Warehousing transmission method and system

Abstract

A warehousing transmission method and system, the method comprising: on the basis of an order, identifying cargo box information and action type of a current task; on the basis of the cargo box information, accessing a first freight robot executing the current task (504); on the basis of the cargo box information and the action type, accessing a task module associated with the current task (503); and controlling the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperate to complete the current task.

Description

Warehouse transportation method and system

[0001] Cross-reference to related disclosures

[0002] The present disclosure claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 2024113804086, filed on September 30, 2024, and entitled "Warehouse transportation method and system", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of intelligent warehousing, in particular to a warehouse transportation method and system. BACKGROUND

[0004] In the intelligent warehousing technology, the warehouse robots arranged on the warehouse shelves and the freight robots for realizing the transfer of the freight boxes or goods will cooperate to complete the work of transferring the freight boxes or goods and picking the goods. However, how to ensure the transfer efficiency between the warehouse shelves and other warehouse locations such as sorting positions and transportation positions has gradually become a hot issue in the warehouse freight transportation.

[0005] Due to the large number of warehouse shelf data, the freight robots switch between standby and working states as the transmission tasks are issued, so the cooperation efficiency between the warehouse robots and the freight robots is particularly important. However, the existing cooperation efficiency still needs to be improved.

[0006] DISCLOSURE

[0007] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a scheme for efficiently realizing the warehouse freight transportation to improve the transfer efficiency between the warehouse shelves and other warehouse locations.

[0008] To solve the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a warehouse transportation method, comprising: identifying the freight box information and the action type of the current task according to an order; accessing a first freight robot for executing the current task according to the freight box information; accessing a task module associated with the current task according to the freight box information and the action type; and controlling the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperate to complete the current task.

[0009] Optionally, in the step of accessing the first freight robot for executing the current task according to the container information, the step comprises: determining a docking position according to the container information, wherein the container information comprises docking position information, which is position information of a position where the freight robot receives the container or the goods; planning an optimal transmission path and determining relevant freight robots on the optimal transmission path according to a positional relationship between the docking position and all on-duty freight robots and a positional relationship between the docking position and a transmission line; and screening the first freight robot that is most suitable for executing the current task according to health states and operation information of all relevant freight robots and accessing the first freight robot.

[0010] Optionally, in the step of accessing the task module associated with the current task according to the container information and the action type, the step comprises: determining a task module set belonging to the same area as the target shelf according to a target shelf position in the container information; accessing a task schedule table of each task module in the task module set to generate an associated task module suitable for the current task and writing current task configuration information into the corresponding associated task module.

[0011] Optionally, in the step of controlling the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperate to complete the current task, the step comprises: generating route control information according to the optimal transmission path and the task configuration information of the associated task module, wherein the route control information comprises configuration information of at least one sub-action decomposed from the current action, and the sub-action configuration information comprises a sub-action start time, sub-action control information and a sub-action execution duration; and controlling the first freight robot to cooperate with the associated task module executing the task configuration information to complete the current task.

[0012] Optionally, the task module comprises: a picking mechanism, an access device and a freight robot.

[0013] Optionally, the current task comprises: taking goods, storing goods, picking goods, warehouse-out, warehouse-in and returning goods.

[0014] Optionally, the action type at least comprises a shelving action and / or a de-shelving action, wherein when the action type is shelving, the associated task module is a first task module for implementing the carrying of the container and a second task module for executing a goods storage action; and when the action type is de-shelving, the associated task module is a third task module for implementing the picking of the goods, a second task module for implementing a taking action and a first task module for implementing the carrying of the container.

[0015] Optionally, when the action type is shelving, the method further comprises: reading goods information carrying a cumulative access frequency from the container information; and placing, by the associated task module, a to-be-shelved container satisfying a preset access frequency at a target container position according to the cumulative access frequency.

[0016] Optionally, the optimal transmission path is generated based on a stereoscopic shelf coordinate system, the stereoscopic shelf coordinate system taking a dock direction of a shelf as an x-axis, a direction perpendicular to the x-axis on the ground as a y-axis, and a shelf height direction as a z-axis.

[0017] Optionally, in the step of accessing the first freight robot for performing the current task according to the container information, the step of synchronously time-synchronizing all freight robots and receiving time-synchronization success information fed back by the first freight robot is included.

[0018] In another aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a warehouse transmission system for implementing the warehouse transmission method as described above, wherein the warehouse transmission system comprises at least one freight robot, a server configured to identify container information and an action type of a current task according to an order, and access a first freight robot for performing the current task according to the container information, a task module cluster comprising task module sets respectively arranged in different areas, each task module set comprising a plurality of task modules, and at least one centralized control device configured to access a task module associated with the current task according to the container information and the action type, and control the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperatively complete the current task.

[0019] Optionally, each area is configured with a corresponding centralized control device, and the server is further configured to send the parsed container information and action type to the corresponding centralized control device.

[0020] Optionally, the warehouse transmission system is used in an intelligent stereoscopic warehouse.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, one or more embodiments in the above solution can have the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0022] The present disclosure proposes a method and system for implementing warehouse freight transmission. The method and system enable an intelligent stereoscopic warehouse to achieve efficient fulfillment under the joint control of freight robots and a multi-task module cluster.

[0023] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in the following description, and will become apparent from the description, or will be learned from the practice of the present disclosure. The purposes and other advantages of the present disclosure can be achieved and obtained by the structures particularly pointed out in the specification, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and constitute a part of the specification, which together with the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and explain the present disclosure, but do not limit the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a step flow of a warehouse transportation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a step flow of accessing a first freight robot in the warehouse transportation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a step flow of accessing an associated task module in the warehouse transportation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a step flow of cooperating the associated task module and the first freight robot to complete a task in the warehouse transportation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a warehouse transportation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the warehouse transportation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG. 7 is a plurality of schematic diagrams of a freight robot in the warehouse transportation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of the warehouse transportation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings and embodiments, so that the application of technical means to solve technical problems and the realization process of technical effects can be fully understood and implemented. It should be noted that, as long as there is no conflict, each embodiment in the present disclosure and each feature in each embodiment can be combined with each other, and the formed technical solutions are within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0034] In addition, the steps shown in the flowchart of the drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a group of computer executable instructions. Moreover, although the logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described herein can be executed in an order different from that shown herein.

[0035] The terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as used herein, the singular form "a", "an" and "the" is also intended to include a plurality. It should also be understood that the terms "comprise" and / or "include" as used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0036] Due to the large number of storage shelf data, the freight robot switches between standby and working states as the transmission task is issued, so the cooperation efficiency between the shelf robot and the freight robot is particularly important. However, the cooperation efficiency between the shelf robot and the freight robot in the current intelligent storage technology still needs to be improved.

[0037] To solve the problems in the background art, the present disclosure provides a method and system for realizing storage freight transmission. The method and system realize efficient cooperation control between the shelf end and the freight robot by accessing the standby state of the freight robot and the task module related to the target shelf area and the transmission action type involved in the order task.

[0038] As an implementation manner, for the sake of clarity, FIG. 5 is taken as a structural schematic diagram of the storage transmission system of the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the storage transmission system provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure includes at least one freight robot 504, a server 501, a task module cluster, and at least one centralized control device 502.

[0039] In the modern intelligent storage scenario, the tasks (or business flows) of the shelf robot and the freight robot are generated by orders. For the warehouse, the storage space can be divided into multiple storage areas according to the categories of stored goods and / or order types, and each storage area is also provided with multiple storage shelves. Each storage area is configured with a corresponding centralized control device 502 to realize the control of the shelf robot and the freight robot in the corresponding storage area by using each centralized control device 502, so as to realize the efficient cooperation between the shelf robot and the freight robot. It should be noted that the centralized control device 502 can also be matched with the corresponding storage shelf according to the actual intelligent storage demand, and the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to the deployment shown in the figure.

[0040] It should be noted that the stereoscopic warehouse can be a standard warehouse, a dense stereoscopic warehouse, a high-meter stereoscopic warehouse, a customized stereoscopic warehouse, or a container unit. The stereoscopic warehouse can be disassembled or a mobile stereoscopic warehouse. When the stereoscopic warehouses are continuously spliced, the stereoscopic warehouse expands into a mobile storage transfer and sorting factory. The shelf robot is a shelf or shelf system loaded with an intelligent robot. The intelligent robot in the storage environment can be a shelf track transmission device, a sorting device, a whole device that can be installed on the shelf track and carry the freight robot, etc.

[0041] The warehouse shelf, the access device (shelf track transmission device) and / or the picking device, and the freight robot form a flying box system, which is: in a three-dimensional warehouse environment, for large flow transmission needs, the access device is carried on the existing warehouse shelf system, cooperates with the ground, the walking surface, the walking track and the functional freight robot, has precise positioning of the shelf and the box, and completes pulling, returning, accurate identification and precise sorting of the box by means of different task modules. Under the execution logic control of the server and the goods access and sorting, the traditional warehouse goods circulation and sorting status is overturned, and excellent smoothness and high efficiency are brought.

[0042] When part of the shelves or all the shelves of the three-dimensional warehouse are equipped with the flying box system, the three-dimensional warehouse is called an intelligent three-dimensional warehouse. Among them, the shelf equipped with the flying box system is called an intelligent shelf.

[0043] Further, the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse can be a traditional warehouse (10 meters), and the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse in the present case further includes: high-rise warehouse standards (25 meters or more), and even super high-rise warehouse standards, the business is completed by the access device of the upper and lower segments or adjacent segments.

[0044] A plurality of freight robots 504 are provided for each warehouse area. Optionally, the freight robot can move on the ground, the upper platform or the special walking surface, or perform path planning under the control of the server, or perform autonomous path planning by the freight robot, and is provided with a planar moving assembly and a connection assembly supporting box access and placement. In order to improve the transportation efficiency, the freight robot can directly run on the ground, the walking surface or the walking track of the warehouse shelf, and can cooperate with the warehouse shelf to take down the bottom partition, the box will access the box and / or goods under the driving of the movable piece, and place it on the connection assembly of the freight robot. The freight robot can be a freight robot and / or a sorting robot. The above cooperation makes it possible to complete goods storage, box / goods transfer and box / goods sorting in the warehouse space.

[0045] The task module cluster includes a plurality of task module sets 503. The task module sets are respectively arranged on different storage areas or shelves, i.e., each storage area is configured with a corresponding task module set 503. The task module set 503 includes a plurality of task modules respectively performing different business jobs. The task module can be a component capable of performing one or more tasks such as identification, extraction, playback, and grabbing, and the task module moves to a storage slot of the shelf to complete the task. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the task module includes but is not limited to a picking mechanism (20 is a picking arm of the picking mechanism, and 201 is a picking component of the picking mechanism), an access device 14, and a cargo robot 504. Referring to FIG. 8 (in FIG. 8, another transverse track 31 is at the lower part of the storage shelf 10, and the transverse track 11 and the other transverse track can be connected with the first vertical column 12 and the second vertical column 33 through a sliding block).

[0046] The access device 14 can be a shelf track conveying device, and the track of the track conveying device can be fixed on the shelf, but is not limited thereto. The picking device in the picking component can accurately dock with the cargo box and the docking component or the docking box of the cargo robot.

[0047] The access device 14 pulls out the target cargo box from the target storage slot of the target shelf by using the access device 14, and the picking mechanism picks the target goods in the target cargo box to realize that the goods picking device drives the first task module to put the goods into the docking component or the docking box of the cargo robot running at the bottom of the shelf. Alternatively, the picking mechanism takes out the target goods from the docking component or the docking box of the cargo robot, the track conveying device pulls out the target cargo box on the target storage slot of the target shelf by using the access cargo box module, and then the picking mechanism puts the target goods into the target cargo box, and the access cargo box module pushes the target cargo box back.

[0048] It should be particularly noted that the cargo box access module in the access device 14 can realize the access operation on the cargo boxes adjacent to each other or having a hooking relationship in the densely arranged positions in the three-dimensional storage, such as in the longitudinal direction (y-axis), the access arm of the access box task module realizes the access operation on a certain cargo box in a plurality of cargo boxes.

[0049] In actual application, however, as mentioned above, the connecting mechanism of the task module is a basic structure capable of connecting with different task modules. If it is another task module, the connecting piece is set according to the specific function of the task module, and the connection mode between different task modules is not limited thereto, but can also be realized in any other reasonable mode.

[0050] It should be noted that in this embodiment, by modifying the configuration of the bottom shelf layer of the rack, and by cooperating with the goods picking equipment, freight robots, or sorting robots (not shown), the problem of low efficiency in the transfer and sorting of goods / boxes in existing rack storage is fundamentally solved. Moreover, the application scenarios of the rack are expanded, so that goods storage, goods / box transfer and goods / box sorting can be completed within the storage space, thereby greatly improving the storage space utilization rate, goods entry and exit speed and sorting efficiency of the existing rack transmission system.

[0051] Furthermore, server 501 is configured to identify the cargo box information and action type of the current order, and access the first freight robot 504 to execute the current task based on the cargo box information. Tasks include, but are not limited to: put-away, picking, storage, goods picking, outbound, inbound, and returns. In the actual warehouse goods flow process, each order in each wave corresponds to a required business operation task, and each business operation task corresponds to a corresponding action type. According to the types of operations performed in a smart warehouse, at least: put-away and de-putaway actions are included.

[0052] The shelving action targets cartons and / or goods, covering tasks such as shelf / goods shelving, inventory, warehousing, and returns.

[0053] The destocking action targets cartons and / or goods, covering tasks such as destocking, picking, and outbound processing.

[0054] In this embodiment, the docking position information refers to the location information of the cargo robot when it receives a cargo box or goods. The docking position indicates the location where the task module docks with the cargo robot. Generally, each cargo box has a defined docking position. For picking mechanisms and storage / retrieval equipment, docking with the ground-based cargo robot occurs when the goods or cargo box descends to a specific docking position. For the task module (cargo robot), docking with the goods or cargo box can be completed at a storage location.

[0055] In this embodiment, server 501 is a cloud server or a local area network server, etc. This embodiment does not specifically limit the device type of server 501; those skilled in the art can configure it according to the actual application scenario requirements.

[0056] Server 501 is also configured to send the parsed cargo box information and action type to the central control device 502 corresponding to the current target warehouse rack. Simultaneously, server 501 is also configured to send the information of the first freight robot 504 performing the current task to the central control device 502 corresponding to the current target warehouse rack.

[0057] Each of the centralized control devices 502 is configured to access the task module associated with the current task according to the case information and the action type from the server 501, and control the associated task module and the first freight robot 504 from the server 501 to cooperate to complete the current task.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a warehouse transportation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, a warehouse rack 10 is used for storage. The rack 10 is provided with multiple layers of storage space units 101, and each layer of storage space units 101 is further provided with multiple storage locations 103, each of which is used to place multiple cases 104. Each layer of storage space units 101 provides support for the cases 104 (the cases 104 can be standardized plastic cases, customized cases, or cartons, and the cases of the present disclosure are not limited to specific forms) through the rack transverse partition 102 (for example, a rack beam), and separates the layers. Multiple storage locations in the same layer are separated by rack longitudinal partitions (for example, rack columns).

[0059] It should be noted that each warehouse rack is assembled from columns 33, beams, and layer plates 102. An independent group of rack groups has two columns, several beams (layer plates), and if several groups of rack groups are assembled into a column, then in addition to the first group which needs two columns, the other rack groups can share a column with the group in front of it. In this way, space can be saved and costs can be reduced. For example, two independent single groups of racks require four columns, but when they are arranged in a column, only three columns are needed. The second group of racks is attached to the first group of racks, so it is called an attached rack (or a secondary rack).

[0060] Multiple freight robots 504 can be connected to cases and / or goods. As shown in FIG. 7, as an implementable embodiment, the freight robot can be an AGV, i.e., an Automated Guided Vehicle, which is also commonly known as an AGV trolley or an AMR, i.e., an Autonomous Mobile Robot, and the specific form is not limited.

[0061] The top of the stereoscopic warehouse is provided with a freight robot and a load handling device, and the load handling device is provided in cooperation with a lifting device. The lifting device grabs a case or goods, and the load handling device is arranged to move on the top of the stereoscopic warehouse and is used to lift and move the cases or goods in the stereoscopic warehouse.

[0062] The load handling device includes an electric control device, a driving device, and / or a lifting assembly; a receiving space assembly for accommodating cases or goods; and a lifting assembly configured to lift and lower the device relative to the receiving space assembly.

[0063] The top of the stereoscopic warehouse can deploy an AGV walking surface, and / or a grid structure comprising a plurality of grid spaces is formed by arranging a first set of parallel tracks and a second set of parallel tracks extending transversely to the first set of parallel tracks on a substantially horizontal surface.

[0064] In addition, the freight robot is a warehouse robot 504, which comprises a mobile base, a stand vertically arranged on the mobile base, and an access device vertically arranged on the stand and vertically liftable.

[0065] Further, the task module is a component module with one or more actions of identification, extraction, playback, and grabbing, and can complete different types of actions through cooperation of different components. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the action is an action involved when the freight robot 504 operates on the warehouse shelf. The task module can be positioned to the storage position 103 in the shelf 10 under the driving of the activity mechanism, and at the same time, the activity mechanism is a basic structure capable of connecting with different task modules.

[0066] Based on the above freight transportation control system, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a freight transportation control method for realizing warehouse freight transportation. The freight transportation control method is realized by using the above freight transportation control system.

[0067] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the steps of the warehouse transportation method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the warehouse transportation method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure comprises the following steps:

[0068] In step S110, the server 501 identifies the box information and the action type of the current (freight transportation) task according to the current order;

[0069] In step S120, the server 501 accesses the first freight robot for executing the current (freight transportation) task according to the current box information, and transmits the first freight robot information to the corresponding area of the centralized control device 502;

[0070] In step S130, the centralized control device 502 accesses the task module 503 associated with the current task according to the box information and the action type;

[0071] In step S140, the associated task module 503 and the first freight robot 504 are controlled to cooperate to complete the current (freight transportation) task.

[0072] In step S110, first, the server 501 receives the order currently to be processed, identifies the box information and the action type of the current task indicated in the order, and then transmits the box information and the action type identified and parsed to the centralized control device 502 of the corresponding warehouse area.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the container information can be selected from a combination of one or more of the following information: a storage location, a container location, a shelf location, a cargo name, a cargo category, and a cargo access frequency.

[0074] Since the task in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be a task starting from the container location of a certain cargo on a shelf or a task ending at the container location of a certain cargo on a shelf, regardless of the type of task, the embodiments of the present disclosure will identify at least one container information related to the current task in step S110 to configure the corresponding container information for each cargo location.

[0075] Further, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the action type is set according to the current task type. The action type includes at least one of a shelving action and / or a de-shelving action.

[0076] In this way, after the server 501 identifies and analyzes the container information and the action type of the current task, the obtained action type and container information are transmitted to the centralized control device 502 of the storage area where the target container is located, so as to filter the task module set and the cargo robot by using the action type and the container information.

[0077] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a step of accessing a first cargo robot in a storage transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 2, in step S1201, a docking location is determined according to the container information. In step S1201, the container information includes docking location information, which is the location information of the location where the cargo robot receives (docks) the container or the cargo.

[0079] In step S1202, the server 501 plans an optimal transmission path and determines the related cargo robots on the optimal transmission path according to the positional relationship between the docking location and all standby cargo robots, and the positional relationship between the docking location and the transmission line.

[0080] In step S1202, first, the positional relationship between the docking location of the target cargo or container and all cargo robots 504 in a standby state is determined, and then the positional relationship between the docking location and the transmission line (i.e., whether the current docking location is the starting point or the end point of the transmission line) is determined, so as to plan the current transmission line and determine the cargo robots 504 that can run on the planned transmission line.

[0081] In the process of determining the related cargo robots that can run, the cargo robots 504 with a nearest distance less than a preset distance to any point on the planned transmission line can be determined as the related cargo robots 504 by analyzing the nearest distance of each cargo robot 504 to the point.

[0082] Further, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the optimal transmission path is generated based on the stereoscopic shelf coordinate system. Wherein, the x-axis of the stereoscopic shelf coordinate system is the port direction of the shelf, the y-axis of the stereoscopic shelf coordinate system is the direction perpendicular to the x-axis on the ground, and the z-axis of the stereoscopic shelf coordinate system is the shelf height direction.

[0083] Finally, step S1203 will also filter the first freight robot 504 most suitable for executing the current task according to the health status and running state information of all relevant freight robots 504 and access the first freight robot 504.

[0084] Determine the health status information of each relevant freight robot 504, such as the service life process, the remaining power, etc., the running state information, such as whether the internal detection points are running normally, etc., and the recent distance information, etc., filter the relevant freight robots 504 most suitable for executing the current task, and mark it as the first freight robot 504, and then transmit the current determined first freight robot 504 information to the centralized control device 502 of the corresponding storage area (i.e. transmit the first freight robot 504 information to the centralized control device 502 of the storage area where the target freight box in the freight box information is located).

[0085] In addition, in step S120, the embodiment of the present disclosure will also synchronize the time of all freight robots, and receive the time synchronization success information feedback by the first freight robot.

[0086] Specifically, before step S1203 is implemented, the server 501 will send the current time information to all freight robots 501 to synchronize the time of all freight robots 504, and after sending the access request to the first freight robot, receive the time synchronization success information sent by the first freight robot, so as to complete the access to the first freight robot.

[0087] In this way, the server 501 synchronizes with the freight robot through the issuance of time synchronization instructions, ensures that the issuance, delivery and reception can be completed within the allowable time error range, thereby improving the communication efficiency and accuracy between the server 501 and the freight robot 504.

[0088] FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of the step of accessing the associated task module in the storage transmission method of the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] After receiving the freight box information and action type information from the server, the centralized control device 502 will first determine the task module set 503 belonging to the same storage area as the target shelf according to the target shelf position in the freight box information, as shown in FIG. 3, step S1301.

[0090] Then, the central control device 502 accesses the task schedule of each task module in the task module set 503 to generate the associated task module suitable for the current task and writes the current task configuration information into the corresponding associated task module.

[0091] In step S1302, the current action is disassembled into at least one sub-action according to the current action type and in a preset order. Then, in order to determine the task module for controlling the execution of each sub-action, configuration information for controlling the start of the associated task module is generated again, and the corresponding task configuration information is written into the associated task module. The configuration information of the associated task module carries information indicating the start time of different task modules and action control information for controlling the complete execution of the corresponding sub-action. The task schedule records a series of automatic control instructions and parameters involved when different types of task modules perform different types of actions, so that the above-mentioned action control information can be directly read from the task schedule.

[0092] In one embodiment, when the current task action is put-in, the corresponding sub-actions are first to perform the carrying action of the goods or the box being carried, and then to perform the storage playback action of the goods.

[0093] In another embodiment, when the current task action is put-out, the corresponding sub-actions are first to perform the picking action of picking the put-out goods or the box, then to perform the taking action of taking the goods or the box, and finally to perform the carrying action of the goods or the box.

[0094] Further, when the action type is put-in, the associated task modules are a first task module (for example, the freight robot 504) for realizing the taking and carrying (for example, carrying the box) and a second task module (for example, the access device 14) for performing the storage (playback) action of the goods or the box.

[0095] Further, when the action type is put-out, the associated task modules are a third task module (for example, the picking mechanism) for realizing the picking of the goods, a second task module (for example, the access device 14) for controlling the execution of the taking (taking out, grabbing) action, and a first task module (for example, the freight robot 504) for realizing the taking and carrying (for example, carrying the box).

[0096] After the information configuration of the associated task modules is completed, step S140 is entered to realize the cooperation control of the associated task modules 503 and the first freight robot 504 by the central control device 502, so as to complete the current task.

[0097] FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of the steps of realizing the cooperation of the associated task modules and the first freight robot to complete the task in the warehouse transmission method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 4, in step S1401, the centralized control device 502 generates route control information according to the optimal transmission path planned in step S1202 and the task configuration information of the associated task module. The route control information includes sub-action configuration information of at least one sub-action decomposed from the current action. The sub-action configuration information includes a sub-action start time, a sub-action transmission path, sub-action control information, and a sub-action execution duration.

[0099] That is, in step S140, the information fusion processing of the transmission path and the associated task module is completed by determining the transmission path involved in each sub-action, the configuration information of the associated task module involved in each sub-action, and the execution duration of each sub-action, so as to enter step S1402.

[0100] In step S1402, the first cargo transport robot is controlled to complete the current task action in cooperation with the associated task module executing the task configuration information under the constraint control of the route control information.

[0101] In this way, efficient execution of the current task action is achieved under the cooperative control of the first cargo transport robot and the task module, thereby achieving efficient cooperative control between the warehouse shelf device and the cargo transport robot.

[0102] In addition, when the current action type is shelving, the embodiment of the present disclosure further reads the cargo information carrying the cumulative access frequency from the current cargo information after the centralized control device 502 receives the cargo box information in step S130, and places the to-be-shelved cargo box meeting the preset access frequency in the target cargo box position by the associated task module according to the cumulative access frequency.

[0103] The access frequency refers to the statistical result of the total access times of the cargo in the corresponding storage location. The high or low of the storage frequency is used to evaluate the sales frequency of the product, so as to distinguish between slow-selling and best-selling products.

[0104] In the execution of the shelving action scenario, the centralized control device 502 first judges whether the cumulative access frequency of the current target cargo reaches the preset access frequency. If it reaches or exceeds, for the current shelving action type, in step S130, the associated task module is accessed and the associated task module and the first cargo transport robot are controlled to cooperate to complete the current task in step S140.

[0105] In addition, if the cumulative access frequency of the current target cargo does not reach the preset access frequency, a non-shelving instruction is immediately generated, and there is no need to continue to access the associated task module in step S130.

[0106] Therefore, the present disclosure further improves the cooperation efficiency between the warehouse shelf related equipment and the freight robot from the warehouse shelf management aspect by associating the cumulative access frequency with the execution of the shelving action, so as to avoid the business operation of the low sales volume product.

[0107] In the present embodiment, in a large dense warehouse scenario, such as a warehouse storing more than 100,000 boxes, a 5000-box / hour flow, the track conveying equipment and the goods picking equipment can be respectively installed on the same shelf in multiple sets to meet the demand of large flow orders. When the track conveying equipment and the goods picking equipment system work together, taking the order delivery as an example, X goods of a certain A order or a certain SKU need to be delivered. The track conveying equipment uses the second task module, i.e., the access box module, to pull out the target box at the target storage location of the target shelf, so that the X goods can be sucked by the suction mechanism 201 and / or the picking mechanism of the goods picking equipment system. Before suction, the identification module needs to identify the X goods or the certain SKU. The identification module can be set on the goods picking equipment and / or the track conveying equipment. The identification module can be a monocular camera, a laser camera or a depth camera.

[0108] After the above task is completed, the identification module is used to accurately position, and the goods picking equipment is used to put the X goods or the certain SKU indicated by the order into the docking position of the freight robot. The freight robot will drive to the next docking position or workstation.

[0109] The present disclosure discloses a method and system for realizing warehouse freight transportation. The method and system enable the intelligent vertical warehouse to realize efficient fulfillment under the joint control of the freight robot and the multi-task module cluster.

[0110] The above is only a preferred specific embodiment of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

[0111] In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more; the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", "front end", "rear end", "head", "tail" and the like is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the purpose of facilitating the description of the present disclosure and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present disclosure. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third" and the like are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying importance.

[0112] In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connected", "connected" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. For those skilled in the related art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0113] It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure are not limited to the specific structures, processing steps or materials disclosed herein, but should extend to equivalent alternatives of these features understood by those skilled in the related art. It should also be understood that the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing the specific embodiments and do not mean limitation.

[0114] The phrase "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" appearing in the specification means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, the phrase "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" appearing throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0115] Although the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure are as described above, the content is only the embodiment adopted for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person skilled in the art of the present disclosure can make any modification and change in the form and details without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, but the patent protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the scope defined by the appended claims. Industrial applicability

[0116] The above scheme enables the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse to achieve efficient performance under the joint control of the cargo robot and the multi-task module cluster; greatly improves the utilization rate of the storage space, the speed of cargo in and out, and the sorting efficiency of the existing shelf transmission system.

Claims

1. A warehousing transfer method characterized by, The method comprises the following steps: According to the order, the box information and the action type of the current task are identified; According to the box information, the first freight robot performing the current task is accessed; According to the box information and the action type, the task module associated with the current task is accessed; The associated task module and the first freight robot are controlled to cooperate to complete the current task.

2. The warehouse transfer method according to claim 1, characterized by, In the step of accessing the first freight robot performing the current task according to the box information, the method comprises the following steps: According to the box information, the docking position is determined, wherein the box information comprises docking position information, and the docking position information is the position information of the position where the freight robot receives the box or the goods; According to the position relationship between the docking position and all on-duty freight robots, and the position relationship between the docking position and the transmission line, the optimal transmission path is planned and the related freight robots on the optimal transmission path are determined; According to the health status and operation information of all related freight robots, the first freight robot most suitable for performing the current task is screened and accessed.

3. The warehouse transfer method according to claim 2, wherein, The determination of the related freight robots on the optimal transmission path comprises the following steps: According to the nearest distance of each freight robot to any point on the optimal transmission line, the freight robots with the nearest distance less than the preset distance are regarded as the related freight robots.

4. The warehousing transfer method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by, Before the step of screening the first freight robot most suitable for performing the current task according to the health status and operation information of all related freight robots and accessing, the method further comprises the following steps: Synchronization time is sent to all freight robots to synchronize the time of all freight robots, and after the access request is sent to the first freight robot, the time synchronization success information sent by the first freight robot is received, so that the access to the first freight robot is completed.

5. The warehousing transfer method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, In the step of accessing the task module associated with the current task according to the box information and the action type, the method comprises the following steps: According to the target shelf position in the box information, the task module set to which the target shelf belongs is determined; The task schedule table of each task module in the task module set is accessed, the associated task module suitable for the current task is generated, and the current task configuration information is written into the corresponding associated task module.

6. The warehouse transfer method according to claim 5, wherein, The step of accessing the task schedule table of each task module in the task module set, generating the associated task module suitable for the current task, and writing the current task configuration information into the corresponding associated task module comprises the following steps: According to the current action type, the current action is decomposed into at least one sub-action executed in a preset order; According to each sub-action, the task configuration information for starting the associated task module of the current task is generated, and the corresponding task configuration information is written into the associated task module; wherein the task configuration information of the associated task module carries information indicating the starting time of different task modules and action control information for controlling the complete execution of the corresponding sub-action; the task schedule table records a series of automatic control instructions and parameters involved in the execution of different types of actions by different types of task modules; the action control information is read from the task schedule table.

7. The warehousing transfer method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by, In the step of controlling the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperate to complete the current task, the method comprises the following steps: generate route control information according to the optimal transmission path and task configuration information of the associated task module, the route control information including configuration information of at least one sub-action decomposed from the current action, the sub-action configuration information including sub-action start time, sub-action control information and sub-action execution duration; control the first freight robot to cooperate with the associated task module to complete the current task according to the execution task configuration information.

8. The warehousing transfer method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that, The current task includes: picking up goods, storing goods, goods picking, warehouse out, warehouse in, and returning goods.

9. The warehousing transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by, The action type at least includes a shelving action and / or a de-shelving action, wherein, when the action type is shelving, the associated task module is a first task module for implementing a carrying case and a second task module for implementing a goods storage action; when the action type is de-shelving, the associated task module is a third task module for implementing a picking action, a second task module for implementing a case picking action, and a first task module for implementing a carrying case.

10. The warehousing transfer method according to claim 9, characterized by, When the action type is shelving, the method further comprises: reading goods information carrying a cumulative access frequency from the case information; the cumulative access frequency indicates a statistical result of the total number of access times of the goods at the corresponding storage location; According to the cumulative access frequency, the associated task module places a to-be-shelved case that meets a preset access frequency at a target case location.

11. The warehousing transfer method according to any one of claims 2 to 10, characterized by, The optimal transmission path is generated based on a three-dimensional shelf coordinate system, the three-dimensional shelf coordinate system taking a dock direction of the shelf as an x-axis, a direction perpendicular to the x-axis on the ground as a y-axis, and a shelf height direction as a z-axis.

12. A warehousing transport system characterized by The system is used to implement the method of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the system comprises: at least one freight robot; a server configured to identify case information and an action type of a current task according to an order, and access a first freight robot for executing the current task according to the case information; a task module cluster comprising task module sets respectively arranged in different areas, each task module set comprising a plurality of task modules; the task modules include one or a combination of the following: a picking mechanism, an access device, a freight robot; at least one centralized control device configured to access a task module associated with the current task according to the case information and the action type, and control the associated task module and the first freight robot to cooperate to complete the current task.

13. The warehousing transport system according to claim 12, characterized in that, Each area is configured with a corresponding centralized control device, and the server is further configured to send the parsed case information and action type to the corresponding centralized control device.

14. The warehouse transmission system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, the shelf robot is a shelf or a shelf system carrying an intelligent robot; the intelligent robot in the warehouse environment is one of the following devices: a shelf track transmission device, a picking device, and a whole device that can be installed on a shelf track and carry a freight robot.

15. The warehouse transmission system according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, the freight robot is an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) and / or a warehouse robot. The freight robot comprises a moving base, a stand vertically arranged on the moving base, and an access device vertically arranged on the stand.

16. The warehousing transport system according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The warehouse conveying system is used for the intelligent stereoscopic warehouse.

17. The warehouse conveying system according to any one of claims 12-16, characterized in that, A plurality of freight robots are arranged in each area, and the freight robots move on the ground, the upper platform or the walking surface, or are path planned under the control of the server, or are autonomously path planned by the freight robots, and are provided with a planar moving assembly and a connection assembly supporting the access and placement of the box.

18. The warehouse conveying system according to any one of claims 12-17, characterized in that, The access device is a rack rail conveying device, and the rail of the rail conveying device is fixed on the rack; The access device pulls out the target box at the target storage location of the target rack, and the picking mechanism picks the target goods in the target box; The picking mechanism takes out the target goods from the connection assembly or the connection box of the freight robot, the rail conveying device pulls out the target box at the target storage location of the target rack by using the access box module, and then the picking mechanism puts the target goods into the target box, and the access box module pushes the target box back.

19. The warehouse conveying system according to any one of claims 16-18, characterized in that, The access device further comprises a box access module, and the box access module is configured to access the boxes arranged adjacent to each other or having a hooking relationship in the intelligent stereoscopic warehouse.

20. The warehouse conveying system according to any one of claims 16-19, characterized in that, The top of the intelligent stereoscopic warehouse is provided with a freight robot and a load handling device, the load handling device is arranged in cooperation with a lifting device, the lifting device grabs the box or the goods, and the load handling device is arranged to move on the top of the intelligent stereoscopic warehouse and is used to lift and move the box or the goods in the intelligent stereoscopic warehouse.

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