Warehouse organization method using robot, device, and memory medium
The robot-based warehouse sorting method addresses inefficiencies in existing sorting methods by automating the classification and consolidation of items in low-utilization storage containers, optimizing storage space, and enhancing operational efficiency.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2024228986
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-12-28
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-25
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-10
- Estimated Expiration
- 2044-12-25
AI Technical Summary
Existing warehouse sorting methods, whether manual or manual-robot combined, suffer from low automation, high labor costs, and inefficiencies due to scattered storage of goods, leading to suboptimal space utilization and hindered inbound and outbound operations.
A robot-based warehouse sorting method that classifies and sorts items by determining storage containers with low utilization rates, automatically generating tasks to consolidate items into more efficient storage spaces, and optimizing storage space arrangement based on popularity and proximity to workstations.
Enhances automation, reduces labor costs, minimizes errors, and improves warehouse efficiency by rationalizing space utilization and streamlining inbound and outbound operations.
Smart Images

Figure 2025105561000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of warehouse logistics, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for warehouse sorting by a robot, and a storage medium.
Background Art
[0002] In warehouse management, after the goods in the warehouse have undergone inbound and outbound operations for a certain period of time, the storage of the goods gradually becomes scattered, which is not only disadvantageous for warehouse management but also affects subsequent inbound and outbound operations. Therefore, the sorting of goods in the warehouse is an integral part of warehouse logistics.
[0003] Warehouse sorting is one of the ways to sort goods, including storing goods in containers and sorting the containers for storing goods. Warehouse sorting makes the storage space for goods and containers more reasonable, facilitates warehouse management, and improves the efficiency of subsequent inbound and outbound operations.
[0004] Manual warehouse sorting is a common warehouse sorting method. That is, manually sort the goods and then adjust the inventory. Such a method is prone to errors, has high labor costs, and low efficiency.
[0005] Another method is a warehouse sorting method that combines manual work and robots. For example, first, the operator selects the goods to be sorted in the warehouse management system and generates an outbound task. Then, the robot is controlled to transport the goods to be sorted to the workstation, and the operator binds the rotating container to the distribution position and distributes the goods to be sorted to the corresponding rotating container according to the prompt information of the workstation client. Finally, the warehouse management system generates an inbound task and re-stores the goods in the rotating container. This method still requires the operator to perform the selection and distribution operations of the goods to be sorted, and the degree of automation of warehouse sorting is not high.
Summary of the Invention
[0006] The present invention provides a warehouse sorting method, apparatus, and storage medium by a robot to improve the degree of automation of warehouse sorting.
[0007] The first aspect of the present invention provides a warehouse sorting method by a robot, the method including, on the client side for warehouse operation processing, performing warehouse sorting by classification on the articles stored dispersedly in each first storage container in the warehouse, the warehouse sorting by classification including obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers, determining, based on the obtained utilization rate, a storage container with a low utilization rate, generating a classification task for classifying and sorting the articles stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with a low utilization rate, and transmitting the classification task to a robot control system, so that the robot control system schedules a robot to execute the classification task.
[0008] In some embodiments, obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers includes, for each of the first storage containers, obtaining the utilization rate in the first storage container of each category of articles stored in the first storage container according to the category of the articles stored in the first storage container.
[0009] In some embodiments, determining, based on the obtained utilization rate, a storage container with a low utilization rate includes determining, based on the obtained utilization rate, a storage container with a low utilization rate of articles of each category.
[0010] In some embodiments, generating a classification task for classifying and sorting the articles stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with a low utilization rate includes determining at least one type of target sorting article based on the category of the articles stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate, and allocating a second storage container to each type of target sorting article and generating a warehouse sorting task for sorting the target sorting article of this type into the second storage container.
[0011] In some embodiments, obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers includes, for each of the first storage containers, aggregating the number of items stored in the first storage container to obtain the utilization rate of the first storage container.
[0012] In some embodiments, determining a storage container with a low utilization rate based on the obtained utilization rate includes determining a first storage container in which the number of stored items is less than a first number threshold as a storage container with a low utilization rate.
[0013] In some embodiments, generating a classification task for classifying and organizing the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with a low utilization rate includes using the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate as target items to be organized, and allocating a second storage container to the target items to be organized, and generating a warehouse organization task for organizing the target items to be organized into the second storage container, so as to empty the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate.
[0014] In some embodiments, determining a first storage container in which the number of stored items is less than a first number threshold as a storage container with a low utilization rate further includes, for a first storage container in which the number of stored items is greater than or equal to the first number threshold, determining whether the category of the items stored in the first storage container is a set category, and if it is the set category, determining the first storage container as a storage container with a low utilization rate.
[0015] In some embodiments, allocating a second storage container to the target items to be organized includes setting the priority of the storage container with a low utilization rate according to the number of stored items, and sequentially allocating a second storage container to each storage container with a low utilization rate in descending order of the priority of the storage container with a low utilization rate, where the fewer the number of stored items, the higher the priority of the storage container with a low utilization rate.
[0016] In some embodiments, generating a warehouse sorting task for allocating a second storage container to the target sorted items and sorting the target sorted items into the second storage container includes determining at least one type of target sorted item according to the category of the target sorted items, and allocating a second storage container to each type of target sorted item and generating a warehouse sorting task for sorting the target sorted items of that type into the second storage container.
[0017] In some embodiments, determining at least one type of target sorted item includes, for each storage container with low utilization rate, obtaining item information of each category of items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate, where the item information includes at least item popularity information for representing the high or low frequency of item in and out of storage, clustering the items stored in each storage container with low utilization rate based on the item popularity information to obtain at least one type of clustered items, and using the at least one type of clustered items as at least one type of target sorted items.
[0018] In some embodiments, allocating a second storage container to each type of target sorted item includes allocating the second storage container to each type of target sorted item based on the storage capacity of the second storage container and the item mixing policy.
[0019] In some embodiments, the item information further includes item packaging specification information. After obtaining the item information of each category of items stored in each storage container with low utilization rate, the method further includes obtaining information of the storage container with low utilization rate, where the information of the storage container with low utilization rate includes at least the number of items of each category stored therein and the item mixing policy.
[0020] In some embodiments, allocating the second storage container to various types of target organizing items based on the storage capacity of the second storage container and the item mixing policy includes: dividing the at least one type of clustered item according to the item mixing policy, dividing the clustered items allowed to be mixed into the same group, dividing the clustered items not allowed to be mixed into different groups, and obtaining at least one group of first grouped items; secondary-dividing each of the first grouped items based on the packaging specification information of the item, the volume of the second storage container, and the storage rate of the second storage container to obtain at least one group of second grouped items; and determining the number of the second storage containers for storing each of the second grouped items based on the number of groups of the second grouped items.
[0021] In some embodiments, determining at least one type of target organizing item includes: counting the number of storage containers with low utilization rates for each category of items stored in storage containers with low utilization rates; when the number of storage containers with low utilization rates reaches a set number threshold, or when the ratio of the number of storage containers with low utilization rates to the total number of storage containers where the items of the category are located reaches a set ratio threshold, marking the items of the category as target organizing items.
[0022] In some embodiments, allocating the second storage container to various types of target organizing items includes: for each type of target organizing item, obtaining the item information of the type of target organizing item and the information of the storage container with low utilization rate of the type of target organizing item, where the item information includes the packaging specification information of the type of target organizing item, and the information of the storage container with low utilization rate includes the number of the type of target organizing item stored in the storage container with low utilization rate; and determining the number of the second storage containers for storing the type of target organizing item based on the packaging specification information of the type of target organizing item, the number of the type of target organizing item stored in the storage container with low utilization rate, the volume of the second storage container, and the storage rate of the second storage container, and the item information of the type of target organizing item is added to the warehouse organizing task.
[0023] In some embodiments, after determining the number of second storage containers for storing the target sorting items of this type, the method further includes integrating the second storage containers of various types of target sorting items according to the item mixing policy, and the warehouse sorting task further includes adding item information of the target sorting items that are permitted to be placed in the same second storage container.
[0024] In some embodiments, obtaining the utilization rate of each category of items stored in the first storage container in the first storage container includes calculating the utilization rate of the items of each category in the first storage container based on the volume and number of the items of each category stored in the first storage container, and the utilization rate is the ratio of the product of the volume of one item of the items of this category and the number of the items of this category to the volume of the first storage container.
[0025] In some embodiments, determining the storage container with a low utilization rate of the items of each category based on the obtained utilization rate includes determining whether the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold for the utilization rate of the items of each category in any of the first storage containers, and if the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold, marking the first storage container as the storage container with a low utilization rate of the items of this category.
[0026] In some embodiments, the robot control system scheduling the robot to execute the classification task is the robot control system, in response to each warehouse sorting task, scheduling the robot to transport the storage container with a low utilization rate where the target sorting items are located to the first target position for classification, and distributing the target sorting items in the storage container with a low utilization rate to the second storage container based on the item information added to the warehouse sorting task, and after the warehouse sorting task is completed, sending a warehouse sorting task completion message to the client side.
[0027] In some embodiments, the method further includes a step in which the client side responds to the warehouse sorting task completion message and sends a task to the robot control system to schedule the robot to transport the second storage container to a second target position for storing articles.
[0028] In some embodiments, the method further includes performing warehouse sorting by sorting the storage space for a storage container located in any storage space so that the container popularity information of the storage container matches the storage space popularity information of the storage space where the storage container is located. Here, the storage space popularity information represents the height of the efficiency of the storage container located in the storage space being taken in and out by the robot. The higher the efficiency, the higher the popularity of the storage space. The container popularity information represents the article popularity of the articles stored in the storage container. The article popularity represents the height of the frequency of the article being taken in and out of the warehouse. The higher the frequency, the higher the article popularity.
[0029] In some embodiments, the warehouse arrangement by arranging the storage spaces includes: obtaining the storage container information of the storage container and the storage space information of the storage space for a storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space or a storage space that does not match the popularity of the container in the storage space arrangement, where the storage container information includes container popularity information and the storage space information includes storage space popularity information; determining a candidate storage space for the storage container based on the container popularity information of the storage container, where the storage space popularity information of the candidate storage space matches the container popularity information of the storage container; calculating a first distance between the candidate storage space and the workstation, and setting the priority of the candidate storage space according to the proximity of the first distance, where the closer the first distance between the candidate storage space and the workstation, the higher the priority of the candidate storage space; calculating a second distance between the storage container and the candidate storage space, adjusting the priority of the candidate storage space according to the proximity of the second distance, selecting the candidate storage space with the highest priority as the target storage space of the storage container, and generating a warehouse arrangement task for transporting the storage container from the source storage space to the target storage space, where the closer the second distance between the storage container and the candidate storage space, the higher the priority of the candidate storage space; and transmitting the warehouse arrangement task to a robot control system so that the robot control system schedules the robot to execute the warehouse arrangement task.
[0030] In some embodiments, the warehouse arrangement by arranging the storage spaces further includes determining whether the link length of the warehouse arrangement task is greater than a set link length threshold, and if it is greater, dividing the link of the warehouse arrangement task into a plurality of sub-links with a length less than or equal to the link length threshold to obtain grouped warehouse arrangement tasks, and executing each grouped warehouse arrangement task. Here, one sub-link corresponds to one grouped warehouse arrangement task.
[0031] In some embodiments, a storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, or a storage space that does not match the popularity of the container, is determined by obtaining the container popularity information of the storage containers located in each storage space and the storage space popularity information of the storage spaces where each storage container is located, and selecting a storage container or a storage space where the popularity information of the storage container and the popularity information of the storage space do not match.
[0032] A second aspect of the present invention provides a warehouse sorting device by a robot, the device includes a first sorting module for obtaining the utilization rate of each first storage container in the warehouse and determining a storage container with a low utilization rate based on the obtained utilization rate, Based on the storage container with a low utilization rate, a classification task for classifying and sorting the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container is generated, and by sending the classification task to a robot control system, a classification task generation module for the robot control system to schedule the robot to execute the classification task is included.
[0033] A third aspect of the present invention provides a warehouse sorting device by a robot, the device includes a memory in which a computer program is stored and a processor, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to execute the above-mentioned warehouse sorting method by the robot.
[0034] A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the above-mentioned warehouse sorting method by the robot is executed.
[0035] The robot-based warehouse sorting method of the present invention realizes the sorting and sorting of items at the inventory level through sorting warehouse sorting, sorts and stores items stored in different storage containers, reduces the use of storage containers, makes the space utilization of the warehouse more rational, and makes the classification granularity of items smaller, facilitates warehouse management, and improves the efficiency of warehousing and shipping operations. The present invention can automatically sort items stored relatively randomly and generate corresponding warehouse sorting tasks without manual judgment, saving labor costs and reducing the error rate. In addition, when performing warehouse sorting tasks through item sorting, the storage capacity of the storage container and the volume of the items can be matched to maximize the release of empty storage containers and maximize the use of non-empty storage containers. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0036]
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Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention
[0037] In order to make the object, technical means and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.
[0038] The applicant has found that in the working process of warehouse management, usually, the basic attribute information and operation status of the articles in the warehouse are matched with the preset warehouse storage conditions, the space information occupied by one article is determined based on the basic attribute information of the article, and the storage space quantity of the article is determined based on the quantity information and space information of the article. Based on the type of the warehouse space of the article, the warehouse space belonging to the type of the warehouse space is determined as the candidate warehouse space. Here, the types of warehouse space include best-selling warehouse space, unsold warehouse space, expired warehouse space, defective product warehouse space, seasonal warehouse space, off-season warehouse space, bonus warehouse space, inventory aging warehouse space, and near-expiration warehouse space, etc., and the sorting method of the articles to be sorted is determined based on the current storage information and the candidate warehouse space.
[0039] The above-mentioned warehouse sorting method of classifying the warehouse space into different types and sorting and classifying the articles based on the matching relationship between the article attributes and quantity and the type of the classified space has a large sorting granularity, and the type of the warehouse space and the article attributes belong to a one-to-many matching relationship, and the articles can be sorted into the same space, but the articles sorted into the space are still messy. In particular, when a certain type of warehouse space type corresponds to many articles, the efficiency of subsequent inbound and outbound operations cannot be effectively improved.
[0040] In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for warehouse arrangement by a robot for performing classified warehouse arrangement on articles stored separately in each storage container.
[0041] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for warehouse arrangement by a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes, on the client side for warehouse operation processing, steps of performing classified warehouse arrangement on articles stored separately in each first storage container in the warehouse. The classified warehouse arrangement includes steps 101 to 103.
[0042] In step 101, the utilization rate of each first storage container is obtained.
[0043] In this step, when the same article or articles of the same type are stored separately in different first storage containers, for each first storage container, according to the category of the articles stored in the first storage container, the utilization rate of each category of articles stored in the first storage container in the first storage container is obtained. The utilization rate is obtained by calculating the ratio of the volume and number of articles of each category stored in the storage container to the space occupied by the articles of that category in the storage container.
[0044] In actual applications, in view of the fact that the utilization rate cannot be accurately represented by using the volume information of articles, for example, articles with high density and articles with low density have different utilization rates of the storage container. Therefore, the utilization rate of a first storage container may be obtained by counting the number of articles stored in any first storage container. For example, if the number of article A stored in the first storage container is N1 and the number of article B stored is N2, the number of articles stored is the sum of N1 and N2, that is, the total number of articles stored in the first storage container is the utilization rate of the first storage container.
[0045] Note that the same article generally refers to an article in which all of the specified information is the same. For example, it refers to an article in which the specifications, model number, identification information, brand, and name of the article are all the same. The same type of article generally refers to an article in which some of the specified information is the same. For example, it refers to an article in which the name is the same and at least one of the specifications, model number, and brand is different. The category of an article is a classification of the article according to the set information, and the set information may be the same as or different from the specified information. Thus, the same article may belong to the same category or different categories, and the same type of article may belong to the same category or different categories. As another example, the utilization rate of any article stored in any of the specified first storage containers in the first storage container may be obtained.
[0046] In step 102, based on the obtained utilization rate, a storage container with a low utilization rate is determined.
[0047] As an example, based on the obtained utilization rate, a storage container with a low utilization rate of the articles in each category is determined.
[0048] As another example, a first storage container in which the number of stored articles is smaller than the set first number threshold is determined as a storage container with a low utilization rate. For a first storage container in which the number of stored articles is equal to or greater than the set first number threshold, it is determined whether the category of the articles stored in the first storage container is the set category. If it is the set category, the first storage container is determined as a storage container with a low utilization rate. For example, the articles stored in the first storage container are summer clothes, and since the volume occupied by the summer clothes is smaller than the volume occupied by the winter clothes, even if the number of articles is large, the utilization rate is not high. Such a first storage container can be a storage container with a low utilization rate, which is advantageous for reducing the occupancy of the storage container.
[0049] In step 103, based on the storage containers with low utilization rates, a classification task is generated for classifying and organizing the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates into a second storage container, and by sending the classification task to the robot control system, the robot control system schedules the robot to execute the classification task. By this classification task, the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates are classified and organized into the same second storage container or two or more second storage containers.
[0050] As an example, based on the categories of the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates, at least one type of target organizing item is determined, a second storage container is assigned to each type of target organizing item, and for each assigned second storage container, a warehouse organizing task for organizing the target organizing items of this type into the second storage container is generated, thereby classifying the items of each category stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates into different storage containers.
[0051] As another example, the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates are used as target organizing items, a second storage container is assigned to the target organizing items, and for the assigned second storage container, a warehouse organizing task for organizing the target organizing items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates into the second storage container is generated, so that the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates become empty. In addition, in order to quickly empty the storage containers with low utilization rates and quickly reduce the occupancy of the storage containers, the entire set of items stored in one storage container with low utilization rates may be regarded as one type of target organizing item. Also, in order to empty the storage containers with low utilization rates and perform item classification, the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates may be determined as multiple types of target organizing items according to the categories of the target organizing items.
[0052] For any type of target sorting item, the items in each category stored in the storage container with low utilization rate may be classified into different storage containers according to any of the above embodiments. According to the number of items stored, the priority of the storage container with low utilization rate is set, and the items stored in each storage container with low utilization rate are used as target sorting items in the order of decreasing priority of the storage container with low utilization rate. Alternatively, the storage container with low utilization rate may be processed quickly, and a second storage container may be sequentially assigned to each storage container with low utilization rate so as to improve the efficiency of warehouse sorting. Here, the fewer the number of items stored, the higher the priority of the storage container with low utilization rate.
[0053] The embodiments of the present invention utilize the information of the items stored in the storage container to obtain the utilization rate of the storage container, select the storage container with low utilization rate, and further realize warehouse sorting by classifying items through the execution of the generated classification task. In this embodiment, by adopting the method of warehouse sorting by classification, for each first storage container storing a plurality of or multiple types of items, classifying and sorting the same items or the same type of items into one or more second storage containers corresponds to warehouse sorting by container classification or warehouse sorting by container classification, which can reduce the use of storage containers, facilitate inventory management, and improve the efficiency of subsequent inbound and outbound operations.
[0054] To facilitate the understanding of the present invention, hereinafter, an example will be described in which the items distributed in each storage container in the application scenario of warehouse operations are classified and integrated.
[0055] Hereinafter, technical terms related to warehouse operations will be explained.
[0056] Intelligent Warehouse Management System (IWMS): An application program for controlling and tracking the logistics process of warehouse operations online, belonging to the client for warehouse operation processing.
[0057] Robot Control System (RCS): Receives tasks sent from an intelligent warehouse management system and sends related instructions for completing the sent tasks to a robot.
[0058] Warehouse robot: An automatic robot that performs operations such as loading and unloading, picking, and transporting goods in a warehouse. General warehouse robots include submersible robots and loading and unloading robots. An AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) is a type of submersible robot and is used for shelf transportation. A CTU (Container Transfering Unit) is a type of loading and unloading robot and can directly perform operations such as loading and unloading and transporting storage containers (such as containers) in a storage space.
[0059] Distribution Station: A frame structure including a plurality of cells. For example, the frame structure may be a wall structure, and in this case, it is called a Distribution Wall and is used for temporarily storing rotating containers in the warehouse sorting operation. Each cell usually has an electronic tag for guiding the sorting of items. The Distribution Station is usually used in combination with a workstation.
[0060] Distribution Location: A cell located in the Distribution Station, and one cell is one Distribution Location.
[0061] Storage container: A container for storing items in a warehouse, such as a container.
[0062] Rotating container: Essentially, it is a storage container. For the sake of distinction, the container for storing items in the warehouse is called a storage container, corresponding to the first storage container. The storage container located at the distribution position and bound is called a rotating container, corresponding to the second storage container. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rotating container is bound to the distribution position and is used for classifying and storing the items sorted from the storage container. When the rotating container is full of items or there are no other items to be put into the rotating container, after the rotating container is taken out from the distribution position and put back into the warehouse again, the rotating container becomes a storage container.
[0063] Item popularity information: It is information for representing the frequency of item inbound and outbound. The higher the frequency of item inbound and outbound, the higher the item popularity. As an example, the popularity level of items is classified based on the inbound and outbound frequency. Items with a high popularity level have frequent inbound and outbound, while items with a low popularity level have a low inbound and outbound frequency. For example, in order from the highest item popularity, they are defined as item popularity A, item popularity B, and item popularity C.
[0064] Container popularity information: It is for representing the item popularity of the items stored in the storage container. As an example, the popularity of the item with the highest popularity in the storage container may be used as the popularity of the storage container, or the popularity of the storage container may be obtained by a set calculation method such as the average popularity or weighted popularity of multiple types of items.
[0065] Storage space popularity information: Information for representing the high efficiency of the robot in taking in and out storage containers located in the storage space. For the storage robot, the efficiency of taking in and out storage containers in different storage spaces on the shelf is different. According to the in-and-out efficiency of the robot, the storage spaces on the shelf are classified according to the popularity level. For storage spaces with high popularity, the efficiency of the robot in taking in and out storage containers is high, and for storage spaces with low popularity, the efficiency of the robot in taking in and out storage containers is low. For example, in order from the highest storage space popularity, it is defined as storage space popularity A, storage space popularity B, and storage space popularity C.
[0066] As shown in FIG. 2, article A represents an article of category A or article A, article B represents an article of category B or article B, and article C represents an article of category C or article C. Before the warehouse sorting by classification, articles A, B, and C are stored in different storage containers respectively, the distribution of articles in each category is scattered, and the articles stored in each storage container are also relatively messy. By the warehouse sorting by classification, the distribution of articles in the storage container is made more reasonable.
[0067] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a warehouse sorting method by classification according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method includes steps 301 to 307.
[0068] In step 301, for each storage container, the intelligent warehouse management system determines the utilization rate of each category of articles stored in the storage container in the storage container.
[0069] As an example, based on the volume and number of each category of articles stored in the storage container, the utilization rate of this type of article in the storage container is calculated. Expressed in a mathematical formula,
Equation
[0070] Here, η ijis the utilization rate of item j in storage container i, V i is the volume of storage container i, R ij is the volume of one item j in storage container i, N ij is the number of item j in storage container i.
[0071] Thus, the current utilization rate of items in each category in the storage container can be obtained.
[0072] For example, in Figure 2, the utilization rate η of item A in storage container 1 1A , the utilization rate η of item B in storage container 1 1B , the utilization rate η of item A in storage container 2 2A , the utilization rate η of item B in storage container 2 2B , the utilization rate η of item C in storage container 2 2C , the utilization rate η of item B in storage container 3 3B , the utilization rate η of item C in storage container 3 3C , the utilization rate η of item C in storage container 4 4C can be obtained.
[0073] In step 302, the intelligent warehouse management system determines the storage containers with low utilization rates for items in each category using the calculated utilization rates.
[0074] As an example, based on each calculated utilization rate η ij , it is determined whether the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold. If the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold, the storage container i corresponding to the utilization rate indicates that it is a storage container with a low utilization rate of item j corresponding to the utilization rate, and the storage container i is marked as a storage container with a low utilization rate of item j. For example, marked as L ij . Thus, the storage containers to be sorted can be selected.
[0075] In step 303, the intelligent warehouse management system totals the number of storage containers with low utilization rates for items in each category.
[0076] When the number of storage containers with low utilization reaches the set number threshold, or when the ratio of the number of storage containers with low utilization to the total number of storage containers where the articles of the category are located reaches the set ratio threshold, it indicates that the distribution of the articles of the category in the warehouse is relatively dispersed, and the articles of the category are marked as target sorting articles. Thereby, the articles to be sorted can be selected.
[0077] In step 304, based on the selected storage containers with low utilization, a classification task for classifying and sorting the articles of each category stored in the storage containers with low utilization into rotating containers is generated, and by sending the classification task to the robot control system, the robot control system schedules the robot and instructs the robot to transport the selected storage containers with low utilization to the workstation.
[0078] As an example, the intelligent warehouse management system adopts an inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm for sorting the articles stored in the storage containers with low utilization into different rotating containers, and calculates which articles can be sorted into the rotating containers based on the storage capacity of the rotating containers and the article mixing policy, generates a warehouse sorting task according to the dimensions of the rotating containers, and all the warehouse sorting tasks constitute the classification task.
[0079] In order to facilitate the inbound and outbound management of the articles stored in the warehouse, an outbound task can also be generated. That is, the task of sorting the articles into the rotating containers is used as the outbound task.
[0080] Figure 4 is a flowchart of the inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm. As shown in Figure 4, the inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm includes steps 4041 to 4044.
[0081] In step 4041, for the selected storage containers with low utilization rates, obtain the item information of each category of items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates, the information of the storage containers with low utilization rates, and also obtain the information of the rotating containers. Here, the item information includes item identification information such as item names, item packaging specification information, and item popularity information. The information of the storage containers with low utilization rates includes item identification information such as item names of the items stored in the storage containers with low utilization rates, the number of items stored, and the item mixing policy. For example, when the mixing of some or some categories of items is permitted, the items of the same category or the same type are preferentially sorted into the same rotating container. At this time, if there is still space left in the rotating container, continue to sort the items whose mixing is permitted into the rotating container. The information of the rotating container includes the volume of the rotating container and the storage rate of the rotating container.
[0082] In step 4042, based on the item popularity information, cluster the items stored in all the storage containers with low utilization rates to obtain at least one type of clustered items, and set at least one type of clustered items as at least one type of target sorted items.
[0083] As an example, the item with popularity information A is taken as one type of clustered item, the item with popularity information B is taken as another type of clustered item, and the item with popularity information C is taken as yet another type of clustered item.
[0084] In step 4043, according to the item mixing policy, by dividing various types of clustered items, the clustered items whose mixing is permitted are divided into the same group, and the clustered items whose mixing is not permitted are divided into different groups to obtain different first grouped items.
[0085] As an example, the clustered items whose mixing is permitted are divided into one group, and the clustered items whose mixing is not permitted are divided into different groups.
[0086] In step 4044, different first-grouped articles are secondarily divided based on the packaging specification information of the articles, the volume of the rotating container, and the storage rate of the rotating container to obtain at least one group of second-grouped articles.
[0087] As an example, for the articles in each first group, based on the packaging specification information of the articles, the volume of the rotating container, and the storage rate of the rotating container, calculate the number of articles that each rotating container can store and the number of rotating containers required. Here, one rotating container is one second group, and the number of rotating containers is the number of second groups. Generate one warehouse sorting task for all the articles that are permitted to be placed in the same rotating container, and add the article information of the articles that are permitted to be placed in the same rotating container, that is, the article information of the second-grouped articles, to the task. It can be seen that there are as many warehouse sorting tasks as there are rotating containers, and these warehouse sorting tasks constitute the classification tasks. In this way, when generating tasks, based on the volume of the articles and the storage capacity of the rotating container, calculate the maximum number of articles that can be stored in each rotating container, and corresponding outbound tasks for each rotating container can be generated according to the number, so that each rotating container can be filled as much as possible, the use of storage containers can be reduced, and warehouse sorting can be completed with as few rotating containers as possible.
[0088] The above inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm takes into account the limitation of the storage capacity of the rotating container, that is, when sorting the articles in multiple storage containers into one rotating container, the total volume of the articles sorted into the rotating container cannot exceed the storage capacity of the rotating container. The above inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm takes into account the mixing limitation. When mixing of some or some categories of articles is permitted, articles with the same attribute are preferentially sorted into the same rotating container. At this time, if there is still space left in the rotating container, it supports continuing to sort the articles whose mixing is permitted into the rotating container. The above inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm realizes completing warehouse sorting with as few rotating containers as possible.
[0089] By executing the classification task, the same item or items of the same type stored in a storage container with low utilization rate are classified and sorted into the same rotating container or two or more rotating containers.
[0090] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the classification executed by the inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm. As shown in Figure 5, clustering, splitting, and secondary splitting are performed on all items stored in storage containers with low utilization rates, and finally, the second-grouped items are formed. It should be understood that the above steps 4042 and 4043 are selectable steps for adjustment according to the actual situation. For example, it may not be necessary to consider the mixing of items and the popularity of items.
[0091] Another example of step 304 is to generate a warehouse sorting task for sorting the target sorted items of each type into a second storage container, and by sending the task to the robot control system, the robot control system schedules the robot and instructs the robot to transport each storage container where the target sorted items are located to the workstation.
[0092] As an example, the intelligent warehouse management system adopts an inventory-level warehouse sorting algorithm for sorting the target sorted items into different rotating containers, generates warehouse sorting tasks according to the dimensions of the rotating containers, and all warehouse sorting tasks constitute a classification task.
[0093] In order to facilitate the inbound and outbound management of the items stored in the warehouse, an outbound task can also be generated. That is, the task of sorting the items into the rotating containers is used as the outbound task.
[0094] In the exemplary inventory level warehouse sorting algorithm, for each type of target sorting item, obtain the item information of the target sorting item of this type and the storage container information with a low utilization rate of the target sorting item of this type. Here, the item information includes item identification information and the packaging specification information of the item. The storage container information with a low utilization rate includes the number of the target sorting items of this type stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate, and may further include the item identification information of the items in each category stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate and the number of the items in each category stored. Based on the obtained packaging specification information of the target sorting item of this type, the number of the target sorting items of this type stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate, the volume of the rotating container, and the storage rate of the rotating container, determine the number of rotating containers for storing the target sorting item of this type. For each determined rotating container, generate a warehouse sorting task for sorting the target sorting item of this type into the rotating container, and the item information of the target sorting item of this type is added to the task. In this way, there are as many warehouse sorting tasks as there are rotating containers, and these warehouse sorting tasks constitute sorting tasks.
[0095] By executing the sorting task, the same target sorting item or the target sorting items of the same type are sorted and organized into the same rotating container or two or more rotating containers.
[0096] To reduce the number of rotating containers, when there are multiple types of target sorting items, the integration of rotating containers may be performed according to the item mixing policy, and then a warehouse sorting task may be generated for the integrated rotating container. The item information of the target sorting items permitted to be placed in the same rotating container is added to the task.
[0097] It should be understood that the two examples in step 304 are not mutually exclusive and may be executed alternatively or selectively.
[0098] In step 305, after each storage container where the target sorting item is located or each storage container with a low utilization rate is transported to a first target position for classification, for example, a workstation, the rotary container is bound to the distribution position, and based on the presentation of the interface of the client of the workstation, the target sorting item is taken out of the storage container and placed into the rotary container at the corresponding distribution position, or an item is taken out of each storage container with a low utilization rate and placed into the rotary container at the corresponding distribution position.
[0099] As an example, the operator obtains a shipping task from the client of the workstation, takes out the target sorting item from the storage container based on the presentation of the interface of the client of the workstation, and places it into the rotary container at the corresponding distribution position, or takes out an item from each storage container with a low utilization rate and places it into the rotary container at the corresponding distribution position, and then returns a shipping task completion message to the intelligent warehouse management system. In some embodiments, the operator may be a robot.
[0100] In step 306, after receiving the shipping task completion message, the intelligent warehouse management system generates a task for the robot control system to schedule the robot to transport the rotary container, which is a second storage container, to a second target position for storing items, for example, a task for transporting to the warehouse, for example, a receiving task, and sends the receiving task to the RCS, so that the RCS schedules the robot and instructs the robot to transport the rotary container to the second target position for storing items.
[0101] In step 307, the scheduled robot executes the command from the RCS and transports the rotary container into the warehouse.
[0102] The present invention realizes the automation of classification by automatically selecting target sorted items or storage containers with low utilization rates and automatically generating tasks, reduces misclassification due to manual operations, and improves work efficiency. Embodiments of the present invention consider classification granularity and space utilization in warehouse sorting, consider labor costs, and complete warehouse sorting with as much system automation as possible and as little manual labor as possible. Warehouse sorting by container classification is an automated warehouse sorting process. The system automatically generates warehouse sorting tasks. The robot transports the storage containers that need to be sorted to the workstation. The operator distributes and sorts the items to the distribution wall according to the prompts of the system. The robot transports the sorted rotating containers into the warehouse, which is advantageous for reducing incorrect manual operations.
[0103] Embodiments of the present invention further include performing warehouse sorting by storage space sorting on storage containers located in any storage space. Warehouse sorting by storage space sorting is warehouse sorting at the carrier level and is used to sort storage containers into different storage spaces.
[0104] In order to maximize the outbound efficiency of storage containers in the warehouse, the outbound frequency of popular storage containers should be high, and they should be placed in the storage space of popular shelves to facilitate the loading and unloading of robots. Also, in order to shorten the time for the robot to transport the storage containers from the storage space to the workstation during subsequent outbound operations, popular storage containers should be placed in the storage space of shelves close to the workstation. Warehouse sorting by storage space sorting can, for the above problems, sort the storage containers in the storage space, so that storage containers with different popularity levels can be sorted into corresponding popularity-level storage spaces, and at the same time, popular storage containers can be brought as close as possible to the workstation, thereby improving the outbound efficiency.
[0105] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing warehouse arrangement by storage space arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, storage spaces A, B, and C indicate the popularity levels of the storage spaces, and A, B, and C included in each storage container indicate the popularity levels of the corresponding storage container, and are defined as A, B, and C in descending order of popularity level. As shown in FIG. 6, storage containers with different popularity levels before arrangement are dispersed in different storage spaces, and some of the popular storage containers are stored in storage spaces that are far from the workstations and have low popularity, such as storage container 2 and storage container 3, while some of the less popular storage containers are stored in storage spaces that are close to the workstations and have high popularity, such as storage container 4 and storage container 6. Such a storage method of storage containers results in very low efficiency in subsequent robot outbound operations. After performing warehouse arrangement by storage space arrangement, storage containers with different popularity levels are arranged in storage spaces with corresponding popularity levels.
[0106] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for warehouse arrangement by storage space arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes steps 701 to 705.
[0107] In step 701, the intelligent warehouse management system obtains the container popularity information of each storage container and the popularity information of the storage space where each storage container is located.
[0108] For a robot, the efficiency of taking in and out storage containers located in different storage spaces on the shelf is different. Therefore, according to the in and out efficiency of the robot, the storage spaces on the shelf are classified by popularity level. For storage spaces with high popularity, the in and out efficiency of storage containers by the robot is high, and for storage spaces with low popularity, the in and out efficiency of storage containers by the robot is low. Thus, the storage space popularity information represents the in and out efficiency of storage containers in the storage space by the robot. After the storage space popularity information is determined in advance, it may be stored in the intelligent warehouse management system. As an example, it is defined as storage space popularity A, storage space popularity B, and storage space popularity C in descending order of storage space popularity.
[0109] The popularity information of the storage container is the highest popularity among the popularities of the items stored in the storage container, which is regarded as the popularity of the storage container. Here, the popularity of the item is classified based on the frequency of incoming and outgoing, and the item with high popularity has a high frequency of incoming and outgoing, while the item with low popularity has a low frequency of incoming and outgoing. As an example, the popularity of the item is defined as item popularity A, item popularity B, and item popularity C in order from the highest.
[0110] In step 702, the intelligent warehouse management system selects storage containers and / or storage spaces in which the popularity of the storage containers in the warehouse does not match the popularity of the storage spaces.
[0111] For example, the popularity information of the storage space is divided into at least one level according to the efficiency of the robot's handling of the storage containers located in different storage spaces. The higher the efficiency, the higher the level. The popularity of the item is divided into at least one level according to the frequency of incoming and outgoing of the item. The higher the frequency, the higher the level. The container popularity level is the highest level of the popularity of the items stored in the storage container. For each storage container located in each storage space, it is determined whether the level difference between the container popularity level of the storage container and the storage space popularity level of the storage space where the storage container is located is smaller than the set level threshold. If the level difference is smaller than the set level threshold, it is determined that the storage container and the storage space where the storage container is located match, otherwise, it is determined that the storage container and the storage space where the storage container is located do not match.
[0112] In step 703, the warehouse sorting algorithm at the carrier level is adopted to match a target storage space for the storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, generate and send a storage space sorting task. The storage space sorting task is the conveyance task of each storage container from the source storage space to the target storage space.
[0113] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a warehouse sorting algorithm at the carrier level according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the warehouse sorting algorithm at the carrier level includes steps 8031 to 8036.
[0114] In step 8031, for each storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, or for each storage space that does not match the popularity of the container, the storage container information of the storage container and the storage space information of the storage space are acquired. Here, the storage container information includes storage container identification information such as a container number and container popularity information. The storage space information includes storage space identification information such as a storage space number, storage space popularity information, and storage space location information.
[0115] In step 8032, for each storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, a candidate storage space for the storage container is matched based on the container popularity information of the storage container.
[0116] As an example, among the storage spaces other than the matched storage space, a storage space in which the storage space popularity information and the container popularity information of the storage container are the same is set as the candidate storage space for the storage container.
[0117] In step 8033, a first distance between each candidate storage space and a set position such as a workstation is calculated, and the priority of the candidate storage space is set according to the proximity of the first distance. The closer the first distance between the candidate storage space and the workstation, the higher the priority of the candidate storage space, and there may be candidate storage spaces with the same priority.
[0118] In step 8034, calculate the second distance between the storage container and the candidate storage space, adjust the priority of the candidate storage space according to the proximity of the second distance, preferentially select the candidate storage space with a high priority as the target storage space of the storage container, and generate a warehouse sorting task for transporting the storage container from the current source storage space to the target storage space. The closer the second distance between the storage container and the candidate storage space is, the higher the priority of the candidate storage space becomes. The storage container information, the source storage space information, and the target storage space information are added to the warehouse sorting task.
[0119] As an example, for candidate storage spaces with the same priority determined based on the first distance, the closer they are to the storage container, the higher the priority of the candidate storage space becomes, and the candidate storage space with a high priority is preferentially selected as the target storage space of the storage container. If there are multiple target storage spaces, one of them is randomly selected as the target storage space.
[0120] In step 8035, return to step 8032 until a warehouse sorting task is generated for each storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space.
[0121] In this way, a warehouse sorting task is generated for each storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, or for each storage space that does not match the popularity of the container, and these warehouse sorting tasks form a storage space sorting task.
[0122] In the process of sorting storage containers, if it is necessary to sort the storage container A in the storage space C to the storage space A, and at this time, there is a storage container B in the storage space A, and it is necessary to sort the storage container B to the storage space B, and there is a storage container C in the storage space B, and it may be necessary to sort the storage container C to the storage space C. The above situation is called a chain task. When the link of the chain task is long, the warehouse sorting becomes complicated and affects the incoming and outgoing warehouse operations. In this embodiment, the link length of the chain task is limited. When the link length reaches the set link length threshold, the chain task is split into multiple sub-chain tasks for execution. Therefore, step 8036 is executed.
[0123] In step 8036, based on the information added to the warehouse sorting task, construct the warehouse sorting tasks related to each warehouse sorting task as a chain task, and determine whether the link length of each chain task is greater than the set link length threshold. If the link length is greater than the set link length threshold, it indicates that the link of the chain task is long. Split the link of the chain task into multiple sub-links with a length less than or equal to the link length threshold, group the chain task, obtain the grouped warehouse sorting task. If the link length is less than or equal to the set link length threshold, output the chain task. Here, one sub-link corresponds to one grouped warehouse sorting task.
[0124] Regard each grouped warehouse sorting task and the chain task with a link length less than or equal to the threshold as a storage space sorting task.
[0125] For example, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the storage space and the distribution of containers before warehouse sorting. As shown in FIG. 9, according to the warehouse sorting logic by storage space sorting, to complete the warehouse sorting process without executing task grouping, it is necessary to execute 6 conveyance tasks as shown in FIG. 9. When the link of a task is long, it is disadvantageous for task management, especially when the task needs to be interrupted or terminated. By executing task grouping and decomposing the link of one long task into the links of two groups of short tasks according to a preset link length threshold (assumed to be 3) (see FIG. 10) and executing each group, the execution granularity of the task can be made smaller and easier to manage.
[0126] As an example, the chain task is constructed as follows.
[0127] For each warehouse sorting task, when the target storage space information added to the warehouse sorting task is the source storage space information added to another warehouse sorting task, it indicates that there is a storage container in the source storage space that requires storage space sorting. The other warehouse sorting task is set as the subsequent task adjacent to the warehouse sorting task, and a task sequence including the warehouse sorting task and the other warehouse sorting task is obtained. In this way, several task sequences are obtained, the task sequences with common parts are integrated, and the integrated task sequence is obtained as the chain task.
[0128] For example, regarding the situation in FIG. 9, storage arrangement tasks 1 to 6 are generated respectively. Here, storage arrangement task 1 and storage arrangement task 2 form task sequence 12, storage arrangement task 2 and storage arrangement task 3 form task sequence 23, storage arrangement task 3 and storage arrangement task 4 form task sequence 34, storage arrangement task 4 and storage arrangement task 5 form task sequence 45, and storage arrangement task 5 and storage arrangement task 6 form task sequence 56. Task sequence 12 and task sequence 23 have a common part 2, and after integration, task sequence 123 is obtained. Task sequence 23 and task sequence 34 have a common part 3, and after integration, task sequence 234 is obtained. Task sequence 34 and task sequence 45 have a common part 4, and after integration, task sequence 345 is obtained. Task sequence 45 and task sequence 56 have a common part 5, and after integration, task sequence 456 is obtained. Task sequence 123 and task sequence 345 have a common part 3, and after integration, task sequence 12345 is obtained. Task sequence 12345 and task sequence 456 have a common part 45, and after integration, task sequence 123456 is obtained. The said task sequence is a chain task.
[0129] In step 704, the RCS receives the storage space arrangement task sent from the intelligent warehouse management system, schedules the robot, and instructs the robot to convey the storage container from the source storage space to the target storage space.
[0130] In step 705, the robot conveys the storage container from the source storage space to the target storage space based on the storage container information, source storage space information, and target storage space information added to the storage space arrangement task, and performs the storage space arrangement operation of the storage container.
[0131] The warehouse arrangement method based on storage space arrangement according to this embodiment adopts a warehouse arrangement algorithm at the carrier level, arranges storage containers with different popularity levels in the corresponding storage spaces, and improves the efficiency of robot access. In addition, the most popular storage containers are placed as close as possible to the workstations to improve the subsequent outbound operation efficiency. The warehouse arrangement method based on storage space arrangement provided by this embodiment can automatically select storage containers, automatically generate warehouse arrangement tasks to complete warehouse arrangement, save labor costs, and reduce the error rate.
[0132] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a warehouse arrangement device by a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the device includes a warehouse arrangement unit by classification and a warehouse arrangement unit by storage space arrangement.
[0133] The warehouse arrangement unit by classification performs warehouse arrangement by classification on the items stored dispersedly in each first storage container, and is used to classify and arrange the same items or items of the same type into one or more second storage containers.
[0134] The warehouse arrangement unit by storage space arrangement performs warehouse arrangement by storage space arrangement on the storage container located in any storage space, and is used to match the container popularity information of the storage container with the storage space popularity information of the storage space where the storage container is located.
[0135] The warehouse arrangement unit by classification includes a first selection module and a classification task generation module.
[0136] The first selection module obtains the utilization rate of each first storage container in the warehouse, and is used to determine the storage container with a low utilization rate based on the obtained utilization rate.
[0137] The classification task generation module generates a classification task for classifying and sorting the items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with low utilization rate, and sends the classification task to the robot control system, so that the robot control system schedules the robot to execute the classification task, and is used to classify and sort the items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate into the same second storage container or two or more second storage containers.
[0138] The warehouse sorting unit by storage space sorting includes a second sorting module and a storage space sorting task generation module.
[0139] The second sorting module is used to obtain the storage container information of the storage container and the storage space information of the storage space for the storage container or the storage space that does not match the popularity of the storage space.
[0140] The storage space sorting task generation module selects a target storage space where the popularity information of the storage space and the container popularity information of the storage container match from the storage spaces other than the matched storage space for the storage container that does not match the popularity of the storage space, generates a storage space sorting task for transporting the storage container from the source storage space to the target storage space, and sends the storage space sorting task to the robot control system, so that the robot control system schedules the robot to execute the storage space sorting task, performs warehouse sorting by storage space sorting on the storage container located in any storage space, and is used to match the container popularity information of the storage container and the storage space popularity information of the storage space where the storage container is located.
[0141] FIG. 12 is another schematic diagram of a warehouse sorting device by a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the device includes a memory and a processor. A computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to perform the warehouse sorting method by the robot described in the embodiments of the present invention.
[0142] The memory may include a random access memory (RAM) and may include a non-volatile memory (NVM) such as at least one magnetic disk memory. Optionally, the memory may be at least one storage device located away from the processor.
[0143] The above processor may be a general-purpose processor including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc., or may be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.
[0144] The embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the warehouse sorting method by the robot described in the embodiments of the present invention is executed.
[0145] For the embodiments of the device / network-side device / storage medium, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is brief, and the relevant parts may refer to the description of the method embodiments.
[0146] In this specification, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only 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. Also, the terms "comprising", "added", or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device that comprises a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements specific to such a process, method, article, or device. Without more limitations, an element limited by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other, same elements in the process, method, article, or device that comprises the said element.
[0147] The above are only some embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should all be included within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A method for warehouse organization by a robot, comprising: On the client side for warehouse operation processing, performing steps of classifying and organizing items stored in each first storage container in the warehouse, The classification-based warehouse organization includes: Obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers; Based on the obtained utilization rate, determining a storage container with a low utilization rate; Based on the storage container with a low utilization rate, generating a classification task for classifying and organizing the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container, and transmitting the classification task to a robot control system, so that the robot control system schedules a robot to execute the classification task; A method for warehouse organization by a robot, characterized by the above.
2. Obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers includes: For each of the first storage containers, obtaining the utilization rate of each category of items stored in the first storage container according to the category of the items stored in the first storage container; Based on the obtained utilization rate, determining a storage container with a low utilization rate includes: Based on the obtained utilization rate, determining a storage container with a low utilization rate for each category of items; Generating a classification task for classifying and organizing the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with a low utilization rate includes: Based on the category of the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate, determining at least one type of target organized item; Allocating a second storage container to each type of target organized item, and generating a warehouse organization task for organizing the target organized item of this type into the second storage container; The warehouse organization method according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.
3. Obtaining the utilization rate of each of the first storage containers includes: For each of the first storage containers, aggregating the number of items stored in the first storage container to obtain the utilization rate of the first storage container; Based on the obtained utilization rate, determining a storage container with a low utilization rate includes: Determining a first storage container in which the number of stored items is less than a first number threshold as a storage container with a low utilization rate; Based on the storage container with low utilization rate, generating a classification task for classifying and organizing the items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate into a second storage container is taking the items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate as the target items to be organized, and allocating a second storage container to the target items to be organized and generating a warehouse organization task for organizing the target items to the second storage container, so that the items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate become empty, including The warehouse organization method according to claim 1, characterized in that.
4. Determining a first storage container in which the number of stored items is less than a first number threshold as a storage container with low utilization rate further includes for a first storage container in which the number of stored items is greater than or equal to the first number threshold, determining whether the category of the items stored in the first storage container is a set category, and if it is the set category, determining the first storage container as a storage container with low utilization rate, including Allocating a second storage container to the target items to be organized is setting the priority of the storage container with low utilization rate according to the number of stored items, and sequentially allocating a second storage container to each storage container with low utilization rate in descending order of the priority of the storage container with low utilization rate, including wherein the fewer the number of stored items, the higher the priority of the storage container with low utilization rate. The warehouse organization method according to claim 3, characterized in that.
5. Allocating a second storage container to the target items to be organized and generating a warehouse organization task for organizing the target items to the second storage container is determining at least one type of target item to be organized according to the category of the target item to be organized, and allocating a second storage container to each type of target item to be organized and generating a warehouse organization task for organizing the target item of this type to the second storage container, including The warehouse organization method according to claim 4, characterized in that.
6. Determining at least one type of target item to be organized is for each storage container with low utilization rate, obtaining the item information of each category of items stored in the storage container with low utilization rate, and the item information includes at least item popularity information for representing the high or low frequency of item receipt and dispatch. Based on the popularity information of the items, cluster the items stored in storage containers with low utilization rates for each type, obtain at least one type of clustered items, and use the at least one type of clustered items as the at least one type of target items to be organized, Assigning a second storage container to each type of target items to be organized includes assigning the second storage container to each type of target items to be organized based on the storage capacity of the second storage container and the item mixing policy, The warehouse organization method according to claim 2 or claim 5, characterized in that.
7. The item information further includes the packaging specification information of the item, For each storage container with a low utilization rate, after obtaining the item information of each category of items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate, the method further includes obtaining information on the storage container with a low utilization rate, The information on the storage container with a low utilization rate includes at least the number of items of each category stored and the item mixing policy, Assigning the second storage container to each type of target items to be organized based on the storage capacity of the second storage container and the item mixing policy According to the item mixing policy, divide the at least one type of clustered items, divide the clustered items that are allowed to be mixed into the same group, divide the clustered items that are not allowed to be mixed into different groups, and obtain at least one group of first-grouped items, Based on the packaging specification information of the item, the volume of the second storage container, and the storage rate of the second storage container, perform secondary division on each of the first-grouped items to obtain at least one group of second-grouped items, Determining the number of the second storage containers for storing each of the second-grouped items based on the number of groups of the second-grouped items, The warehouse organization method according to claim 6, characterized in that.
8. Determining at least one type of target items to be organized For each category of items stored in a storage container with a low utilization rate, count the number of storage containers with a low utilization rate of the items in that category, When the number of the storage containers with a low utilization rate reaches a set number threshold, or when the ratio of the number of the storage containers with a low utilization rate to the total number of storage containers where the items in that category are located reaches a set ratio threshold, mark the items in that category as target items to be organized, The warehouse sorting method according to claim 2 or claim 5, characterized in that...
9. Assigning the second storage container to various types of target sorted items is... For various types of target sorted items, obtaining the item information of the target sorted items of that type and the storage container information of the storage containers with low utilization rate of the target sorted items of that type, wherein the item information includes the packaging specification information of the target sorted items of that type, and the storage container information with low utilization rate includes the number of the target sorted items of that type stored in the storage containers with low utilization rate, and... Based on the packaging specification information of the target sorted items of that type, the number of the target sorted items of that type stored in the storage containers with low utilization rate, the volume of the second storage container, and the storage rate of the second storage container, determining the number of the second storage containers for storing the target sorted items of that type, and... The item information of the target sorted items of that type is added to the warehouse sorting task. The warehouse sorting method according to claim 2 or claim 5, characterized in that...
10. After determining the number of the second storage containers for storing the target sorted items of that type, the method further includes... Integrating the second storage containers of various types of target sorted items according to the item mixing policy. The item information of the target sorted items that are permitted to be placed in the same second storage container is further added to the warehouse sorting task. The warehouse sorting method according to claim 9, characterized in that...
11. Obtaining the utilization rate of each category of items stored in the first storage container in the first storage container is... Based on the volume and number of each category of items stored in the first storage container, calculating the utilization rate of the items of that category in the first storage container, and... The utilization rate is the ratio of the product of the volume of one item of the items of that category and the number of the items of that category to the volume of the first storage container. Based on the obtained utilization rate, determining the storage containers with low utilization rate for each category of items is... For the utilization rate of each category of items in any of the first storage containers, determining whether the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold, and if the utilization rate is less than the set utilization rate threshold, marking the first storage container as the storage container with low utilization rate for the items of that type. The warehouse sorting method according to claim 2, characterized in that...
12. The robot control system scheduling the robot to execute the classification task is... The robot control system responds to each warehouse sorting task, schedules the robot, transports a storage container with a low utilization rate where the target sorted item is located to a first target position for classification, distributes the target sorted item in the storage container with a low utilization rate to a second storage container based on the item information added to the warehouse sorting task, and after the warehouse sorting task is completed, returns a warehouse sorting task completion message to the client side, including causing the execution of this. The method further includes a step in which the client side, in response to the warehouse sorting task completion message, sends a task to the robot control system for the robot control system to schedule the robot and transport the second storage container to a second target position for storing items. The warehouse sorting method according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterized in that.
13. a first selection module for obtaining the utilization rate of each first storage container in the warehouse and determining a storage container with a low utilization rate based on the obtained utilization rate; a classification task generation module for generating a classification task for classifying and sorting the items stored in the storage container with a low utilization rate into a second storage container based on the storage container with a low utilization rate, and by sending the classification task to the robot control system, causing the robot control system to schedule the robot and execute the classification task, including. A warehouse sorting device by a robot, characterized in that.
14. A warehouse sorting device by a robot including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to execute the warehouse sorting method by a robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 11. A warehouse sorting device by a robot, characterized in that.
15. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the warehouse sorting method by a robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 11 is executed. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that.
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