Method for mixed palletizing of a plurality of different types of boxes

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of intelligent logistics, and particularly relates to a method for mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes; comprising the following steps: analyzing order data; using boxes with consistent specifications for each material, grouping the order data by columns, the height of each column not exceeding the upper limit of the stacking height, and placing leftover boxes not filled with materials at the top of the column. The stacking method of the present application meets customer stacking rules while achieving a good stacking effect, can significantly improve stacking efficiency, meets the needs of modern logistics rapid operations, and through accurate planning of stacking strategies, realizes mixed stacking of multiple materials and multiple box types, maximizes the use of stacking space by inserting leftover space in each column, effectively improves warehouse space utilization, optimizes the stacking type of multiple columns, as much as possible ensures the flatness of the upper surface of the stacking type, outputs the stacking sequence in a step-by-step manner, ensures that the stacking process of the mechanical arm is not interfered, and at the same time improves the stability of the stacking.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of intelligent logistics, and in particular to a method for mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the modern logistics industry, as the demand for unstacking and stacking increases in the logistics and warehousing industry, many special customized unstacking and stacking projects have emerged. For example, the stacked materials are standard boxes, but there are many types of boxes, and the length, width and height of the boxes are different. Mixed stacking of multiple materials, the traditional stacking method relies on manual operation, and workers need to judge the placement order and position of the boxes according to experience, and it is difficult to get a good stack type by manual stacking.

[0003] In the prior art, the stacking project usually needs to meet certain stacking rules, the boxes cannot exceed the boundary of the pallet, the same material needs to be stacked in the same column or adjacent column, the unfilled boxes (collectively referred to as odd boxes) need to be placed at the top of the same material column, the labels of the boxes need to be uniformly outward, and the height of the stack has an upper limit. In addition, the boxes used in different project sites also meet certain rules, which are usually classified according to length and width. For example, the boxes can be divided into several grades, such as large boxes and small boxes. Two or more small boxes can be combined to form a large box size, so two or more small boxes can be regarded as a large box during stacking.

[0004] The existing automatic stacking equipment can only be designed for a single type or a limited number of types of boxes, and has poor adaptability to mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes. When encountering mixed large / small boxes of different sizes, it cannot accurately plan the stacking strategy, resulting in unreasonable number of stacking layers and boxes per layer, which not only wastes warehouse space but also increases the instability risk during the handling process.

[0005] In summary, it is still a key problem in the field of intelligent logistics technology to develop an efficient and intelligent method for mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes. SUMMARY

[0006] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a method for mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0008] A method for mixed stacking of multiple types of boxes, comprising the following steps:

[0009] S1, analyzing order data;

[0010] S2, using boxes of the same size for each material, grouping order data by columns, the height of each column should not exceed the upper limit of the stacking height, and placing the leftover boxes of the material that is not full in the top of the column;

[0011] S3, gap filling combination: when the last column of each material does not reach the maximum height allowed for stacking, combining the last columns of two materials, using a numerical optimization algorithm to output the best combination method;

[0012] S4, full-pallet stacking: according to the best combination method data, filling the gaps with the remaining materials to obtain the optimal volume rate, i.e., the remaining height of each column is minimized, and the columns of the same material are adjacent through position exchange between columns;

[0013] S5, half-pallet stacking: when the remaining materials are insufficient to stack all columns of the pallet, making the height of each column close to each other through height equalization, and realizing the adjacent columns of the same material through position exchange between columns;

[0014] S6, coordinate information calculation: according to the label orientation information of each camera, the angle of the label facing outward is calculated;

[0015] S7, layer output: the algorithm outputs the layer-by-layer stepwise stacking sequence data to the robot, so that the columns far from the robot are the highest and the columns close to the robot are the lowest.

[0016] The application further provides that in step S1, the material information in the order that determines the key factors of the stacking type is analyzed, the material information includes the length, width, height and weight of each material corresponding box and whether there is a leftover box, after analyzing the order data, the information is checked for compliance, and after checking, the materials are classified according to the material number.

[0017] The application further provides that in step S1, the mth single-box material information is represented by , and the full-pallet material is represented by , and the specific formula is as follows:

[0018] In the formula, : is a weight coefficient for adjusting the emphasis direction of the function, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, w is the weight of the box, represents a leftover box;

[0019] In the formula F(x): is a default parameter to ensure that F(x) is not 0; is the weight coefficient of the single-box material information f(x).

[0020] The application is further provided with: in step S2, if it is a large box, grouping by column, if it is a small box, combining two or more small boxes into a large box, and then grouping by column.

[0021] The application is further provided with: in step S2, when two small boxes can be combined into a large box, and a tray can be loaded with a maximum of eight columns, if the total number of small boxes is odd, one small box is left after combination, and the small box, i.e., the odd number of boxes, is placed at the top of the same material column.

[0022] The application is further provided with: in step S3, after the last column of two materials is combined, the data needs to be sorted, and the material with the maximum number of columns is preferentially loaded, and according to the number of columns of the material and the number of columns that can be loaded on the tray, it is judged whether the material of the current order can be loaded on the tray.

[0023] The application is further provided with: in step S6, the upper left corner is regarded as the 0 point, and the x, y, z coordinate values of the center point of the upper surface of each box in each column are calculated, and the specific calculation formula is as follows: In the formula, x, y, and z are coordinate values, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, index represents the starting reference coordinate of the current column / row on the tray, a, b, and c are weight coefficients, n represents the nth box of a certain row / column, col represents the number of rows, row represents the number of columns, and num represents the total number of boxes in a certain column.

[0024] The application is further provided with: when the box width W is parallel to the tray x axis, the value of a is 1, and the value of b is 0; when the box length L is parallel to the tray x axis, the value of a is 0, and the value of b is 1; when two small boxes are placed side by side, the value of c of the second small box is 0, and is not included in the accumulation of z value. Advantages

[0025] Compared with the known prior art, the technical scheme provided by the application has the following advantages:

[0026] (1) In the application, through the stacking method of the application, a good stacking effect is obtained while meeting the customer stacking rules, the stacking efficiency can be significantly improved, the demand of modern logistics rapid operation can be met, through whole-tray loading, half-tray loading, and algorithm output of the layer-by-layer ladder type stacking sequence data to the mechanical arm, the stacking strategy is accurately planned, multi-material and multi-box type mixed stacking is realized, the stacking space is maximized by inserting seams in the remaining height of each column, the multi-column high optimization stacking type is optimized, the upper surface of the stacking type is as flat as possible, the algorithm outputs the layer-by-layer ladder type stacking sequence data, ensures that the mechanical arm stacking process is not interfered, and when a plurality of types of boxes are mixed and arranged, the stacking layer number and the number of boxes per layer are more reasonable, the stacking stability is improved, the risk of collapse during transportation is reduced, the damage to goods is reduced, and the safety of logistics transportation is ensured.

[0027] (2) In the present application, the warehouse space utilization rate is effectively improved through the stacking method of the present application, and the warehouse space can be fully utilized through accurate size adaptation calculation and stacking scheme optimization, thereby saving the warehouse cost for enterprises. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 The size diagram of large boxes and small boxes for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0029] Figure 2 The schematic diagram of a tray stacking 8 columns for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0030] Figure 3 The flowchart of step one for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0031] Figure 4 The schematic diagram of odd box arrangement in step two for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0032] Figure 5 The schematic diagram of two material combination results in step three for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0033] Figure 6 The schematic diagram of column exchange in step four for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0034] Figure 7 The schematic diagram of uniform height effect in step five for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0035] Figure 8 The schematic diagram of coordinate value calculation in step six for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0036] Figure 9 The schematic diagram of the mechanical arm stacking process for a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes;

[0037] Figure 10 The overall flowchart of a mixed stacking method of multiple types of boxes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below. Obviously, the described embodiments are 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 skilled in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0039] The present application will be further described below in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0040] In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1 , taking the combination of two small boxes into a large box size as an example, according to the size of the large box, the maximum number of columns that can be stacked in a pallet can be calculated, as shown in Figure 2 , according to the maximum number of 8 columns stacked in a pallet, please refer to Figure 1 Figure 10 , a method for stacking mixed boxes of multiple types, comprising the following steps:

[0041] Step 1, analyze order data, by analyzing the material information in the order which determines the key factors of stacking type, the material information includes the length, width, height and weight of each material corresponding box and whether there is a leftover box, after analyzing the order data, check if the information is compliant, there may be problems with the order information itself, such as using the same size box for the same material, if other size boxes appear, it means the order information is wrong, as shown in Figure 3 , after verification, the materials are classified according to the material number;

[0042] Among them, the mth single box material information is represented by , the whole pallet material is represented by , the specific formula is as follows:

[0043] In the formula : is the weight coefficient, used to adjust the direction of the function, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, w is the weight of the box, represents a leftover box;

[0044] In the formula F(x): is the default parameter, which ensures that F(x) is not 0; is the weight coefficient of single box material information f(x).

[0045] Step 2, in step 1, the data has been grouped by material number, each material uses the same size box, the order data is grouped by column, the height of each column must not exceed the upper limit of the stacking height, and the leftover box not filled with material is placed at the top of the column;

[0046] Among them, if it is a large box, it is grouped by column, if it is a small box, two or more small boxes are combined into a large box, and then grouped by column, as shown in Figure 4 , when two small boxes can be combined into a large box, and a pallet can stack up to 8 columns, if the total number of small boxes is odd, there will be one small box left after combination, the remaining one small box is called odd box, each material can have only one odd box, if there is an odd box, the remaining odd box is placed at the top of the column of the same material. ​

[0047] Step 3, Gap Filling and Combining: After grouping by column in Step 2, the last column of each material may not reach the maximum allowed stacking height. When the last column of either material does not reach the maximum allowed stacking height, combine the last columns of the two materials. Use a numerical optimization algorithm to output the optimal combination to maximize the use of the remaining space; for example... Figure 5 As shown, the columns pointed to by the square brackets are the combination results of the two materials. After combination, considering that some materials are in large quantities, a single type of material may be able to fill an entire pallet. After combining the last column of the two materials, the data needs to be sorted. The material with the most columns is prioritized for stacking. Based on the number of columns of the material and the number of columns that the pallet can allow to be stacked (8 columns), it is determined whether the materials of the current order can be stacked on an entire pallet.

[0048] Step 4: Pallet Stacking: From the data output in Step 3, extract eight columns of material data. Based on the optimal combination method, fill in the gaps with the remaining materials to obtain the optimal volume ratio, i.e., minimize the remaining height of each column. By swapping the positions of the columns, adjacent columns of the same material are made. Figure 6 As shown, columns 2 and 3 need to be swapped, and columns 6 and 7 need to be swapped.

[0049] Step 5, Half-pallet stacking: When there is insufficient material remaining to fill all columns of the pallet, equalize the height of each column to make them approximately the same. The effect of equalizing the height is as follows: Figure 7 As shown, to prevent any column from becoming too tall, the height of each column should be as close as possible. This is achieved by swapping the positions of columns to make columns containing the same material adjacent to each other. Figure 6 As shown, columns 2 and 3 need to be swapped, and columns 6 and 7 need to be swapped.

[0050] Step Six: Calculate Coordinate Information: Prior to this step, data for eight or fewer columns of materials has been obtained. Based on the label orientation information for each camera, calculate the outward angle of the label, such as... Figure 8 The numbering shown is used as an example, with the top left corner considered as point 0. The x, y, and z coordinates of the center point on the top surface of each box in each column are calculated using the following formula: In the formula: x, y, z are coordinate values, L is the box length, W is the box width, H is the box height, index represents the starting reference coordinate of the current column / row on the pallet, a, b, c are weight coefficients, n represents the nth box in a certain row / column, col represents the number of rows, row represents the number of columns, and num represents the total number of boxes in a certain column;

[0051] When the box width W and the tray x-axis are parallel, the value of a is 1 and the value of b is 0; when the box length L and the tray x-axis are parallel, the value of a is 0 and the value of b is 1; when two small boxes are placed side by side, the value of c of the second small box is 0 and the accumulation of z is not counted.

[0052] Step seven, output by layer: in the process of stacking boxes by the mechanical arm, Figure 8 As shown in the figure, it is necessary to ensure that the column farthest from the mechanical arm is the highest, that is, the height of column 1 is always higher than that of column 3, and the height of column 4 is always higher than that of column 6. If column 3 is higher than column 1, column 3 will interfere when placing boxes in column 1. Therefore, the layer-by-layer stepped stacking sequence data output to the mechanical arm is as shown in the figure from (a) to (b), then to (c), and finally to (d) to complete the stacking process, so that the column farthest from the mechanical arm is the highest and the column closest to the mechanical arm is the lowest. Thus, the stacking step is completed. Figure 9

[0053] In the present application, when a plurality of types of boxes are mixed and stacked, first, the material information in the order that determines the key factors of the stacking type is analyzed, and after analyzing the order data, it is verified whether the information is compliant. After verification, the materials are classified according to the material number; the same size box is used for each material, the order data is grouped by column, the height of each column must not exceed the upper limit of the stacking height, and the leftover boxes not filled with materials are placed at the top of the column; when the last column of each material does not reach the maximum height allowed for stacking, the last column of two materials is combined, a numerical optimization algorithm is used to output the best combination method, and the remaining space is maximized; according to the best combination method data, the remaining materials are inserted to obtain the optimal volume rate, that is, the remaining height of each column is minimized, and the columns of the same material are adjacent through position exchange between columns.

[0054] When the remaining materials are insufficient to stack all the columns of the tray, the height of each column is made close to prevent a column from being too high, and the height of each column is as close as possible through position exchange between columns to realize the adjacent columns of the same material; according to the label orientation information of each camera, the angle of the outward label is calculated; the layer-by-layer stepped stacking sequence data output to the mechanical arm by the mixed stacking algorithm makes the column farthest from the mechanical arm the highest and the column closest to the mechanical arm the lowest, and thus the stacking step is completed.

[0055] ​Through the palletizing method of the application, the algorithm can obtain a good palletizing effect while meeting customer palletizing rules, can significantly improve palletizing efficiency, and can improve palletizing efficiency by several times compared with manual palletizing through information collection and intelligent scheme planning, meet the demand of modern logistics rapid operation; meanwhile, through whole palletizing, half palletizing and algorithm output to the ladder type palletizing sequence data of the mechanical arm, based on scientific big / small box distribution and adaptive planning, when mixed arrangement of various types of boxes, the number of palletizing layers and the number of boxes per layer are more reasonable, the palletizing structure is more stable, the palletizing stability is improved, the risk of collapse in the process of carrying is reduced, the damage of goods is reduced, the safety of logistics transportation is ensured; the utilization rate of warehouse space is effectively improved, through accurate size adaptation calculation and palletizing scheme optimization, the warehouse space can be fully utilized, the storage cost of enterprises is saved;

[0056] Through the palletizing method of the application, the algorithm can obtain a good palletizing effect while meeting customer palletizing rules, can significantly improve palletizing efficiency, and can improve palletizing efficiency by several times compared with manual palletizing through information collection and intelligent scheme planning, meet the demand of modern logistics rapid operation; meanwhile, through whole palletizing, half palletizing and algorithm output to the ladder type palletizing sequence data of the mechanical arm, based on scientific big / small box distribution and adaptive planning, when mixed arrangement of various types of boxes, the number of palletizing layers and the number of boxes per layer are more reasonable, the palletizing structure is more stable, the palletizing stability is improved, the risk of collapse in the process of carrying is reduced, the damage of goods is reduced, the safety of logistics transportation is ensured; the utilization rate of warehouse space is effectively improved, through accurate size adaptation calculation and palletizing scheme optimization, the warehouse space can be fully utilized, the storage cost of enterprises is saved;

[0057] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the application, but not limit the application; although the application is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments can be modified, or some technical features can be replaced by equivalents; the modification or replacement will not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the application.

Claims

1. A method of mixed palletizing of a plurality of box types, characterized by, The method comprises the following steps: S1, analyzing order data; S2, using boxes with consistent specifications for each material, grouping order data by columns, the height of each column should not exceed the upper limit of the stacking height, and the leftover boxes not filled with materials are placed at the top of the column; S3, filling and combining: when the last column of each material does not reach the maximum height allowed for stacking, the last columns of two materials are combined, and a numerical optimization algorithm is used to output the best combination method; S4, whole-pallet stacking: according to the best combination method data, the remaining materials are inserted to obtain the optimal volume rate, i.e., the remaining height of each column is minimized, and the columns with the same material are adjacent through position exchange between columns; S5, half-pallet stacking: when the remaining materials are insufficient to stack the whole pallet, the height of each column is made close to the average height, and the columns with the same material are adjacent through position exchange between columns; S6, calculating coordinate information: according to the label orientation information of each camera, the angle of the label facing outward is calculated; S7, outputting by layers: the algorithm outputs the layer-by-layer stepwise stacking sequence data to the robot arm, so that the columns far from the robot arm are the highest and the columns close to the robot arm are the lowest; In step S1, the mth single-box material information is obtained by indicates that the whole-pallet material is obtained by indicates that the specific formula is as follows: In the formula, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, w is the weight of the box, , , is a weight coefficient used to adjust the emphasis direction of the function, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, w is the weight of the box, indicates the odd-numbered box; In the formula F(x): is a default parameter, which ensures that F(x) is not 0; is a weight coefficient of the single-box material information f(x); In step S6, the upper left corner is regarded as the 0 point, and the x, y, z coordinate values of the center point of the upper surface of each box in each column are calculated, and the specific calculation formula is as follows: In the formula, x, y, and z are coordinate values, L is the length of the box, W is the width of the box, H is the height of the box, index represents the starting reference coordinate of the current column / row on the tray, a, b, and c are weight coefficients, n represents the nth box of a certain row / column, col represents the number of rows, row represents the number of columns, and num represents the total number of boxes in a certain column. When the box width W is parallel to the pallet x-axis, the value of a is 1 and the value of b is 0; when the box length L is parallel to the pallet x-axis, the value of a is 0 and the value of b is 1; when two small boxes are placed side by side, the value of c for the second small box is 0 and the accumulation of z value is not counted.

2. The method of palletizing a mixed load of various types of boxes according to claim 1, wherein, In step S1, the material information in the order, which is a key factor for determining the stacking type, is analyzed. The material information includes the length, width, height, and weight of each material, as well as whether there is a leftover box. After analyzing the order data, the information is checked for compliance. After checking, the materials are classified according to the material number.

3. The method of palletizing a mixed load of various types of boxes of claim 1, wherein, In step S2, if it is a large box, it is grouped by columns, and if it is a small box, two or more small boxes are combined into a large box, and then grouped by columns.

4. The method of palletizing a mixed load of various types of boxes of claim 1, wherein, In step S2, when two small boxes can be combined into a large box, and a pallet can stack up to eight columns, if the total number of small boxes is odd, one small box will be left after combination, and the remaining small box, i.e., the odd number of boxes, will be placed at the top of the column with the same material.

5. The method of palletizing a mixed load of various types of boxes of claim 1, wherein, In step S3, after combining the last columns of two materials, the data needs to be sorted, and the material with the most columns is stacked first. According to the number of columns of the material and the number of columns allowed for stacking, it is determined whether the materials of the current order can be stacked in whole pallets.

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