Storage system control method and device and storage system

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a control method and device of a warehousing system and the warehousing system, and relates to the technical field of automatic logistics, and the method comprises the steps that in response to the situation that a latent robot carries a first material box to a connection storage position, whether a warehouse-out request for the first material box exists in the future time period or not is predicted; if not, the material box robot is controlled to carry the first material box to the upper-layer storage position from the connection position; in response to an ex-warehouse request for the second material box, determining a storage position for storing the second material box as a target storage position; if the target storage position is the upper-layer storage position, the material box robot is controlled to carry the second material box from the target storage position to the connection storage position, the latent robot is controlled to carry the second material box from the connection storage position to a target point position, and the target point position is a point position requesting the second material box; and if the target storage position is the connection storage position, the latent robot is controlled to carry the second material box from the target storage position to the target position. By applying the embodiment of the invention, the material delivery efficiency can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of automated logistics technology, and in particular, to a control method, device, and warehousing system for a warehousing system. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of e-commerce and manufacturing, warehousing management, as a key link in the supply chain, directly affects the operating costs and customer satisfaction of enterprises. For example, in the field of e-commerce, the order volume fluctuates greatly, the variety of goods is numerous, and the delivery time limit requirements are high. If the goods are not shipped out in time, it may affect the order fulfillment rate; while in the manufacturing field, the warehousing management of different types of materials is crucial for production efficiency and cost control, and the delay in material receipt and shipment may lead to production line stoppages. Therefore, how to improve the efficiency of material shipment has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a control method, device, and warehousing system for a warehousing system to improve the efficiency of material shipment. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0004] In the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a control method for a warehousing system is provided. The warehousing system includes an upper storage location, a transfer storage location, a latent robot, and a bin robot. The method includes:

[0005] In response to the latent robot transporting a first bin to the transfer storage location, predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future time period;

[0006] If not, controlling the bin robot to transport the first bin from the transfer position to the upper storage location;

[0007] In response to an outbound request for a second bin, determining the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location;

[0008] If the target storage location is the upper storage location, controlling the bin robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and controlling the latent robot to transport the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point, where the target point is the point in the request for the second bin;

[0009] If the target storage location is the transfer storage location, controlling the latent robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner, the predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future time period includes:

[0011] Determine whether there is an order for the first bin. If so, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period.

[0012] In a possible implementation, predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period includes:

[0013] Obtain the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type;

[0014] If the outbound frequency of the material of the first material type within a historical time period is higher than a preset frequency threshold, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0016] In response to meeting a preset bin transfer condition, determine the number of bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first number;

[0017] If the first number is greater than a preset number threshold, determine a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins, where the second number is not less than the difference between the first number and the preset number threshold;

[0018] Control the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper storage location.

[0019] In a possible implementation, determining a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins includes:

[0020] Determine a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins in descending order of priority, where the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability of having an outbound request for the bin within a future time period.

[0021] In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a warehousing system is provided. The system includes a control device, at least one upper storage location, at least one transfer storage location, at least one AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) robot, and at least one bin robot; the height of the upper storage location exceeds the working height of the AGV robot;

[0022] The AGV robot is used to move the first bin to the transfer storage location;

[0023] The control device is configured to, in response to the AGV robot moving the first bin to the transfer storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period; if not, control the bin robot to move the first bin from the transfer location to the upper storage location;

[0024] The control device is further configured to, in response to an outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location; if the target storage location is an upper - layer storage location, control the bin robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer position, and control the latent robot to move the second bin from the transfer position to the target point, where the target point is the point requested in the second bin; if the target storage location is a transfer storage location, control the latent robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

[0025] In a possible implementation, each of the transfer storage locations is respectively arranged below each of the upper - layer storage locations; the height of each of the transfer storage locations is higher than the height of the body of the latent robot.

[0026] In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a control device for a warehousing system is provided. The warehousing system includes upper - layer storage locations, transfer storage locations, latent robots, and bin robots; the device includes:

[0027] A request prediction module, configured to, in response to the latent robot moving the first bin to the transfer storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future period;

[0028] A first control module, configured to, if not, control the bin robot to move the first bin from the transfer position to the upper - layer storage location;

[0029] A storage - location determination module, configured to, in response to an outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location;

[0030] A second control module, configured to, if the target storage location is an upper - layer storage location, control the bin robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and control the latent robot to move the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point, where the target point is the point requested in the second bin;

[0031] A third control module, configured to, if the target storage location is a transfer storage location, control the latent robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the prediction module is specifically configured to:

[0033] Determine whether there is an order for the first bin, and if so, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future period;

[0034] In a possible implementation, the prediction module is specifically configured to:

[0035] Obtain the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type;

[0036] If the material of the first material type has a higher outbound frequency than the preset frequency threshold within the historical period, it is determined that there is an outbound request for the first bin within the future period;

[0037] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes:

[0038] A number determination module, configured to determine the number of bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first number in response to meeting the preset bin transfer condition;

[0039] A bin determination module, configured to determine a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bin if the first number is greater than the preset number threshold, where the second number is not less than the difference between the first number and the preset number threshold;

[0040] A fourth control module, configured to control the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper storage location;

[0041] In a possible implementation manner, the bin determination module is specifically configured to:

[0042] Determine a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bin in the order of priority from high to low, where the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability that there is an outbound request for the bin within the future period.

[0043] An embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, including:

[0044] A memory, configured to store a computer program;

[0045] A processor, configured to implement the control method of the above-mentioned storage system when executing the program stored in the memory.

[0046] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the control method of the above-mentioned storage system is implemented.

[0047] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including instructions, and when it runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the control method of the above-mentioned storage system.

[0048] Advantages of the embodiments of the present application:

[0049] A control method, device, and storage system provided by an embodiment of the present application. Since the bins in the upper storage locations are bins that do not have an outbound request in the future time period, that is, bins that do not need to be frequently moved, and the bins in the transfer storage locations are bins that have an outbound request in the future time period, that is, bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time. Therefore, when the bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time are out of storage, they can be directly transported from the transfer position to the target position by the latent robot, without the need to dispatch the bin robot to first transport these bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time from the storage location to the transfer position. This can reduce the frequency of frequently moving bins from the upper storage location and improve the outbound efficiency of the materials.

[0050] Of course, implementing any product or method of the present application does not necessarily require achieving all the above-mentioned advantages simultaneously. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and those of ordinary skill in the art can also obtain other embodiments based on these drawings.

[0052] Figure 1 It is the first structural schematic diagram of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 2 It is the first example diagram of the transfer storage location and the upper storage location;

[0054] Figure 3 It is the second example diagram of the transfer storage location and the upper storage location;

[0055] Figure 4 It is the first schematic diagram of the control method of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 5 It is the second schematic diagram of the control method of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 6 It is the third schematic diagram of the control method of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 7 It is the fourth schematic diagram of the control method of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 8 It is the fifth schematic diagram of the control method of the storage system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 9Interaction diagram of the control method for the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0061] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the handling operation of CTU and Q1P in the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0062] Figure 11 Second structural schematic diagram of the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0063] Figure 12 Structural schematic diagram of the control device for the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0064] Figure 13 Structural schematic diagram of the electronic device provided by the embodiments of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0065] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0066] First, the professional terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained:

[0067] CTU (Cargo Tracking and Uploading): A kind of bin robot used in automated production lines or warehousing logistics.

[0068] Q1P: Refers to a latent automatic guided vehicle, that is, the latent robot in this article, which is an intelligent handling device.

[0069] Buffer position: Set under the shelf for CTU and Q1P to exchange the positions of the bins.

[0070] iWMS (Intelligent Warehouse Management System): Used to manage the inventory of the warehouse, configure the basic information of the warehouse, and process the tasks and data generated by warehouse operations.

[0071] CMS (Cluster Management System): After obtaining a task order, through task decomposition, it notifies the RCS (Robot Control System) to control the robot to move the shelf from one position to another position.

[0072] Workbench: It is used for users to log in and query and execute corresponding documents according to different businesses to meet corresponding business requirements.

[0073] With the rapid development of industries such as e-commerce and intelligent manufacturing, the efficiency of warehousing and logistics has become a core competitive factor for enterprises. However, there are still significant bottlenecks in the traditional material outbound mode. The efficiency of manual material sorting is low and the error rate is high. In related technologies, although CTU is introduced for material sorting, since CTU can only operate along a preset track, the handling path is longer than the actual path when handling materials, resulting in low material outbound efficiency.

[0074] To improve the material outbound efficiency, in the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a control method for a warehousing system is provided, which is applied to an electronic device. As Figure 1 shown in the first structural schematic diagram of the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of the present application, the warehousing system includes an upper storage location 101, a transfer storage location 102, a latent robot 103, and a bin robot 104. The height of the upper storage location 101 exceeds the working height of the latent robot 103.

[0075] The transfer storage location 102 is a bin for storing materials with outbound requests in the future period. The upper storage location 101 can be a bin for storing materials with outbound requests in the future period, or can be a bin for storing materials without outbound requests in the future period.

[0076] It can be understood that for the convenience of description, Figure 1 only one upper storage location 101, one transfer storage location 102, one latent robot 103, and one bin robot 104 are shown in the warehousing system, and the number of upper storage locations, transfer storage locations, latent robots, and bin robots is not limited.

[0077] In a possible implementation manner, the upper storage location and the transfer storage location can be located on the same storage shelf, and each transfer storage location is respectively arranged below each upper storage location. As Figure 2 shown in the first example diagram of the transfer storage location and the upper storage location, the transfer storage location 102 is located at the bottom layer of the storage shelf 105, and the upper storage location 101 is located on other layers of the storage shelf 105 except the transfer storage location 102; in another possible implementation manner, the transfer storage location can also be set independently of the storage shelf. As Figure 3 shown in the second example diagram of the transfer storage location and the upper storage location, each storage location of the storage shelf 105 is an upper storage location 101, and the transfer storage location 102 is set independently of the storage shelf 105.

[0078] In a possible implementation manner, each of the transfer storage locations is respectively arranged below each of the upper storage locations; the height of each of the transfer storage locations is higher than the height of the latent robot body

[0079] As Figure 4 shown in the first schematic diagram of the control method of the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, the method includes the following steps:

[0080] Step S10: In response to the latent robot transporting the first bin to the connection storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future time period;

[0081] Step S20: If not, control the bin robot to transport the first bin from the connection position to the upper storage position;

[0082] Step S30: In response to the outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location;

[0083] Step S40: If the target storage location is the upper storage location, control the bin robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the connection storage location, and control the latent robot to transport the second bin from the connection storage location to the target point;

[0084] wherein, the target point is the point in the requested second bin;

[0085] Step S50: If the target storage location is the connection storage location, control the latent robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

[0086] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, since the bins in the upper storage location are the bins without outbound requests in the future time period, that is, the bins that do not need to be frequently transported, and the bins in the connection storage location are the bins with outbound requests in the future time period, that is, the bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time. Therefore, when the bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time are out of storage, the latent robot can directly transport them from the connection position to the target point without scheduling the bin robot to first transport these bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time from the storage location to the connection position, which can reduce the frequency of frequently transporting bins from the upper storage location and improve the outbound efficiency of the materials.

[0087] The above steps S10 to S50 will be described in detail below:

[0088] In the above step S10, in response to the latent robot transporting the first bin to the connection storage location, an electronic device may send a transportation instruction to the latent robot. The latent robot transports the first bin indicated by the transportation instruction to the connection storage location in response to the transportation instruction, and sends a first instruction to the electronic device. The first instruction may be used to indicate that the latent robot has transported the bin to the connection storage location, and may also be used to indicate the type and quantity of the materials in the first bin. Alternatively, after manually controlling the latent robot to transport the first bin to the connection storage location, the latent robot sends a second instruction to the electronic device, and the second instruction includes the type and quantity of the materials in the first bin. Among them, the transportation instruction sent by the electronic device to the latent robot may be generated according to the manually input order information, or may be generated according to the material outbound situation.

[0089] Exemplarily, the aforementioned electronic device may refer to the intelligent warehouse management system iWMS. Assume that there is a batch of materials to be warehoused, and an operator inputs the order information of this batch of materials through iWMS, that is, the quantity of bins and the types of materials contained in the bins. iWMS updates the inventory according to the order information and sends a transportation instruction to the latent robot. The latent robot transports the bin from the unloading point of this batch of materials to the connection storage location. Another example, assume that iWMS in the electronic device receives an outbound order, indicating that the production line needs 200 pieces of Material A, and there are 500 pieces of Material A remaining in the bin containing Material A. When outbound, the bin containing Material A is outbound, and after picking 200 pieces of Material A, the remaining materials in the bin are returned to the warehouse. iWMS may generate and send a transportation instruction to the latent robot according to the outbound order and the quantity of materials in the bin during outbound. In another example, an operator sends a transportation task through CMS to transport Bin B from Location 1 to the connection storage location. CMS controls the latent robot to transport from Location 1 to the connection storage location through RCS. After the latent robot reaches the connection storage location, it sends a second instruction to the electronic device, indicating information such as the type and quantity of the materials transported to the connection storage location.

[0090] The outbound request for the first bin refers to the outbound request for the type of materials in the first bin. The future time period refers to the time from the current moment to a certain future moment. The future time period may be one hour, or three hours, or one day, or even two days in the future. This is all acceptable, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the duration of the future time period.

[0091] There is an outbound request for the first bin during a future period, which may mean that an outbound request for the first bin is received at the current moment, or it may mean that an outbound request for the first bin is received between the current moment and a future moment. It can be understood that an outbound request for the first bin received at a certain past moment but not yet processed can also be considered as an outbound request for the first bin received at the current moment. Exemplarily, if there are 5 outbound requests for the first bin successively within the past hour, and until the current moment, there are still 2 outbound requests for the first bin not responded, then these 2 outbound requests for the first bin can also be considered as outbound requests for the first bin received at the current moment.

[0092] Predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin during a future period can be predicted by determining whether there is an order for this first bin currently, or it can be predicted according to the outbound frequency of the material type of the material in this first bin. The specific prediction process is detailed below and will not be elaborated here.

[0093] It can be understood that the number of bins that can be stored in each transfer storage location can be one or multiple, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0094] In the above step S20, if there is no outbound request for the first bin during the future period, it can be considered that the material in this first bin will not be used in the short term. Therefore, the bin robot can be controlled to store this first bin in the upper storage location; conversely, if there is an outbound request for the first bin during the future period, continue to store this first bin in the transfer storage location to facilitate the outbound of this first bin in response to the outbound request for this first bin.

[0095] In the above step S30, the second bin can be the first bin, or it can be other bins stored in the transfer storage location except the first bin, or it can be the bins stored in the upper storage location.

[0096] The outbound request for the second bin may include the location where the second bin is stored, so that the target storage location can be directly determined according to the outbound request, or it may only include the material type and quantity of the material to be out of the warehouse. iWMS can determine the target storage location of the second bin according to the inventory and the outbound request. Exemplarily, assuming that it is necessary to outbound bin 2 containing material C, and the outbound request issued by the user for this bin 2 includes the storage location of this bin 2 as transfer storage location A, then transfer storage location A is used as the target storage location; in another example, the outbound order issued by the user includes 300 materials D. According to the inventory information, it is determined that the quantity of material D stored in the bin in the upper storage location B is greater than 300, then the upper storage location B can be used as the target storage location.

[0097] It is understandable that, in order to facilitate the stealth robot to accurately carry the second bin requested for outbound to the point where the second bin is requested, such as the production line, the outbound request also includes identification information for identifying the point where the second bin is requested (i.e., the target point).

[0098] In the above step S40, considering the limited working height of the stealth robot, if the target storage location of the bin where the material to be outbound is located is the upper storage location, it is first necessary to control the bin robot to carry the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and then control the stealth robot to carry the second bin to the target point.

[0099] In the above step S50, if the target storage location of the bin where the material to be outbound is located is the transfer storage location, the stealth robot can be directly controlled to carry the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point.

[0100] The process of predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period will be described below. Based on the above, there are two prediction methods as follows:

[0101] Method 1: Predict according to whether there is an order for the first bin currently

[0102] In this case, as Figure 5 shown in the second schematic diagram of the control method of the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, in the above step S10 of predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it may specifically include:

[0103] Step S101, determine whether there is an order for the first bin. If so, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period.

[0104] Among them, the order for the first bin may refer to an outbound order for the material type of the material in the first bin, or an inbound order for the first bin and its same-type materials. Exemplarily, assume that the material in the first bin is material A. If there is currently an outbound order for material A, it is considered that there is an order for the first bin; for another example, assume that there are 200 material Bs in the first bin 1, and the standard accommodation number of the first bin is 1000. If 500 material Bs need to be put into the first bin 1 for inbound currently, that is, there is an inbound order for the first bin 1 and material B, then it can be considered that there is an order for the first bin.

[0105] Adopting the embodiment of the present application, if there is an order for the first bin, it can be considered that the first bin is currently needed. Therefore, the first bin is placed in a position where the stealth robot can easily carry it, which is convenient for the stealth robot to carry, reduces the carrying time, and improves the material outbound efficiency.

[0106] Method 2: Prediction based on the outbound frequency of the material type in the first bin

[0107] In this case, as Figure 6 shown in the third schematic diagram of the control method of the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, in step S10 of predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it may specifically include:

[0108] Step S1001: Obtain the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type;

[0109] Step S1002: If the outbound frequency of the material of the first material type in the historical period is higher than the preset frequency threshold, it is determined that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period.

[0110] Among them, if the handling instruction is sent to the latent robot through the electronic device, and the latent robot responds to the handling instruction and transports the first bin indicated by the handling instruction to the connection storage location, the material type of the material stored in the first bin can be obtained from the first instruction sent to the electronic device when the latent robot transports the first bin to the connection storage location, or can be obtained from the electronic device after the latent robot transports the first bin to the connection storage location; if the latent robot is manually controlled to transport the first bin to the connection storage location and then the latent robot sends a second instruction to the electronic device, the material type of the material stored in the first bin can be obtained from the second instruction after the latent robot transports the first bin to the connection storage location.

[0111] The outbound frequency of the material of the first material type in the historical period can be determined according to the orders in the historical period after the first bin is transported to the connection storage location, or each time an order is received, the outbound records of each material type in the order are recorded, and after the first bin is transported to the connection storage location, the outbound times of the material of the first material type in the historical period are directly obtained as the outbound frequency of the material of the first material type. This is all possible, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0112] The historical period refers to the past time period adjacent to the future period. The historical period can be the past day, or the past three days, or the past 4 hours. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the duration of the historical period. The preset frequency threshold is set according to actual experience and user requirements, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this either.

[0113] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, if the outbound frequency of the materials of the first material type within the historical period is higher than the preset frequency threshold, it can be considered that the materials of the first material type are likely to be used again in the future period. Therefore, the first bin is placed at a position where the latent robot can easily carry it, which is convenient for the latent robot to carry, reduces the carrying time, and improves the material outbound efficiency.

[0114] When predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it can be predicted only according to any one of the above-mentioned method 1 and method 2, or the two methods can be combined for prediction. When the two methods are combined for prediction, exemplarily, one of the methods can be used first for prediction. If the prediction result is that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it is determined whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, and the other method is not continued to be used for prediction. If the prediction result is that there is no outbound request for the first bin in the future period, the other method is continued to be used for prediction. If the prediction result of the other method is also that there is no outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it is determined that there is no outbound request for the first bin in the future period. If the prediction result of the other method is that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it is determined that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period. And method 1 can be used first and then method 2, or method 2 can be used first and then method 1. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0115] Moreover, it can also be that method 1 and method 2 are respectively used for prediction. Only when the prediction results of both methods are that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it is determined that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period. On the contrary, if the prediction result of any one method is that there is no outbound request for the first bin in the future period, it is determined that there is no outbound request for the first bin in the future period.

[0116] It can be understood that the number of bins that can be placed in the transfer storage location is limited. Therefore, in order to avoid the bins in the transfer storage location from piling up and causing the latent robot to be unable to carry the bins normally, in a possible implementation manner, as Figure 7 shown in the fourth schematic diagram of the control method of the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, the method further includes the following steps:

[0117] Step S60, in response to meeting the preset bin transfer condition, determine the number of bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first number;

[0118] Step S70, if the first number is greater than the preset number threshold, determine the second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bin;

[0119] Step S80: Control the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper storage location.

[0120] In the above step S60, the preset bin - emptying condition can be that the time reaches the preset bin - emptying cycle, or a bin - emptying instruction triggered by the user, or the number of orders received within a preset time is greater than the first preset quantity threshold, or the number of bins in the transfer storage location reaches the second preset quantity threshold. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0121] It can be understood that the number of bins that can be stored in the transfer storage location is limited. For the convenience of description, hereinafter, the maximum number of bins that can be stored simultaneously in the same transfer storage location is referred to as the maximum capacity of the transfer storage location.

[0122] To avoid the situation where the transfer storage location is overloaded due to a sharp increase in orders, the preset quantity threshold is less than the maximum capacity of the transfer storage location. For example, if the maximum capacity of the transfer storage location is 10, the preset quantity threshold is set to 8. The preset quantity threshold can be set according to actual experience and user requirements. The embodiments of the present application do not continue to limit this.

[0123] The value of the second number can be 1 or a natural number greater than 2. It can be understood that the second number is not less than the difference between the first number and the preset quantity threshold.

[0124] Exemplarily, assume that the maximum capacity of the transfer storage location is 10, the preset quantity threshold is 6. If the first number is 7, then the second number can be any natural number greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 7. If the first number is 8, then the second number can be any natural number greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 8.

[0125] It can be seen that if the preset quantity threshold is x and the first number is y, then the value of the second number should satisfy: y - x ≤ z ≤ y, where x and y are both non - zero natural numbers.

[0126] In the above step S80, when controlling the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper storage location, the number of bins carried by the bin robot each time can be one or multiple, specifically depending on the handling capacity of the bin robot and user requirements. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0127] In the above step S70, when determining the third bin, the second - largest (or smallest) number of bins with the largest (or smallest) quantity can be determined as the third bin according to the quantity of each bin stored in the transfer storage location in descending (or ascending) order, or the second number of bins can be determined as the third bin in sequence according to the position of each bin stored in the transfer storage location from left to right (or from right to left).

[0128] In another possible implementation, the third bin can also be determined by setting priorities for each bin. Based on this, as Figure 8 shown in the fifth schematic diagram of the control method for the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, the aforementioned step S70 determines the second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bin, including:

[0129] Step S701, if the first number is greater than the preset number threshold, determine the second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location in descending order of priority as the third bin;

[0130] Among them, the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability of an outbound request for the bin within the future time period. The higher the probability of an outbound request for the bin within the future time period, the lower the priority of the bin, and vice versa, the higher the priority of the bin.

[0131] The probability of an outbound request for the bin can be calculated based on the outbound frequency of the material type to which the material in the bin belongs, or can be set by the user according to actual needs. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0132] Adopting the embodiment of the present application, determining the bin that needs to be repositioned according to the priorities of the bins in the transfer storage location can preferentially store the bin where the material with a higher outbound probability is located in the transfer storage location, shorten the outbound path, and thus improve the outbound efficiency.

[0133] To more clearly describe the control method for the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application, the control method for the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described from the perspective of human-computer interaction below. Figure 9 Shown is the interaction diagram of the control method for the warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the present application. The electronic device includes iWMS, CMS, and RCS. As Figure 10 shown is the schematic diagram of the handling operation of CTU and Q1P.

[0134] After the user inputs the bin to be warehoused and the type and quantity of the material in the bin through iWMS at the workstation (i.e., Figure 10 workstation 108 in it), iWMS updates the inventory and sends a scheduling instruction to CMS. CMS notifies RCS to schedule Q1P (i.e., Figure 10 the latent robot 103 in it) to carry the bin 107 (the first bin) to the buffer location (corresponding to the transfer storage location). After Q1P carries the bin to the buffer location (i.e., Figure 10 the buffer location of the storage shelf 105 in it), CMS applies to iWMS whether to allow repositioning. If repositioning is allowed, then CMS notifies RCS to control CTU (i.e., Figure 10The bin robot 104 transports the bin 107 to the high-level shelf (corresponding to the upper storage location). If inverting the bin is not allowed, the bin continues to be stored in the buffer location.

[0135] iWMS periodically determines whether the conditions for inverting the bin are met. If so, it sends an inverting bin instruction to the CMS. That is, iWMS periodically determines the bin information in the buffer location and judges whether the number of bins in the buffer location meets the water level threshold (corresponding to the preset number threshold) according to the inverting bin strategy. If so, it controls the CTU to transport a preset number of bins in the buffer location to the high-level shelf in the order of priority. The inverting bin strategy includes: (1) If there is no outbound order for the bins in the buffer location, invert the bins to the high-level shelf; (2) If the popularity of the bins in the buffer location (corresponding to the outbound frequency of the material type of the material in the bin) is too low, invert the bins to the high-level shelf.

[0136] In addition, when the remaining outbound materials are returned, iWMS issues a scheduling instruction to the CMS according to the outbound order information and the quantity of the materials contained in the outbound bin. The CMS notifies the RCS to schedule the Q1P to transport the bin to the buffer location. After the Q1P transports the bin to the buffer location, the CMS applies to iWMS whether inverting the bin is allowed.

[0137] In Figure 9 the example shown, the CTU is equivalent to the aforementioned bin robot, and the Q1P is equivalent to the aforementioned latent robot. And it can be understood that Figure 9 the example shown is only a possible example provided by this application. In other possible embodiments, the bin robot can also be any other robot that can transport the bin to a high storage location, such as the STU. Similarly, the latent robot can also be other latent robots that can transport the bin except the Q1P. This application makes no limitation in this regard.

[0138] In the second aspect of the embodiments of this application, a warehousing system is provided. As Figure 11 shown in the second schematic diagram of the warehousing system provided by the embodiments of this application, the system includes a control device 106, at least one upper storage location 101, at least one connection storage location 102, at least one latent robot 103, and at least one bin robot 104; the height of the upper storage location 101 exceeds the working height of the latent robot 103;

[0139] The latent robot 103 is used to transport the first bin to the connection storage location;

[0140] The control device 106 is used to predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period in response to the latent robot transporting the first bin to the connection storage location; if not, control the bin robot to transport the first bin from the connection location to the upper storage location;

[0141] The control device 106 is also used to respond to the outbound request for the second material box and determine the storage location where the second material box is stored as the target storage location; if the target storage location is the upper storage location, the material box robot is controlled to move the second material box from the target storage location to the docking location, and the latent robot is controlled to move the second material box from the docking location to the target point, wherein the target point is the point in the requested second material box; if the target storage location is the docking storage location, the latent robot is controlled to move the second material box from the target storage location to the target point.

[0142] By using the embodiment of the present application, since the material boxes in the upper storage position are material boxes that will not have any outbound requests in the future period, that is, material boxes that do not need to be frequently transported, and the material boxes in the docking storage position are material boxes that will have outbound requests in the future period, that is, material boxes that may need to be outbound in a short period of time, the material boxes that may need to be outbound in a short period of time can be directly transported from the docking position to the target point by the lurking robot when they are outbound. There is no need to dispatch the material box robot to first transport these material boxes that may need to be outbound in a short period of time from the storage position to the docking position. This can reduce the frequency of frequent transportation of material boxes from the upper storage position and improve the outbound efficiency of materials.

[0143] In a possible implementation, each of the docking storage locations is respectively arranged below each of the upper storage locations; and the height of each of the docking storage locations is higher than the height of the body of the lurking robot.

[0144] Corresponding to the aforementioned first aspect, a third aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a control device for a warehousing system, wherein the warehousing system includes an upper storage location, a docking storage location, a lurking robot, and a material box robot; Figure 12 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a control device for a warehousing system according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the device includes:

[0145] The request prediction module 1201 is configured to predict whether there will be a request for the first container to be shipped out in a future time period in response to the lurking robot transporting the first container to the docking storage location;

[0146] The first control module 1202 is configured to control the container robot to move the first container from the docking position to the upper storage position if the container does not exist;

[0147] A storage location determination module 1203 is configured to determine, in response to a request for a second container to be dispatched, a storage location for storing the second container as a target storage location;

[0148] The second control module 1204 is configured to control the container robot to move the second container from the target container to the docking container, and control the lurking robot to move the second container from the docking container to a target location if the target container is an upper container. The target location is a location in the requested second container.

[0149] The third control module 1205 is configured to control the AGV robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the target point if the target storage location is a transfer storage location.

[0150] By adopting the embodiment of the present application, since the bins in the upper-layer storage locations are bins for which there are no outbound requests in the future period, that is, bins that do not need to be frequently moved, and the bins in the transfer storage locations are bins for which there are outbound requests in the future period, that is, bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time. Therefore, when the bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time are out of storage, they can be directly moved from the transfer location to the target point by the AGV robot, without scheduling the bin robot to first move these bins that may need to be out of storage in a short time from the storage location to the transfer location, which can reduce the frequency of frequently moving bins from the upper-layer storage locations and improve the outbound efficiency of materials.

[0151] In a possible implementation manner, the prediction module is specifically configured to:

[0152] Determine whether there is an order for the first bin, and if so, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period;

[0153] In a possible implementation manner, the prediction module is specifically configured to:

[0154] Obtain the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type;

[0155] If the outbound frequency of the material of the first material type in the historical period is higher than the preset frequency threshold, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future period;

[0156] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes:

[0157] The quantity determination module is configured to determine the quantity of the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first quantity in response to meeting the preset bin-changing condition;

[0158] The bin determination module is configured to determine the second quantity of bins as the third bin from the bins stored in the transfer storage location if the first quantity is greater than the preset quantity threshold, where the second quantity is not less than the difference between the first quantity and the preset quantity threshold;

[0159] The fourth control module is configured to control the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper-layer storage location;

[0160] In a possible implementation manner, the bin determination module is specifically configured to:

[0161] Determine the second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bin in order of decreasing priority, where the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability of an outbound request for the bin in the future time period.

[0162] An embodiment of this application also provides an electronic device, such as Figure 13 shown in the structural schematic diagram of the electronic device provided by the embodiment of this application, including:

[0163] A memory 1301 for storing a computer program;

[0164] A processor 1302, when executing the program stored on the memory 1301, implements the following steps:

[0165] In response to the latent robot transporting the first bin to the transfer storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in the future time period;

[0166] If not, control the bin robot to transport the first bin from the transfer position to the upper storage location;

[0167] In response to an outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location storing the second bin as the target storage location;

[0168] If the target storage location is the upper storage location, control the bin robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and control the latent robot to transport the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point, where the target point is the point where the second bin is requested;

[0169] If the target storage location is the transfer storage location, control the latent robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

[0170] The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), or may also include a Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), such as at least one disk memory. Optionally, the memory may also be at least one storage device located far from the aforementioned processor.

[0171] The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0172] In another embodiment provided by the present application, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of any one of the above-mentioned control methods of the warehousing system are implemented.

[0173] In another embodiment provided by the present application, there is also provided a computer program product containing instructions, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute any one of the control methods of the warehousing system in the above embodiments.

[0174] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, processor, or data center to another website, computer, processor, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a processor, a data center, etc. that contains one or more integrated available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a Solid State Disk (SSD), etc.

[0175] It should be noted that in this text, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the said element.

[0176] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. For the same or similar parts among the embodiments, reference can be made to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for system and device embodiments, since they are basically similar to method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and for the relevant parts, reference can be made to the partial description of the method embodiments.

[0177] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application are all included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A control method for a warehousing system, characterized in that, The storage system includes upper storage locations, transfer storage locations, latent robots, and bin robots; the method includes: In response to the latent robot transporting a first bin to the transfer storage location, predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period; If not, controlling the bin robot to transport the first bin from the transfer location to the upper storage location; In response to an outbound request for a second bin, determining the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location; If the target storage location is the upper storage location, controlling the bin robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and controlling the latent robot to transport the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point, where the target point is the point in the request for the second bin; If the target storage location is the transfer storage location, controlling the latent robot to transport the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period includes: Determining whether there is an order for the first bin, and if so, determining that there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The predicting whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period includes: Obtaining the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type; If the material of the first material type has an outbound frequency higher than a preset frequency threshold within a historical time period, determining that there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further includes: In response to meeting a preset bin transfer condition, determining the number of bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first number; If the first number is greater than a preset number threshold, determining a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins, where the second number is not less than the difference between the first number and the preset number threshold; Controlling the bin robot to transport all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper storage location.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The determining a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins includes: Determining a second number of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins in descending order of priority, where the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability of there being an outbound request for the bin within a future time period.

6. A warehousing system, characterized in that, The system includes a control device, at least one upper storage location, at least one transfer storage location, at least one latent robot, and at least one bin robot; the height of the upper storage location exceeds the working height of the latent robot; The latent robot is used to transport a first bin to the transfer storage location; The control device is configured to, in response to the latent robot transporting a first bin to the transfer storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin within a future time period; if not, control the bin robot to transport the first bin from the transfer location to the upper storage location; The control device is further configured to, in response to an outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location; if the target storage location is an upper-layer storage location, control the bin robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer position, and control the AGV robot to move the second bin from the transfer position to the target point, where the target point is the point requested in the second bin; if the target storage location is a transfer storage location, control the AGV robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that, Each of the transfer storage locations is respectively arranged below each of the upper-layer storage locations; the height at which each of the transfer storage locations is located is higher than the height of the body of the AGV robot.

8. A control device for a warehousing system, characterized in that, The warehousing system includes upper-layer storage locations, transfer storage locations, AGV robots, and bin robots; the device includes: A request prediction module, configured to, in response to the AGV robot moving the first bin to the transfer storage location, predict whether there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future period; A first control module, configured to, if not, control the bin robot to move the first bin from the transfer position to the upper-layer storage location; A storage location determination module, configured to, in response to an outbound request for the second bin, determine the storage location where the second bin is stored as the target storage location; A second control module, configured to, if the target storage location is an upper-layer storage location, control the bin robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the transfer storage location, and control the AGV robot to move the second bin from the transfer storage location to the target point, where the target point is the point requested in the second bin; A third control module, configured to, if the target storage location is a transfer storage location, control the AGV robot to move the second bin from the target storage location to the target point.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The prediction module is specifically configured to: Determine whether there is an order for the first bin, and if so, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future period; and / or The prediction module is specifically configured to: Obtain the material type of the material stored in the first bin as the first material type; If the outbound frequency of the material of the first material type in a historical period is higher than a preset frequency threshold, determine that there is an outbound request for the first bin in a future period; and / or The device further includes: A quantity determination module, configured to, in response to meeting a preset bin-changing condition, determine the number of bins stored in the transfer storage location as the first quantity; A bin determination module, configured to, if the first quantity is greater than a preset quantity threshold, determine a second quantity of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins, where the second quantity is not less than the difference between the first quantity and the preset quantity threshold; A fourth control module, configured to control the bin robot to move all the third bins from the transfer storage location to the upper-layer storage location; and / or The bin determination module is specifically configured to: Determine a second quantity of bins from the bins stored in the transfer storage location as the third bins in the order of decreasing priority, where the priority of the bin is negatively correlated with the probability of having an outbound request for the bin in a future period.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that, Comprising: A memory for storing a computer program; A processor for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1-5 when executing the program stored on the memory.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1-5 is implemented.

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