An AGV in-and-out control system and out-and-out, in-and-out, and back-out methods

Abstract

The present invention discloses an AGV in-and-out control system and an out-and-out, in-and-out method, belonging to the technical field of automatic guided vehicles. An AGV in-and-out control system includes a storage bin, a storage location management module, a material out-and-out module, a material return in-and-out module, an automatic transport vehicle, and a scheduling module; a plurality of parallel lanes are arranged in the storage bin, each lane has an independent number, and a plurality of storage locations are arranged along the length direction of the lane, and the storage location has at least one layer; the storage location management module stores lane information and storage location information; the material out-and-out module is used to generate an out-and-out strategy, and the material return in-and-out module is used to generate a material return strategy and an in-and-out strategy; the scheduling module is used to receive an out-and-out strategy, a material return strategy, and an in-and-out strategy, and generate a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle is used to execute the scheduling instruction; the lane information includes: the activation status of the lane, the empty and full status, the storage location arrangement position, the release status, the stored material information, and the out-and-out status.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automatic guided vehicles, and more specifically to an AGV in-and-out warehouse control system and an out-and-in warehouse and back-out warehouse method. Background Art

[0002] Ground pile storage is suitable for storage with pallets in specific scenarios. It can be directly demarcated in the flat area and turned into a warehouse without increasing external infrastructure investment, and can be put into use quickly. In different industries and different application scenarios, ground pile solutions are also different. In some application scenarios, such as limited warehouse space, no high-level storage requirements, and the existing ground pile solution does not affect the production rhythm requirements through simple layout planning, you can consider an automated ground pile solution. Traditional ground pile storage uses manual forklifts to transfer goods for in-and-out warehouse management. It has low automation and intelligence, frequent in-and-out materials, cumbersome processes, and easy errors in material tracking. In addition, all in-and-out warehouse management is manually involved, the priority of in-and-out warehouses cannot be guaranteed and controlled, and overdue materials in the warehouse cannot be supervised through information technology.

[0003] After searching the existing patent document with the announcement number CN110775508B, a trackless AGV entry and exit method, device and AGV control system are provided. When the AGV receives the entry instruction, the method obtains the priority size corresponding to each storage location according to the storage location priority list, and determines whether the storage location with high priority is full according to the priority and storage location status corresponding to each storage location. If so, a storage location with low priority is selected for entry; if not, a storage location with high priority is selected for entry; by matching different priorities to each storage location, when actually entering the warehouse, the storage is carried out according to the priority size of the storage location, thereby improving the flexibility of AGV entry and exit, and also improving the efficiency of AGV entry and exit.

[0004] Although the above scheme provides a method for determining the warehousing location by setting priorities, the priority settings are different for different ways of placing goods. For example, the present application adopts ground-pile storage, which has high flexibility. When outbound, inbound and outbound storage are required, it is difficult to specify a suitable priority order for each storage location. In view of this, we propose an AGV inbound and outbound control system and outbound, inbound and outbound storage methods. Summary of the invention

[0005] 1. Technical issues to be solved

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an AGV in-and-out control system and an out-and-in, in-and-out method to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0007] 2. Technical solution

[0008] The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0009] An AGV in-and-out warehouse control system includes a storage bin, a warehouse location management module, a material out-of-warehouse module, a material return in-warehouse module, an automatic transport vehicle, and a scheduling module;

[0010] The storage warehouse is provided with a plurality of parallel lanes, each of which has an independent number, and a plurality of storage locations are provided along the length direction of the lane, and the storage locations have at least one layer;

[0011] The storage location management module internally stores lane information and storage location information;

[0012] The material outbound module is used to generate an outbound strategy, and the material return module is used to generate a material return strategy and a material entry strategy;

[0013] The scheduling module is used to receive the outbound strategy, the return strategy and the inbound strategy, and generate a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle is used to execute the scheduling instruction;

[0014] The lane information includes: the lane's activation status, empty and full status, storage location arrangement position, release status, storage material information, and outbound status. When the lane is in an empty state, the outbound status is automatically updated to a non-outbound state. The storage location information includes the storage location usage status.

[0015] A warehousing method, which is executed by a material return warehousing module, comprises the following steps:

[0016] A1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes;

[0017] A2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full.

[0018] A3. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, further filter out the lanes that are not released or outbound;

[0019] A4. Based on the storage material information of the lanes, further select the lanes with the same information as the incoming materials as the incoming lanes;

[0020] A5. Change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status;

[0021] A6. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location.

[0022] A7. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse to the scheduling module.

[0023] As an optional solution of the technical solution of the present application document, in A4, if there are multiple lanes with the same information as the incoming materials, the incoming lane is determined according to the principle of the shortest incoming path. If there is no lane with the same information as the incoming materials, then according to the empty or full status of the lane, the vacant lanes are further screened out as the incoming lanes.

[0024] As an optional solution of the technical solution of the present application document, in A6, an unused storage location is determined as the storage location according to the order of being farthest from the exit of the storage lane and being first up and then down.

[0025] A method for discharging goods from warehouse, the method for discharging goods from warehouse being executed by a material calling discharging module, comprising the following steps:

[0026] B1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes;

[0027] B2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not empty.

[0028] B3. According to the release status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not released;

[0029] B4. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the outgoing material as the outgoing lane;

[0030] B5. Change the release status of the outbound lane from the unreleased status to the released status, and update the outbound status of the outbound lane to the outbound status;

[0031] B6. Identify a used storage location in the outbound lane as the outbound storage location.

[0032] B7. Send the location information of the outbound storage location to the scheduling module.

[0033] As an optional solution of the technical solution of this application document, in B4, if there are multiple lanes with the same outbound material information, the lane with the earliest material entry time is selected as the outbound lane according to the order of material entry time in the lane.

[0034] As an optional solution of the technical solution of the present application document, in B6, a storage location in use is determined as the outbound storage location according to the order of the closest distance to the outbound lane exit and the order of first down and then up.

[0035] A method for returning materials to warehouse, the method for returning materials to warehouse is executed by a return material storage module, and comprises the following steps:

[0036] C1. Obtain the original lane number of the returned material;

[0037] C2. Obtaining the lane information of the original lane according to the original lane number;

[0038] C3. If the lane information of the original lane shows that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the location information of the unused storage locations in the original lane is sent to the scheduling module.

[0039] As an optional solution of the technical solution of this application document, in C3, if the lane information of the original lane does not meet the restriction conditions that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the following steps are adopted:

[0040] C301, obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes in an enabled state according to the enabled state of the lanes;

[0041] C302. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full.

[0042] C303. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, the lanes in the unreleased state and the unoutbound state are further selected;

[0043] C304. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the returned material as the entry lane. If there are multiple lanes with the same information as the returned material, the lane with the earliest material entry time will be selected as the entry lane.

[0044] C305, change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status;

[0045] C306. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location.

[0046] C307. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse location to the scheduling module.

[0047] 3. Beneficial effects

[0048] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0049] 1) This application modifies the release status of the lane that is executing outbound, inbound or outbound operations to a released status, which can prevent the lane from being selected when the outbound, inbound or outbound methods are executed, so that the same lane can only execute one task in the same time period, avoiding conflicts between different tasks.

[0050] 2) This application selects the outbound lane according to the order of storage time, which can ensure that the materials are outbound in the order of storage time, avoiding the situation where some materials cannot be outbound due to long-term squeezing.

[0051] 3) This application can avoid selecting a lane that has already been put into storage when materials are put into storage by adding the storage status to the lane information, and can maintain the continuity of material batches in the lane by returning the materials to the original lane first, thus ensuring the implementation of the outbound function in the order of storage time. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Embodiment 1:

[0053] The present invention provides an AGV in-and-out warehouse control system, including a storage bin, a warehouse location management module, a material out-of-warehouse module, a material return in-warehouse module, an automatic transport vehicle, and a scheduling module;

[0054] The storage warehouse is provided with a plurality of parallel lanes, each of which has an independent number, and a plurality of storage locations are provided along the length direction of the lane, and the storage locations have at least one layer;

[0055] The storage location management module internally stores lane information and storage location information;

[0056] The material outbound module is used to generate an outbound strategy, and the material return module is used to generate a material return strategy and a material entry strategy;

[0057] The scheduling module is used to receive the outbound strategy, the return strategy and the inbound strategy, and generate a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle is used to execute the scheduling instruction;

[0058] The lane information includes: the lane's activation status, empty and full status, storage location arrangement position, release status, storage material information, and outbound status. When the lane is in an empty state, the outbound status is automatically updated to a non-outbound state. The storage location information includes the storage location usage status.

[0059] When performing warehousing operations, the material outbound module and the material return inbound module can obtain the lane information and storage location usage status inside the storage warehouse through the storage location management module, and automatically generate the outbound strategy and storage strategy based on the internally set outbound method, storage method and outbound method, and then send the outbound strategy, storage strategy and return strategy to the scheduling module. The scheduling module will generate a scheduling instruction and send it to the automatic transport vehicle for execution.

[0060] The automatic transport vehicle used in this application is a laser forklift, which is an automatic transport robot that can be raised and lowered.

[0061] Embodiment 2:

[0062] The present invention provides a warehousing method, which is applied to an AGV warehousing control system described in Example 1. The warehousing method is executed by a material return warehousing module, and includes the following steps:

[0063] A1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes;

[0064] A2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full.

[0065] A3. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, further filter out the lanes that are not released or outbound;

[0066] A4. Based on the storage material information of the lanes, further select the lanes with the same information as the incoming materials as the incoming lanes;

[0067] A5. Change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status;

[0068] A6. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location.

[0069] A7. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse to the scheduling module.

[0070] In A1, only the lanes in the enabled state have the possibility of accepting new materials. If the lane is not enabled, materials cannot be stored in it.

[0071] In A2, the full lanes obviously cannot accommodate new materials. Only the lanes with unused storage locations meet the requirements for storage.

[0072] In A3, a lane that has been released indicates that the lane is executing other tasks. Only a lane that has not been released can be reassigned tasks to avoid executing multiple tasks in the same lane at the same time, which may cause the warehousing task to fail to execute smoothly. The lane is marked with the status of "not out of stock", indicating that the lane can be used for material warehousing. If the lane is in the status of "out of stock", it cannot be used for warehousing. It is necessary to wait until all materials in the lane have been out of stock before the out of stock status can be updated to the status of "not out of stock" for material warehousing. This ensures the batch continuity of goods in the same lane and facilitates the management of goods in the lane.

[0073] In A4, if there are multiple lanes with the same information as the incoming material, the incoming lane is determined according to the principle of the shortest incoming path. If there is no lane with the same information as the incoming material, the empty lanes are further selected as the incoming lanes based on the empty and full status of the lanes.

[0074] In A5, by changing the release status of the incoming lane from an unreleased state to a released state, it is avoided that new tasks are further assigned to the lane.

[0075] In A6, an unused storage location can be determined as the entry storage location based on the order of being farthest from the entry lane exit and being first up and then down.

[0076] In A7, after the location information of the incoming storage location is sent to the scheduling module, the scheduling module generates a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle will transport the materials to the incoming storage location for storage according to the generated scheduling instruction.

[0077] Embodiment 3:

[0078] The present invention provides a method for discharging goods from a warehouse, which is applied to an AGV warehouse-in and warehouse-out control system described in Example 1 and is executed by a material-calling and discharging module, and includes the following steps:

[0079] B1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes;

[0080] B2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not empty.

[0081] B3. According to the release status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not released;

[0082] B4. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the outgoing material as the outgoing lane;

[0083] B5. Change the release status of the outbound lane from the unreleased status to the released status, and update the outbound status of the outbound lane to the outbound status;

[0084] B6. Identify a used storage location in the outbound lane as the outbound storage location.

[0085] B7. Send the location information of the outbound storage location to the scheduling module.

[0086] In B1, only the lanes in the enabled state can accept outbound shipments. If the lanes are not enabled, outbound shipments are not possible.

[0087] In B2, if the lane is in an empty state, it means that there is no material in the lane and it cannot be used for outbound delivery.

[0088] In B3, the lanes that have been released are performing other tasks. Only the lanes that have not been released can be reassigned tasks to avoid multiple tasks being performed in the same lane at the same time, which may result in the failure of the outbound task to be performed smoothly.

[0089] In B4, if there are multiple lanes with the same outgoing material information, the lane with the earliest incoming material time is selected as the outgoing lane according to the order of the incoming materials in the lane. This ensures that the materials are outgoing in the order of their incoming materials, avoiding the situation where some materials cannot be outgoing due to long-term congestion.

[0090] In B5, by changing the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status, new tasks can be avoided from being assigned to the lane; by updating the outgoing status of the outgoing lane to the outgoing status, the lane can be avoided from being selected as the incoming lane, the continuity of the material batches in the lane is maintained, and outgoing materials can be carried out in the order of the incoming time.

[0091] In B6, a used storage location is determined as the outbound storage location based on the order of the closest distance to the outbound lane exit and the order of first down and then up.

[0092] In B7, after the location information of the outbound storage location is sent to the scheduling module, the scheduling module generates a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle will outbound the materials at the outbound storage location according to the generated scheduling instruction.

[0093] Embodiment 4:

[0094] The present invention provides a warehouse return method, which is executed by a material return and storage module and includes the following steps:

[0095] C1. Obtain the original lane number of the returned material;

[0096] C2. Obtaining the lane information of the original lane according to the original lane number;

[0097] C3. If the lane information of the original lane shows that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the location information of the unused storage locations in the original lane is sent to the scheduling module.

[0098] In C3, if the lane information of the original lane does not meet the restriction conditions that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the following steps are adopted:

[0099] C301, obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes in an enabled state according to the enabled state of the lanes;

[0100] C302. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full.

[0101] C303. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, the lanes in the unreleased state and the unoutbound state are further selected;

[0102] C304. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the returned material as the entry lane. If there are multiple lanes with the same information as the returned material, the lane with the earliest material entry time will be selected as the entry lane.

[0103] C305, change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status;

[0104] C306. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location.

[0105] C307. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse location to the scheduling module.

[0106] The scheduling module can generate scheduling instructions based on the acquired location information. The automatic transport vehicle will return the materials to the warehouse according to the generated scheduling instructions to maintain the orderliness of material storage.

Claims

1. An AGV in-and-out control system, characterized by: Including storage warehouse, storage location management module, material outbound module, material return module, automatic transport vehicle, and scheduling module; The storage warehouse is provided with a plurality of parallel lanes, each of which has an independent number, and a plurality of storage locations are provided along the length direction of the lane, and the storage locations have at least one layer; The storage location management module internally stores lane information and storage location information; The material outbound module is used to generate an outbound strategy, and the material return module is used to generate a material return strategy and a material entry strategy; The scheduling module is used to receive the outbound strategy, the return strategy and the inbound strategy, and generate a scheduling instruction, and the automatic transport vehicle is used to execute the scheduling instruction; The lane information includes: the lane's activation status, empty and full status, storage location arrangement position, release status, storage material information, and outbound status. When the lane is in an empty state, the outbound status is automatically updated to a non-outbound state. The storage location information includes the storage location usage status.

2. A warehousing method, applied to an AGV warehousing control system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The warehousing method is executed by the material return warehousing module, and includes the following steps: A1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes; A2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full. A3. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, further filter out the lanes that are not released or outbound; A4. Based on the storage material information of the lanes, further select the lanes with the same information as the incoming materials as the incoming lanes; A5. Change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status; A6. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location. A7. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse to the scheduling module.

3. A warehousing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In A4, if there are multiple lanes with the same information as the incoming material, the incoming lane is determined according to the principle of the shortest incoming path. If there is no lane with the same information as the incoming material, the empty lanes are further selected as the incoming lanes based on the empty and full status of the lanes.

4. A warehousing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In A6, an unused storage location is determined as the entry storage location based on the order of being farthest from the entry lane exit and first up and then down.

5. A method for exiting a warehouse, applied to an AGV in-and-out warehouse control system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The method for dispatching materials from warehouse is executed by a material dispatching module, and includes the following steps: B1. Obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes that are enabled according to the enabled status of the lanes; B2. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not empty. B3. According to the release status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not released; B4. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the outgoing material as the outgoing lane; B5. Change the release status of the outbound lane from the unreleased status to the released status, and update the outbound status of the outbound lane to the outbound status; B6. Identify a used storage location in the outbound lane as the outbound storage location. B7. Send the location information of the outbound storage location to the scheduling module.

6. A method for removing goods from a warehouse according to claim 5, characterized in that: In B4, if there are multiple lanes with the same outgoing material information, the lane with the earliest material entry time is selected as the outgoing lane according to the order of material entry time in the lane.

7. A method for removing goods from a warehouse according to claim 5, characterized in that: In B6, a used storage location is determined as the outbound storage location based on the order of the closest distance to the outbound lane exit and the order of first down and then up.

8. A warehouse return method, applied to an AGV warehouse entry and exit control system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The destocking method is executed by the destocking module, and includes the following steps: C1. Obtain the original lane number of the returned material; C2. Obtaining the lane information of the original lane according to the original lane number; C3. If the lane information of the original lane shows that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the location information of the unused storage locations in the original lane is sent to the scheduling module.

9. A warehouse return method according to claim 8, characterized in that: In C3, if the lane information of the original lane does not meet the restriction conditions that the activation state is enabled, the release state is not released, and the outbound state is outbound, the following steps are adopted: C301, obtain all lane information, and filter out lanes in an enabled state according to the enabled state of the lanes; C302. According to the empty and full status of the lanes, further select the lanes that are not full. C303. According to the release status and outbound status of the lanes, the lanes in the unreleased state and the unoutbound state are further selected; C304. Based on the storage material information of the lane, further select the lane with the same information as the returned material as the entry lane. If there are multiple lanes with the same information as the returned material, the lane with the earliest material entry time will be selected as the entry lane. C305, change the release status of the incoming lane from the unreleased status to the released status; C306. Identify an unused storage location in the storage lane as the storage location. C307. Send the location information of the incoming warehouse location to the scheduling module.