Material dispatching method and apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product

Abstract

Disclosed in embodiments of the present disclosure are a material dispatching method and apparatus, a device, a storage medium, and a program product. The method comprises: acquiring material call information of a first process machine; on the basis of the material call information, determining, from a first material rack information table in a database, material rack information of at least one target material to be transported, wherein the first material rack information table is used for storing material rack information of a temporary storage material rack and material rack information of a discharged material rack of a second process machine; deleting the material rack information of the target material to be transported from the first material rack information table, and writing the material rack information into a second material rack information table created in the database for a fed material rack of the first process machine, wherein the second material rack information table is used for storing material rack information of the fed material rack of the first process machine; and on the basis of the material rack information of the at least one target material, generating a dispatching task sequence of an automated guided vehicle, so as to complete material dispatching.

Description

Material scheduling methods, devices, equipment, storage media and program products

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This disclosure is based on and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410813832.9, filed on June 21, 2024, entitled “Material Scheduling Method, Apparatus, Equipment, Storage Medium and Program Product”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to, but is not limited to, the field of production material distribution, and particularly to a material scheduling method, apparatus, equipment, storage medium, and program product. Background Technology

[0004] With the rapid development of the process industry, the requirements for production efficiency of process equipment are getting higher and higher, and the demand for production cost reduction is significantly reduced. This has led to a lack of clarity between multiple related processes, which can easily cause inconsistencies between materials and accounting.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the present disclosure provides at least one material scheduling method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product.

[0007] The technical solution of this disclosure embodiment is implemented as follows:

[0008] On one hand, this disclosure provides a material scheduling method applied to a central control system. The method includes: acquiring material requisition information of a first process machine; determining, based on the material requisition information, the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from a first rack information table in a database; the first rack information table is used to store rack information of a buffer rack and rack information of an outgoing rack of a second process machine; deleting the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table, and writing the rack information into a second rack information table created for the incoming rack of the first process machine in the database; the second rack information table is used to store rack information of the incoming rack of the first process machine; and generating a scheduling task sequence for an automated guided vehicle based on the rack information of at least one target material to complete the material scheduling.

[0009] In this embodiment, firstly, the rack information of the target material to be transported is determined from the first rack information table corresponding to the second process machine based on the material call information of the first process machine. Then, the rack information of the target material is deleted from the first rack information table, and the rack information of the target material to be transported is written into the second rack information table corresponding to the first process machine, thereby realizing the automatic transfer of materials between the second process and the first process. Finally, the scheduling task sequence of the automated guided vehicle is generated based on the rack information of the target material. This method of transferring material information to the second rack information table corresponding to the first process machine and then generating scheduling tasks avoids the occurrence of mismatch between material accounts and actual material positions.

[0010] In some embodiments, before obtaining the material call information of the first process machine, the method further includes: in response to the material update message sent by the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack respectively, obtaining the material information and the location information of the material currently being produced by the second process machine; and storing the material information and the location information in the first rack information table.

[0011] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the material currently produced by the second process machine is updated to the first material rack information table by sending material update messages through the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack, respectively. By monitoring and updating the first material rack information table, the material information of the second process machine can be managed.

[0012] In some embodiments, the material requisition information includes the material type and the quantity of material requisitioned; based on the material requisition information, determining the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the first rack information table in the database includes: determining a set of candidate materials to be transported from the first rack information table based on the material type; determining the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the set of candidate materials based on the selection rules preset in the central control system; the selection rules are characterized as the priority order for selecting target materials in the set of candidate materials.

[0013] In this embodiment of the disclosure, a method for determining the rack information of the target material is proposed. The target material determined by the selection rules can ensure that the materials in the discharge rack and the buffer rack can be used by the first process machine within the validity period.

[0014] In some embodiments, the selection rule is characterized as prioritizing the selection of materials that are about to expire from the candidate material set; based on the selection rule preset in the central control system, determining the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the candidate material set includes: determining whether there are materials that are about to expire from the candidate material set based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rule; if there are materials that are about to expire, determining the materials that are about to expire as at least one target material to be transported.

[0015] In this embodiment of the disclosure, materials that are about to expire are identified as target materials from the candidate material set, thereby reducing the waste of materials in the discharge rack and buffer rack and improving the utilization rate of materials in the discharge rack and buffer rack.

[0016] In some embodiments, the material requisition information includes the requisition quantity; the selection rules, in descending order of priority, include: materials awaiting expiration, and materials with exceeded buffer time limits; based on the selection rules preset in the central control system, the rack information of at least one target material to be moved is determined from the candidate material set, and further includes: if there are no materials awaiting expiration in the candidate material set or the quantity of materials awaiting expiration does not meet the requisition quantity, based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, determining whether there are materials with exceeded buffer time limits from the candidate material set; if there are materials with exceeded buffer time limits, the materials with exceeded buffer time limits are determined as at least one target material to be moved.

[0017] In this embodiment of the disclosure, by prioritizing the use of materials that have exceeded the storage time limit in the buffer rack, the proportion of materials that have been stored for too long in the buffer rack is reduced, thereby achieving the maintenance of the buffer rack and reducing the waste of materials in the buffer rack.

[0018] In some embodiments, the selection rules, from highest to lowest priority, include: materials awaiting expiration, materials with exceeded cache duration limits, and materials with cache durations pending expiration. Based on the selection rules preset in the central control system, the rack information of at least one target material to be moved is determined from the candidate material set. This also includes: if there are no materials with exceeded cache duration limits in the candidate material set, or if the number of materials with exceeded cache duration limits does not meet the required material quantity, determining whether there are materials with pending cache duration limits in the candidate material set based on the rack information and selection rules; and if there are materials with pending cache duration limits, identifying these materials as at least one target material to be moved.

[0019] In this embodiment of the disclosure, by using a buffer rack to store materials whose storage time has exceeded the limit, the proportion of materials with excessive storage time in the buffer rack is reduced, thereby achieving the maintenance of the buffer rack and reducing the waste of materials in the buffer rack.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method further includes: determining whether there is an empty space in the discharge rack based on a first rack information table; if there is an empty space in the discharge rack, determining to place the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack; the target transport item includes at least the material and material carrier currently produced by the second process machine; if there is no empty space in the discharge rack, determining whether there is an empty space in the buffer rack; if there is an empty space in the buffer rack, determining to place the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the buffer rack.

[0021] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the transportation location information of the target transported object can be determined based on the first material rack information table. By sending the transportation location information of the target transported object to the automated guided vehicle (AGV), the AGV task can be automatically sent, thereby realizing the control of the AGV task. This can reduce the problem of excessive pressure on the AGV and transportation congestion caused by manually sending AGV tasks in a centralized manner.

[0022] In some embodiments, the method further includes: when the target transport object is the material currently being produced by the second process machine, after placing the target transport object in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack or buffer rack, determining the location information of the material currently being produced.

[0023] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the material information of the currently produced material is bound to the location of the material when the material is placed at the corresponding transportation location, thereby determining the material rack information.

[0024] In some embodiments, the method further includes: obtaining current rack information of the feeding racks of multiple first process machines; determining the material scheduling order of the multiple first process machines based on the current rack information of the feeding racks of the multiple first process machines; and determining that the automated guided vehicle will transport the target material to the multiple first process machines according to the material scheduling order.

[0025] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the material scheduling order of multiple first-process machines is determined by the current material rack information of the material racks of multiple first-process machines, so that the machines with faster consumption rates among the multiple first-process machines can obtain materials first, thereby realizing continuous production of the first-process machines.

[0026] In some embodiments, the method further includes: determining the quantitative relationship between the material produced by the second process machine and the material consumed by the first process machine based on the number of empty spaces in the infeed rack and the number of empty spaces in the discharge rack; if the amount of material produced by the second process machine is greater than the amount of material consumed by the first process machine, obtaining the number of tasks in transit of the automated guided vehicle; and determining the total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle by the sum of the number of tasks in transit and the number of racks in the buffer rack.

[0027] In this embodiment of the disclosure, when the material produced by the second process machine is greater than the material consumed by the first process machine, the total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle is determined so that the number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle remains constant. This reduces the occurrence of situations where the buffer rack is full due to excessive material being transported to the buffer rack, resulting in an imbalance in production capacity and forcing the second process machine or the first process machine to stop.

[0028] On the other hand, embodiments of this disclosure provide a material scheduling device applied to a central control system. The device includes: a first acquisition module configured to acquire material requisition information of a first process machine; a first determination module configured to determine, based on the material requisition information, the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from a first rack information table in a database; the first rack information table is used to store rack information of a buffer rack and rack information of an output rack of a second process machine; a deletion module configured to delete the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table and write the rack information into a second rack information table created for the input rack of the first process machine in the database; the second rack information table is used to store rack information of the input rack of the first process machine; and a generation module configured to generate a scheduling task sequence for an automated guided vehicle based on the rack information of at least one target material to complete material scheduling.

[0029] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer device including a memory and a processor. The memory stores a computer program that can run on the processor, and the processor executes the program to implement some or all of the steps in the above-described method.

[0030] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements some or all of the steps in the above-described method.

[0031] In another aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement some or all of the steps described above.

[0032] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary and explanatory, and are not intended to limit the technical solutions of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0033] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the specification, serve to illustrate the technical solutions of this disclosure.

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the information interaction method of the central control system provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a material scheduling method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a material scheduling method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a material scheduling method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a material scheduling method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of the material scheduling and winding process of a die-cutting equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of AGV transporting materials according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0041] Figure 6C is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of automatic posting from a die-cutting device to a winding device according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0042] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of a material scheduling device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0043] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the hardware entity of a computer device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0044] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this disclosure clearer, the technical solutions of this disclosure are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The described embodiments should not be regarded as limitations on this disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0045] In the following description, references are made to “some embodiments,” which describe a subset of all possible embodiments. However, it is understood that “some embodiments” may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict.

[0046] It should be noted that the terms "first, second, and third" used in the embodiments of this disclosure are merely to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific ordering of objects. It is understood that "first, second, and third" can be interchanged in a specific order or sequence where permitted, so that the embodiments of this disclosure described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein.

[0047] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which embodiments of this disclosure pertain. It should also be understood that terms such as those defined in general dictionaries should be understood to have a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless specifically defined as herein.

[0048] Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV): A transport vehicle equipped with electromagnetic or optical automatic guidance devices, capable of traveling along a prescribed guidance path, and possessing safety protection and various transplanting functions.

[0049] Manufacturing Execution System (MES): A shop floor-oriented management information system located between the upper-level planning and management system and the lower-level industrial control system. It provides operators / managers with information on plan execution, tracking, and the current status of all resources (people, equipment, materials, customer requirements, etc.).

[0050] With the rapid development of the process industry, the requirements for production efficiency of process equipment are becoming increasingly higher, while the demand for production costs is significantly reduced. This has led to the elimination of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS / RS) between multiple related processes. However, the elimination of AS / RS results in inconsistent production efficiencies among these processes. Furthermore, without the buffering effect of AS / RS, it is difficult to maintain the balance between production and consumption materials across these processes. Moreover, the lack of transparency regarding the production status of different processes can easily lead to material congestion and discrepancies between material inventory and accounting records.

[0051] In related technologies, during the battery cell manufacturing process, after materials are produced by the cold press and die-cutting machine on the production line, manual intervention is required to call AGVs to deliver the materials to the next process. The materials are then manually entered into the inventory records for the next process, ensuring accurate delivery to the required machine. However, manual material delivery to the next process is prone to problems such as material congestion and incorrect delivery due to a lack of understanding of the next process's production status. Furthermore, manual accounting can easily lead to discrepancies between materials and accounting records, and mismatches between anode and cathode materials of the same type.

[0052] The following describes the information interaction method of the central control system, as shown in Figure 1. It mainly includes the central control system 1, database 11, MES2, second-process machine 3, robotic arm 31, material discharge rack 32, second-process machine host computer 33, AGV 4, buffer rack 5, AGV 6, infeed rack 72, robotic arm 71, first-process machine 7, and first-process machine host computer 73. Database 11 in the central control system 1 stores the material information of the second-process machine 3. The central control system 1 communicates unidirectionally with MES2 to obtain the material information of the second-process machine 3 and the first-process machine 7. The central control system 1 interacts unidirectionally with the material discharge rack 32, buffer rack 5, and infeed rack 72 to obtain the rack information corresponding to each rack. The central control system 1 communicates with AGV 4 and AGV 6. 6. Two-way information interaction is used to complete the AGV transportation task of moving materials from the discharge rack 32 to the buffer rack 5, or to complete the AGV transportation task of moving materials from the discharge rack 32 or the buffer rack 5 to the infeed rack 72; the second process machine 3, the second process machine host computer 33 and MES2 are used to report the material information of the materials produced by the second process machine 3 to the MES2 system; the first process machine 7, the first process machine host computer 73 and MES2 are used to report the material information of the materials produced by the first process machine 7 to the MES2 system; the second process machine 3, the robotic arm 31 and the discharge rack 32 are used to move the materials produced by the second process machine 3 to the discharge rack 32; the first process machine 7, the robotic arm 71 and the infeed rack 72 are used to move the materials on the infeed rack 72 to the first process machine 7.

[0053] This disclosure provides a material scheduling method applied to a central control system, as shown in Figure 2. The method includes steps S201 to S204:

[0054] Step S201: Obtain the material requisition information of the first process machine;

[0055] Here, the first-stage machine is relative to the second-stage machine. In general production processes, there are certain production sequence constraints. The materials required for the first-stage machine's production are usually the products of the second-stage machine. Material requisition information refers to relevant information about the materials required for the first-stage machine's production.

[0056] For example, in the production of battery cells, the first machine in the process can be a winding machine. When the first machine in the process is a winding machine, the material requisition information can be the material type and the quantity of material required for each material type.

[0057] In some implementations, the material call information can be automatically generated by the first-process machine based on its current state, or it can be configured by the user in the relevant configuration interface.

[0058] For example, during battery cell production, users can configure the material calling information required for the first-stage machine on the material calling system of the central control system.

[0059] Step S202: Based on the material requisition information, determine the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the first rack information table in the database; the first rack information table is used to store the rack information of the buffer rack and the rack information of the discharge rack of the second process machine.

[0060] Here, a database refers to a system for storing, managing, and organizing data. It can be used to store, retrieve, update, and delete data, providing data reliability, consistency, and security. The first rack information table refers to a data table in the database; it's a structured data table used to store rack information for the buffer rack and the output rack information for the second-stage machine. Rack information includes material location information and material information. The buffer rack is a temporary rack used in the production process to store materials produced by the second-stage machine. In the battery process, the target material can be a battery, battery pack, battery module, or cell; no specific restrictions are placed here.

[0061] In some implementations, the material produced by the second process machine can be preferentially stored on the discharge rack of the second process machine. Then, when the discharge rack of the second process machine is full, the material on the discharge rack of the second process machine is transferred to the buffer rack. Alternatively, the material produced by the second process machine can be preferentially stored on the buffer rack. Then, when the buffer rack is full, the material currently produced by the second process machine is stored on the discharge rack of the second process machine.

[0062] In some implementations, when the material produced by the second process machine is placed on the buffer rack or the discharge rack, the material information of the material is bound to the location information of the rack where the material is located. Based on the material information of the material, the location information of the rack where the material is located can be obtained, or based on the location information of the rack, the material information of the material placed at the location of the rack can be obtained.

[0063] In some implementations, the first rack information table may include a field for distinguishing between a buffer rack and a discharge rack. For example, the field may be labeled with 0 and 1, where a field label of 0 indicates a discharge rack and a field label of 1 indicates a buffer rack.

[0064] Step S203: Delete the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table, and write the rack information into the second rack information table created for the infeed rack of the first process machine in the database; the second rack information table is used to store the rack information of the infeed rack of the first process machine.

[0065] Here, the second rack information table refers to a data table in the database, which is a structured data table used for the rack information of the feeding rack of the machine in the first process.

[0066] In some implementations, automatic posting between the first and second processes can be achieved by deleting the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table and writing the rack information of the target material to be transported into the second rack information table.

[0067] In some implementations, the method for deleting the rack information of the target material to be moved in the first rack information table can be as follows: A status field is set in the first rack information table to indicate the validity of the data. For example, 0 and 1 can be used to label the data validity, where a field label of 0 indicates that the data is valid, and a field label of 1 indicates that the data is invalid, indicating that the current data has been deleted from the data table. Another method for deleting the rack information of the target material to be moved in the first rack information table is to delete the corresponding data from the first rack information table. This method frees up storage space and reduces the table size by deleting the relevant data from the hard drive; however, data recovery using this method is difficult.

[0068] Step S204: Based on the rack information of at least one target material, generate a scheduling task sequence for the automated guided vehicle to complete the material scheduling.

[0069] In some implementations, after generating the scheduling task sequence of the automated guided vehicle (AGV), these tasks can be distributed to the AGV in an orderly manner. After receiving the scheduling task, the AGV will formulate a scheduling path according to the scheduling task, and then perform actions based on the environment perceived by sensors such as lidar and ultrasonic sensors and the formulated scheduling path, thereby completing the task of transporting the target material.

[0070] In this embodiment, firstly, the rack information of the target material to be transported is determined from the first rack information table corresponding to the second process machine based on the material call information of the first process machine. Then, the rack information of the target material is deleted from the first rack information table, and the rack information of the target material to be transported is written into the second rack information table corresponding to the first process machine, thereby realizing the automatic transfer of materials between the second process and the first process. Finally, the scheduling task sequence of the automated guided vehicle is generated based on the rack information of the target material. This method of transferring material information to the second rack information table corresponding to the first process machine and then generating scheduling tasks avoids the occurrence of mismatch between material accounts and actual material positions.

[0071] In some embodiments, before step S201 is executed, it is also necessary to store the relevant information of the currently produced materials into the first material rack information table. This method includes steps S2011 to S2012:

[0072] Step S2011: In response to the material update message sent by the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack respectively, obtain the material information and the position information of the material currently being produced by the machine in the second process.

[0073] Here, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a digital computing and operating electronic system specifically designed for industrial applications. It uses a programmable memory to store instructions for performing logical operations, sequential control, timing, counting, and arithmetic operations, and controls various types of mechanical equipment or production processes through digital or analog inputs and outputs.

[0074] In some implementations, a PLC is installed in both the discharge rack and the buffer rack to acquire rack position information and material information corresponding to the rack positions.

[0075] In some implementations, after the second process machine produces material, the robotic arm on the second process machine transports the currently produced material to the discharge rack. After the PLC installed on the discharge rack senses the material update on the rack, it obtains the rack position information of the currently produced material and the material information of the currently produced material, and then sends the material information and the material position information of the currently produced material to the central control system.

[0076] In some implementations, when the AGV moves the materials stored on the discharge rack to the buffer rack, the PLC installed on the discharge rack and the PLC installed on the buffer rack sense the update of the materials on the rack, obtain the update information of the corresponding rack, and send the obtained update information to the central control system.

[0077] In some implementations, after receiving material update messages from the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and buffer rack, the central control system parses the received messages to obtain the material information and position information of the material currently being produced by the second process machine.

[0078] Step S2012: Store the material information and location information in the first material rack information table.

[0079] In the above embodiments, the material currently produced by the second process machine is updated to the first material rack information table by sending material update messages through the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack, respectively. By monitoring and updating the first material rack information table, the material information of the second process machine can be managed.

[0080] In some embodiments, the implementation of step S202 may include steps S2021 and S2022:

[0081] Step S2021: Based on the material type, determine the set of candidate materials to be handled from the first rack information table;

[0082] In some implementations, the rack information for each material type can be determined from the first rack information table based on the material type in the material requisition information, thereby determining the candidate material set for each material type.

[0083] For example, if the material types include type 1 and type 2, then the rack information for type 1 and type 2 is determined from the first mapping table respectively.

[0084] Step S2022: Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, determine the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the candidate material set; the selection rules are characterized by the priority order of selecting target materials in the candidate material set.

[0085] Here, the selection rule refers to selecting materials from the candidate material set according to a certain priority.

[0086] In some implementations, the selection rules may include a first priority selection order, a second priority selection order, a third priority selection order, a fourth priority selection order, and a fifth priority selection order, wherein the first priority selection order may be materials that are about to expire, the second priority selection order may be materials whose buffering time has exceeded the limit, the third priority selection order may be materials whose buffering time is about to exceed the limit, the fourth priority selection order may be materials on the dispensing rack, and the fifth priority selection order may be materials on the buffer rack.

[0087] For example, if there are materials awaiting expiration on the discharge rack and the buffer rack, the materials awaiting expiration are identified as the first priority materials; if there are materials on the buffer rack whose buffering time has exceeded the limit, the materials whose buffering time has exceeded the limit are identified as the second priority materials; if there are materials on the buffer rack whose buffering time has yet to exceed the limit, the materials whose buffering time has yet to exceed the limit are identified as the third priority materials; if there are no materials awaiting expiration on the discharge rack, the materials are identified as the fourth priority materials; and if there are no materials awaiting expiration, materials whose buffering time has exceeded the limit, or materials whose buffering time has yet to exceed the limit on the buffer rack, the materials are identified as the fifth priority materials.

[0088] It should be noted that if there are expired materials on the discharge rack and / or buffer rack, the expired materials cannot be used as production materials for the first process machine, and therefore need to be removed from the rack. Furthermore, if it is determined that there are materials nearing expiration on the discharge rack and buffer rack, the central control system can also output an early warning for materials nearing expiration.

[0089] The above embodiments propose a method for determining the rack information of the target material. The target material determined by the selection rules can ensure that the materials in the discharge rack and buffer rack can be used by the first process machine within the validity period.

[0090] In some embodiments, the selection rule is characterized as prioritizing the selection of materials to be expired from the candidate material set. The implementation of step S2022 can be as follows: based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rule, determine whether there are materials to be expired from the candidate material set; if there are materials to be expired, determine the materials to be expired as at least one target material to be transported.

[0091] In some implementations, the determination of whether a material is due to expire can be based on its production time and shelf life. For example, the duration of the expected expiration can be 3 days.

[0092] For example, if the material was produced on April 12th, has a shelf life of one month, and the current date is May 10th, then the material is determined to be in a state of impending expiration.

[0093] In some implementations, the warning level of the system's output alarm for materials nearing their expiration date can be determined based on the duration of the material's delay.

[0094] For example, if the material was produced on April 12th, has a shelf life of 1 month, and the current date is May 10th, then the material is determined to be a Level 3 alarm for the pending expiration alarm; if the material was produced on April 12th, has a shelf life of 1 month, and the current date is May 11th, then the material is determined to be a Level 2 alarm for the pending expiration alarm; and if the material was produced on April 12th, has a shelf life of 1 month, and the current date is May 12th, then the material is determined to be a Level 1 alarm for the pending expiration alarm.

[0095] In the above embodiments, by identifying the materials that are about to expire from the candidate material set as the target materials, the waste of materials in the discharge rack and buffer rack is reduced, and the utilization rate of materials in the discharge rack and buffer rack is improved.

[0096] In some embodiments, the selection rules, from high to low priority, include: materials to be expired, materials with cache duration exceeding the limit, and the implementation of step S2022 can also be as follows: if there are no materials to be expired in the candidate material set or the number of materials to be expired does not meet the order quantity, based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, determine whether there are materials with cache duration exceeding the limit from the candidate material set; if there are materials with cache duration exceeding the limit, determine the materials with cache duration exceeding the limit as at least one target material to be handled.

[0097] In some implementations, if there are no materials to be expired (first priority materials) in the candidate material set, it is determined whether there are second priority materials in the candidate material set; or, if the number of materials to be expired is less than the number of materials requested in the request information, it is determined whether there are second priority materials in the candidate material set.

[0098] For example, if the required quantity of material A is 10, and 5 of them are overdue, it is necessary to determine whether there is a material set of material A with an expired cache duration. If there is a material set of material A with an expired cache duration, the required quantity of material A is obtained from the corresponding material set.

[0099] In some implementations, the determination of whether a material has exceeded the cache duration limit can be based on the material's entry time into the warehouse and the storage duration of the material on the cache rack.

[0100] For example, if the material was received into the warehouse at 13:00 on April 12, the storage time for the buffer rack is 3 days, and the current date is 14:00 on April 15, then the material is determined to be in a state of exceeding the buffer time limit.

[0101] In the above embodiments, by prioritizing the use of materials that have exceeded the storage time limit in the buffer rack, the proportion of materials that have been stored for too long in the buffer rack is reduced, thus achieving the maintenance of the buffer rack and reducing the waste of materials in the buffer rack.

[0102] In some embodiments, the selection rules, from high to low priority, include: materials to be expired, materials with cached duration exceeding the limit, and materials with cached duration to be exceeded. The implementation of step S2022 can also be as follows: if there are no materials with cached duration exceeding the limit in the candidate material set or the number of materials with cached duration exceeding the limit does not meet the order quantity, based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, determine whether there are materials with cached duration to be exceeded in the candidate material set; if there are materials with cached duration to be exceeded, determine the materials with cached duration to be exceeded as at least one target material to be handled.

[0103] In some implementations, if there are no materials in the candidate material set that have exceeded the buffer time limit (second priority selection materials), it is determined whether there are third priority selection materials in the candidate material set; or, if the number of materials that have exceeded the buffer time limit is less than the number of materials requested in the request information, it is determined whether there are third priority selection materials in the candidate material set.

[0104] For example, if the required quantity of material A is 10, and it is determined that there are 5 materials A that are about to expire and 2 materials A that have exceeded the cache time limit, then it is also necessary to determine whether there is a material set of materials A that have exceeded the cache time limit. If there is a material set of materials A that have exceeded the cache time limit, then the required quantity of materials is obtained from the corresponding material set.

[0105] In some implementations, the determination of whether a material's cache duration is about to exceed the limit can be based on the material's entry time into the warehouse and the storage time of the material's cache rack. For example, the cache duration to be determined can be 5 hours.

[0106] For example, if the material was received into the warehouse at 13:00 on April 12, the storage time for the buffer rack is 3 days, and the current date is 10:00 on April 15, then the material is determined to be in a state where the buffer time is about to exceed the limit.

[0107] In the above embodiments, by using the buffer rack to store materials whose storage time has exceeded the limit, the proportion of materials with excessive storage time in the buffer rack is reduced, thereby achieving the maintenance of the buffer rack and reducing the waste of materials in the buffer rack.

[0108] This disclosure provides a material scheduling method applied to a central control system, as shown in Figure 3. The method includes steps S301 to S304:

[0109] Step S301: Based on the first material rack information table, determine whether there is an empty space in the discharge material rack;

[0110] In some implementations, the PLC of the discharge rack acquires the current status data of the discharge rack and then transmits the acquired current status data to the central control system. After receiving the relevant data, the central control system transmits the data to the first rack information table.

[0111] In some implementations, the central control system determines whether there are empty spaces in the discharge rack based on whether there is associated material information at the position of each rack in the first rack information table.

[0112] For example, in the first rack information table, there are rack positions A and rack positions B. Material is stored in rack position A, and there is relevant material information in the data row of rack position A in the first rack information. Furthermore, the central control system determines that no material is placed in rack position B by reading the data in the first rack information table.

[0113] Step S302: If there is an empty space in the discharge rack, determine to place the target transported item in the corresponding empty space of the discharge rack; the target transported item includes at least the material and material carrier currently produced by the second process machine;

[0114] Here, when the target transport object is a material carrier, the empty material carrier on the feed rack of the first process machine is transported to the discharge rack of the second process machine.

[0115] In some implementations, the PLC of the feeding rack acquires the current status data of the feeding rack and then transmits the acquired current status data to the central control system. After receiving the relevant data, the central control system transmits the data to the second feeding rack information table.

[0116] In some implementations, the central control system determines whether there is an empty material carrier in the feed rack based on whether there is associated material information at the position of each rack in the second rack information table.

[0117] For example, in the second rack information table, there are rack positions A1 and B1. Material is stored in rack position A1, and there is relevant material information in the data row of rack position A1 in the first rack information. Furthermore, the central control system determines that there is an empty material carrier in rack position B1 by reading the data in the second rack information table.

[0118] In some implementations, the central control system sends the location information of empty material carriers on the infeed rack to the AGV. Upon receiving the message, the AGV retrieves the material carrier from the corresponding location. Then, upon receiving the location information of empty material carriers on the discharge rack from the central control system, the AGV transports the material carrier to the corresponding location on the discharge rack.

[0119] For example, the material rack position with an empty carrier in the infeed rack is B1, and the material rack position with an empty space in the discharge rack is B. After receiving the relevant position information, the AGV will first go to the material rack position B1 of the infeed rack to retrieve the material carrier, and then place the material carrier at the material rack position B of the discharge rack.

[0120] In some implementations, when the target transported item is the material currently being produced by the second process machine, and if it is determined that there is an empty space on the discharge rack, the central control system will send the rack position information of the material on the discharge rack to the robotic arm of the second process machine. After receiving the message, the robotic arm will transport the currently produced material to the corresponding position on the discharge rack.

[0121] Step S303: If there is no empty space in the discharge rack, determine whether there is an empty space in the buffer rack;

[0122] In some implementations, the PLC of the buffer rack acquires the current status data of the buffer rack, and then transmits the acquired current status data to the central control system. After receiving the relevant data, the central control system transmits the data to the first rack information table.

[0123] In some implementations, the central control system determines whether there are empty spaces in the discharge rack based on whether there is associated material information at the position of each rack in the first rack information table.

[0124] For example, in the first rack information table, there are rack positions C and rack positions D. Material is stored in rack position C, and there is relevant material information in the data row of rack position C in the first rack information. Furthermore, the central control system determines that no material is placed in rack position D by reading the data in the first rack information table.

[0125] Step S304: If there is an empty space in the buffer rack, determine to place the target transport item in the corresponding empty space of the buffer rack.

[0126] Here, when the target transport object is a material carrier, the empty material carrier on the feed rack of the first process machine is transported to the discharge rack of the second process machine.

[0127] In some implementations, the central control system sends the location information of empty material carriers on the buffer rack to the AGV. Upon receiving the message, the AGV retrieves the material carrier from the corresponding location. Then, upon receiving the location information of empty buffer racks from the central control system, the AGV transports the material carrier to the corresponding location on the buffer rack.

[0128] For example, the location of the empty carrier in the feed rack is B1, and the location of the empty space in the buffer rack is D1. After receiving the relevant location information, the AGV will first go to the location B1 of the feed rack to retrieve the material carrier, and then place the material carrier at the location D1 of the buffer rack.

[0129] Here, when the target transport item is the material currently being produced, the material on the feed rack of the second process machine is transported to the buffer rack.

[0130] In some implementations, the central control system sends the location of the material rack containing materials to the AGV. After receiving the message, the AGV retrieves the materials from the corresponding location. Then, when it receives the location information of an empty rack from the buffer rack, it transports the materials to the corresponding location on the buffer rack.

[0131] For example, the rack position of the carrier containing material in the feed rack is C, and the rack position with empty space in the buffer rack is D1. After receiving the relevant location information, the AGV will first go to the rack position C of the feed rack to retrieve the material, and then place the material carrier at the rack position D1 of the buffer rack.

[0132] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the transportation location information of the target transported object can be determined based on the first material rack information table. By sending the transportation location information of the target transported object to the automated guided vehicle (AGV), the AGV task can be automatically sent, thereby realizing the control of the AGV task. This reduces the problem of excessive pressure on the AGV and transportation congestion caused by manually sending AGV tasks.

[0133] In some embodiments, the method may further include: if the target transport item is the material currently being produced by the second process machine, after placing the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack or buffer rack, determining the location information of the material currently being produced.

[0134] In the above embodiments, the material currently being produced is placed at the corresponding transportation location, and the material information of the current material is bound to the location of the material, thereby determining the material rack information.

[0135] This disclosure provides a material scheduling method applied to a central control system, as shown in Figure 4. The method includes steps S401 to S403:

[0136] Step S401: Obtain the current rack information of the feed racks of multiple first-process machines;

[0137] In some implementations, a first-process machine is provided in the production process, and the first-process machine may be equipped with a feeding rack; a first-process machine is provided in the production process, and the first-process machine may be equipped with multiple feeding racks; a multiple first-process machine is provided in the production process, and each first-process machine may be equipped with a feeding rack; a multiple first-process machine is provided in the production process, and each first-process machine may be equipped with multiple feeding racks.

[0138] For example, taking multiple first-process machines, each of which can be configured with a feeding rack, as an example, after the PLC on the feeding rack of each first-process machine obtains the rack information of the corresponding rack, it transmits the rack information to the central control system. In this way, the central control system can obtain the current rack information of the feeding racks of multiple first-process machines.

[0139] Step S402: Based on the current rack information of the feeding racks of multiple first-process machines, determine the material scheduling sequence of multiple first-process machines;

[0140] In some implementations, the central control system may determine the material scheduling sequence by the current number of empty slots in the feed rack of each first-process machine; or it may determine the material scheduling sequence by the material consumption rate of each first-process machine over a period of time.

[0141] In implementation, the specific method for determining the material scheduling order based on the current number of empty slots in the feed racks of each first-process machine is as follows: The central control system determines the number of empty slots in the feed racks based on the current rack information of multiple first-process machines, and then sorts the empty slots from largest to smallest. This order is used to determine the material scheduling order. Alternatively, the specific method for determining the material scheduling order based on the material consumption rate of each first-process machine over a period of time is as follows: The central control system determines the material consumption rate of the feed racks of each first-process machine within a preset time period based on the rack information of multiple first-process machines, and then sorts the material consumption rates from largest to smallest. This order is used to determine the material scheduling order.

[0142] For example, in a production process, there are four first-stage machines: machine D1, machine D2, machine D3, and machine D4. Each of these four machines is equipped with a material feed rack. Machine D1 has three empty feed rack positions, machine D2 has two, machine D3 has five, and machine D4 has six. Therefore, the material scheduling sequence can be determined as: machine D4, machine D3, machine D1, machine D2.

[0143] In the production process, there are four first-stage machines: D1, D2, D3, and D4. Each of these four machines is equipped with a material feed rack. The material consumption rate in the feed rack of machine D1 within 10 minutes is 4, in machine D2 it is 2, in machine D3 it is 5, and in machine D4 it is 6. Therefore, the material scheduling sequence can be determined as: D4, D3, D1, D2. One method to determine the consumption rate is the change in the number of empty material rack positions of the feed rack of the first process machine over 10 minutes. For example, if there are 4 empty material rack positions at the current moment and 7 empty material rack positions after 10 minutes, then the consumption rate is 3.

[0144] Step S403: Determine that the automated guided vehicle will transport the target material to multiple first-process machines according to the material scheduling sequence.

[0145] In some implementations, when determining that the automated guided vehicle will transport the target material to multiple first-process machines according to the material scheduling sequence, it is also necessary to determine the location information of the target feed rack of the target material to the multiple first-process machines.

[0146] In some implementations, determining the location information of the target material to be transported to the target feed rack of multiple first process machines may include: determining whether there is an empty space among the multiple feed racks based on a second feed rack information table; and if there is an empty space among the multiple feed racks, determining to move the target material to the empty space corresponding to the feed rack.

[0147] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the material scheduling order of multiple first-process machines is determined by the current material rack information of the material racks of multiple first-process machines, so that the machines with faster consumption rates among the multiple first-process machines can obtain materials first, thereby realizing continuous production of the first-process machines.

[0148] This disclosure provides a material scheduling method applied to a central control system, as shown in Figure 5. The method includes steps S501 to S504:

[0149] Step S501: Based on the number of empty spaces in the feed rack and the number of empty spaces in the discharge rack, determine the quantitative relationship between the material produced by the second process machine and the material consumed by the first process machine;

[0150] Here, after the machine runs continuously, the following states may occur: the material produced by the second process machine is more than the material consumed by the first process machine; the material produced by the second process machine is equal to the material consumed by the first process machine; and the material produced by the second process machine is less than the material consumed by the first process machine.

[0151] In some implementations, if the number of empty slots in the feed rack is less than the sum of the number of empty slots in the buffer rack and the discharge rack, it is determined that the amount of material produced by the second process machine is greater than the amount of material consumed by the first process machine; if the number of empty slots in the feed rack is greater than the number of empty slots in the discharge rack, it is determined that the amount of material produced by the second process machine is less than the amount of material consumed by the first process machine; if the number of empty slots in the feed rack is equal to the number of empty slots in the discharge rack, it is determined that the amount of material produced by the second process machine is equal to the amount of material consumed by the first process machine.

[0152] Step S502: If the amount of material produced by the machine in the second process is greater than the amount of material consumed by the machine in the first process, obtain the number of tasks in transit of the automated guided vehicle.

[0153] In some implementations, the central control system can obtain the number of AGVs performing transportation tasks based on the status data of the AGVs reported by the AGV controller.

[0154] Step S503: The total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle is determined by the sum of the number of tasks in transit and the number of racks in the buffer rack.

[0155] In this embodiment of the disclosure, when the material produced by the second process machine is greater than the material consumed by the first process machine, the total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle is determined so that the number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle remains constant. This reduces the occurrence of situations where the buffer rack is full due to excessive material being transported to the buffer rack, resulting in an imbalance in production capacity and forcing the second process machine or the first process machine to stop.

[0156] The material scheduling method will be described below with reference to a specific embodiment. For ease of understanding, the winding equipment is taken as the first process machine, the die-cutting equipment as the second process machine, the die-cutting material rack as the output material rack, and the winding material rack as the input material rack as an example to introduce the possible process applicable to the embodiments of this disclosure. However, it is worth noting that this specific embodiment is only for better illustration of this disclosure and does not constitute an improper limitation of this disclosure.

[0157] This disclosure provides a system for material management and real-time scheduling of logistics equipment in a battery cell workshop. It is primarily used for material management from the die-cutting to the winding process on a battery production line. The system comprises hardware equipment and an information system, as shown in Figure 1. The hardware equipment includes die-cutting equipment (second-process machine), robotic arms, AGVs, and material racks, used to collect key data such as operating parameters and fault information of the hardware equipment. The information system includes a central control system, used to monitor and optimize the scheduling of the hardware equipment based on the collected operating parameter data. It can also manage the flow of materials and the allocation of AGV tasks. Furthermore, the material rack information of the materials produced by the die-cutting equipment is uploaded to the virtual library (database) of the central control system, while the material requisition information required by the winding equipment is configured through the corresponding configuration module in the central control system, thereby enabling the system to control materials and AGV tasks.

[0158] As shown in Figure 6A, the specific implementation of material dispatching from the die-cutting equipment to the winding equipment may include steps S601 to S609:

[0159] Step S601: Unloading the material from the machine;

[0160] Here, "machine" refers to the die-cutting equipment, and "machine unloading" refers to placing the materials produced by the die-cutting equipment onto the die-cutting rack using a robotic arm.

[0161] Step S602: Does the MES transmit material information to the central control unit?

[0162] Here, if yes, proceed to step S604; otherwise, proceed to step S603.

[0163] After producing the material, the die-cutting equipment transmits the material information to its host computer via the PLC. Upon receiving the material information, the host computer sends it to the MES (Manufacturing Execution System), which in turn sends it to the central control system. The material information includes material type, anode and cathode, film roll number, thickness, width (die width), material inventory status (whether the material has expired), and production time.

[0164] Step S603: Manually input material information using a handheld PAD;

[0165] Here, the handheld PAD refers to an industrial handheld device used for data acquisition, barcode scanning and recognition, warehouse inventory management, and inbound / outbound management. The handheld PAD integrates a processor, operating system, memory storage, and human-machine interface, enabling functions such as data acquisition, data recognition, information processing, data storage, and data transmission.

[0166] If the determination in step S602 is negative, the material information of the materials that were not successfully reported to the central control system can be manually entered through a handheld PAD. After the entry is completed, the handheld PAD will send the entered material information to the central control system.

[0167] Step S604: The central control system enters the material information into the virtual database;

[0168] Here, the MES or handheld PAD sends material information to the central control system. After receiving the material information, the central control system stores the material information in the relevant data table in the virtual library of the central control system.

[0169] Step S605: The central control system determines whether the first process requires materials;

[0170] Here, if yes, proceed to step S608; otherwise, proceed to step S606.

[0171] The first process refers to the winding equipment. The material requirements for the winding equipment are manually configured by the central control system's material requisition configuration module based on the production needs and time schedule of the current batch of battery cells. After the manual configuration of the material requisition information for the winding equipment, the central control system receives the requisition information, which includes parameters such as the model, quantity, and properties of the required materials.

[0172] Step S606: The AGV delivers the material into the buffer rack;

[0173] Here, if there is no material requirement in the first process, the AGV will move the material from the die-cutting rack of the die-cutting equipment to the buffer rack.

[0174] Step S607: The central control system determines that the first process is short of materials;

[0175] During equipment operation, there may be a shortage of materials in the winding equipment. In this case, the winding equipment will send information such as the model, quantity, and properties of the missing materials to the central control system to determine that there is a shortage of materials in the winding equipment.

[0176] Step S608: The central control system automatically posts the funds to the first process.

[0177] Here, when the winding equipment has a material requirement or is short of material, the material information of the required material must first be automatically posted to the corresponding database or data table of the winding equipment.

[0178] When the winding equipment has a material requirement, the central control system, upon receiving the material request information, searches the virtual database for available materials and corresponding rack information, including rack number, material type, anode and cathode, film roll number, thickness, width, material inventory status, and production time.

[0179] Here, we will first introduce the fields that can be included in the material rack information table in the virtual database and the values ​​of the fields. The fields included in the data table are: material rack number, region, material type, mold roll number, quantity, thickness, film width, posting status, inventory status, inbound time, creation time, warning time, overdue time, update time, remarks, and material code. Among them, the values ​​of material type include: bright side clockwise, bright side counterclockwise, dark side clockwise, and dark side counterclockwise. The values ​​of posting status include: successful inbound, failed inbound, successful outbound, failed outbound, and failed outbound writing to the material rack. The values ​​of inventory status include: normal inventory, abnormal posting, abnormal information, handling task, and material overdue.

[0180] Therefore, material information can be queried in the material rack information table by entering an SQL statement. For example, to query cathode material type 88 with a film width between 0-136, a thickness between 0-88, and a production time between 2024 / 4 / 7 0:00:00 and 2024 / 4 / 7 23:59:59, the implementation logic of the SQL statement entered in the virtual database is as follows: The Select query statement queries the material information in the material rack information table, restricting it to material type 88, film width between 0-136, thickness between 0-88, and production time between 2024 / 4 / 7 0:00:00 and 2024 / 4 / 7 23:59:59, and displays the materials in reverse order of their update time. The conditional restrictions on material information can be implemented using the WHERE clause.

[0181] It should be noted that the central control system also manages incoming materials, facilitating material inventory and obtaining information on materials exceeding their expiration dates. The central control system's management mainly includes: 1) The central control system first transmits material information to the corresponding database or data table of the winding equipment, and then the central control equipment issues tasks to the AGVs for the winding equipment, avoiding mismatches between material records and actual material locations. 2) The central control system obtains production time from the MES and issues overdue warnings. 3) Management of buffer racks; for example, materials stored on buffer racks are typically stored for 6 hours, and the scheduled task of transporting materials from the die-cutting rack to the buffer rack is generally set to start at 0:00. 4) Material scheduling priority: materials nearing expiration on buffer racks and die-cutting racks have the first priority; materials on buffer racks with exceeded buffer time limits have the second priority; materials on buffer racks with pending expired buffer time limits have the third priority; materials on die-cutting racks have the fourth priority; and materials on buffer racks have the fifth priority.

[0182] Step S609: The AGV issues a task to transport materials to the first process.

[0183] Here, the central control system issues a task to the AGV to retrieve materials from the die-cutting area based on the material requisition information and the material rack information. The AGV follows the instructions to the die-cutting rack, locates the corresponding material and rack, and transports it to the winding area. The winding equipment receives the material, processes or uses it, and after completing the task, the PLC returns the empty roll pallet to the AGV. The AGV returns the empty roll pallet to the die-cutting area. The central control system prioritizes returning the empty roll pallet to the die-cutting rack; once the die-cutting rack is full, it returns the empty roll pallet to the buffer rack, then prepares for the next round of material handling tasks.

[0184] As shown in Figure 6B, the implementation of AGV material transportation includes steps S6091 to S6100:

[0185] Step S6091: AGV task generation;

[0186] Here, the following conditions must be met for AGV task generation: 1) The materials in the die-cutting rack need material type information; 2) The materials in the die-cutting rack need to have accounting information; 3) The rotating rack (winding rack) needs to have empty racks.

[0187] Step S6092: The AGV retrieves material from the die-cutting rack of the die-cutting equipment;

[0188] Here, the central control system determines the target shelf location information for the AGV to acquire materials based on the shelf information sent by the PLC of the die-cutting equipment. Then, it sends the target shelf location information to the AGV, and the AGV acquires the corresponding material from the target shelf location after receiving the information.

[0189] Step S6093: The AGV places the material onto the rotating rack of the winding equipment;

[0190] Here, the central control system determines the target rotating rack position information for the AGV to place the material on the rotating rack based on the rack information sent by the PLC of the rotating rack of the winding equipment. Then, the target rotating rack position information is sent to the AGV. After receiving the information, the AGV will retrieve the corresponding material from the target rack position and transport it to the target rotating rack position.

[0191] Step S6094: The central control system determines whether there is an empty roll pallet in the rotating material rack;

[0192] Here, the central control system interacts with the PLC of the rotating material rack. The PLC of the rotating material rack sends its rack information to the central control system, which then determines whether there are empty roll pallets in the rotating material rack group based on this information. If yes, proceed to step S6095; otherwise, end the process.

[0193] Step S6095: Empty drum pallet in the AGV material handling rack assembly;

[0194] Here, when the central control system determines that there is an empty roll pallet in the rotating material rack, it sends the location information of the empty roll pallet to the AGV. After receiving the location information, the AGV goes to the corresponding location to retrieve the empty roll pallet.

[0195] Step S6096: The central control system determines whether there are empty spaces in the die-cutting rack;

[0196] Here, the central control system interacts with the PLC of the die-cutting rack. That is, the PLC of the die-cutting rack sends the rack information of the die-cutting rack to the central control system. The central control system determines whether there is an empty space in the die-cutting rack based on the rack information. If yes, it proceeds to step S6100; otherwise, it proceeds to step S6097.

[0197] Step S6097: The central control system determines whether there are empty spaces in the buffer rack;

[0198] Here, the central control system interacts with the PLC of the buffer rack. That is, the PLC of the buffer rack sends the rack information of the buffer rack to the central control system. The central control system determines whether there is an empty space in the buffer rack based on the rack information. If yes, it proceeds to step S6099; otherwise, it proceeds to step S6098.

[0199] Step S6098: Manually check the total number of roll trays;

[0200] Here, the total number of roll pallets in the current equipment room is compared with the number of buffer rack positions and the number of die-cutting rack positions. If the total number of roll pallets in the equipment room is greater than the sum of the number of buffer rack positions and the number of die-cutting rack positions, the number of roll pallets currently placed in the equipment room needs to be reduced.

[0201] Step S6099: The AGV returns the empty roll pallet to the buffer rack, ending the process;

[0202] Here, when the central control system determines that there is an empty space in the buffer rack, it sends the empty space information to the AGV. Upon receiving the empty space information from the buffer rack, the AGV transports the empty roll pallet to the empty space in the buffer rack.

[0203] Step S6100: The AGV returns the empty roll pallet to the die-cutting machine, ending the process.

[0204] Here, when the central control system determines that there is an empty space on the die-cutting rack, it sends the empty space information to the AGV. Upon receiving the empty space information from the die-cutting rack, the AGV transports the empty roll pallet to the empty space on the die-cutting storage rack.

[0205] As shown in Figure 6C, the method for automatically transferring funds from the die-cutting equipment to the winding equipment may include steps S611 to S618:

[0206] Step S611: Unloading the material from the machine;

[0207] Here, "machine" refers to the die-cutting equipment, and "machine unloading" refers to placing the materials produced by the die-cutting equipment onto the die-cutting rack using a robotic arm.

[0208] Step S612: Upload materials to the MES system;

[0209] Here, the host computer of the die-cutting equipment will transmit the materials produced by the die-cutting equipment to the MES system.

[0210] Step S613: Can the central control system retrieve information from the MES system?

[0211] Here, if yes, proceed to step S615; otherwise, proceed to step S614.

[0212] The central control system queries the material information uploaded by the die-cutting equipment in the MES system. If the information is not found, it indicates that there is a problem with the material information and manual confirmation is required.

[0213] Step S614: Manual confirmation of material errors;

[0214] Step S615: The central control system stores the material information in the virtual database;

[0215] Here, assuming there are no issues with the material information in the MES system, the relevant material information can be uploaded to the virtual library of the central control system.

[0216] Step S616: The central control system determines whether the first process requires materials;

[0217] Here, if yes, proceed to step S619; otherwise, proceed to step S617.

[0218] Step S617: The central control system confirms that the material information is still in the virtual warehouse;

[0219] Step S618: After the first process has a material requirement, the relevant material information is transferred to the first process;

[0220] Here, for material information stored in the virtual library of the central control system, if there is a material requirement for the winding equipment in the relevant material information, the corresponding material information needs to be sent to the data table of the winding equipment.

[0221] Step S619: The central control system automatically transfers the funds to the first process.

[0222] It should be noted that after the equipment runs continuously, the following states may occur: the die-cutting equipment produces more material than the winding equipment consumes; the die-cutting equipment produces the same amount of material as the winding equipment consumes; the die-cutting equipment produces less material than the winding equipment consumes; and the wires of multiple winding equipment consume different amounts of the same material.

[0223] When the die-cutting equipment produces more material than the winding equipment consumes, the central control system sets a total number of AGV tasks based on the number of AGV tasks in transit and the number of buffer racks. This prevents excessive tasks from being assigned at once, which could lead to overloaded buffer racks, causing a production imbalance and forcing the equipment to stop. Conversely, when the die-cutting equipment produces the same amount of material as the winding equipment, for every piece of material consumed by the winding equipment, the central control system issues a scheduling task, causing the winding equipment to receive the material transported from the die-cutting equipment by the AGV. This ensures that the production of the die-cutting equipment is equal to the material consumed by the winding equipment. The material produced by the die-cutting equipment and the material consumed by the winding equipment are kept in balance, thereby achieving a balance in production capacity between the two equipment. When the material produced by the die-cutting equipment is less than the material consumed by the winding equipment, the material buffer rack can be activated to enable the winding equipment to continue production. When the consumption of the same material is unequal on the production lines corresponding to multiple winding equipment, the central control system monitors the rotating rack of the winding equipment to determine the production status of the winding equipment. Based on the production status, the winding equipment that runs out of material first is given material first, thereby enabling the winding equipment that consumes material the fastest to continue production.

[0224] Based on the above implementation process, the material scheduling method proposed in this disclosure can achieve coordinated management of materials and AGV tasks, reducing the excessive pressure and congestion on AGVs caused by manual centralized scheduling. Through intelligent scheduling of the central control system and real-time updates of material information, the number of AGVs can be kept balanced, thereby improving production efficiency and equipment utilization. The following beneficial effects can be obtained based on this disclosure:

[0225] 1. Capable of real-time monitoring of hardware device status and operation. By acquiring key data such as operating parameters and fault information from sensors and device uploads, the system can feed this data back to the hardware device, enabling real-time monitoring of its status and operation.

[0226] 2. It enables different processes to understand the production status of related processes, thus better promoting coordination between processes and improving production efficiency.

[0227] 3. It can automatically post related processes, avoiding the occurrence of mismatch between material accounts and the actual location of materials.

[0228] 4. It can automatically issue AGV tasks, avoiding problems such as AGV congestion and material delivery errors that can easily occur when AGVs receive tasks at the same time.

[0229] Based on the foregoing embodiments, this disclosure provides a schematic diagram of the composition structure of a material scheduling device. The device includes various modules and units included in each module, which can be implemented by a processor in a computer device; of course, it can also be implemented by specific logic circuits. In the implementation process, the processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor unit (MPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.

[0230] This disclosure provides a schematic diagram of the composition of a material scheduling device, applied to a central control system, as shown in Figure 7. The material scheduling device 700 includes:

[0231] The first acquisition module 701 is configured to acquire the material call information of the first process machine.

[0232] The first determining module 702 is configured to determine the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the first rack information table in the database based on the material call information; the first rack information table is used to store the rack information of the buffer rack and the rack information of the discharge rack of the second process machine.

[0233] The deletion module 703 is configured to delete the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table, and to write the rack information into the second rack information table created for the infeed rack of the first process machine in the database; the second rack information table is used to store the rack information of the infeed rack of the first process machine.

[0234] The generation module 704 is configured to generate a scheduling task sequence for the automated guided vehicle based on the rack information of at least one target material, so as to complete the material scheduling.

[0235] In some embodiments, before acquiring the material call information of the first process machine, the device further includes: a second acquisition module, configured to acquire material information and material location information of the material currently being produced by the second process machine in response to material update messages sent by the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack respectively; and a storage module, configured to store the material information and the location information in the first rack information table.

[0236] In some embodiments, the first determining module includes: a first determining unit configured to determine a set of candidate materials to be transported from a first rack information table based on material type; and a second determining unit configured to determine rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the set of candidate materials based on a selection rule preset in the central control system; wherein the selection rule is characterized as the priority order of selecting target materials in the set of candidate materials.

[0237] In some embodiments, the second determining unit includes: a first determining subunit configured to determine whether there are materials to be expired from the candidate material set based on the rack information and selection rules corresponding to the candidate material set; and a second determining subunit configured to determine the materials to be expired as at least one target material to be transported if there are materials to be expired.

[0238] In some embodiments, the second determining unit includes: a third determining subunit, configured to determine whether there are materials with exceeded buffer time limits in the candidate material set based on the rack information and selection rules corresponding to the candidate material set when there are no materials to be expired or the number of materials to be expired does not meet the material call quantity; and a fourth determining subunit, configured to determine the materials with exceeded buffer time limits as at least one target material to be transported when there are materials with exceeded buffer time limits.

[0239] In some embodiments, the second determining unit includes: a fifth determining subunit, configured to determine whether there are materials with cache durations exceeding the limit in the candidate material set, based on the rack information and selection rules corresponding to the candidate material set, if there are no materials with cache durations exceeding the limit or the number of materials with cache durations exceeding the limit does not meet the order quantity; and a sixth determining subunit, configured to determine the materials with cache durations exceeding the limit as at least one target material to be handled if there are materials with cache durations exceeding the limit.

[0240] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a second determining module configured to determine whether there is an empty space in the discharge rack based on a first rack information table; a third determining module configured to determine, if there is an empty space in the discharge rack, to place the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack; the target transport item includes at least the material currently produced by the second process machine and the material carrier; a fourth determining module configured to determine whether there is an empty space in the buffer rack if there is no empty space in the discharge rack; and a fifth determining module configured to determine, if there is an empty space in the buffer rack, to place the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the buffer rack.

[0241] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes a sixth determining module, configured to determine the location information of the currently produced material after placing the target transport object in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack or buffer rack when the target transport object is the material currently being produced by the second process machine.

[0242] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a third acquisition module configured to acquire current rack information of the feeding racks of a plurality of first process machines; a seventh determination module configured to determine the material scheduling order of the plurality of first process machines based on the current rack information of the feeding racks of the plurality of first process machines; and an eighth determination module configured to determine that the automated guided vehicle will transport the target material to the plurality of first process machines in accordance with the material scheduling order.

[0243] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a ninth determining module configured to determine the quantitative relationship between the material produced by the second process machine and the material consumed by the first process machine based on the number of empty spaces in the infeed rack and the number of empty spaces in the discharge rack; a fourth obtaining module configured to obtain the number of in-transit tasks of the automated guided vehicle when the number of materials produced by the second process machine is greater than the number of materials consumed by the first process machine; and a tenth determining module configured to determine the total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle by summing the number of in-transit tasks with the number of racks in the buffer rack.

[0244] The descriptions of the apparatus embodiments above are similar to those of the method embodiments above, and have similar beneficial effects. In some embodiments, the functions or modules included in the apparatus provided by this disclosure can be configured to perform the methods described in the method embodiments above. For technical details not disclosed in the apparatus embodiments of this disclosure, please refer to the descriptions of the method embodiments of this disclosure for understanding.

[0245] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this disclosure, if the above methods are implemented as software functional modules and sold or used as independent products, they can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure, or the parts that contribute to related technologies, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the methods of the various embodiments of this disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), magnetic disks, or optical disks. Thus, the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to any specific hardware, software, or firmware, or any combination of hardware, software, and firmware.

[0246] This disclosure provides a computer device including a memory and a processor. The memory stores a computer program that can run on the processor. When the processor executes the program, it implements some or all of the steps in the above-described method.

[0247] This disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements some or all of the steps in the above-described method. The computer-readable storage medium can be transient or non-transient.

[0248] This disclosure provides a computer program including computer-readable code. When the computer-readable code is executed in a computer device, a processor in the computer device performs some or all of the steps in the above-described method.

[0249] This disclosure provides a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps in the above-described method.

[0250] The computer program product can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the computer program product is specifically embodied in a computer storage medium; in other embodiments, the computer program product is specifically embodied in a software product, such as a software development kit (SDK), etc.

[0251] It should be noted that the descriptions of the various embodiments above tend to emphasize the differences between them, while their similarities or commonalities can be referenced interchangeably. The descriptions of the above embodiments of the device, storage medium, computer program, and computer program product are similar to the descriptions of the above method embodiments and have similar beneficial effects. For technical details not disclosed in the embodiments of the device, storage medium, computer program, and computer program product of this disclosure, please refer to the descriptions of the method embodiments of this disclosure for understanding.

[0252] This disclosure provides a computer device, as shown in FIG8. The hardware entity of the computer device 800 includes a processor 801, a communication interface 802, and a memory 803. The processor 801 typically controls the overall operation of the computer device 800. The communication interface 802 enables the computer device to communicate with other terminals or servers via a network. The memory 803 is configured to store instructions and applications executable by the processor 801, and can also cache data to be processed or already processed (e.g., image data, audio data, voice communication data, and video communication data) in the processor 801 and various modules of the computer device 800. It can be implemented using flash memory or random access memory (RAM). Data transmission between the processor 801, the communication interface 802, and the memory 803 can be performed via a bus 804.

[0253] It should be understood that the phrase "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this disclosure. Therefore, "in one embodiment" or "one embodiment" appearing throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this disclosure, the sequence numbers of the above steps / processes do not imply a sequential order of execution; the execution order of each step / process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this disclosure. The sequence numbers of the above embodiments of this disclosure are merely descriptive and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0254] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0255] In the several embodiments provided in this disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection between the various components shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0256] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units. They may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0257] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of this disclosure can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be a separate unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0258] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of the above method embodiments can be implemented by hardware related to program instructions. The aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it performs the steps of the above method embodiments. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as mobile storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0259] Alternatively, if the integrated units described above are implemented as software functional modules and sold or used as independent products, they can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this disclosure, or the part that contributes to related technologies, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the methods of the various embodiments of this disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as mobile storage devices, ROMs, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0260] The above are merely embodiments of this disclosure, but the scope of protection of this disclosure is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this disclosure should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A material scheduling method applied to a central control system, the method comprising: Obtain the material requisition information of the first process machine; Based on the material ordering information, the rack information of at least one target material to be transported is determined from the first rack information table in the database. The first rack information table is used to store rack information of the buffer rack and rack information of the discharge rack of the second process machine. Delete the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table, and write the rack information into the second rack information table created in the database for the feeding rack of the first process machine. The second rack information table is used to store the rack information of the feed rack of the machine tool in the first process; Based on the rack information of the at least one target material, a scheduling task sequence for the automated guided vehicle is generated to complete the material scheduling.

2. The method based on claim 1, wherein, Before obtaining the material requisition information of the first process machine, the method further includes: In response to the material update messages sent by the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack, the material information of the material currently being produced by the second process machine and the position information of the material are obtained accordingly. The material information and the location information are stored in the first material rack information table.

3. The method based on claim 1 or 2, wherein, Material requisition information includes material type and quantity; Based on the material request information, the rack information for at least one target material to be transported is determined from the first rack information table in the database, including: Based on the material type, a set of candidate materials to be transported is determined from the first rack information table; Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information of at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set; the selection rules represent the priority order of selecting target materials in the candidate material set.

4. The method based on claim 3, wherein, The selection rule is characterized by prioritizing the selection of materials that are about to expire from the candidate material set; Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information of at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set, including: Based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, determine whether there are any materials that are due to expire from the candidate material set; In the case of materials that are about to expire, the materials that are about to expire are identified as at least one target material to be transported.

5. The method based on claim 4, wherein, The material requisition information includes the quantity of materials requisitioned; the selection rules, from high to low priority, include: materials that are about to expire, and materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit; Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information for at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set, and the method further includes: If there are no materials to be expired in the candidate material set or the number of materials to be expired does not meet the required quantity, the material rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules are used to determine whether there are materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit. In the case of materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit, the materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit are identified as at least one target material to be transported.

6. The method based on claim 5, wherein, The selection rules, from highest to lowest priority, include: materials that are about to expire, materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit, and materials whose cache duration is about to exceed the limit. Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information for at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set, and the method further includes: If there are no materials with excessive cache duration in the candidate material set, or if the number of materials with excessive cache duration does not meet the required material quantity, then based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, it is determined from the candidate material set whether there are materials with excessive cache duration. In the case of materials whose cache duration is about to exceed the limit, the materials whose cache duration is about to exceed the limit are identified as at least one target material to be transported.

7. The method based on claim 6, wherein, The selection rules, from highest to lowest priority, include: materials awaiting expiration, materials whose cache duration has exceeded the limit, materials whose cache duration is awaiting expiration, and non-expiring materials located on the dispensing rack; Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information for at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set, and the method further includes: The candidate material set does not contain any materials whose cache duration is about to exceed the limit, or the number of materials whose cache duration is about to exceed the limit is insufficient. In the case of the requested quantity, based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules, it is determined from the candidate material set whether there are any non-expiring materials located on the discharge rack; In the presence of non-expiring materials located on the discharge rack, the non-expiring materials located on the discharge rack are identified as at least one target material to be transported.

8. The method based on claim 7, wherein, The selection rules, from highest to lowest priority, include: materials awaiting expiration, materials with exceeded cache time limits, and materials with cache time limits pending expiration; materials not awaiting expiration located on the discharge rack; and materials in normal time-limit status located on the cache rack. The materials in normal time-limit status located on the cache rack refer to materials that are not awaiting expiration, not with exceeded cache time limits, and not with pending cache time limits located on the cache rack. Based on the preset selection rules in the central control system, the rack information for at least one target material to be transported is determined from the candidate material set, and the method further includes: If there are no non-expiring materials on the discharge rack in the candidate material set, or if the number of non-expiring materials on the discharge rack does not meet the required quantity, the material rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules are used to determine whether there are materials in normal time limit status on the buffer rack in the candidate material set. If there are materials in the normal time-limited state located on the buffer rack, the materials in the normal time-limited state located on the buffer rack are identified as at least one target material to be transported.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, The method includes: If there is expired material in the discharge rack and / or the buffer rack, the automated guided vehicle is controlled to remove the expired material from the discharge rack and / or the buffer rack.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, The method further includes: Based on the first material rack information table, determine whether there is an empty space in the discharge material rack; If there is an empty space in the discharge rack, the target transported item is determined to be placed in the corresponding empty space of the discharge rack; the target transported item includes at least the material and material carrier currently produced by the second process machine. If there are no empty spaces in the discharge rack, determine whether there are empty spaces in the buffer rack; If there is an empty space in the buffer rack, the target transport item is determined to be placed in the corresponding empty space of the buffer rack.

11. The method based on claim 10, wherein, The method further includes: If the target transport item is the material currently being produced by the second process machine, after placing the target transport item in the empty space corresponding to the discharge rack or the buffer rack, the location information of the currently produced material is determined.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein, The method further includes: Obtain the current rack information of the feed racks for multiple first-process machines; Based on the current rack information of the feeding racks of the plurality of first process machines, the material scheduling order of the plurality of first process machines is determined; The automated guided vehicle is determined to transport the target material to the plurality of first process machines in accordance with the material scheduling sequence.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein, The method further includes: Based on the number of empty spaces in the feed rack and the number of empty spaces in the discharge rack, the quantitative relationship between the material produced by the second process machine and the material consumed by the first process machine is determined. If the amount of material produced by the second process machine is greater than the amount of material consumed by the first process machine, the number of tasks in transit of the automated guided vehicle is obtained. The total number of tasks of the automated guided vehicle is determined by summing the number of tasks in transit with the number of racks in the buffer rack.

14. A material dispatching device, applied to a central control system, the device comprising: The first acquisition module is configured to acquire the material call information of the first process machine. The first determining module is configured to determine the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the first rack information table in the database based on the material calling information. The first rack information table is used to store rack information of the buffer rack and rack information of the discharge rack of the second process machine. The deletion module is configured to delete the rack information of the target material to be transported from the first rack information table, and to write the rack information into the second rack information table created in the database for the feeding rack of the first process machine. The second rack information table is used to store the rack information of the feed rack of the machine tool in the first process; The generation module is configured to generate a scheduling task sequence for the automated guided vehicle based on the rack information of the at least one target material, so as to complete the material scheduling.

15. The material scheduling device according to claim 14, wherein, Before obtaining the material requisition information from the first-stage machine, the device also includes: The second acquisition module is configured to, in response to the material update message sent by the programmable logic controllers corresponding to the discharge rack and the buffer rack respectively, acquire the material information of the material currently being produced by the second process machine and the position information of the material. The storage module is configured to store the material information and the location information in the first material rack information table.

16. The material dispatching device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein, Material requisition information includes material type and quantity; The first determining module includes: The first determining unit is configured to determine a set of candidate materials to be transported from the first rack information table based on the material type. The second determining unit is configured to determine the rack information of at least one target material to be transported from the candidate material set based on the selection rules preset in the central control system; the selection rules represent the priority order of selecting target materials in the candidate material set.

17. The material scheduling device according to claim 16, wherein, The selection rule is characterized by prioritizing the selection of materials that are about to expire from the candidate material set; The first determining unit includes: The first determining subunit is configured to determine whether there are any materials that are due to expire, based on the rack information corresponding to the candidate material set and the selection rules. The second determining subunit is configured to, in the presence of materials that are due to expire, determine the materials that are due to expire as at least one target material to be transported.

18. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing a computer program executable on the processor, the processor executing the program to implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

19. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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