the order box area 42 for temporary storage, and then enters the order box entry channel according to the first sequence, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the stock boxes on the stock box conveyor line 45, so that the order box that arrives at the delivery position 422 again matches the stock box that arrives at the pickup position 412. In this way, the inventory boxes are transported to the pickup position 412 next to the picking position 43 by the first handling robot 20 and the inventory box conveyor line 45, and the order boxes are transported to the delivery position 422 next to the picking position 43 by the second handling robot 30. The second handling robot 30 implements caching, sorting and switching of the order boxes according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes on the inventory box conveyor line 45, so that the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position 412 and the order boxes arriving at the delivery position 422 are matched for picking by pickers or picking devices, thereby improving the picking efficiency of the workstation 40, reducing the labor intensity of the pickers, and reducing the wrong picking rate.

[0263] Fig.10A flow chart of another method for picking goods at a workstation provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown, the method is applied to a server 50 in a warehousing system 1, the workstation 40 includes an inventory box conveyor line 45, an order box area 42 and a picking position 43; the inventory box conveyor line 45 has a pickup position 412; the order box area 42 includes an order box entry channel, a delivery position 422 and an order box exit channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box entry channel and the order box exit channel; the order box entry channel is used for the second handling robot 30 to enter the order box area 42 and walk to the delivery position 422, the second handling robot 30 carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive goods picked from the inventory box; the plurality of temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store and carry goods of the first type The second handling robot 30 of the order box, the first type of order box is an order box containing part of the picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robot 30 temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot 30 in the order box inbound channel or the order box outbound channel; the order box outbound channel is used for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive out of the order box area 42 or for the second handling robot 30 driving out of the delivery position 422 to drive into the temporary storage position; the picking position 43 is respectively adjacent to the projection of the pickup position 412 on the ground 60 and the delivery position 422, and is used to accommodate the picking personnel or set the picking device, so that the picking personnel or the picking device can take the goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position 412 and put them into the order box located at the delivery position 422. The workstation 40 can also be the workstation 40 in the embodiment of Figure 9 above.

[0264] like Fig.10 As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0265] Step 1010: Get order tasks;

[0266] Step 1020: Control the first transport robot to transport the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the entrance of the inventory box conveyor line, so that the inventory box conveyor line transports the inventory box from the entrance to the pickup position, so as to provide the inventory box at the pickup position according to the second sequence;

[0267] In, the inventory box is used to store goods;

[0268] Step 1030: Control the first transport robot to move to the exit of the inventory box conveying line after transporting the inventory box to the entrance;

[0269] Step 1040: Control the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery location;

[0270] Step 1050: After determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, control the inventory box conveyor line to convey the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit;

[0271] Step 1060: Control the first transport robot to take out the inventory box at the exit and drive out of the workstation, and determine whether the order task has been picked;

[0272] Step 1070: If the order task is completed, control the second transport robot to move out of the order box area;

[0273] Step 1080: If the order task has not been picked, the second transport robot is controlled to enter an idle temporary storage position, and the second transport robot is controlled to enter the order box entry channel from the temporary storage position according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again;

[0274] The first sequence is determined according to the second sequence so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery location match the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup location.

[0275] The order box flow steps in this embodiment are similar to Figure 8 The embodiments shown are the same and will not be described again here.

[0276] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which at least one executable instruction is stored. When the executable instruction is executed on an electronic device, the electronic device performs the operation of the method for picking goods at a workstation as described in the above embodiment. The computer-readable storage medium is a non-volatile storage medium. The electronic device may be a server of a warehousing system.

[0277] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the operations of the method for picking goods at a workstation as described in the above embodiment.

[0278] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which can be called by a processor to enable an electronic device to perform the operations of the method for picking goods at a workstation as described in the above embodiment. The electronic device can be a server of a warehousing system.

[0279] The algorithm or display provided here are not inherently related to any specific computer, virtual system or other equipment. Various general systems can also be used together with the teaching based on this. According to the above description, it is obvious to construct the structure required for this type of system. In addition, the present application embodiment is not directed to any specific programming language yet. It should be understood that various programming languages ​​can be utilized to realize the content of the present application described here, and the above description of specific languages ​​is to disclose the best mode of implementation of the present application.

[0280] In the description provided herein, a large number of specific details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0281] Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present application and aid in understanding one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the above description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, the various features of the embodiments of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, this disclosed method should not be interpreted as reflecting the following intention: that the claimed application requires more features than those explicitly recited in each claim.

[0282] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules in the devices in the embodiments may be adaptively changed and arranged in one or more devices different from the embodiments. The modules or units or components in the embodiments may be combined into one module or unit or component, and may be divided into a plurality of submodules or subunits or subcomponents. Except that at least some of such features and / or processes or units are mutually exclusive, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or device disclosed in this manner may be combined in any combination. Unless otherwise expressly stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature providing the same, equivalent or similar purpose.

[0283] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate the present application rather than limit the present application, and that those skilled in the art may design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference symbol between brackets shall not be constructed as a limitation on the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in the claims. The word "one" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of multiple such elements. The present application may be implemented by means of hardware including several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim that lists several devices, several of these devices may be embodied by the same hardware item. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names. The steps in the above embodiments, unless otherwise specified, should not be understood as limitations on the order of execution.

Claims

1. A workstation for picking goods, characterized in that: The workstation includes a stock box area, an order box area, and a picking location; The inventory box area includes a first entry channel, a pickup position and a first exit channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a standby channel adjacent to the first entry channel; The first station entry channel is used for a first transport robot that enters the inventory box area to walk to the pickup position, and the first transport robot transports the inventory box containing the goods; The standby channel is used for the first handling robot entering the inventory box area to park and wait to move into the first station entrance channel when there is no vacant queue position in the first station entrance channel; The first exit channel is used for the first transport robot that has driven out from the pickup position to drive out of the inventory box area; The order box area includes a second inbound channel, a delivery position, and a second outbound channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel; The second entry channel is used for a second transport robot that enters the order box area to walk to the delivery position, the second transport robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box; The multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robots carrying the first type of order boxes, the first type of order boxes are order boxes containing partially picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robots in the second station entry channel or the second station exit channel, and the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions enter the second station entry channel according to a first sequence, the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first station entry channel, so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery position match the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position; The second exit channel is used for allowing the second handling robot that has driven out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for allowing the second handling robot that has driven out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; The picking position is adjacent to the pickup position and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position.

2. The workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that The standby channel is also used for the first transport robot in the first entry channel to move in to adjust the second sequence.

3. The workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that The first entry channel, the standby channel, the first exit channel, the second entry channel, the multiple temporary storage locations, and the second exit channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, the entry direction of the first entry channel is opposite to the exit direction of the first exit channel, and the entry direction of the second entry channel is opposite to the exit direction of the second exit channel.

4. The workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that The first station entrance channel, the standby channel, and the first station exit channel are all arranged in parallel along a second direction, and the station entrance direction of the first station entrance channel is opposite to the station exit direction of the first station exit channel; The second station entrance channel, the plurality of temporary storage locations, and the second station exit channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, and the station entrance direction of the second station entrance channel is opposite to the station exit direction of the second station exit channel; The first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. In the first direction, the inventory box area and the order box area are respectively located on both sides of the picking position.

5. The workstation according to claim 3, characterized in that: The inventory box area further includes a standby pickup position located upstream of the pickup position, and the standby pickup position and the pickup position are arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the first inbound channel and the first outbound channel; The order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the standby delivery position and the delivery position being arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel; In the first direction, the inventory box area and the order box area are located on the same side of the picking location.

6. The workstation according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The inventory box area further includes a standby pickup position located upstream of the pickup position, and the standby pickup position, the pickup position and the first exit channel are arranged in sequence along the exit direction of the first exit channel; The order box area also includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, and the standby delivery position and the delivery position are arranged in sequence along a circular arc path between the second inbound channel and the second outbound channel.

7. The workstation according to claim 6, characterized in that The temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the candidate delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path.

8. The workstation according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The standby channel is located between the first inbound channel and the first outbound channel.

9. The workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that: The workstation further includes an isolation portion disposed between the inventory box area and the picking location, and between the order box area and the picking location.

10. The workstation according to claim 9, characterized in that The isolation portion includes a first stopper and a second stopper, wherein the first stopper is located between the inventory box area and the picking position, and the second stopper is located between the order box area and the picking position.

11. The workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that The first entry channel includes a plurality of first queue positions, the standby channel includes a plurality of standby positions, the pickup position, each of the first queue positions, and each of the standby positions are provided with an identification member, and the identification member is used to be identified by the first handling robot to realize positioning of the first handling robot; The second entry channel includes a plurality of second queue positions, the second exit channel includes a plurality of second exit positions, the delivery position, each second queue position, each second exit position and each temporary storage position are provided with identification elements, and the identification elements are used to be identified by the second handling robot to achieve positioning of the second handling robot.

12. A workstation for picking goods, characterized in that: The workstation includes a stock box conveyor line, an order box area, and a picking location; The inventory box conveyor line has a pickup position, the first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to the entrance of the inventory box conveyor line in sequence, and the inventory box conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes from the entrance to the pickup position to provide the inventory boxes at the pickup position in a second sequence, wherein the inventory boxes are used to store goods; The inventory box conveyor line is also used to convey the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line, and the first transport robot is also used to transport the inventory box to the entrance and then walk to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line, take out the inventory box at the exit and then drive out of the workstation; The order box area includes an order box inbound channel, a delivery position, and an order box outbound channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box inbound channel and the order box outbound channel; The order box entry channel is used for a second handling robot to drive into the order box area and walk to the delivery position, the second handling robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box; The multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robots carrying the first type of order boxes, the first type of order boxes are order boxes containing partially picked goods, the walking direction of the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robots in the order box inlet channel or the order box outlet channel, and the second handling robots temporarily stored in the temporary storage positions enter the order box inlet channel according to a first sequence, and the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence, so that the order boxes arriving at the delivery position are matched with the inventory boxes arriving at the pickup position; The order box exit channel is used for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; The picking position is adjacent to the projection of the pickup position on the ground and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set up picking devices so that the picking personnel or picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position.

13. The workstation according to claim 12, characterized in that In the vertical direction, the inventory box conveying line is located on the upper level of the order box area.

14. The workstation according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The inventory box conveyor line comprises a first conveyor line, a second conveyor line and a third conveyor line, wherein the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are arranged in parallel along a first direction, the third conveyor line is arranged along a second direction and is used to connect the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line, and the picking position is provided at the exit of the third conveyor line or at the entrance of the second conveyor line, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and the conveying directions of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are opposite; The first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to the entrance of the first conveyor line in sequence, the first conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes to the third conveyor line, and the third conveyor line is used to transport the inventory boxes to the pickup position, so as to provide the inventory boxes at the pickup position according to the second sequence; The second conveyor line is used to convey the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit of the second conveyor line, and the first transport robot is also used to transport the inventory box to the entrance of the first conveyor line and then walk to the exit of the second conveyor line, take out the inventory box at the exit of the second conveyor line and then drive out of the workstation; The order box inbound channel, the multiple temporary storage locations and the order box outbound channel are all arranged in parallel along the first direction, and the inbound direction of the order box inbound channel is opposite to the outbound direction of the order box outbound channel.

15. The workstation according to claim 14, characterized in that The order box area further includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the standby delivery position and the delivery position being arranged in sequence along an arc-shaped path between the order box inbound channel and the order box outbound channel; In the second direction, the inventory box conveyor line and the order box area are located on the same side of the picking location.

16. The workstation according to claim 15, characterized in that The temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the candidate delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path.

17. The workstation according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The workstation also includes a partition disposed between the order box area and the picking location.

18. The workstation according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The order box inbound channel includes a plurality of order box queuing positions, the order box outbound channel includes a plurality of order box outbound positions, the delivery position, each of the order box queuing positions, each of the order box outbound positions and each of the temporary storage positions are provided with identification elements, and the identification elements are used to be identified by the second transport robot to achieve positioning of the second transport robot.

19. A storage system, characterized in that: comprising a shelf, a first handling robot, a second handling robot, and a workstation as described in any one of claims 1 to 18; The shelf is used to store the inventory boxes and the order boxes; The first transport robot is used to transport the inventory boxes to be picked from the shelf to the workstation and to transport the picked inventory boxes from the workstation to the shelf; The second transport robot is used to transport the empty order boxes from the shelf to the workstation and to transport the order boxes after order task picking is completed out of the workstation.

20. A method for picking goods at a workstation, applied to a server in a warehousing system, characterized in that: The workstation includes an inventory box area, an order box area and a picking position; the inventory box area includes a first entry channel, a pickup position and a first exit channel which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a standby channel adjacent to the first entry channel; the first entry channel is used for a first handling robot entering the inventory box area to walk to the pickup position, and the first handling robot carries an inventory box with goods stored therein; the standby channel is used for the first handling robot entering the inventory box area to dock and wait to move into the first entry channel when there is no idle queue position in the first entry channel; the first exit channel is used for the first handling robot exiting from the pickup position to exit the inventory box area; the order box area includes a second entry channel, a delivery position and a second exit channel which are arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions between the second entry channel and the second exit channel; the second entry channel is used for a first handling robot entering the order box area The second handling robot walks to the delivery position, the second handling robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive the goods picked from the inventory box; the multiple temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robot carrying a first type of order box, the first type of order box is an order box containing partially picked goods, and the walking direction of the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot in the second inbound channel or the second outbound channel; the second outbound channel is used for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; the picking position is adjacent to the pick-up position and the delivery position, respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set picking devices, so that the picking personnel or the picking devices take out the goods from the inventory box located at the pick-up position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position; The method comprises: Get order tasks; Controlling the first transport robot to transport the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the pickup location; Controlling the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery location; After determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, controlling the first transport robot to drive out of the inventory box area, and determining whether the order task has been picked; If the order task is completed, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the order box area; If the order task has not completed picking, the second handling robot is controlled to enter an empty temporary storage position, and the second handling robot is controlled to enter the second entry channel from the temporary storage position according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence of the inventory boxes in the first entry channel so that the order box arriving at the delivery position matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: Predicting the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, determining the second order of the inventory boxes in the first inbound channel according to the order in which the inventory boxes arrive at the workstation, and determining the first order according to the second order; or, Obtain the position of the first handling robot in the first entry channel, determine the second order of inventory boxes in the first entry channel according to the position, and determine the first order according to the second order.

22. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The second station entrance channel, the plurality of temporary storage locations, and the second station exit channel are all arranged in parallel along a first direction, and the station entrance direction of the second station entrance channel is opposite to the station exit direction of the second station exit channel; The controlling the second transport robot from the temporary storage position to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes: Determine a first position of the order box carried by the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position in the first sequence, and determine a second position in the second inbound channel that is parallel to the temporary storage position in a second direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction; If the second transport robot transporting the order box located after the first position in the first sequence enters the second station entrance channel, control the second transport robot transporting the order box located after the first position in the first sequence to wait upstream of the second position in the second station entrance channel; Determine whether all order boxes located before the first position in the first sequence are on the second inbound channel and are located downstream of the second position in the second inbound channel; If so, control the second transport robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second position in the second station entry channel.

23. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The controlling the second transport robot from the temporary storage position to enter the second station entry channel according to the first sequence includes: Determine whether the paths of all order boxes located before the order box in the first sequence to reach the delivery location are shorter than the path of the order box to reach the delivery location; If yes, control the second transport robot to move from the temporary storage position to the second station entrance channel, so that the position of the order box in the second station entrance channel conforms to the first sequence; If not, the second transport robot is controlled to continue to be temporarily stored in the temporary storage position until the paths of all order boxes located before the order box in the first sequence reaching the delivery position are shorter than the path of the order box reaching the delivery position, and the second transport robot is controlled to move from the temporary storage position into the second entry channel so that the position of the order box in the second entry channel conforms to the first sequence.

24. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that If the order task has not been picked, the method further includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position; If the next position of the order box in the first sequence is adjacent to the current position, then The second transport robot is controlled to stay at the delivery position to wait for the next inventory box to arrive at the pickup position for picking again.

25. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The order box area also includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position; If the order task has not been picked, the method further includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and the current position; If the order box is one position apart from the next position in the first sequence and the current position, the second transport robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position, and move into the standby delivery position to wait after the second transport robot located at the standby delivery position moves into the delivery position.

26. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The order box area also includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path; The controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and a current position; If the order box is two positions apart from the next position in the first sequence and the current position, the second transport robot is controlled to move out of the delivery position and move into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

27. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The order box area also includes a standby delivery position located upstream of the delivery position, the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position among the multiple temporary storage positions is the first temporary storage position, and the standby delivery position, the delivery position and the first temporary storage position are arranged in sequence along the roundabout path; The controlling the second handling robot to enter an idle temporary storage position includes: determining a relationship between a next position of the order box in the first sequence and a current position; If the order box is spaced at least three positions between the next position and the current position in the first sequence, determining whether there is an order box in the order boxes between the current position and the next position in the first sequence that needs to use the first temporary storage position; If so, control the second transport robot to move out of the delivery position and move into an idle temporary storage position other than the first temporary storage position for temporary storage; If not, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery position and then drive into the first temporary storage position for temporary storage.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The determining whether there is an order box in the order boxes between the current position and the next position in the first sequence that needs to use the first temporary storage position includes: Determine whether there is an order box that appears repeatedly with at least one position between the current position and the next position in the first sequence.

29. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The controlling the second transport robot to move out of the delivery position and into an idle temporary storage position other than the first temporary storage position for temporary storage comprises: Determine the temporary storage position closest to the delivery position from all the idle temporary storage positions except the first temporary storage position; The second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the delivery location and into a temporary storage location which is closest to the delivery location for temporary storage.

30. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that After controlling the second transport robot to drive out of the order box area, the method further includes: The second transport robot that carries the empty order boxes is controlled to drive into the order box area from the second entry channel.

31. A method for picking goods at a workstation, characterized in that: The workstation includes an inventory box conveyor line, an order box area and a picking position; the inventory box conveyor line has a picking position; the order box area includes an order box entry channel, a delivery position and an order box exit channel arranged in sequence, and also includes a plurality of temporary storage positions located between the order box entry channel and the order box exit channel; the order box entry channel is used for a second handling robot to enter the order box area and walk to the delivery position, the second handling robot carries an order box, and the order box is used to receive goods picked from the inventory box; the plurality of temporary storage positions are used to temporarily store the second handling robot carrying a first type of order box, and the first type of order box is a box containing partially picked goods. An order box for selecting goods, the walking direction of the second handling robot temporarily stored in the temporary storage position is perpendicular to the walking direction of the second handling robot in the order box inlet channel or the order box outlet channel; the order box outlet channel is used for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive out of the order box area or for the second handling robot driving out of the delivery position to drive into the temporary storage position; the picking position is adjacent to the projection of the pickup position on the ground and the delivery position respectively, and is used to accommodate picking personnel or set picking devices, so that the picking personnel or the picking devices take goods from the inventory box located at the pickup position and put them into the order box located at the delivery position; The method comprises: Get order tasks; Control the first handling robot to carry the inventory box corresponding to the order task to the entrance of the inventory box conveyor line, so that the inventory box conveyor line conveys the inventory box from the entrance to the pickup position, so as to provide the inventory box at the pickup position according to a second sequence, wherein the inventory box is used to store goods; control the first handling robot to move to the exit of the inventory box conveyor line after carrying the inventory box to the entrance; Control the second transport robot to transport the empty order box to the delivery position; after determining that the goods to be picked in the inventory box are delivered to the order box, control the inventory box conveyor line to transport the inventory box output from the pickup position to the exit; Controlling the first transport robot to take out the inventory box located at the exit and then drive out of the workstation, and determining whether the order task has been picked; If the order task is completed, the second transport robot is controlled to drive out of the order box area; If the order task has not completed picking, the second transport robot is controlled to enter an empty temporary storage position, and the second transport robot is controlled from the temporary storage position to enter the order box entry channel according to the first sequence to transport the order box to the delivery position again, wherein the first sequence is determined according to the second sequence so that the order box arriving at the delivery position matches the inventory box arriving at the pickup position.

32. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for picking goods at a workstation as described in any one of claims 20-31 is implemented.

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