Lane warehouse management method, system and device

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of automated logistics technology and provides a lane warehouse management method, system, and device, including an iWMS, an RCMS, an RCS, and an AGV. The iWMS is responsible for selecting a target rack, dynamically managing racks in the lane, and sending warehouse task commands to the RCMS. The target rack is used to place the target material, and the task commands include storage and retrieval commands, inventory transfer commands to the lane, and lane adjustment commands. The RCMS is responsible for analyzing the task commands sent from the iWMS, selecting a target storage space for the task rack to the RCS, and sending a first rack transport command including information on the target storage space and the target rack. The RCS generates a first target path and controls a robot to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target path. The AGV is used to transport the target rack to the target storage space. Compared to prior art, the technical solution of the present invention can achieve functions such as dynamic lane allocation, intelligent inventory transfer, and dynamic adjustment, thereby improving warehouse storage rate and storage and retrieval efficiency.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of warehouse logistics, and in particular to lane warehouse management methods, systems and devices. [Background technology]

[0002] In warehouse management scenarios, in order to realize the storage of materials in a concentrated area and increase the capacity of the warehouse, a lane storage mode is usually adopted, that is, multiple lanes are arranged, each lane includes multiple storage spaces, and racks for carrying materials are placed in the storage spaces of the lane to realize the arrangement of materials, that is, the arrangement of materials in the storage spaces of the lane can be realized.

[0003] In related technologies, although the receiving process is easy to implement, the shipping process is complicated and requires the removal of obstructed racks to complete shipping, resulting in relatively low shipping efficiency and unable to meet the needs of high-capacity, highly efficient warehouse management. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a lane warehouse management method, the lane warehouse management method comprising: When an iWMS (Intelligent Warehouse Management System) receives a request to receive a target material and determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on a material type corresponding to the target material, determining a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, wherein the target lane is used to place the material corresponding to the type of the target material; The iWMS sends an inventory movement command to a lane, including information on the target lane and information on the target rack where the target material is located, to an RCMS (Robot Control Management System); a step in which, after receiving a command to move inventory to the lane, the RCMS selects a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and transmits a first rack transport command including information on the target storage space and information on the target rack to an RCS (Robot Control Server), the target storage space being the first empty storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the shipping end of the lane being the beginning or end of the lane; a step in which, after receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS generates a first target path, and controls a robot to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target path; The start point and end point of the first target route are the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively.

[0005] The present invention provides a lane warehouse management system, the lane warehouse management system including an iWMS, an RCMS and an RCS, After receiving a stocktaking request for a target material, if the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on a material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS is used to determine a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, and the target lane is used to place the material corresponding to the type of the target material; The iWMS is used to send to the RCMS an inventory movement command to the lane, the command including information on the target lane and information on the target rack where the target material is located; After the RCMS receives a command to move inventory to the lane, it is used to select a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and send a first rack transport command to the RCS, the first rack transport command including information on the target storage space and information on the target rack, the target storage space being the first free storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the shipping end of the lane being the beginning or end of the lane; After receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS generates a first target path, and is used to control a robot to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target path, and the starting point and ending point of the first target path are the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively.

[0006] The present invention provides an electronic device including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, wherein the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions executable by the processor, and the processor is used to execute the machine-executable instructions to perform the above-described exemplary lane warehouse management method of the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly describe the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a flowchart of a lane warehouse management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of the functionality of an iWMS, an RCMS, and an RCS according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall layout of a warehouse in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of inventory movement of racks for inventory transfer to lanes in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of data flow for inventory movement to lanes according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a rack being removed from the warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7A] 1 is a schematic diagram of lane adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7B] 1 is a schematic diagram of lane adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7C] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of lane adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the present invention but merely to describe specific embodiments. As used in the embodiments and claims of the present invention, the singular forms "a," "the," and "the" are also intended to include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "and / or" should be understood to mean any and all possible combinations including one or more of the associated listed items.

[0010] In the examples herein, terms such as "first," "second," and "third" may be used to describe various pieces of information, but it should be understood that these pieces of information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish between pieces of information of the same type. For example, first information may be referred to as "second information," and similarly, second information may be referred to as "first information" without departing from the scope of the present invention. Depending on the context, the word "if" may also be interpreted as "when," "when," or "in response to determining."

[0011] In the related art, after receiving a stocking request for material A, a rack carrying material A can be placed in the first storage space in lane 1; after receiving a stocking request for material B, a rack carrying material B can be placed in the second storage space in lane 1; after receiving a stocking request for material C, a rack carrying material C can be placed in the third storage space in lane 1, and so on.

[0012] While the above-described receiving process is easy to implement, the outbound process is complicated and requires the removal of obstructed racks to complete the outbound process, resulting in relatively low outbound efficiency. For example, after receiving an outbound request for material B, the rack carrying material A must be removed from the first storage space in lane 1 before the rack carrying material B can be removed. Then, the rack carrying material A must be relocated to the storage space in lane 1. Clearly, this type of outbound efficiency is relatively low and fails to meet the needs of high-capacity, highly efficient warehouse management.

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention provides a lane warehouse management method, as shown in Figure 1, the method includes the following steps:

[0014] In step 101, after receiving a stock-in request for a target material, if the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on the material type corresponding to the target material, it determines a target lane corresponding to the target material. The target lane is used to place only materials corresponding to the type of the target material, and materials corresponding to other types are not placed.

[0015] In step 102, the iWMS sends an inventory movement command to the RCMS, which command includes information on the target lane and the target rack where the target material is located.

[0016] In step 103, after receiving the instruction to move inventory to the lane, the RCMS selects a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and sends a first rack transport instruction including information on the target storage space and the target rack to the RCS. The target storage space may be the first free storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the shipping end of the lane may be the beginning or end of the lane.

[0017] In step 104, after receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS generates a first target path and controls the robot to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target path. The start point and end point of the first target path may be the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively.

[0018] In one possible embodiment, after receiving a request to receive a target material, if the iWMS determines that the target material does not need to enter a lane based on the material type corresponding to the target material, it may send an inventory transfer command to the RCMS, including information about the input temporary storage area and information about the target rack. After receiving the inventory transfer command to the temporary storage area, the RCMS may select an empty storage space from all storage spaces in the input temporary storage area and send a second rack transport command to the RCS, including information about the empty storage space and information about the target rack. After receiving the second rack transport command, the RCS may generate a second target path and control the robot to move the target rack to the empty storage space based on the second target path. The start and end points of the second target path may be the location of the target rack and the location of the empty storage space, respectively.

[0019] For example, the iWMS may determine whether a target material needs to enter a lane or not based on a material type corresponding to the target material by: (1) determining a material type corresponding to the target material when a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to the material that needs to enter a lane, and determining that the target material needs to enter a lane if the information table includes the material type corresponding to the target material, and determining that the target material does not need to enter a lane if the information table does not include the material type corresponding to the target material; or (2) determining a material type corresponding to the target material when a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to a material that does not need to enter a lane, and determining that the target material does not need to enter a lane if the information table includes the material type corresponding to the target material, and determining that the target material needs to enter a lane if the information table does not include the material type corresponding to the target material; or (3) determining a material type corresponding to the target material when a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to a material that needs to enter a lane and a material type corresponding to a material that does not need to enter a lane, and consulting the information table with the material type to determine whether the target material needs to enter a lane or not.

[0020] For example, the iWMS may determine a target lane for a target material by, for example, querying a mapping table based on the type of target material to obtain at least one fixed lane corresponding to that type, tallying the number of free storage spaces in each fixed lane, and determining the fixed lane with the least amount of free storage space as the target lane; or by determining whether an existing lane with free storage space corresponding to the type of target material exists, tallying the number of free storage spaces in each existing lane, and determining the existing lane with the least amount of free storage space as the target lane; or by selecting an unused lane from all lanes as the target lane if the number of lanes corresponding to the target material type does not reach the maximum number of occupied lanes obtained. If the number of lanes corresponding to the type of target material reaches the maximum number of occupied lanes obtained, a target lane for the target material cannot be determined, and the target material is not moved to the lane. Here, each of the queried fixed lanes is used to place materials corresponding to that type and not materials corresponding to other types. The mapping table includes a correspondence between material types and fixed lanes, and existing lanes are used to place only materials corresponding to the target material type.

[0021] Here, the acquired maximum number of occupied lanes may be the maximum number of occupied lanes set by the user. That is, the user sets the maximum number of occupied lanes for the target material type, and indicates that this type occupies the largest number of maximum occupied lanes. Alternatively, the maximum number of occupied lanes may be determined based on the maximum storage space occupation number of the material set by the user. That is, the user sets the maximum storage space occupation number of the material for the target material type, and indicates that this type occupies the largest maximum storage space occupation number of the material. The maximum number of occupied lanes corresponding to the target material type is determined based on the lane depth (i.e., the number of storage spaces in one lane) and the maximum storage space occupation number of the material.

[0022] In one possible embodiment, after receiving a request to send a first material (i.e., any material), if the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be sent from a lane, it sends a first sending command to the RCMS, including information about the outgoing rack where the first material is located. After receiving the first sending command, the RCMS searches the lane for the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located, and sends a third rack transport command to the RCS, including information about the outgoing storage space and the outgoing rack. After receiving the third rack transport command, the RCS may generate a third target path and, based on the third target path, control the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation. The start and end points of the third target path may be the location of the outgoing storage space and the location of the outgoing workstation, respectively.

[0023] In one possible embodiment, after receiving a request to send a first material, if the iWMS determines that the first material is present in the remaining material area, it sends a second send command to the RCMS. After receiving the second send command, the RCMS selects an outgoing rack on which the first material is located from the remaining material area and sends a fourth rack transport command to the RCS. After receiving the fourth rack transport command, the RCS may generate a fourth target path based on the fourth rack transport command and control a robot to move the outgoing rack from the remaining material area to the outgoing workstation based on the fourth target path. If the iWMS determines that the first material is not present in the remaining material area but is present in the incoming temporary storage area, it may send a third send command to the RCMS. After receiving the third send command, the RCMS may select an outgoing rack on which the first material is located from the incoming temporary storage area and send a fifth rack transport command to the RCS. After receiving the fifth rack transport command, the RCS may generate a fifth target path based on the fifth rack transport command, and control the robot to move the outgoing rack from the incoming temporary storage area to the outgoing workstation based on the fifth target path.

[0024] If the iWMS determines that the first material is not present in the remaining material area and that the first material is not present in the temporary storage area, it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the lane.

[0025] In one possible embodiment, after the RCS controls the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation based on the third target path, the iWMS may determine the number of remaining first materials on the outgoing rack after receiving a retrieval request for the outgoing rack. If the number of remaining materials is zero, the iWMS may send a first inventory return command to the RCMS, including information on the incoming temporary storage area and the outgoing rack. If the number of remaining materials is not zero, the iWMS may send a second inventory return command to the RCMS, including information on the remaining material area and the outgoing rack. Based on this, upon receiving the first inventory return command, the RCMS may send a first rack retrieval command to the RCS. The RCS may generate a first inventory return path based on the first rack retrieval command and control the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the incoming temporary storage area based on the first inventory return path. When the RCMS receives the second inventory return command, it may send a second rack retrieval command to the RCS, and the RCS generates a second inventory return path based on the second rack retrieval command and controls a robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the remaining material area based on the second inventory return path.

[0026] In one possible embodiment, if the iWMS determines that all lanes have lane adjustments, it may send a lane adjustment command to the RCMS. The lane adjustment command may include information about the lane to be adjusted. The lane to be adjusted includes an occupied storage space and an empty storage space starting from the occupied storage space in the shipping direction of the lane. After receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS may determine a first storage space and a second storage space in the lane to be adjusted and send a rack movement command to the RCS, including information about the first storage space and the second storage space. Here, the first storage space may be the first empty storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space may be the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction to the shipping direction of the lane. After receiving the rack movement command, the RCS may generate a movement path and, based on the movement path, control a robot to move the rack from the second storage space to the first storage space. The start point and end point of the movement path may be the position of the second storage space and the position of the first storage space, respectively.

[0027] For example, determining by the iWMS that all lanes have a lane to be adjusted includes, but is not limited to, determining an outbound lane as a lane to be adjusted when material is being released from the outbound lane, or determining, for each lane, a lane as a lane to be adjusted when the number of racks in the lane is less than the maximum number of storage spaces in the lane and the positions of the racks in the lane are not arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane.

[0028] As can be seen from the above technical solution, the embodiment of the present invention employs a lane-mixing method, ensuring that there are no obstacles in the lane's outgoing direction and improving outgoing efficiency. In other words, the same lane is used to store only one type of material, and different types of materials are not stored. This simplifies the outgoing process, allowing for complete outgoing without moving racks, resulting in relatively high outgoing efficiency and meeting the needs of high-capacity, high-efficiency warehouse management. Three modes are provided: no material entering the lane, fixed lane, and intelligent lane allocation, improving warehouse management flexibility. A dynamic management method for coordinated outgoing improves lane storage space utilization. It supports scenarios such as lane outgoing returns and lane inventory quality inspection, enhancing system stability. The dynamic lane management mode enables dynamic lane allocation, intelligent inventory movement, dynamic adjustment, and outgoing returns, significantly improving warehouse storage rates and ingoing / outgoing efficiency, while the first-in, first-out mode reduces material inventory stagnation.

[0029] The following describes the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to specific application scenarios.

[0030] In warehouse management scenarios, lane storage is typically adopted to achieve material concentration area storage and increase warehouse capacity. That is, multiple lanes are arranged, each lane includes multiple storage spaces, and racks carrying materials can be placed in the storage spaces of the lane. In related art, a warehousing method can be adopted in which materials are mixed in lanes, making the warehousing process easy to achieve. However, the warehousing process is relatively complicated, and obstructed racks must be moved to complete the warehousing process. Therefore, the warehousing efficiency is relatively low, and the needs for high warehouse capacity and high-efficiency warehousing management cannot be met.

[0031] In response to the above findings, an embodiment of the present invention provides a lane warehouse management method. This method employs a method to prevent materials from mixing in lanes, ensuring that there are no obstacles in the lane's outgoing direction, improving outgoing efficiency and meeting the needs of high-capacity, high-efficiency warehouse management. Three modes, including no-material entry into lanes, fixed lanes, and intelligently allocated lanes, are provided to improve warehouse management flexibility. The dynamic lane management mode realizes functions such as dynamic lane allocation, intelligent inventory movement, dynamic adjustment, and outgoing / return, significantly improving warehouse storage rates and ingoing / returning efficiency, while the first-in, first-out mode reduces material inventory stagnation. The dynamic management method of adjusted outgoing dynamically adjusts racks within lanes, improving lane storage space utilization and outgoing efficiency. The method supports lane outgoing / returning and lane inventory quality inspection scenarios, enhancing system stability and providing flexible processing methods for these complex scenarios.

[0032] The lane warehouse management method according to an embodiment of the present invention can be completed by the cooperation of an iWMS, an RCMS, and an RCS. The iWMS is responsible for lane management, inventory management, and processing tasks and data generated by warehouse operations, which may be implemented by a computer. The RCMS is responsible for task analysis, mapping, storage area planning, and the allocation of workstations, racks, storage spaces, robots, etc., which may be implemented by a computer. The RCS is responsible for task execution, i.e., receiving and completing task commands from the RCMS, assigning robots, planning task paths, and scheduling robots to complete the commands, which may be implemented by a computer. The iWMS, RCMS, and / or RCS may be implemented by a single computer or by different computers.

[0033] The robot in this embodiment may be an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or another type of robot. An AGV will be described later as an example, and the AGV may be an intelligent mobile robot, such as a latent AGV, that can transport racks to a specified location.

[0034] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the functions of the iWMS, RCMS, and RCS. As shown in Figure 2, the iWMS includes, but is not limited to, a warehousing unit, a shipping unit, a quality inspection unit, a receiving unit, a lane inventory transfer unit, a lane adjustment unit, a lane management unit, and a transmitting unit. The warehousing unit is used to realize the warehousing function, the shipping unit is used to realize the shipping function, the quality inspection unit is used to realize the quality inspection function, the receiving unit is used to realize the information receiving function, the lane inventory transfer unit is used to realize the function of transferring inventory to the lane, the lane adjustment unit is used to realize the lane adjustment function, the lane management unit is used to realize the lane management function, and the transmitting unit is used to realize the information transmitting function.

[0035] The RCMS includes, but is not limited to, a command receiver, a task analyzer, a task sender, and a message reporter. The command receiver is used to realize the information receiving function (receiving commands from the iWMS), the task analyzer is used to realize the task analyzing function, the task sender is used to realize the task sending function (sending tasks to the RCS), and the message reporter is used to realize the information sending function (sending messages to the iWMS).

[0036] The RCS includes, but is not limited to, a task receiving unit, an AGV allocating unit (i.e., a robot allocating unit), a task executing unit, and a message reporting unit. The task receiving unit is used to realize the task receiving function (i.e., receiving a task from the RCMS), the AGV allocating unit is used to allocate an AGV to execute the task, the task executing unit is used to control the AGV to execute the task, and the message reporting unit is used to realize the information sending function (sending a message to the RCMS).

[0037] The lane warehouse management method provided in the embodiment of the present invention can achieve lane management by adopting a dynamic lane management mode. A lane refers to the storage arrangement of racks. In this specification, it refers to the storage arrangement of racks in a warehouse and can be configured in an RCMS map. In this embodiment, a lane can be composed of three elements: a lane end, a lane temporary storage area, and a lane head. Racks enter from the lane end, are placed in the lane temporary storage area, and exit from the lane head. The movement of racks within the lane is unidirectional, i.e., from the lane end to the lane head. In this case, the lane head may be referred to as the lane's shipping end, i.e., racks exit from the lane head. Alternatively, racks enter from the lane head, are placed in the lane temporary storage area, and exit from the lane end. The movement of racks within the lane is unidirectional, i.e., from the lane head to the lane end. In this case, the lane end may be referred to as the lane's shipping end, i.e., racks exit from the lane end. For convenience of explanation, the following description will be given taking the lane head as an example.

[0038] In one possible embodiment, as shown in Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the overall layout of a warehouse, the warehouse may include a lane area, a temporary storage area, a high-speed aisle, workstations, AGVs, and racks. The lane area may include the end of the lane, a lane temporary storage area, and the head of the lane. The temporary storage area may include an input temporary storage area and a remaining material area. The workstations are locations for business operations and may include input workstations, output workstations, and workstations in the processing area.

[0039] In the above application scenario, the lane warehouse management method according to the embodiment of the present invention may relate to material receiving processing, material shipping processing, lane adjustment processing, and material quality inspection processing. The following describes in detail the material receiving processing, material shipping processing, lane adjustment processing, and material quality inspection processing.

[0040] First, the material receiving process. The material that needs to be received is defined as the target material, and the rack where the target material is located is defined as the target rack. The receiving process of the target material can include the following steps.

[0041] In step S11, the worker holds a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) in his / her hand, scans the rack number of the target rack and the material number of the target material, enters the number of the target material, and clicks Execute, which causes the PDA to send a stock-in request for the target material to the iWMS and request the stock-in of the material.

[0042] In step S12, after receiving the storage request, the iWMS determines whether the target material needs to enter the lane based on the material type corresponding to the target material. If it determines that the target material needs to enter the lane, it executes step S13-1. If it determines that the target material does not need to enter the lane, it executes step S13-2.

[0043] In one possible embodiment, the iWMS may maintain an information table for recording material types corresponding to materials that need to enter a lane. That is, the iWMS records the material types corresponding to all materials that need to enter a lane in the information table. For example, slow-circulating materials (i.e., materials with long inventory cycle times) may enter a lane, and the iWMS records the material types corresponding to the slow-circulating materials in the information table. Based on this, after receiving an inbound request for a target material, the iWMS determines the material type corresponding to the target material. If the information table contains the material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter the lane. If the information table does not contain the material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS determines that the target material does not need to enter the lane.

[0044] In another possible embodiment, the iWMS may maintain an information table for recording material types corresponding to materials that do not need to enter a lane. That is, the iWMS records the material types corresponding to all materials that do not need to enter a lane in the information table. For example, fast-circulating materials (i.e., materials with short inventory cycle times) may not need to enter a lane, and the iWMS records the material types corresponding to fast-circulating materials in the information table. Based on this, after receiving an inbound request for a target material, the iWMS determines the material type corresponding to the target material. If the information table contains the material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS determines that the target material does not need to enter a lane. If the information table does not contain the material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter a lane.

[0045] In another possible embodiment, the iWMS may maintain an information table for recording material types corresponding to materials that need to enter a lane and material types corresponding to materials that do not need to enter a lane. After receiving a stocktaking request for a target material, the iWMS may determine the material type corresponding to the target material, and refer to the information table according to the material type to determine whether the target material needs to enter a lane or does not need to enter a lane.

[0046] Of course, the above methods are merely examples and are not particularly limited as long as they can distinguish whether the target material needs to enter a lane or not, i.e., whether the target material needs to enter a lane or not based on the material type of the target material.

[0047] In step S13-1, the iWMS determines a target lane corresponding to the target material, and the target lane is used to place only material corresponding to the type of the target material, and material corresponding to other types is not placed.

[0048] For example, each type of material corresponds to a material type and a type, where the material type can be understood as a broad classification of materials and the type is a subclassification of the material type. For example, "fruit" can be a material type, and "apple," "banana," "orange," etc. can be types under the material type. Also, for example, "apple" can be a material type, and "Beni Fuji apple," "Kinshuai apple," "Hongxing apple," etc. can be types under the material type. Of course, the above are merely a few examples and are not limiting.

[0049] In this embodiment, it may be determined whether the target material needs to enter a lane based on the material type, and based on the fact that the target material needs to enter a lane, a target lane corresponding to the target material may be determined based on the type.

[0050] For example, when the iWMS determines that a target material needs to enter a lane, it determines a target lane corresponding to the type of the target material, and the target lane is used to place the target material, i.e., to place a target rack where the target material is located. Here, the target lane is used to place only materials corresponding to the type of target material, and materials corresponding to other types are not placed. This adopts a method of not mixing materials in lanes, where materials corresponding to the same type are placed in the same lane, but materials corresponding to different types are not placed in the same lane.

[0051] Illustratively, if the iWMS determines that the target material does not need to enter the lane, i.e., the target material will not be entering the lane, it marks the rack inventory lane identifier corresponding to the target rack (target material) in a normal state. If the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter the lane, i.e., the target material will be entering the lane, it marks the rack inventory lane identifier corresponding to the target rack (target material) in a to-be-transferred-to-lane state. Here, the rack inventory lane identifier may include, but is not limited to, a normal state, a to-be-transferred-to-lane state, an inventory-in-transfer-to-lane state, etc. The normal state indicates that the target rack does not need to perform an operation to enter the lane, the to-be-transferred-to-lane state indicates that the target rack needs to perform an operation to enter the lane, and the inventory-in-transfer-to-lane state indicates that the target rack is being entered into the lane.

[0052] For example, the iWMS determines all lanes that are suitable for the target rack based on the material, lane entry strategy, and lane material mixing strategy, and prioritizes selecting lanes with the least amount of free storage space as the target lane, ensuring that the material occupies the least amount of lane space and increasing the lane capacity. The iWMS may use a fixed lane mode or an intelligent allocation lane mode to determine all lanes that are suitable for the target rack. In the fixed lane mode, a fixed lane can be set for each material type. In the intelligent allocation lane mode, a maximum amount of storage space can be set for each material type, and the iWMS determines the maximum number of lanes that can be occupied by that type based on the lane depth (i.e., the number of storage spaces in the lane) and the maximum amount of storage space that the material occupies. In both of these modes, lanes with the least amount of free storage space can be selected as the target lane, improving the capacity of the lane temporary storage area and reducing the number of lanes occupied by materials.

[0053] In one possible embodiment, for the fixed lane mode, the iWMS may pre-store a mapping table containing the correspondence between material types and fixed lanes. Each fixed lane is used to place materials of that type, and materials of other types are not placed thereon. For example, type A corresponds to fixed lane 1, fixed lane 2, and fixed lane 3, type B corresponds to fixed lane 4 and fixed lane 5, and so on. Based on this, when determining the target lane corresponding to the target material, the iWMS can query the mapping table according to the type of the target material to obtain at least one fixed lane corresponding to that type. Each fixed lane is used to place materials corresponding to that type, and materials corresponding to other types are not placed thereon. Next, the iWMS tallies the number of free storage spaces in each fixed lane and determines the fixed lane with the least free storage space as the target lane. For example, assuming the type of the target material is type B, type B corresponds to fixed lane 4 and fixed lane 5, and both fixed lane 4 and fixed lane 5 are used to place materials corresponding to type B, and materials corresponding to other types are not placed thereon. The iWMS counts the number of vacant storage spaces in fixed lane 4, counts the number of vacant storage spaces in fixed lane 5, and if the number of vacant storage spaces in fixed lane 4 is less than the number of vacant storage spaces in fixed lane 5, it determines fixed lane 4 as the target lane, that is, it determines fixed lane 4 as the target lane corresponding to the target material.

[0054] In another possible embodiment, for the intelligent allocation lane mode, the iWMS may set a maximum storage space occupation number for each material type. For example, Type A corresponds to a maximum storage space occupation number of 13, and Type B corresponds to a maximum storage space occupation number of 7. The iWMS may determine the maximum number of occupied lanes for a target material type based on the lane depth and the maximum storage space occupation number for the material corresponding to the type. For example, if the lane depth is 5, i.e., if the number of storage spaces in each lane is 5, the maximum number of occupied lanes for Type A is 3, i.e., three lanes can provide 15 storage spaces, which can meet the storage space demand for Type A's maximum storage space occupation number of 13. The maximum number of occupied lanes for Type B is 2, i.e., two lanes can provide 10 storage spaces, which can meet the storage space demand for Type B's maximum storage space occupation number of 7.

[0055] Based on this, when determining a target lane for a target material, the iWMS first determines whether there are any existing lanes with available storage space corresponding to the type of target material. The existing lanes are used to store only materials corresponding to that type, and not materials corresponding to other types. If there are existing lanes with available storage space corresponding to the type of target material, the iWMS tallies the number of available storage spaces in each existing lane and selects the existing lane with the least amount of available storage space as the target lane. For example, assume that the type of target material is Type B, Type B corresponds to Existing Lane 4 and Existing Lane 5, both Existing Lane 4 and Existing Lane 5 are used to store materials corresponding to Type B, and not materials corresponding to other types, and both Existing Lane 4 and Existing Lane 5 have available storage space. The iWMS tallies the number of available storage spaces in Existing Lane 4 and Existing Lane 5. If the number of available storage spaces in Existing Lane 4 is less than the number of available storage spaces in Existing Lane 5, it selects Existing Lane 4 as the target lane for the target material.

[0056] If there are no existing lanes with available storage space corresponding to the target material type, the iWMS may determine whether the number of lanes corresponding to that type has reached the maximum number of occupied lanes corresponding to that type. If the maximum number of occupied lanes has not been reached, the iWMS may select one unused lane from all lanes as the target lane. If the maximum number of occupied lanes has been reached, the iWMS cannot select a target lane.

[0057] For example, if there is no existing lane with free storage space corresponding to type B and the number of lanes corresponding to type B does not reach two, for example, if the number of lanes is 0 or 1, the iWMS may select one unused lane from all lanes. In other words, if all storage spaces in the lane are free storage spaces, i.e., if no racks are placed in any of the storage spaces, the lane may be set as the target lane, i.e., the target lane corresponding to the target material.

[0058] If there is no existing lane with available storage space corresponding to type B and the number of lanes corresponding to type B has reached two, for example, if the number of lanes is two, the target lane cannot be selected for the target material.

[0059] In step S14-1, the iWMS sends an instruction to the RCMS to move inventory to the lane. The instruction to move inventory to the lane may include information about the target lane (e.g., a unique identifier of the target lane, such as a lane number) and information about the target rack where the target material is located (e.g., a unique identifier of the target rack, such as a rack number).

[0060] For example, after the iWMS sends a command to move inventory to a lane to the RCMS, the RCMS may receive the command to move inventory to the lane and return a confirmation message for the command to move inventory to the lane to the iWMS. After receiving the confirmation message for the command to move inventory to the lane, the iWMS updates the rack inventory lane identifier corresponding to the target rack (target material) from a status of "to be moved to lane" to a status of "in stock being moved to lane," indicating that the target rack is being stocked in the lane.

[0061] In step S15-1, after receiving a command to move inventory to a lane, the RCMS selects a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane, and the target storage space may be the first available storage space at the shipping end of the lane.

[0062] For example, the shipping end of a lane may be the beginning or end of the lane. Taking the shipping end of a lane as the beginning of the lane as an example, as shown in FIG. 3, the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is the second storage space at the shipping end of the lane, and so on. The RCMS determines the target lane based on the information about the target lane, determines whether the first storage space at the shipping end of the target lane (i.e., the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane) is an empty storage space, and if so, selects the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane as the target storage space. If not, determines whether the second storage space at the shipping end of the target lane is an empty storage space, and if so, selects the second storage space at the shipping end of the lane as the target storage space. If not, the RCMS continues the determination until it finds the target storage space in the target lane. The target storage space may be the empty storage space closest to the beginning of the lane.

[0063] In step S16-1, the RCMS sends a first rack transport command to the RCS, which may include, but is not limited to, information about the target storage space (e.g., a unique identifier of the target storage space, such as a storage space number) and information about the target rack (e.g., a rack number, a unique identifier of the target rack).

[0064] In step S17-1, after receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS may generate a first target path based on the first rack transport command, where the start point of the first target path may be the position of the target rack, and the end point of the first target path may be the position of the target storage space.

[0065] For example, the RCS may analyze information about a target rack from the first rack transport command and determine the location of the target rack based on the information about the target rack. The location of the target rack may be the starting point of the first target path. As shown in FIG. 3, the location of the target rack may be the location of the receiving temporary storage area or the location of the receiving workstation. The location of the target rack is not limited. For example, when the target material enters the lane, if there is already available storage space in the lane, i.e., if the target storage space can be selected, the location of the target rack is the location of the receiving workstation, i.e., the target rack moves directly from the receiving workstation to the target storage space. Also, when the target material enters the lane, if there is no available storage space in the lane, i.e., if the target storage space cannot be selected, the target rack first enters the receiving temporary storage area. Based on this, if there is available storage space in the lane, the target storage space can be selected and the location of the target rack is the location of the receiving temporary storage area, i.e., the target rack moves from the receiving temporary storage area to the target storage space.

[0066] For example, the RCS may analyze the information of the target storage space from the first rack transport command, and determine the location of the target storage space in the target lane based on the information of the target storage space.

[0067] Based on the location of the target rack and the location of the target storage space, the RCS may generate a first target path, where the starting point may be the location of the target rack and the ending point may be the location of the target storage space.

[0068] In step S18-1, the RCS controls the AGV to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target route.

[0069] Obviously, since the starting point of the first target route is the location of the target rack and the end point of the first target route is the location of the target storage space, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the target rack to the target storage space, and this process will not be described here. After controlling the AGV to move the target rack to the target storage space, the RCS knows that the task is complete and sends a task completion message to the RCMS, and the RCMS sends a task completion message to the iWMS, thereby completing the warehousing process of the target rack and successfully moving the target rack to the target lane.

[0070] Illustratively, after receiving the task completion message, the iWMS finds that the target rack has successfully reached the lane temporary storage area (i.e., the target storage space in the target lane), records the lane information of the rack, records the rack inventory lane number, updates the rack inventory lane identifier corresponding to the target rack (target material) from the inventory in transit to the lane status to the normal status, indicating that the target rack has completed the operation of entering the lane and there is no need to perform the operation of entering the lane.

[0071] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of moving a target rack to a target storage space. Assuming that the location of the target rack is the location of the temporary incoming storage area and the location of the target storage space is the fourth storage space of lane 102, after the target rack (i.e., rack A01) enters the temporary incoming storage area, the target rack is moved from the temporary incoming storage area to the fourth storage space of lane 102 through the material receiving process, and the movement process is shown in Figure 4.

[0072] In step S13-2, if the target material does not need to enter the lane, i.e., if the target material needs to enter the incoming temporary storage area, the iWMS sends an inventory movement command to the RCMS, which command includes information about the incoming temporary storage area (e.g., a unique identifier for the incoming temporary storage area) and information about the target rack.

[0073] In step S14-2, after receiving a command to move inventory to the temporary storage area, the RCMS may select an available storage space from all storage spaces in the incoming temporary storage area, and the available storage space may be any available storage space in the incoming temporary storage area.

[0074] In step S15-2, the RCMS transmits a second rack transport command to the RCS, which includes information about the available storage space (for example, a unique identifier of the available storage space) and information about the target rack.

[0075] In step S16-2, after receiving the second rack transport command, the RCS may generate a second target path based on the second rack transport command, where the start point of the second target path may be the position of the target rack, and the end point of the second target path may be the position of the vacant storage space.

[0076] For example, the RCS may analyze information about the target rack from the second rack transport command and determine the position of the target rack based on the information about the target rack. The position of the target rack may be the starting point of the second target path, for example, the position of the target rack may be the position of the receiving workstation.

[0077] The RCS may analyze information about the empty storage space from the second rack transport command and determine the location of the empty storage space in the temporary storage area for incoming and outgoing goods based on the information about the empty storage space. The RCS may generate a second target route based on the location of the target rack and the location of the empty storage space.

[0078] In step S17-2, the RCS controls the AGV to move the target rack to the vacant storage space based on the second target route. Obviously, the starting point of the second target route is the location of the target rack, and the end point of the second target route is the location of the vacant storage space, so the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the target rack to the vacant storage space. After controlling the AGV to move the target rack to the vacant storage space, the RCS knows that the task is complete and sends a task completion message to the RCMS, which then sends a task completion message to the iWMS, thereby completing the warehousing process of the target rack and successfully moving the target rack to the temporary storage area for warehousing.

[0079] In one possible embodiment, the process of moving the racks to the incoming staging area may include the following steps:

[0080] In step S21, the target material is scanned by the PDA and storage is performed on the target rack.

[0081] In step S22, the iWMS records the material inventory information of the rack, calculates the inventory lane status based on the material information, and sends a command to the RCMS to return the full rack to the temporary storage area.

[0082] In step S23, the RCMS analyzes the rack inventory return command, selects one free storage space from all storage spaces in the temporary storage area for warehousing, breaks down the task, and sends the rack inventory return task to the RCS.

[0083] In step S24, the RCS receives the task sent from the RCMS and assigns an AGV to execute the rack transportation task.

[0084] In step S25, the AGV executes the rack transport task and reports task execution result information.

[0085] In one possible embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the process of moving racks to lanes includes the following steps:

[0086] In step S31A, the iWMS searches for a rack (i.e., a target rack, a target material) to be stocked in the lane based on the inventory lane identifier and the strategy for stocking the lane. After step S31A, step S32A may be executed.

[0087] In step S32A, the iWMS determines the mode of inventory transfer to the lane of the material. If the mode of inventory transfer to the lane of the material is the fixed lane mode, step S33A is executed. If the mode of inventory transfer to the lane of the material is the dynamic allocation lane mode, step S34A is executed.

[0088] In step S33A, the iWMS searches for a fixed lane corresponding to the target material, and then executes step S35A.

[0089] In step S34A, the iWMS calculates the number of lanes that the target material occupies most, and compares the occupied lanes with the vacant lanes. Illustratively, step S35A may be performed after step S34A.

[0090] In step S35A, the iWMS excludes lanes where a rack exists at the end of the lane and excludes lanes where other materials exist. Illustratively, step S36A may be executed after step S35A.

[0091] In step S36A, the iWMS determines whether the remaining available lanes are free.

[0092] If the remaining available lanes are free, step S37A may be performed, and if the remaining available lanes are not free, step S38A may be performed.

[0093] In step S37A, the current inventory movement to the lane excludes the material in question, and the iWMS attempts to move the next material.

[0094] Illustratively, after step S37A, step S32A is performed for the next material.

[0095] In step S38A, the iWMS sends a command to the RCMS to move inventory to the lane.

[0096] Exemplarily, step S31B may be executed after the iWMS sends a command to the RCMS to move inventory to the lane. Step S31C may be executed after the iWMS sends a command to the RCMS to move inventory to the lane.

[0097] In step S31B, the RCMS returns the results of the inventory movement to the lane.

[0098] Illustratively, if the result of the inventory transfer to the lane is a failure to transfer inventory to the lane, step S32B is executed.

[0099] For example, if the result of the inventory transfer to the lane is that the inventory transfer to the lane was successful, step S33B is executed.

[0100] Illustratively, if the result of the inventory transfer to the lane is successful, step S34B may be executed.

[0101] In step S32B, the iWMS determines whether there is a lane available for inventory transfer for the target material. If there is no lane available for inventory transfer, the process returns to step S37A. If there is a lane available for inventory transfer, the process returns to step S38A.

[0102] In step S33B, the iWMS determines whether any target material remains. If so, it returns to step S32A; if not, the iWMS may determine that inventory movement for this lane is complete.

[0103] In step S34B, the iWMS updates the inventory lane status to normal, and step S35B is executed.

[0104] In step S35B, the RCMS reports information that the rack has arrived at the storage space of the lane, and step S36B is executed.

[0105] In step S36B, the iWMS records the lane position of the rack and updates the lane number of the rack.

[0106] In step S31C, the RCMS receives a command to move inventory to the rack lane and executes step S32C.

[0107] In step S32C, the RCMS analyzes the task (i.e., the task of moving inventory to the lane of the rack). If the task analysis fails, it may return a failure to move inventory to the lane. If the task analysis is successful, it may execute step S33C.

[0108] In step S33C, the RCMS sends a rack inventory movement task to the RCS, after which step S34C is executed.

[0109] In step S34C, the RCS schedules the AGV to perform the rack transportation task, and then executes step S35C.

[0110] In step S35C, the RCS schedules the AGVs and assigns rack transport tasks, after which step S36C is executed.

[0111] In step S36C, the AGV executes the rack transport task, and then executes step S37C.

[0112] In step S37C, the AGV reports the completion of the task to the RCS, after which step S38C is executed.

[0113] In step S38C, the RCS reports the completion of the task to the RCMS and reports the rack location information, and step S35B is executed.

[0114] Next, the material outbound processing is as follows: The material that needs to be outbound is the first material, and the rack where the first material is located is the outbound rack. The outbound processing of the first material may include the following steps.

[0115] In step S41, the worker holds the PDA in his / her hand and scans the site number of the outgoing workstation and the material number of the first material, and clicks Execute, causing the PDA to send an outgoing request for the first material to the iWMS and request the material to be outgoing.

[0116] Illustratively, the iWMS executes step S42-1 when it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the lane. The iWMS executes step S42-2 when it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the temporary storage area. The iWMS executes step S42-3 when it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the remaining material area. For example, if the first material is a material that does not fit into the lane, the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be removed from the temporary storage area. If the first material is a material that fits into the lane, the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be removed from the remaining material area if the first material is present in the remaining material area, and if the first material is not present in the remaining material area, the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be removed from the lane. Also, for example, if a first material is present in the remaining material area, it is determined that the first material needs to be removed from the remaining material area; if the first material is not present in the remaining material area and the first material is present in the temporary incoming storage area, it is determined that the first material needs to be removed from the temporary incoming storage area; if the first material is not present in the remaining material area and the first material is not present in the temporary incoming storage area, it is determined that the first material needs to be removed from the lane.

[0117] In step S42-1, after receiving a request to release a first material, if the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be released from the lane, it sends a first release command to the RCMS, including information about the release rack where the first material is located (e.g., a unique identifier of the release rack, such as a rack number).

[0118] In step S43-1, after receiving the first outgoing command, the RCMS searches the lane for an outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located, that is, searches all storage spaces in all lanes for an outgoing storage space.

[0119] Exemplarily, the outgoing storage space may be the first occupied storage space at the shipping end of the lane, and the first material is placed in the occupied storage space. That is, the outgoing storage space is the occupied storage space closest to the shipping end of the lane. For example, if the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located is the first occupied storage space at the shipping end of the lane, the lane may search for the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located. If the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located is not the first occupied storage space at the shipping end of the lane, the lane may continue to wait until the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located is the first occupied storage space at the shipping end of the lane, and then perform the subsequent steps.

[0120] For example, assuming the shipping end of a lane is the beginning of the lane, the RCMS will find the shipping lane where the shipping rack is located based on the information about the shipping rack, determine whether the shipping rack is in the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane (i.e., the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane), and if the shipping rack is in the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane, it will use the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane as the shipping storage space; if not, it will wait until the shipping rack is in the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane (i.e., it will move the shipping rack to the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane through lane adjustment processing; see the subsequent example for the specific process), and then use the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane as the outgoing storage space. As can be seen from the above, the iWMS uses the first-in, first-out principle to find the first occupied storage space in the shipping lane and use it as the outgoing storage space, thereby ensuring that there are no obstacles in the outgoing direction of the lane.

[0121] In step S44-1, the RCMS sends a third rack transport command to the RCS, and the third rack transport command may include information about the output storage space (e.g., a unique identifier of the output storage space such as a storage space number) and information about the output rack (e.g., a unique identifier of the output rack such as a rack number, for example). Illustratively, the third rack transport command may further include information about the output workstation, for example, a unique identifier of the output workstation.

[0122] In step S45-1, after receiving the third rack transport command, the RCS may generate a third target path based on the third rack transport command, where the start point of the third target path may be the location of the outgoing storage space, and the end point of the third target path may be the location of the outgoing workstation.

[0123] For example, the RCS may analyze information about the outgoing rack from the third rack transport command and indicate that an outgoing operation needs to be performed on the outgoing rack. The RCS may analyze information about the outgoing storage space from the third rack transport command and determine a location of the outgoing storage space in the outgoing lane based on the information about the outgoing storage space. The RCS may analyze information about the outgoing workstation from the third rack transport command and determine a location of the outgoing workstation based on the information about the outgoing workstation.

[0124] Based on the location of the output storage space and the location of the output workstation, the RCS may generate a third target route, the start point of which may be the location of the output storage space and the end point of which may be the location of the output workstation.

[0125] In step S46-1, the RCS controls the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation based on the third target route. Obviously, the starting point of the third target route is the location of the outgoing storage space, and the end point of the third target route is the location of the outgoing workstation, so the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation. After controlling the outgoing rack to move to the outgoing workstation, the RCS knows that the task is complete and sends a task completion message to the RCMS, which then sends a task completion message to the iWMS, thereby completing the outgoing process of the outgoing rack and successfully moving the outgoing rack to the outgoing workstation.

[0126] 6 is a schematic diagram of an outgoing rack moving to an outgoing workstation. Based on the lane inventory transfer strategy and outgoing strategy, it is ensured that the outgoing rack at the outgoing lane is the rack closest to the beginning of the lane and there are no obstacles in the outgoing direction. For example, if the outgoing storage space is the second storage space in lane 103, there will be no obstacles when the outgoing rack (i.e., rack B01) is released from the outgoing storage space, and the movement process will be as shown in FIG. 6.

[0127] In step S42-2, after receiving the outbound request for the first material, if the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be outbound from the incoming temporary storage area, i.e., if it determines that the first material is present in the incoming temporary storage area, it sends a third outbound command to the RCMS, and the third outbound command may include information about the incoming temporary storage area (e.g., a unique identifier of the incoming temporary storage area) and information about the outbound rack on which the first material is located (e.g., a unique identifier of the outbound rack).

[0128] In step S43-2, after receiving the third outgoing command, the RCMS selects an outgoing rack on which the first material is placed from the incoming temporary storage area. For example, the RCMS analyzes the information on the incoming temporary storage area and the information on the outgoing rack from the third outgoing command, finds the incoming temporary storage area based on the information on the incoming temporary storage area, and finds the outgoing rack on which the first material is placed from all the racks in the incoming temporary storage area based on the information on the outgoing rack.

[0129] In step S44-2, the RCMS transmits a fifth rack transport command to the RCS, which includes information on the incoming temporary storage area, information on the outgoing rack, and information on the outgoing workstation.

[0130] In step S45-2, after receiving the fifth rack transport command, the RCS may generate a fifth target route based on the fifth rack transport command, where the starting point of the fifth target route may be the location of the temporary storage area for incoming goods, and the ending point of the fifth target route may be the location of the outgoing workstation.

[0131] For example, the RCS may analyze information about the outgoing rack from the fifth rack transport command and indicate that an outgoing operation needs to be performed on the outgoing rack. The RCS may analyze information about the incoming temporary storage area from the fifth rack transport command and determine the location of the incoming temporary storage area based on the information about the incoming temporary storage area. The RCS may analyze information about the outgoing workstation from the fifth rack transport command and determine the location of the outgoing workstation based on the information about the outgoing workstation. The RCS may generate a fifth target path based on the location of the incoming temporary storage area and the location of the outgoing workstation.

[0132] In step S46-2, the RCS controls the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the incoming temporary storage area to the outgoing workstation based on the fifth target route. Because the start point of the fifth target route is the position of the incoming temporary storage area and the end point is the position of the outgoing workstation, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the outgoing rack to the outgoing workstation.

[0133] Based on steps S42-2 to S46-2, the retrieval function of the temporary incoming storage area can be realized. The retrieval function of the temporary incoming storage area is used when the material does not enter the lane. For example, a material with a short inventory time can be retrieved directly from the temporary incoming storage area after temporarily staying in the temporary incoming storage area without entering the lane for storage. Using the temporary incoming storage area for retrieval can improve the stability of the system and can accommodate retrieval in an emergency.

[0134] In step S42-3, after receiving the outgoing request for the first material, if the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be outgoing from the remaining material area, i.e., if it determines that the first material is present in the remaining material area, it sends a second outgoing command to the RCMS, including information about the remaining material area (e.g., a unique identifier for the remaining material area) and information about the outgoing rack on which the first material is located (e.g., a unique identifier for the outgoing rack).

[0135] In step S43-3, after receiving the second outgoing command, the RCMS may select an outgoing rack on which the first material is placed from the remaining material area. For example, the RCMS may analyze the information on the remaining material area and the information on the outgoing rack from the second outgoing command, find the remaining material area based on the information on the remaining material area, and find the outgoing rack on which the first material is placed from all racks in the remaining material area based on the information on the outgoing rack.

[0136] In step S44-3, the RCMS transmits a fourth rack transport command to the RCS, which includes information on the remaining material area, information on the delivery rack, and information on the delivery workstation.

[0137] In step S45-3, after receiving the fourth rack transport command, the RCS may generate a fourth target path based on the fourth rack transport command. Here, the starting point of the fourth target path may be the location of the remaining material area, and the ending point of the fourth target path may be the location of the output workstation. For example, the RCS analyzes information about the output rack and indicates that an output operation needs to be performed on the output rack. The RCS also analyzes information about the remaining material area to determine the location of the remaining material area, analyzes information about the output workstation to determine the location of the output workstation, and generates a fourth target path based on the location of the remaining material area and the location of the output workstation.

[0138] In step S46-3, the RCS controls the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the remaining material area to the outgoing workstation based on the fourth target route. Because the start point of the fourth target route is the position of the remaining material area and the end point is the position of the outgoing workstation, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the remaining material area to the outgoing workstation.

[0139] In one possible embodiment, after the outgoing rack is moved to the outgoing workstation (e.g., moving the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation, moving the outgoing rack from the incoming temporary storage area to the outgoing workstation, or moving the outgoing rack from the remaining material area to the outgoing workstation), the method may further include the following steps:

[0140] In step S51, the worker holds the PDA in his / her hand and scans the rack number of the outgoing rack, enters the number of remaining materials of the first material, and clicks Execute, causing the PDA to send a collection request for the outgoing rack to the iWMS.

[0141] In step S52, after receiving the request to collect the outgoing rack, the iWMS determines the number of remaining materials of the first material on the outgoing rack. If the number of remaining materials of the first material is zero, step S53-1 may be executed. If the number of remaining materials of the first material is not zero, i.e., if the number of remaining materials is greater than zero, step S53-2 may be executed.

[0142] In step S53-1, the iWMS sends a first inventory return command to the RCMS, which command includes information on the temporary storage area for incoming goods, information on the outgoing workstation, and information on the outgoing rack.

[0143] In step S54-1, after receiving the first inventory return command, the RCMS generates a first rack retrieval command based on the first inventory return command, the first rack retrieval command including information on the temporary incoming storage area, information on the outgoing workstation, and information on the outgoing rack, and sends the first rack retrieval command to the RCS.

[0144] In step S55-1, after receiving the first rack retrieval command, the RCS may generate a first inventory return path based on the first rack retrieval command, where the start point of the first inventory return path may be the location of the outgoing workstation and the end point of the first inventory return path may be the location of the incoming temporary storage area.

[0145] Illustratively, the RCS may analyze information about the outgoing rack from the first rack retrieval command and indicate that a retrieval operation needs to be performed on the outgoing rack. The RCS may analyze information about the incoming temporary storage area from the first rack retrieval command and determine the location of the incoming temporary storage area based on the information about the incoming temporary storage area. The RCS may analyze information about the outgoing workstation from the first rack retrieval command and determine the location of the outgoing workstation based on the information about the outgoing workstation. The RCS may generate a first inventory return route based on the location of the incoming temporary storage area and the location of the outgoing workstation.

[0146] In step S56-1, the RCS controls the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the incoming temporary storage area based on the first inventory return route. Because the start point of the first inventory return route is the outgoing workstation position and the end point is the incoming temporary storage area position, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the outgoing rack to the incoming temporary storage area.

[0147] As can be seen from the above, if the number of remaining materials is equal to 0, it indicates that the outgoing rack is an empty rack, and the empty rack can be moved to the incoming temporary storage area and can continue to be used when there is a new incoming request.

[0148] In step S53-2, the iWMS sends a second inventory return command to the RCMS, which command includes information on the remaining material area, the outgoing workstation, and the outgoing rack.

[0149] In step S54-2, after receiving the second inventory return command, the RCMS generates a second rack retrieval command based on the second inventory return command and sends the second rack retrieval command to the RCS, where the second rack retrieval command may include information on the remaining material area, information on the outgoing workstation, and information on the outgoing rack.

[0150] In step S55-2, after receiving the second rack retrieval command, the RCS may generate a second inventory return path based on the second rack retrieval command, where the start point of the second inventory return path may be the location of the output workstation and the end point of the second inventory return path may be the location of the remaining material area.

[0151] Illustratively, the RCS may analyze information about the outgoing rack from the second rack retrieval command and indicate that a retrieval operation needs to be performed on the outgoing rack; analyze information about the remaining material area from the second rack retrieval command and determine a location of the remaining material area based on the information about the remaining material area; analyze information about the outgoing workstation from the second rack retrieval command and determine a location of the outgoing workstation based on the information about the outgoing workstation; and generate a second inventory return path based on the location of the remaining material area and the location of the outgoing workstation.

[0152] In step S56-2, the RCS controls the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the remaining material area based on the second inventory return route. Because the start point of the second inventory return route is the location of the outgoing workstation and the end point is the location of the remaining material area, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the remaining material area.

[0153] As can be seen from the above, if the number of remaining materials is greater than 0, it indicates that the first material is present in the output rack, and the output rack can be moved to the remaining material area. When the first material needs to be output, the output rack in the remaining material area can be moved to the output workstation. The process of moving from the remaining material area to the output workstation has been described with reference to the above steps.

[0154] In the above process, after the task is completed, the RCS knows that the task is completed and sends a task completion message to the RCMS, and the RCMS may send a task completion message to the iWMS.

[0155] In one possible embodiment, the process of moving a rack to an outbound workstation may include the following steps:

[0156] In step S61-1, the PDA pushes a material delivery task, that is, the PDA requests the delivery of material.

[0157] In step S62-1, the iWMS checks the inventory, and searches the inventory in the remaining material area first for the material that will enter the lane, then checks the inventory in the lane for the material that will not enter the lane, and directly checks the inventory in the temporary storage area for incoming material.

[0158] In step S63-1, when the inventory of the lane is checked, an outgoing process is executed for the inventory of the lane, and the iWMS sends an outgoing rack to the RCMS, outgoes the inventory of the lane, and marks the lane as being in a state where adjustment is required.

[0159] In step S64-1, the RCMS analyzes the rack retrieval command and transmits a rack retrieval task.

[0160] In step S65-1, the RCS receives the rack retrieval task and assigns an AGV to execute the rack transport task.

[0161] In step S66-1, the AGV executes the rack transport task and reports task execution result information.

[0162] In one possible embodiment, the process of returning a rack from an outbound workstation may include the following steps:

[0163] In step S61-2, the PDA returns the material, ie, the PDA requests that the material be returned to inventory from the outbound workstation.

[0164] In step S62-2, the iWMS deducts inventory, i.e., deducts inventory leaving the shipping workstation.

[0165] In step S63-2, if there is remaining material, the iWMS sends a message to the RCMS instructing it to return the rack to the remaining material area; if the rack is empty, i.e., if there is no remaining material, the iWMS sends a message to the RCMS instructing it to return the rack to the temporary incoming storage area.

[0166] In step S64-2, the RCMS analyzes the rack inventory return command and sends a rack inventory return task.

[0167] In step S65-2, the RCS receives the rack inventory return task and assigns an AGV to perform the rack transport task.

[0168] In step S66-2, the AGV executes the rack transport task and reports task execution result information.

[0169] Third, lane adjustment processing: A lane that needs to be adjusted may be determined, and the determined lane may be set as the lane to be adjusted. The lane adjustment processing for the lane to be adjusted may include the following steps.

[0170] In step S71, the iWMS determines whether there is a lane to be adjusted for all lanes. Here, the lane to be adjusted must include an occupied storage space and an empty storage space starting from the occupied storage space in the shipping direction of the lane. An occupied storage space may be a storage space where materials are stored, and an empty storage space may be a storage space where materials are not stored.

[0171] For example, the shipping end of a lane may be the beginning or the end of the lane. Taking the shipping end of a lane as the beginning of the lane as an example, as shown in Figure 3, the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is the first storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is the second storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and so on. For a given lane, if all of its storage spaces are empty, the lane is not considered to be a lane to be adjusted. If all of its storage spaces are occupied, and there is empty storage space from the occupied storage spaces toward the shipping end of the lane, i.e., if there is empty storage space to the right of the occupied storage spaces, the lane is considered to be a lane to be adjusted. If there is no empty storage space toward the shipping end of the lane among all occupied storage spaces, i.e., if there is no empty storage space to the right of all occupied storage spaces, the lane is not considered to be a lane to be adjusted.

[0172] Obviously, if there are lanes to be adjusted among all lanes, the above process may be performed for each lane, and then the lanes to be adjusted may be found from among all lanes, and the subsequent steps may be performed for the lanes to be adjusted.

[0173] In one possible embodiment, if material is being released from an outbound lane, the iWMS determines that outbound lane as a lane to be adjusted, i.e., there is an outbound lane for all lanes. For example, if material is being released from an outbound lane, the iWMS marks that outbound lane as being in an to-be-adjusted state, indicating that that outbound lane is a lane to be adjusted.

[0174] In another possible embodiment, for each lane, if the number of racks in the lane is less than the maximum number of storage spaces in the lane and the positions of the racks in the lane are not arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, the iWMS determines the lane as a lane to be adjusted, i.e., a lane to be adjusted exists.

[0175] For example, the iWMS may tally the number of racks in the lane, and if the number of racks in the lane is equal to the maximum number of storage spaces in the lane (i.e., the total number of all storage spaces), it may not select the lane as a lane to be adjusted; if the number of racks in the lane is 0, it may not select the lane as a lane to be adjusted; and if the number of racks in the lane is not 0 and the number of racks in the lane is less than the maximum number of storage spaces in the lane, it may determine the rack position in the lane.

[0176] If the rack positions of the lane in question are arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, for example, from the beginning of the lane, the rack positions are arranged in order from the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane, then the second storage space, etc., then the lane in question is not a lane that should be adjusted. If the rack positions of the lane in question are not arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, for example, from the beginning of the lane, the rack positions are arranged from the second storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane, then the third storage space, that is, if the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is an empty storage space, then the lane in question is a lane that should be adjusted.

[0177] If the number of racks in a lane is less than the maximum number of storage spaces in that lane, and the rack positions in that lane are not arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, iWMS will mark the lane as being in a state that requires adjustment.

[0178] For example, for each lane in all lanes, the lane status may be normal, frozen, or to be adjusted. A normal lane allows racks to enter and exit the lane normally, a frozen lane does not allow racks to enter or exit the lane, and a to-be-adjusted lane indicates that the position of the racks in the lane needs to be adjusted; that is, by arranging racks consecutively from the front of the lane, a rack occupies the first storage space on the left side of the front of the lane and there is no empty storage space between two adjacent racks. The process of adjusting the position of a rack in a lane is described below.

[0179] In step S72, if the iWMS determines that there is a lane to be adjusted among all lanes, it transmits a lane adjustment command including information on the lane to be adjusted to the RCMS.

[0180] For example, after determining that all lanes have lane adjustments, the iWMS may immediately trigger lane adjustments, i.e., send lane adjustment commands directly to the RCMS for the lanes to be adjusted. Alternatively, the iWMS may periodically trigger lane adjustments, i.e., at each trigger time, the iWMS may determine whether there are lanes to be adjusted, and if so, send lane adjustment commands to the RCMS for the lanes to be adjusted.

[0181] For example, after receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS may return a confirmation message for the lane adjustment command to the iWMS. After receiving the confirmation message for the lane adjustment command, the iWMS may change the state of the lane to be adjusted from the to-be-adjusted state to the normal state, i.e., the lane allows racks to enter and exit the lane normally.

[0182] In step S73, after receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS determines the first storage space and the second storage space in the lane to be adjusted. Exemplarily, the first storage space may be the first vacant storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space may be the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction of the shipping direction of the lane.

[0183] For example, the RCMS may analyze information about the lane to be adjusted from the lane adjustment command and determine the lane to be adjusted based on the information about the lane to be adjusted. For example, assuming that the shipping end of the lane is the beginning of the lane, the first storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane (the first storage space at the shipping end of the lane) is designated as storage space a1, the second storage space to the left of the beginning of the lane is designated as storage space a2, and so on. Based on this, it is first determined whether storage space a1 is an empty storage space. If storage space a1 is an empty storage space, i.e., if storage space a1 is the first empty storage space at the shipping end of the lane, it is designated as the first storage space. If storage space a1 is not an empty storage space, it continues to determine whether storage space a2 is an empty storage space. If storage space a2 is an empty storage space, i.e., if storage space a2 is the first empty storage space at the shipping end of the lane, it is designated as the first storage space. This analogy is continued until the first storage space in the lane to be adjusted is found.

[0184] If storage space a1 is the first storage space, it may be determined whether the first storage space to the left of storage space a1 (i.e., storage space a2) is an occupied storage space. If storage space a2 is an occupied storage space, i.e., if storage space a2 is the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction of the shipping direction of the lane, storage space a2 is determined to be the second storage space. If storage space a2 is not an occupied storage space, it continues to determine whether storage space a3 is an occupied storage space. If storage space a3 is an occupied storage space, i.e., if storage space a3 is the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction of the shipping direction of the lane, storage space a3 is determined to be the second storage space. This analogy is continued until the second storage space in the lane to be adjusted is found.

[0185] In short, the first storage space and the second storage space in the lane to be adjusted can be obtained, and in the subsequent process, the storage space a1 will be the first storage space and the storage space a3 will be the second storage space.

[0186] In step S74, the RCMS transmits a rack movement command including information about the first storage space (a unique identifier of the first storage space) and information about the second storage space (a unique identifier of the second storage space) to the RCS.

[0187] In step S75, after receiving the rack movement command, the RCS may generate a movement path based on the rack movement command, where the start point of the movement path may be the position of the second storage space in the lane to be adjusted, and the end point of the movement path may be the position of the first storage space in the lane to be adjusted.

[0188] For example, the RCS may analyze information about a second storage space from the rack movement command and determine a location of the second storage space based on the information about the second storage space. The location of the second storage space may be a starting point of the movement path. The RCS may analyze information about a first storage space from the rack movement command and determine a location of the first storage space based on the information about the first storage space. The location of the first storage space may be an ending point of the movement path. The RCS may generate the movement path based on the location of the second storage space and the location of the first storage space.

[0189] In step S76, the RCS controls the AGV to move the rack in the second storage space to the first storage space based on the movement path. Because the start point of the movement path is the position of the second storage space and the end point of the movement path is the position of the first storage space, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the rack in the second storage space to the first storage space.

[0190] After controlling the AGV to move the rack from the second storage space to the first storage space, the RCS knows that the task is complete and sends a task completion message to the RCMS. The RCMS then re-determines the first and second storage spaces in the lane to be adjusted and sends a rack movement command to the RCS. This process is repeated until lane adjustment is completed for all storage spaces in the lane to be adjusted. At this point, the lane adjustment process for the lane to be adjusted is complete.

[0191] For example, assuming that storage spaces a1 and a2 of the lane to be adjusted are vacant storage spaces, and storage spaces a3, a4, and a5 of the lane to be adjusted are occupied storage spaces, in the first lane adjustment process, storage space a1 is set as the first storage space, storage space a3 is set as the second storage space, and the rack in storage space a3 is moved to storage space a1. In this case, storage space a1 is the occupied storage space, storage spaces a2 and a3 are vacant storage spaces, and storage spaces a4 and a5 are occupied storage spaces. In the second lane adjustment process, storage space a2 is set as the first storage space, storage space a4 is set as the second storage space, and the rack in storage space a4 is moved to storage space a2. In this case, storage spaces a1 and a2 are occupied storage spaces, storage spaces a3 and a4 are vacant storage spaces, and storage space a5 is occupied storage space. In the third lane adjustment process, storage space a3 is set as the first storage space, storage space a5 is set as the second storage space, and the rack in storage space a5 is moved to storage space a3. In this case, storage space a1, storage space a2, and storage space a3 are occupied storage spaces, and storage space a4 and storage space a5 are vacant storage spaces. Up to this point, the lane adjustment process for the lane to be adjusted is completed.

[0192] For example, after receiving a lane adjustment command, the RCMS may analyze the rack adjustment task for the lane and assign task priority based on whether there is an entry / exit task for the lane to be adjusted. Then, the RCMS may send the lane adjustment task to the RCS to trigger the sequential movement of racks in the lane's temporary storage area to the first available storage space of the lane. That is, first, the rack in storage space a3 is moved to storage space a1, then the rack in storage space a4 is moved to storage space a2, and then the rack in storage space a5 is moved to storage space a3. The RCS schedules the AGVs to transport the racks to the designated storage spaces, and reports the completion of the tasks to the RCS, RCMS, and iWMS in sequence. If the lane is in an entry / exit state, the priority of the adjustment task may be lowered, and the lane entry / exit task may be prioritized, followed by the lane adjustment task.

[0193] Illustratively, the above process may be completed in the following order: the RCMS analyzes the task, the RCMS assigns task priority, the RCMS sequentially sends rack coordination tasks, the RCS sequentially schedules the AGVs to perform the coordination tasks, and the AGVs, RCS, RCMS, and iWMS report the task execution results in this order.

[0194] Illustratively, lane states of the RCMS may include an idle state, an entry / exit state, an adjustment state, etc. The priority of a lane adjustment task may be lower than the priority of a lane entry / exit task.

[0195] For example, after completing the rack adjustment task, the RCMS may send a rack adjustment completion message to the iWMS, and after receiving the rack adjustment completion message, the iWMS may update the lane number and lane position of the rack.

[0196] In one possible embodiment, after the B01 rack is released from lane 103, lane adjustment is performed for lane 103, and in the lane adjustment process, the racks (B02, B03, B04) in lane 103 are transported sequentially to the vacant storage space closest to the beginning of the lane, and the rack movement process is as shown in Figures 7A, 7B, and 7C.

[0197] In one possible embodiment, the lane adjustment process for the lane to be adjusted may include the following steps.

[0198] In step S81, the iWMS marks the lane adjustment status. In a first possible embodiment, when a rack in a lane leaves the lane, the lane adjustment status of the lane is marked as a state to be adjusted. In a second possible embodiment, the iWMS intelligently finds a lane to be adjusted and marks the lane adjustment status of the lane as a state to be adjusted.

[0199] In step S82, the iWMS triggers lane adjustment. In a first possible embodiment, the lane adjustment is sent to the RCMS immediately after marking the lane adjustment status of the lane as to be adjusted. In a second possible embodiment, the lane adjustment is sent to the RCMS periodically for lanes that are to be adjusted.

[0200] In step S83, after receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS may analyze the lane adjustment task, assign a task priority, and send the lane adjustment rack movement task to the RCS.

[0201] In step S84, the RCS may schedule the AGV to execute the rack movement task within the lane, and after the rack movement task within the lane is completed, report the adjustment results of each rack within the lane in sequence.

[0202] Fourth, material quality inspection processing. For materials that require quality inspection, the rack on which the material is located may be recorded as a rack to be inspected. The material quality inspection processing for the rack to be inspected may include the following steps.

[0203] In step S91, the worker holds the PDA in his / her hand and scans the site number of the workstation in the processing area and the rack number of the rack to be quality inspected, marks the material on the rack to be quality inspected as an item to be inspected, and clicks Execute, which causes the PDA to send a quality inspection request for the rack to be quality inspected to the iWMS and requests a quality inspection for the rack to be quality inspected.

[0204] For example, if a rack subject to quality inspection is located in the incoming temporary storage area, the iWMS marks the rack subject to quality inspection (or the material on the rack subject to quality inspection) as an item subject to inspection, determines that the rack subject to quality inspection needs to be removed from the incoming temporary storage area, and executes step S92-1. If the rack subject to quality inspection is located in the remaining material area, the iWMS marks the rack subject to quality inspection as an item subject to inspection, determines that the rack subject to quality inspection needs to be removed from the remaining material area, and executes step S92-2. If the rack subject to quality inspection is located in a lane, the iWMS determines that the rack subject to quality inspection needs to be removed from the lane, and executes step S92-3.

[0205] In step S92-1, after receiving a quality inspection request for a rack to be inspected, if the iWMS determines that the rack to be inspected is located in a temporary incoming storage area, the iWMS may send a rack outbound command to the RCMS, including information about the temporary incoming storage area and information about the rack to be inspected.

[0206] In step S93-1, after receiving the rack retrieval command, the RCMS selects a rack to be inspected for quality inspection from the temporary incoming storage area. For example, the RCMS analyzes the information on the temporary incoming storage area and the information on the rack to be inspected for quality inspection, finds the temporary incoming storage area based on the information on the temporary incoming storage area, and finds the rack to be inspected for quality inspection from the temporary incoming storage area based on the information on the rack to be inspected for quality inspection.

[0207] In step S94-1, the RCMS transmits to the RCS a rack quality inspection transport command including information on the temporary storage area for incoming goods, information on the rack to be inspected for quality, and information on the quality inspection area.

[0208] In step S95-1, after receiving the rack quality inspection transport command, the RCS may generate a rack quality inspection transport path based on the rack quality inspection transport command, where the start point of the rack quality inspection transport path may be a position in the temporary storage area, and the end point of the rack quality inspection transport path may be a position in the quality inspection area.

[0209] In step S96-1, the RCS controls the AGV to move the racks undergoing quality inspection from the temporary receiving storage area to the quality inspection area based on the rack quality inspection transport route. Because the start point of the rack quality inspection transport route is the position of the temporary receiving storage area and the end point is the position of the quality inspection area, the RCS can schedule the AGV to move the racks undergoing quality inspection from the temporary receiving storage area to the quality inspection area. The quality inspection area may be a workstation in the processing area.

[0210] In step S92-2, after receiving a quality inspection request for a rack to be quality inspected, if the iWMS determines that the rack to be quality inspected is located in the remaining material area, it may send a rack out-of-stock command to the RCMS, including information about the remaining material area and information about the rack to be quality inspected.

[0211] In step S93-2, after receiving the rack delivery command, the RCMS selects a rack to be inspected for quality inspection from the remaining material area. For example, the RCMS analyzes the information on the remaining material area and the information on the rack to be inspected for quality inspection from the rack delivery command, finds the remaining material area based on the information on the remaining material area, and finds the rack to be inspected for quality inspection from the remaining material area based on the information on the rack to be inspected.

[0212] In step S94-2, the RCMS transmits to the RCS a rack quality inspection transport command including information on the remaining material area, information on the rack to be inspected, and information on the quality inspection area.

[0213] In step S95-2, after receiving the rack quality inspection transport command, the RCS may generate a rack quality inspection transport path based on the rack quality inspection transport command, where the start point of the rack quality inspection transport path may be a position in the remaining material area, and the end point of the rack quality inspection transport path may be a position in the quality inspection area.

[0214] In step S96-2, the RCS controls the AGV to move the rack subject to quality inspection from the remaining material area to the quality inspection area based on the rack quality inspection transport route. Because the start point of the rack quality inspection transport route is the remaining material area and the end point is the quality inspection area, the AGV can be scheduled to move the rack subject to quality inspection from the remaining material area to the quality inspection area.

[0215] In step S92-3, after receiving a quality inspection request for the rack to be inspected, if the iWMS determines that the rack to be inspected is in the lane, it determines whether the rack to be inspected is in the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane (e.g., the first storage space in the direction of the front of the lane). If not, it waits until the next detection cycle and continues to detect whether the rack to be inspected is in the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, repeating this process until the rack to be inspected is in the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane. If so, it sends a rack retrieval command to the RCMS, including information about the lane and the rack to be inspected.

[0216] For example, the iWMS determines the location of the rack to be inspected and determines whether it is in the first storage space toward the beginning of the lane. If so, it sends a rack removal command to the RCMS. If not, it freezes the entire lane, prohibits normal loading and unloading, and waits for the next quality inspection cycle. For each quality inspection cycle, if it finds that the rack to be inspected can leave the lane and undergo quality inspection, the iWMS sends a rack removal command to the RCMS, and then determines whether there are any uninspected racks in the lane. If there are no uninspected racks, it may unfreeze the lane.

[0217] In step S93-3, after receiving the rack unloading command, the RCMS determines the rack subject to quality inspection as the target rack for unloading from the lane based on the lane information and the information on the rack subject to quality inspection, and sends a rack quality inspection transport command to the RCS that includes information on the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, information on the rack subject to quality inspection, and information on the quality inspection area.

[0218] In step S94-3, after receiving the rack quality inspection transport command, the RCS may generate a rack quality inspection transport route based on the rack quality inspection transport command, where the start point of the rack quality inspection transport route may be the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane (i.e., the position of the rack to be inspected), and the end point of the rack quality inspection transport route may be the position of the quality inspection area.

[0219] In step S95-3, the RCS controls the AGV based on the rack quality inspection transport route to move the rack to be inspected from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane to the quality inspection area, for example, a workstation in the processing area.

[0220] For example, if a rack undergoing quality inspection is located in the lane temporary storage area, the rack undergoing quality inspection may first be marked as an item to be inspected. When the rack undergoing quality inspection is adjusted to the storage space closest to the beginning of the lane (i.e., the first storage space in the lane's shipping direction), the lane status may be updated to a frozen state. Here, a lane in a frozen state does not support rack loading and unloading operations. When the rack undergoing quality inspection in the first storage space in the lane's shipping direction is moved to the quality inspection area, the iWMS may update the lane status from a frozen state to a normal state.

[0221] For example, after the rack to be quality inspected is moved to the quality inspection area, the quality inspector may determine whether the inventory (i.e., the material on the rack to be quality inspected) is acceptable. If the inventory is unacceptable, the material on the rack to be quality inspected is returned, the rack to be quality inspected becomes an empty rack, and the rack to be quality inspected (empty rack) is moved to the receiving temporary storage area. If the inventory is acceptable, the receiving time is updated, and the rack to be quality inspected (i.e., the rack in which the material still exists) is moved to the receiving temporary storage area. After the rack to be quality inspected is moved to the receiving temporary storage area, a move inventory to lane operation may be performed on the rack to be quality inspected, i.e., triggering a new move inventory to lane for the rack to be quality inspected.

[0222] In one possible embodiment, the quality inspection process for the racks may include the following steps:

[0223] The worker uses a PDA to inspect the inventory and sends a rack inventory inspection message to the iWMS.

[0224] After receiving the quality inspection command, iWMS will mark the rack inventory as an item to be inspected. If the rack is in the receiving staging area or remaining material area, it will wait for processing. If the rack is in the lane staging area, it will freeze the lane.

[0225] The iWMS periodically processes inventory subject to quality inspection and sends a command to send the rack to a workstation in the processing area. For example, if the rack is in the incoming temporary storage area or the remaining material area, the iWMS sends a command to send the rack directly to the RCMS. If the rack is in the first storage space in the lane temporary storage area, the iWMS sends a command to send the rack to unpack the lane.

[0226] The RCMS analyzes the rack task and sends a rack retrieval task to the RCS.

[0227] The RCS schedules the AGVs to perform rack transport tasks.

[0228] If the quality inspection fails, the material is removed from the rack and the empty rack is moved to the receiving staging area, or if the quality inspection passes, the inventory entry time is updated and the rack is returned to the receiving staging area to await inventory transfer to the lane.

[0229] As can be seen from the above technical solution, the embodiment of the present invention employs a lane-mixing method, ensuring that there are no obstacles in the lane's outgoing direction and improving outgoing efficiency. In other words, the same lane is used to store only one type of material, and different types of materials are not stored. This simplifies the outgoing process, allowing for complete outgoing without moving racks, resulting in relatively high outgoing efficiency and meeting the needs of high-capacity, high-efficiency warehouse management. Three modes are provided: no material entering the lane, fixed lane, and intelligent lane allocation, improving warehouse management flexibility. A dynamic management method for coordinated outgoing improves lane storage space utilization. It supports scenarios such as lane outgoing returns and lane inventory quality inspection, enhancing system stability. The dynamic lane management mode enables dynamic lane allocation, intelligent inventory movement, dynamic adjustment, and outgoing returns, significantly improving warehouse storage rates and ingoing / outgoing efficiency, while the first-in, first-out mode reduces material inventory stagnation. The collaboration of iWMS, RCMS, and RCS realizes dynamic lane management for warehouse inventory, dynamically allocates material lanes, and enables delivery to the frontmost rack in the delivery direction of the lane, eliminating the need for additional AGVs to move the obstructed rack. It also supports parallel modes of delivery trigger adjustment and intelligent calculation adjustment, improving the utilization rate of lane temporary storage areas and warehouse storage rates.

[0230] Based on the same idea as the above method, an embodiment of the present invention provides a lane warehouse management system including an iWMS, an RCMS, and an RCS, wherein after receiving a warehousing request for a target material, if the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on a material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS is used to determine a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, and the target lane is used to place only materials corresponding to the type of the target material, the iWMS is used to send an inventory movement command to the RCMS, the command including information on the target lane and information on a target rack where the target material is located, and the RCMS After receiving a command to move inventory to the lane, the RCS is used to select a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and send a first rack transport command to the RCS, the target storage space being the first available storage space from the shipping end of the lane, which is the beginning or end of the lane. After receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS is used to generate a first target route and, based on the first target route, control a robot to move the target rack to the target storage space, the starting point and ending point of the first target route being the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively.

[0231] Illustratively, the iWMS is further used to, after receiving a request to send a first material out, if it determines that the first material needs to be sent from the remaining material area, send a first outgoing command to the RCMS, including information about the outgoing rack where the first material is located; the RCMS is further used to, after receiving the first outgoing command, search the lane for the outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located, and send a third rack transport command to the RCS, including information about the outgoing storage space and the outgoing rack; the RCS is further used to, after receiving the third rack transport command, generate a third target path and, based on the third target path, control the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation, wherein the start and end points of the third target path are the position of the outgoing storage space and the position of the outgoing workstation, respectively.

[0232] Illustratively, when the iWMS determines that there is a lane to be adjusted in all lanes, the iWMS is further used to send a lane adjustment command to the RCMS, the lane to be adjusted including information on the lane, and the lane to be adjusted includes an occupied storage space and an empty storage space starting from the occupied storage space in the shipping direction of the lane; after receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS is further used to determine a first storage space and a second storage space in the lane to be adjusted, and send a rack movement command to the RCS, the rack movement command including information on the first storage space and the second storage space. the first storage space is the first vacant storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space is the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction to the shipping direction of the lane; the RCS is further used to generate a movement path after receiving the rack movement command, and to control the robot based on the movement path to move the rack from the second storage space to the first storage space, and the start and end points of the movement path are the positions of the second storage space and the first storage space, respectively.

[0233] Based on the same idea as the above method, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device (e.g., a device implementing an iWMS, a device implementing an RCMS, or a device implementing an RCS). As shown in Fig. 8, the electronic device may include a processor 81 and a machine-readable storage medium 82, where the machine-readable storage medium 82 stores machine-executable instructions executable by the processor 81, and the processor 81 executes the machine-executable instructions to perform the lane warehouse management method disclosed in the above example of the present invention.

[0234] Based on the same idea as the above method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a machine-readable storage medium having some computer instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, performs the lane warehouse management method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present invention.

[0235] Here, the machine-readable storage medium may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that may contain or store information such as executable instructions, data, etc. For example, the machine-readable storage medium may be a RAM (Random Access Memory), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a flash memory, a storage drive (e.g., a hard disk drive), a solid-state drive, any type of storage disk (e.g., an optical disk, a DVD, etc.), or a similar storage medium, or a combination thereof.

[0236] The systems, devices, modules, or units described in the above embodiments may be specifically realized by a product having some function. A typical realizing device is a computer, and the specific form of the computer may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a camera phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, a navigation device, an email sending / receiving device, a game console, a tablet PC, a wearable device, or any combination of these devices.

[0237] For convenience of description, the above devices will be described in terms of separate units according to their functions. Of course, when implementing the present invention, the functions of each unit may be realized by the same or multiple pieces of software and / or hardware.

[0238] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Also, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk memory, CD-ROM, optical memory, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0239] The present invention will be described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, where the instructions executed by the processor of the general-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device generate an apparatus for implementing the function(s) specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0240] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to operate in a specified manner, and the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture that includes an instruction apparatus, which implements the functions specified in one or more flows of the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0241] These computer program instructions may be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, and a series of operational steps are executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to generate a computer-implemented process, whereby the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows of the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0242] The above description is merely an example of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. and when an intelligent warehouse management system (iWMS) receives a request to receive a target material and determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on a material type corresponding to the target material, determining a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, wherein the target lane is used to place the material corresponding to the type of the target material; The iWMS sends an inventory movement command to a robot control management system (RCMS) including information on the target lane and information on the target rack where the target material is located; a step in which, after receiving a command to move inventory to the lane, the RCMS selects a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and transmits a first rack transport command including information on the target storage space and information on the target rack to a robot control server (RCS), the target storage space being the first empty storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the shipping end of the lane being the beginning or end of the lane; a step in which, after receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS generates a first target path, and controls a robot to move the target rack to the target storage space based on the first target path; a start point and an end point of the first target route are the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively; A lane warehouse management method.

2. After the iWMS receives a stocktaking request for the target material, When the iWMS determines that the target material does not need to enter a lane based on the material type corresponding to the target material, sending an instruction to the RCMS to move inventory to a temporary storage area, the instruction including information on a warehousing temporary storage area and information on the target rack; a step in which, after receiving a command to move inventory to the temporary storage area, the RCMS selects an empty storage space from all storage spaces in the warehousing temporary storage area, and transmits a second rack transport command to the RCS, the second rack transport command including information on the empty storage space and information on the target rack; the RCS, after receiving the second rack transport command, generates a second target path, and controls the robot to move the target rack to the vacant storage space based on the second target path; a start point and an end point of the second target route are the position of the target rack and the position of the vacant storage space, respectively; 2. The method of claim 1 .

3. if a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to a material that needs to enter a lane, determining a material type corresponding to the target material, and if the information table contains the material type corresponding to the target material, determining that the target material needs to enter a lane, and if the information table does not contain the material type corresponding to the target material, determining that the target material does not need to enter a lane; or determining a material type corresponding to the target material if a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to material that does not need to enter a lane, and determining that the target material does not need to enter a lane if the information table contains the material type corresponding to the target material, and determining that the target material needs to enter a lane if the information table does not contain the material type corresponding to the target material; or When a stored information table is used to record a material type corresponding to a material that needs to enter a lane and a material type corresponding to a material that does not need to enter a lane, the method further includes a step of determining a material type corresponding to the target material, referencing the information table according to the material type, and determining whether the target material needs to enter a lane or does not need to enter a lane; 3. The method of claim 2.

4. The iWMS determines a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, Querying a mapping table according to the type of the target material to obtain at least one fixed lane corresponding to the type of material, tallying up the number of free storage spaces in each fixed lane, and determining the fixed lane with the least number of free storage spaces as the target lane; or determining whether there are any existing lanes with available storage spaces corresponding to the type of target material; if there are, counting the number of available storage spaces in each existing lane, and determining the existing lane with the least number of available storage spaces as the target lane; if there are no existing lanes and the number of lanes corresponding to the type of target material does not reach the obtained maximum number of occupied lanes, selecting one unused lane from all lanes as the target lane; each of the at least one fixed lane is used to place material corresponding to the target material type and not to place material corresponding to other types; the mapping table includes a correspondence between material types and fixed lanes; and the existing lanes are used to place material corresponding to the target material type; 2. The method of claim 1 .

5. receiving a request to issue a first material by the iWMS; If the iWMS determines that the first material is present in a remaining material area, it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the remaining material area; If the iWMS determines that the first material is not present in the remaining material area and that the first material is present in the incoming temporary storage area, it determines that the first material needs to be removed from the incoming temporary storage area; If the iWMS determines that the first material is not present in the remaining material area and that the first material is not present in the temporary storage area, determining that the first material needs to be removed from a lane.

2. The method of claim 1 .

6. When the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be retrieved from a lane, sending a first retrieval command to the RCMS, the first retrieval command including information of an retrieval rack where the first material is located; After receiving the first outgoing command, the RCMS searches the lane for an outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located, and transmits a third rack transport command to the RCS, the third rack transport command including information on the outgoing storage space and information on the outgoing rack; the RCS, after receiving the third rack transport command, generates a third target path, and controls the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to an outgoing workstation based on the third target path; a start point and an end point of the third target route are the location of the output storage space and the location of the output workstation, respectively; 6. The method of claim 5.

7. When the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be retrieved from the remaining material area, sending a second retrieval command to the RCMS, the RCMS, after receiving the second retrieval command, selecting an retrieval rack on which the first material is placed from the remaining material area and sending a fourth rack transport command to the RCS, the RCS generating a fourth target path based on the fourth rack transport command, and controlling the robot to move the retrieval rack from the remaining material area to an retrieval workstation based on the fourth target path; and when the iWMS determines that the first material needs to be retrieved from the incoming temporary storage area, transmitting a third retrieval command to the RCMS, and after receiving the third retrieval command, the RCMS selecting an outgoing rack on which the first material is placed from the incoming temporary storage area and transmitting a fifth rack transport command to the RCS, and the RCS generating a fifth target path based on the fifth rack transport command and controlling the robot to move the outgoing rack from the incoming temporary storage area to an outgoing workstation based on the fifth target path.

6. The method of claim 5.

8. After the RCS controls the robot based on a third target path to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to an outgoing workstation, After receiving the request to retrieve the outgoing rack, the iWMS determines the number of remaining materials of the first material on the outgoing rack, and if the number of remaining materials is 0, sends a first inventory return command to the RCMS, including information on the incoming temporary storage area and information on the outgoing rack, and if the number of remaining materials is not 0, sends a second inventory return command to the RCMS, including information on the remaining material area and information on the outgoing rack; When the RCMS receives the first inventory return command, it transmits a first rack retrieval command to the RCS, and the RCS generates a first inventory return route based on the first rack retrieval command, and controls the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the incoming temporary storage area based on the first inventory return route; and when the RCMS receives the second inventory return command, the RCMS transmits a second rack retrieval command to the RCS, and the RCS generates a second inventory return route based on the second rack retrieval command, and controls the robot to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing workstation to the remaining material area based on the second inventory return route.

7. The method of claim 6.

9. If the iWMS determines that there is a lane adjustment to be made in all lanes, sending a lane adjustment command to the RCMS, the lane adjustment command including information of the lane adjustment to be made, the lane adjustment including an occupied storage space and an empty storage space starting from the occupied storage space in the shipping direction of the lane; After receiving the lane adjustment command, the RCMS determines a first storage space and a second storage space in the lane to be adjusted, and sends a rack movement command including information on the first storage space and information on the second storage space to the RCS; the RCS, after receiving the rack movement command, generates a movement path, and controls the robot to move the rack in the second storage space to the first storage space based on the movement path, the first storage space being the first vacant storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space being the first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in the opposite direction to the shipping direction of the lane, The start point and the end point of the movement path are the position of the second storage space and the position of the first storage space, respectively.

2. The method of claim 1 .

10. The iWMS determines that there is a lane to be adjusted in all lanes, determining an outgoing lane as the lane to be adjusted when material is being issued from said outgoing lane; or For each lane, if the number of racks in the lane is smaller than the maximum number of storage spaces in the lane and the positions of the racks in the lane are not arranged consecutively from the first storage space in the shipping direction of the lane, determining the lane as a lane to be adjusted; 10. The method of claim 9.

11. A lane warehouse management system including an intelligent warehouse management system (iWMS), a robot control management system (RCMS) and a robot control server (RCS), After receiving a stocking request for a target material, if the iWMS determines that the target material needs to enter a lane based on a material type corresponding to the target material, the iWMS is used to determine a target lane corresponding to the target material based on the type of the target material, and the target lane is used to place only material corresponding to the type of the target material; The iWMS is used to send to the RCMS an inventory movement command to the lane, the command including information on the target lane and information on the target rack where the target material is located; After the RCMS receives a command to move inventory to the lane, the RCMS is used to select a target storage space from all storage spaces of the target lane and send a first rack transport command to the RCS, the first rack transport command including information on the target storage space and information on the target rack, the target storage space being the first empty storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the shipping end of the lane being the beginning or end of the lane; After receiving the first rack transport command, the RCS generates a first target path, and controls a robot based on the first target path to move the target rack to the target storage space, and a start point and an end point of the first target path are the position of the target rack and the position of the target storage space, respectively. A lane warehouse management system characterized by:

12. The iWMS further includes, after receiving a request to send out the first material, If it is determined that the first material is present in the remaining material area, it is determined that the first material needs to be removed from the remaining material area; If it is determined that the first material is not present in the remaining material area and that the first material is present in the incoming temporary storage area, it is determined that the first material needs to be removed from the incoming temporary storage area; When it is determined that the first material does not exist in the remaining material area and the first material does not exist in the temporary storage area, the first material is used to determine that the first material needs to be removed from the lane. The system of claim 11 .

13. The iWMS is further configured to, when determining that the first material needs to be removed from the lane, send a first removal command to the RCMS, the first removal command including information of an removal rack where the first material is located; The RCMS is further used to, after receiving the first outgoing command, search a lane for an outgoing storage space where the outgoing rack is located, and transmit a third rack transport command to the RCS, the third rack transport command including information on the outgoing storage space and information on the outgoing rack; the RCS further generates a third target path after receiving the third rack transport command, and controls the robot based on the third target path to move the outgoing rack from the outgoing storage space to the outgoing workstation, the start point and end point of the third target path being the position of the outgoing storage space and the position of the outgoing workstation, respectively.

13. The system of claim 12.

14. The iWMS is further used to, when determining that there is a lane to be adjusted in all lanes, send a lane adjustment command to the RCMS, the lane adjustment command including information of the lane to be adjusted, the lane to be adjusted including an occupied storage space and an empty storage space starting from the occupied storage space in the shipping direction of the lane; The RCMS is further used, after receiving the lane adjustment command, to determine a first storage space and a second storage space in the lane to be adjusted, and to send a rack movement command to the RCS, the rack movement command including information on the first storage space and information on the second storage space, wherein the first storage space is a first vacant storage space from the shipping end of the lane, and the second storage space is a first occupied storage space starting from the first storage space in a direction opposite to the shipping direction of the lane; The RCS is further configured to generate a movement path after receiving the rack movement command, and to control the robot to move the rack in the second storage space to the first storage space based on the movement path, wherein a start point and an end point of the movement path are the positions of the second storage space and the first storage space, respectively. The system of claim 11 .

15. An electronic device including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium, the machine-readable storage medium stores machine-executable instructions that are executable by the processor; The processor is adapted to execute machine-executable instructions to perform the method steps of any one of claims 1 to 10. An electronic device characterized by:

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