Map generation method, control method, warehousing system, electronic device and medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligent warehousing. Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a map generation method, a control method, a warehousing system, an electronic device and a medium. The map generation method comprises: on the basis of attribute information of each cell in a current map, determining a connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map; generating a target map on the basis of the connectivity relationship, the target map comprising at least one connected component, and the connected component being used for reflecting the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; and sending the target map to a management system, such that on the basis of the target map, the management system plans a target path for a target transport device to execute a target task.

Description

Map generation methods, control methods, warehousing systems, electronic devices, and media

[0001] This application claims application number 202510495955.7, filed on April 18, 2025, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of intelligent warehousing technology, and in particular to a map generation method, control method, warehousing system, electronic device, and medium. Background Technology

[0003] In smart warehousing, the management system needs to frequently check the connectivity between cells on the current map when assigning tasks and planning routes for handling equipment. Since this connectivity needs to be detected and determined in real time, it consumes a portion of the management system's computing power and is time-consuming, thus reducing the overall efficiency of route planning. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This disclosure provides a map generation method, a control method, a warehousing system, an electronic device, and a medium.

[0005] A first aspect of this disclosure provides a map generation method, comprising: determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on attribute information of each cell in the current map; generating a target map based on the connectivity relationship, the target map including at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; and sending the target map to a management system, so that the management system plans a target path for a target transport device to perform a target task based on the target map.

[0006] A second aspect of this disclosure provides a control method executed by a management system, comprising: acquiring a target map, the target map being determined based on attribute information of each cell in a current map, the target map including at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; and planning a target path for a target handling device to perform a target task based on the target map.

[0007] A third aspect of this disclosure provides a map generation apparatus, comprising: a determining module configured to: determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on attribute information of each cell in the current map; a generating module configured to generate a target map based on the connectivity relationship, the target map including at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; and a sending module configured to: send the target map to a management system for the management system to plan a target path for a target transport device to perform a target task based on the target map.

[0008] A fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a control device, including an acquisition module and a control module. The acquisition module is configured to: acquire a target map, the target map being determined based on attribute information of each cell in a current map, the target map including at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; the control module is configured to: plan a target path for a target handling device to perform a target task based on the target map.

[0009] A fifth aspect of this disclosure provides a warehousing system, including: a map generation module and a management system. The map generation module is configured to perform the method in any embodiment of the first aspect of this disclosure, and the management system is configured to perform the method in any embodiment of the second aspect of this disclosure.

[0010] A sixth aspect of this disclosure provides an electronic device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory for storing computer-executable instructions; and the processor for reading instructions from the memory and executing the instructions to implement the method in any of the implementations of the first or second aspect.

[0011] A seventh aspect of this disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions configured to cause the computer to perform the method in any of the implementations of the first or second aspect described above.

[0012] An eighth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer program product including a computing program stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer program includes program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in any of the implementations of the first or second aspect described above. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0014] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a map generation method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0015] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining connectivity relationships according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0016] Figure 4 is a flowchart of another method for determining connectivity relationships proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0017] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a control method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0018] Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of a connectivity relationship diagram proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0019] Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of a disjoint-set data structure detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0020] Figure 6C is a schematic diagram of a Tarjan detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0021] Figure 6D is a schematic diagram of a connected component proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0022] Figure 6E is a schematic diagram of a connectivity detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0023] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a map generation device 700 according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0024] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a control device 800 according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0025] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device 900 for implementing the above-described map generation method and control method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0026] Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a full understanding of this disclosure. However, this disclosure can be implemented in many other ways than those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar extensions without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not limited to the specific implementations disclosed below.

[0027] The terminology used in one or more embodiments of this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the one or more embodiments of this disclosure. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” as used in one or more embodiments of this disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used in one or more embodiments of this disclosure refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0028] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc., may be used to describe various information in one or more embodiments of this disclosure, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, first may also be referred to as second without departing from the scope of one or more embodiments of this disclosure, and similarly, second may also be referred to as first. Depending on the context, the word “if” as used herein may be interpreted as “when”, “in response to a determination”, or “when…”.

[0029] This disclosure provides a control method, and also relates to a control system, an electronic device, a computer program product, and a computer-readable storage medium, which will be described in detail in the following embodiments.

[0030] The following describes the solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure with reference to examples.

[0031] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0032] As shown in Figure 1, the warehousing system 100 includes a management system 101, a map generation module 102, and handling equipment 103. The management system 101 may include a robot management system, such as an RMS (Robot Management System). The map generation module 102 may be within the management system 101 or may be a module independent of the management system 101. This disclosure does not limit the scope of the application.

[0033] In some embodiments, the map generation module 102 can determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, and generate a target map containing at least one connected component and send it to the management system 101.

[0034] In some embodiments, the map generation module 102 may also be referred to as a connectivity detection module, a connectivity map generation module, a map module, a first module, or other names. This disclosure does not limit the name of the map generation module 102.

[0035] In some embodiments, at least one handling device 103 can report status information to the map generation module 102 and the management system 101 in real time. The status information includes the status of the handling device 103, its current location coordinates, whether it is performing a task, and its no-load status.

[0036] In some embodiments, the management system 101 can determine the target transport device 103 based on the target map sent by the map generation module 102 and the status information of at least one transport device 103, and assign target tasks to the target transport device 103 and plan the target path for executing the target tasks.

[0037] In embodiments of this disclosure, the warehousing system 101 can be configured with different scenarios. For example, a first rule can be set, which indicates the attribute conditions of connected components in the map. Based on the different scenarios configured in the warehousing system 101, the map generation module 102 can generate target maps based on different scenarios, which are used by the management system 101 to create target tasks, assign target tasks to target handling equipment 103, and plan target paths.

[0038] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1, the management system 101 can be coupled to the map generation module 102. The map generation module 102 can send the generated target map to the management system 101, so that the management system 101 can generate task paths for each handling device in the warehouse system 100 based on the target map. The management system 101 can also be communicatively connected to the handling device 103 to control the operation of the handling device 103 through data communication. For example, the management system 101 can communicate with the handling device 103 through a local area network (LAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), and other networks. The management system 101 can send the generated task paths to the handling device 103 to schedule the handling device 103 to execute the corresponding handling tasks according to the task paths.

[0039] For example, the map generation module 102 can determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, and generate a target map containing at least one connected component. The map generation module 102 sends the target map to the management system 101; at least one handling device 103 can report its status information to the management system 101 in real time. The management system 101 can assign target tasks and plan target paths for executing the target tasks to the target handling device among the at least one handling device based on the target map sent by the map generation module 102 and the status information sent by the at least one handling device 103.

[0040] The map generation method, control method, and apparatus provided in this disclosure determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map. Based on the connectivity relationship, at least one connected component in the target map is determined. The management system can plan the target path for the target task to be performed by the target handling equipment based on the connected components in the target map, so as to improve the real-time response speed of task allocation and path planning and realize real-time and fast connectivity detection.

[0041] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a map generation method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. It should be noted that the map generation method shown in Figure 2 can be applied to the map generation module 102.

[0042] It should be noted that the map generation module 102 can be a server or a terminal device, or other device on which a map generation system is deployed. The terminal device can include at least one of a personal computer, laptop computer, smartphone, tablet computer, and portable wearable device; the server can include a standalone server or a server cluster consisting of multiple servers, and this embodiment does not limit the specific type of server.

[0043] The map generation method of this disclosure embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG2. As shown in FIG2, the method includes steps 201 to 203 as shown below.

[0044] Step 201: Based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map.

[0045] In some embodiments, connectivity can be used to indicate whether there is a path between any two cells, that is, whether any two cells can be reached directly.

[0046] For example, the attribute information of a cell may include at least one of the following: cell position information, cell parent node information, cell child node information, empty load information, vehicle type matching information, and right-of-way matching information.

[0047] In some examples, the parent node information in the attribute information may include the cell identifier of one parent node, or it may include the cell identifiers of multiple parent nodes. A parent node can represent the previous cell that is connected to the current cell, or it can be the nearest starting cell with a walking path to the current cell. It should be noted that if any cell has no previous cell connected to it, or if any cell is the starting cell of a walking path, then the parent node of that cell is itself.

[0048] In some examples, the child node information in the attribute information may include the cell identifier of one child node, or it may include the cell identifiers of multiple child nodes. A child node can represent the next cell that can be connected to the current cell, or it can be the nearest destination cell with a walking path to the current cell. It should be noted that if any cell has no next cell connected to it, or if any cell is the destination cell of a walking path, then the child node of that cell is itself.

[0049] In some examples, empty load information can indicate the empty load status of the transport equipment matched to the cell. For example, the empty load information of a cell can indicate the empty load status of the transport equipment that is allowed to pass through that cell. Such a cell allows transport equipment in an empty state to pass through, or the cell allows transport equipment in a loaded state to pass through, or the cell allows transport equipment in both an empty state and a loaded empty state to pass through.

[0050] In some examples, the cell's location information may include the cell's coordinates on the current map. The cell's vehicle type matching information may indicate the type of transport equipment matched to the cell. For example, different cells may allow different or the same types of transport equipment to pass. The cell's right-of-way matching information is used to indicate other rules that the cell allows to pass, such as traffic priority, etc., but this disclosure does not limit this aspect.

[0051] In some embodiments, the current map includes multiple cells, each cell including its attribute information and possible connectivity between the cells. The connectivity between cells can include whether or not the cells are connected. Connectivity means that there is a path between two cells; that is, the transport device can directly reach the next cell from the current cell, or the transport device can reach the next cell from the current cell via other cells.

[0052] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map may include: determining whether any two cells are parent-child nodes based on the parent node information of the cells, thereby determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells.

[0053] For example, if two cells are parent and child nodes, it can be determined that there is a connectivity relationship between the two cells; if two cells are not parent and child nodes, there may or may not be a connectivity relationship between the two cells.

[0054] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map may include: determining whether any two cells that meet the empty load condition are parent and child nodes based on the parent node information and empty load information of the cells, thereby determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells.

[0055] In some examples, the no-load condition can include whether the transport equipment allowed to pass through the cell is in an no-load or loaded state. For example, if two cells have the same allowed transport equipment state (either no-load or loaded) and the two cells are parent-child nodes, then the two cells are considered connected. Conversely, if two cells have different allowed transport equipment states (e.g., one cell allows no-load transport equipment while the other allows loaded transport equipment), then regardless of whether the two cells are parent-child nodes, they are not considered connected.

[0056] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map may include: determining whether any two cells that meet the right-of-way matching conditions are parent-child nodes based on the parent node information and right-of-way matching information of the cells, thereby determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells.

[0057] In some examples, right-of-way matching criteria can include the types of transport equipment allowed to pass through a cell. For instance, if two cells allow the same type of transport equipment, a connectivity relationship can be determined between the two cells. Conversely, if two cells allow different types of transport equipment, they are not connected regardless of whether they are parent-child nodes.

[0058] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map may include: determining whether the parent nodes of any two cells are the same based on the parent node information of the cells. If the parent nodes of two cells are the same, it is determined that there is a connectivity relationship between the two cells.

[0059] Step 202: Generate the target map based on connectivity relationships.

[0060] In some embodiments, the target map includes at least one connected component, which is used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells.

[0061] In some embodiments, a connected component can represent a connectable region. For example, in a connected component, any two cells are interconnected, meaning that any cell in a connected component can reach any other cell in that connected component.

[0062] In some embodiments, the target map may be a map containing a connectivity graph. The connectivity graph can be used to reflect the connectivity between cells in the map.

[0063] In some examples, connected components can also be connected vectors, connected regions, connected ranges, etc., and this disclosure does not limit this.

[0064] In some embodiments, the connectivity relationship between at least two cells can be a unidirectional connectivity relationship or a bidirectional connectivity relationship. A unidirectional connectivity relationship indicates that if two cells have the same parent node, they are in the same connected component; if multiple cells have the same parent node, they are in the same connected component. A bidirectional connectivity relationship indicates that if the first and last cells in a connected component are mutually connected, all cells are in a bidirectional connectivity relationship or a strongly connected relationship. In other words, the connected components of a unidirectional connectivity relationship can be unidirectional connected components, and the connected components of a bidirectional connectivity relationship can be bidirectional connected components or strongly connected components.

[0065] In some embodiments, generating a target map based on the connectivity relationship between any two cells can be achieved by storing the connectivity relationships between multiple sets of cells as a set in the target map; wherein, multiple sets of cells constitute a connected component, and the connectivity relationship between each set of cells can be obtained through step 201 above.

[0066] In some embodiments, generating a target map based on the connectivity relationship between any two cells can be achieved by storing the information of cells belonging to a connected component in the attribute information of the connected component. That is, the target map includes at least one connected component, and the attribute information of each connected component includes the connectivity relationship between any two cells, as well as the connectivity relationship between at least two cells.

[0067] In some embodiments, generating a target map based on connectivity relationships can involve dividing the current map into different regions, each region being a connected component. Different rules can be set between these different regions; these rules can either allow the transport equipment to move between different regions, or they can disallow the transport equipment to move between different regions.

[0068] Step 203: Send the target map to the management system so that the management system can plan the target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map.

[0069] In some embodiments, sending the target map to the management system can be used by the management system to create target tasks.

[0070] In some embodiments, sending the target map to the management system can be used by the management system to assign target handling equipment to the target task.

[0071] In some embodiments, sending the target map to the management system can be used by the management system to plan the target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task.

[0072] For example, the map generation module can generate a target map through steps 201 to 202 described above, and send the generated target map to the management system. The management system can create target tasks based on the target map, assign target handling equipment to the target tasks, and plan target paths for the target handling equipment to execute the target tasks.

[0073] In some embodiments, the method further includes: if there are cells in the target map that satisfy the first condition, obtaining the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; updating the target map based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; and sending the updated target map to the management system.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first condition includes at least one of the following: any cell in the target map is triggered to be locked, and the locking duration reaches a first duration; any cell in the target map is triggered to be unlocked, and the unlocking duration reaches a second duration; at least one cell in the target map is in a congested state.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first condition can be used to determine whether the target map needs to be updated.

[0076] In some examples, if the target map does not meet the first condition, such as the absence of cells in the target map that have been triggered to lock or unlock or are congested, the target map may not be updated. The management system can use the current target map to perform at least one of the following: task creation, equipment allocation, and route planning.

[0077] In other examples, if the target map meets the first condition, the map generation module can be triggered to update the target map. After updating the target map, the map generation module can send the updated target map to the management system, enabling the management system to perform subsequent operations based on the updated target map.

[0078] For example, the first duration and the second duration can be pre-configured time values. The values ​​of the first duration and the second duration can be the same or different, and this embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit this. For example, both the first duration and the second duration are 5 seconds.

[0079] In some examples, cell locking is triggered to indicate that the cell's state is updated to a locked state. For instance, if a moving device on a cell malfunctions and cannot be moved, the cell's state can be updated to a locked state, thus triggering cell locking. When the cell's state is updated to a locked state, the lock start time can be recorded, and if the lock duration reaches a certain threshold, a first condition can be determined to be met.

[0080] In some examples, cell unlocking is triggered to indicate that the cell's state has changed from locked to unlocked. For example, the removal of a malfunctioning handling device from the cell can trigger cell unlocking. When the cell's state is updated to unlocked, the unlocking start time can be recorded, and if a second unlocking duration is reached, it can be determined that a first condition has been met. Cell unlocking can be triggered automatically or by staff; this disclosure does not limit this.

[0081] For example, cell locking can be triggered by scenario constraints, requiring staff to lock cells at fixed locations to prevent moving equipment from reaching or passing through them, thus triggering an update of the target map. Cell unlocking can be triggered by staff unlocking cells at fixed locations, thereby triggering an update of the target map.

[0082] It should be noted that the first and second durations can be set to values ​​greater than 0, or they can be set to 0. When both the first and second durations are set to 0, the first condition is met when the cell is triggered to lock or unlock.

[0083] In some examples, cell congestion indicates that the cell is included in the walking paths of multiple handling devices in the warehousing system, resulting in queuing for that cell. Therefore, the target map can be updated to prevent the management system from planning the target path based on the initial target map and still treating that cell as a plannable cell, thus causing more serious congestion.

[0084] For example, the connectivity graph can be divided into static data and dynamic data. The connectivity detection module triggers a data refresh 5 seconds after a cell is locked or unlocked, that is, it provides dynamic data to the management system.

[0085] Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of a connectivity relationship diagram provided in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0086] As shown in Figure 6A, specifically in step 1, some cells within the shelf area of ​​a connected region can be locked. As shown in step 1.1 of Figure 6A, after a cell is locked, connectivity is re-detected based on the separate connected regions determined by the locked cells, and the connected regions are updated accordingly. As shown in step 1.2 of Figure 6A, after a congested cell is detected, connectivity is re-detected based on the information from the congested cell, and the connected regions are updated accordingly.

[0087] In some embodiments, the map generation module may update the target map by: obtaining the update attribute information of each cell in the target map; and updating the target map based on the update attribute information of each cell in the target map.

[0088] In some examples, the updated attribute information for each cell in the target map can be the real-time attribute information of each cell at the time the update is triggered. The parameters of each cell's attribute information may be the same as or different from the previous parameters; this disclosure does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0089] In some embodiments, updating the target map based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map may include: determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the target map based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; updating the target map according to the connectivity relationship to obtain the updated target map.

[0090] It should be noted that the method for determining the connectivity between any two cells in the target map is similar to the process of determining the connectivity between any two cells in the current map in step 201 above. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0091] For example, the connectivity detection module sends the connectivity graph to the RMS as static data. Five seconds after a cell is locked or unlocked, the connectivity detection module refreshes the data to obtain the latest connectivity graph. This updated graph is then sent to the RMS as dynamic data for use by other modules within the RMS. For instance, the task creation module might create tasks based on the updated connectivity graph, the robot allocation module might allocate robots according to the created tasks, and the path planning module might plan paths for the robots to execute the tasks.

[0092] The map generation method provided in this disclosure can determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, thereby obtaining at least one connected component in the target map to generate the target map, providing a basis for the management system to create tasks, allocate transport equipment, and plan routes.

[0093] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining connectivity relationships provided by an embodiment of this disclosure. Based on the embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 3 further describes step 201 in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 3, step 201 may include steps 301 to 302 as shown below.

[0094] Step 301: Traverse all first cells in the current map and determine the parent node of each first cell.

[0095] In some embodiments, traversing all first cells in the current map can involve obtaining the attribute information of each first cell and determining the parent node of the first cell based on the attribute information.

[0096] In some examples, if the parent node information in the attribute information of the first cell is empty, the parent node of the first cell can be the first cell itself.

[0097] In some examples, where the parent node information of the first cell is the second cell, the parent node of the first cell can be the second cell. Here, the second cell and the first cell are different cells.

[0098] In some examples, where the parent node information of the first cell includes multiple second cells, the parent node of the first cell can be any one of the multiple second cells.

[0099] Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of a disjoint-set data structure detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0100] For example, based on disjoint-set data structure detection, all cells in the current map are traversed once. As shown in Figure 6B, taking the traversal of node I as an example, since the parent node of node I is empty, it can be determined that the parent node of node I is itself. Taking node C as the initial node, first traversing to C, it is determined that the parent node of C is C; traversing to D, it can be determined that the root node of D is C, and path compression will directly connect the nodes on the path from D to the root node C to the root node C, thus determining that the parent node of D is C. Traversing to E, it can be determined that the root node of E is C, and path compression will directly connect the nodes on the path from E to the root node C to the root node C, thus determining that the parent node of E is C; when traversing to H, it can be determined that the root node of H is C, and path compression will directly connect the nodes on the path from H to the root node C to the root node C, thus determining that the parent node of H is C, and so on, to obtain the parent node of each cell.

[0101] In some examples, the common parent node of any cell in the current map may not be fixed, but may be randomly selected depending on the order in which the cells are traversed.

[0102] For example, taking node D as the initial node, we first traverse to D and determine that D's parent node is D; then we traverse to C, following C's parent pointer upwards until we find the root node D. The path compression mechanism will directly connect D to the root node C, thus updating C's parent node to D. That is, in the case where we take node C as the initial node and traverse to C first, we can determine that C and D share the same parent node; similarly, in the case where we take node D as the initial node and traverse to D first, we can determine that C and D share the same parent node.

[0103] Step 302: Based on the parent node of each first cell, determine the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map through recursive path compression.

[0104] In some embodiments, based on the parent node of each first cell, the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map is determined by recursive path compression. This may include: determining the parent node of each first cell, grouping first cells that are parent and child nodes together, and continuing to find the parent node of any cell in the group, adding the first cells that are parent and child nodes together, until the parent node of the traversed first cell is itself, performing path compression on all the first cells grouped together, that is, the first cells in the group all have a common parent node, thereby obtaining the connectivity relationship between any two first cells.

[0105] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map by recursive path compression based on the parent node of each first cell can be as follows: based on a first rule, determine the second cell in the current map as the first node, where the first rule indicates the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map; with the parent node of the first node as the second node, determine the parent node of the second node based on the first rule, and recursively search until the parent node of the third node is the third node, thus determining that the first node, the second node, and the third node belong to a connected component.

[0106] The first rule will now be explained.

[0107] In some examples, the first rule can be a pre-defined attribute condition for connected components in the target map. For example, connected components may need to meet the requirement of being passable when unloaded, or impassable when loaded.

[0108] In other examples, the first rule could be that cells in the connected components of the target map must meet the vehicle type requirements. For example, only vehicles of type 1 are allowed to pass, or only vehicles of type 2 are prohibited from passing.

[0109] In other examples, the first rule could also be that cells of connected components in the target map need to meet the right-of-way matching requirement. For example, all connected components need to meet the first right-of-way condition; where the first right-of-way condition can be the device model supported by the cell.

[0110] In other examples, the first rule can also be a spatial requirement that the cells of a connected component in the target map must meet. For example, it can be set that the total extent of all cells in a connected component cannot exceed a first extent; where the first extent can be a predefined number of cells or the size of the connected component region.

[0111] In other examples, the first rule can also be to set unidirectional connectivity to non-connectivity.

[0112] In other examples, the first rule can also be to set unidirectional connectivity as connected, that is, if there are multiple connected components, the first and last cells are set to be mutually connected.

[0113] It should be noted that the first rule can be one of the above rules, or it can include at least two of the above rules; or, the first rule can be set or canceled according to business needs, and this disclosure does not restrict this.

[0114] In some embodiments, based on the first rule, the second cell in the current map is determined as the first node. This can be done by identifying the second cell among all first cells in the current map that satisfy the first rule, and using the second cell as the first node, which is the first node / head node from which the recursive search begins.

[0115] In some embodiments, the parent node of the first node is taken as the second node. Based on the first rule, the parent node of the second node is determined. This can be done by selecting the second node from all the parent nodes of the first node, where the second node satisfies the first rule. Then, among all the parent nodes of the second node, the node that satisfies the first rule is taken as the third node, and so on, recursively searching until the parent node of the third node is itself. That is, the first node, the second node, and all the third nodes determined during the recursive search can be considered as a connected component. Within this connected component, the parent node of all nodes can be the third node; thus, the connectivity relationship between any node and the third node within this connected component is obtained.

[0116] For example, based on the disjoint-set data structure (DFS) detection, after traversing all cells, path compression is performed, as shown in Figure 6B. Taking node H as an example, since H's parent node is E, and E's parent node is not equal to itself, compression is needed: continue searching for the parent node through node E until node C is found, whose parent node is equal to itself. Then, the parent nodes of the cells D, E, and H traversed along the way are all updated to node C. In this case, nodes H, D, E, and H all ultimately point to the same parent node C, indicating that they are all within the same connected component and are considered interconnected.

[0117] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map can yield at least one connected component; that is, each connected component contains at least two cells, and the two cells have a unidirectional or bidirectional connectivity relationship.

[0118] The map generation method provided in this disclosure traverses all first cells in the current map, determines the parent node of the first cell, and performs recursive path compression on all first cells according to the principle of determining the parent node, so as to find at least two first cells with the same parent node, thereby obtaining the connectivity relationship between any two first cells and improving the real-time efficiency of connectivity detection.

[0119] Figure 4 is a flowchart of another method for determining connectivity relationships proposed in this disclosure. In conjunction with the above description of the embodiment in Figure 2, step 201 in Figure 2 will be further explained. As shown in Figure 4, it includes the following steps:

[0120] Step 401: Traverse all third cells in the current map and determine the first information of each third cell.

[0121] In some embodiments, the first information includes a first value and a second value, wherein the first value represents the current traversal order of the third cell, and the second value represents the minimum traversal order of the cells that the third cell can reach.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first information may be stored in the form of a stack, which includes a first value and a second value. The first value may be the number of times the current cell is visited during the traversal process, i.e., the traversal order. The second value may be the smallest first value among all cells that can be reached during the traversal process starting from the current cell, i.e., the minimum value of the traversal order.

[0123] Figure 6C is a schematic diagram of a Tarjan detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0124] As shown in Figure 6C, taking node a as the first traversed node as an example, the stack of a is (0, 0), indicating that a is visited for the first time during the traversal. This represents the minimum value among all cells reachable by node a during the traversal starting from the current cell (node ​​a), i.e., the minimum traversal order of node a is 0. Traversing forward from node a, the second node is b, and b's stack is (1, 1), indicating that b is visited for the second time during the traversal. This represents the minimum traversal order of node b during the traversal starting from the current cell (node ​​b). The third node is c, and c's stack is (2, 2), indicating that c is visited for the third time during the traversal. This represents the minimum traversal order of node c during the traversal starting from the current cell (node ​​c), i.e., the minimum traversal order of node c is 2. If c continues to traverse to a, then the stack of c will be updated to (2, 0), indicating that the minimum value of the traversed order is 0 during the traversal starting from the current cell; in this case, the stack of b will be updated to (1, 0), indicating that b is visited for the second time during the traversal, and the minimum value of the traversed order is 0.

[0125] In some embodiments, determining the first information may involve: traversing all third cells in the current map, determining a directed graph based on the line segment between any two third cells; determining the first and second values ​​of the third cells in the current map based on the directed graph, and storing the first and second values ​​of the third cells in the first information corresponding to the third cells.

[0126] In some embodiments, traversing all third cells in the current map can be achieved by traversing the attribute information of all cells in the current map, where the attribute information of each cell stores connection relationships; wherein, the connection relationships can be key-value pairs.<id,id> This means that the key-value pair indicates the connectivity between two adjacent cells, and this information is not updated.

[0127] In some embodiments, a method for determining a directed graph based on a line segment between any two third cells may involve determining the directed relationship between any two third cells based on whether a connection exists between them, thereby constructing a directed graph. In embodiments of this disclosure, nodes in the directed graph represent third cells.

[0128] In some embodiments, a directed graph reflects the nodes that can be reached from any node in the current map.

[0129] For example, the Tarjan algorithm is used to traverse all cells in the current map and obtain a directed graph by the line segments between the cells.

[0130] For example, as shown in Figure 6C, based on key-value pairs<a,b> ,<b,c> ,<c,a> We can obtain the directed connection relationship between abc, and so on, to obtain the directed graph shown in Figure 6C.

[0131] In some embodiments, based on a directed graph, determining the first and second values ​​of the third cell in the current map can be achieved by performing a Depth-First Search (DFS) traversal starting from any node in the directed graph, recording the number of times each node is visited and the minimum visited order among all nodes reachable from each node, in order to obtain the first information.

[0132] In some embodiments, storing the first and second values ​​of the third cell in the first information corresponding to the third cell can be done by storing the first and second values ​​of all accessed nodes in the same stack.

[0133] In some embodiments, the first value can be the order in which the cell is traversed, pointing to itself and not being updated; the second value can be the earliest node that can be traced during the cell traversal. During the first traversal, the second value points to itself, and when a node that was visited earlier is traversed, the second value will be updated.

[0134] For example, when performing a Depth-First Search (DFS) traversal on a directed graph, the timestamp dfn and low value low of each node can be recorded. Here, dfn[u] indicates how many times node u is visited, and low[u] represents the minimum dfn value among all nodes reachable from u. During the DFS process, a stack is used to store the dfn and low values ​​corresponding to the nodes on the current path.

[0135] For example, as shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 6C, in the obtained directed graph, the first traversed node is a, and the stack of a is (0, 0). Traversing backwards, the second node is b, and the stack of b is (1, 1). The third node is c, and the stack of c is (2, 2). Traversing c backwards to a, the stack of b will be updated to (1, 0), and the stack of c will be updated to (2, 0), and so on, to obtain the stacks of all nodes in the directed graph. Since e and f are starting nodes, there is no node that can be reached with the smallest dfn value, therefore, the stacks of e and f will not be updated.

[0136] In some embodiments, the first and second values ​​can be positive integers greater than or equal to 0. For example, the first value of the first visited node is 0.

[0137] Step 402: Based on the first information, determine the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map.

[0138] In some embodiments, determining the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map based on first information can be achieved by: traversing the first information of each third cell until the first value of the fourth cell is equal to the second value of the fourth cell, thus obtaining a first connected component. The first connected component includes the fourth cell and at least one third cell connected to the fourth cell. Based on at least one cell in the first connected component and a first rule, the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map is determined. The first rule indicates the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map.

[0139] In some embodiments, the first information corresponding to each third cell is traversed, that is, all stacks in the current map are traversed, including the first value and the second value; wherein, the first value of each cell may be equal or unequal, the second value may be equal or unequal, and the first value and the second value may be equal or unequal.

[0140] In some embodiments, the first information is traversed until the first value of the fourth cell is equal to the second value of the fourth cell, that is, all child nodes rooted at the fourth cell cannot find a node that was visited earlier than the fourth cell. Then, all child nodes rooted at the fourth cell belong to the first connected component. In other words, the first connected component includes the fourth cell and at least one third cell that is connected to the fourth cell.

[0141] For example, during the DFS process, a stack is used to store the nodes on the current path. When dfn[u] = low[u], all nodes in the subtree rooted at u cannot find a node that was visited earlier than u. These nodes form a closed ring structure and can reach each other. Popping all nodes in this component from the stack will form a strongly connected component.

[0142] For example, as shown in Figure 6C, when the dfn and low values ​​of node a are both 0, and the first information corresponding to nodes b, c, and d are (1, 0), (2, 0), and (1, 0) respectively, all nodes in the subtree rooted at a cannot find a node that was visited earlier than a. These nodes form a closed ring structure and can reach each other. Therefore, nodes a, b, c, and d can be a bidirectional connected component. The first information corresponding to nodes e and f are (3, 3) and (2, 2) respectively, and there is no path that can reach node a. Nodes e and f are unidirectional connected components.

[0143] In some embodiments, the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map is determined based on at least one cell in the first connected component and a first rule. This can be achieved by determining cells in the first connected component that satisfy the first rule, thereby determining the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the target map.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first rule may be a pre-defined attribute condition of the connected components in the target map, such as the requirement that cells in the connected components must meet the requirement of being passable when empty or impassable when loaded.

[0145] In some embodiments, the first rule may be that the cells in the connected component need to meet the vehicle type requirements, such as only the first type of vehicle can pass, or only the second type of vehicle cannot pass.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first rule may be that cells in a connected component need to meet the requirements of right-of-way matching, for example, cells in a connected component need to meet the first right-of-way condition, where the first right-of-way condition is the device model supported by the cell.

[0147] In some embodiments, the first rule may be that the cells in the connected component need to meet space requirements. For example, the overall range of all cells in the connected component may be set to not exceed a first range, which may be a pre-defined number of cells or the overall coverage of the connected component.

[0148] In some embodiments, the first rule may be to set one-way connectivity to no connectivity.

[0149] In some examples, as shown in Figure 6C, under the condition that one-way connectivity is not connected, nodes a, b, c, and d can be obtained as a bidirectional connected component, while nodes e and f are one-way connected components.

[0150] For example, starting from any one of nodes a, b, c, or d, you can reach any one of the other three nodes. As another example, starting from any one of nodes a, b, c, or d, you can reach either node e or f, but starting from either node e or f, you cannot reach any one of nodes a, b, c, or d.

[0151] Figure 6D is a schematic diagram of a connected component proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0152] As shown in Figure 6D, under the condition that the one-way connectivity is not connected, multiple connected components as shown in (2) can be obtained, that is, it is assumed that A can reach I, but I cannot reach A.

[0153] In some embodiments, the first rule may be to set unidirectional connectivity as connectivity, that is, under the premise that multiple connected components can be connected, the first and last cells are set to be mutually connected.

[0154] For example, as shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 6C, under the condition that unidirectional connectivity is connected, nodes a, b, c, d, e, and f can be obtained as a connected component.

[0155] For example, as shown in the schematic diagram in FIG6D, under the condition that unidirectional connectivity is connected, a connected component as shown in (3) can be obtained, that is, it is assumed that A can reach I, and I can also reach A.

[0156] In some embodiments, the first rule can be customized according to business needs, or the setting of the first rule can be cancelled, and this disclosure does not restrict this.

[0157] The map generation method provided in this embodiment determines the directed graph in the current map, traverses the directed graph to obtain the first and second values ​​of each cell, and obtains the connectivity relationship between any two third cells based on the first and second values. Compared with the method shown in Figure 3, it can obtain bidirectional connectivity relationship and achieve fast connectivity detection, further improving the efficiency of the warehousing system.

[0158] It should be noted that, through the two different methods exemplified in the embodiments of Figures 3 and 4, the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map can be obtained, thus obtaining at least one connected component. Based on the obtained connectivity relationship, a target map can be obtained. The target map includes all the obtained connected components and can be used by the management system for task creation, allocation of handling equipment, and route planning.

[0159] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a control method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. It should be noted that, based on the embodiments shown in Figures 2-4, the control method shown in Figure 5 can be executed by a management system. As shown in Figure 5, the method includes the following steps:

[0160] Step 501: Obtain the target map.

[0161] In some embodiments, the target map is determined based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, and the target map includes at least one connected component, which is used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells.

[0162] In some embodiments, the management system may obtain a target map in the initial stage. The target map is determined by the map generation module based on the attribute information of each cell in the initial map (or the current map).

[0163] In some embodiments, if there are cells in the target map that meet the first condition, the management system can obtain the updated target map determined by the map generation module based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map.

[0164] In some embodiments, the management system obtains the updated target map when any cell is locked for a duration of a first duration and / or when any cell is unlocked for a duration of a second duration.

[0165] In some embodiments, the management system obtains an updated target map when at least one cell is congested.

[0166] For example, the map generation module determines the target map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map and sends the target map to the management system. If the target map satisfies at least one of the following conditions: any cell is locked for a first duration, any cell is unlocked for a second duration, or there are cells in a congested state, the attribute information of each cell in the target map can be updated. Based on the updated attribute information, the map generation module determines the updated target map, and the management system can obtain the updated target map.

[0167] Step 502: Based on the target map, plan the target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task.

[0168] In some embodiments, planning a target path for a target handling device to perform a target task based on a target map includes at least one of creating a target task, assigning a target handling device to the target task, and planning a target path for the target handling device to perform the target task.

[0169] In some embodiments, the management system creates a target task by: obtaining the start coordinates and end coordinates of at least one order task; determining a third connectivity relationship between the start coordinates and the end coordinates of the first order task in the at least one order task based on the target map; and determining the target task in the at least one order task based on the third connectivity relationship.

[0170] For example, the first order task can be any of the at least one order tasks. The management system can determine the target task in the at least one order task based on the third connectivity relationship between the start coordinates and end coordinates of each order task, and based on the third connectivity relationship corresponding to each order task.

[0171] In some embodiments, the management system can obtain the start coordinates and end coordinates of each order task based on the order tasks in the current system, and determine whether the cell of the start coordinates and the cell of the end coordinates belong to a connected component through at least one connected component in the target map. If they belong to a connected component, the order can be created; if they do not belong to a connected component, the order cannot be created.

[0172] In some embodiments, the management system assigns a target transport device to a target task by: acquiring the status information of at least one transport device; and determining the target transport device among the at least one transport device based on the starting coordinates of the target task, the status information of at least one transport device, and at least one connected component in the target map.

[0173] In some embodiments, the status information of the handling equipment includes the current location coordinates of the handling equipment, its no-load status, and whether it is performing a task.

[0174] In some embodiments, the management system can determine the target handling device for performing the target task from among at least one handling device based on the starting coordinates of the target task, the status information of at least one handling device in the current warehousing system, and at least one connected component in the target map.

[0175] In some embodiments, if the current position coordinates of the transport device and the starting coordinates of the target task are in a connected component, then the transport device can be identified as the target transport device.

[0176] For example, based on the target map determined by the map generation module, upon receiving an order task, the management system determines the third connectivity relationship between the start and end coordinates of the order task. Based on this third connectivity relationship, it determines whether the cells of the start and end coordinates belong to a connected component. If they belong to a connected component, the order can be created; otherwise, it cannot be created. If the order is created, the system obtains the status information of the handling equipment and determines whether the current position coordinates of the handling equipment and the start coordinates of the target task belong to a connected component. If they belong to a connected component, the handling equipment can be designated as the target handling equipment; otherwise, among other handling equipment, the handling equipment whose current position coordinates belong to a connected component with the start coordinates of the target task can be designated as the target handling equipment.

[0177] In some embodiments, the current position coordinates of the transport device and the starting coordinates of the target task are not in the same connected component, but the transport device is in an unloaded state, and the transport device can be identified as the target transport device.

[0178] In some embodiments, among the at least one transport device that can be identified as a target transport device, the target transport device can be further identified based on attribute conditions of connected components in the target map. For example, attribute conditions can be vehicle type matching conditions, right-of-way matching conditions, etc., to determine whether a transport device can be used as a target transport device.

[0179] In other words, the number of transport devices (referred to as candidate transport devices) that satisfy the condition that the current position coordinates and the starting coordinates of the target task are within a connected component can be one or more. When there is only one candidate transport device, it can be identified as the target transport device. When there are multiple candidate transport devices, the target transport device can be identified from among the multiple candidate transport devices based on the attribute conditions of the connected component corresponding to each candidate transport device.

[0180] Figure 6E is a schematic diagram of a connectivity detection method proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0181] As shown in Figure 6E, 1.1 represents the condition under load, where the transport equipment cannot move between cells of two connected components; 1.2 represents the condition under no-load, where the transport equipment can move between cells of two originally disconnected connected components.

[0182] In some embodiments, the management system may plan a target path for the target handling equipment to perform a target task by: obtaining the current position coordinates of the target handling equipment and the starting coordinates and ending coordinates of the target task; determining a first connectivity relationship between the current position coordinates and the starting coordinates, and a second connectivity relationship between the starting coordinates and the ending coordinates, based on the target map; and generating a target path based on the first connectivity relationship and the second connectivity relationship.

[0183] In some examples, the management system's planning of a target path for a target transport device to perform a target transport task may include: first planning the path from the target transport device to the starting point coordinates, and then planning the path from the starting point coordinates to the ending point coordinates to obtain the target path.

[0184] In some embodiments, based on the target map, determining the first connectivity relationship between the current location coordinates and the starting point coordinates can be done by determining information about at least one cell that needs to be traversed to reach the starting point coordinates from the cell at the current location coordinates. The first connectivity relationship refers to the information about the connectable cells from the current location coordinates to the starting point coordinates.

[0185] In some embodiments, when the target handling device is in an unloaded state, the first connectivity relation may include cells from multiple connected components; when the target handling device is in a loaded state, the first connectivity relation consists of cells from one connected component.

[0186] In some embodiments, determining a second connectivity relationship between the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates based on the target map can be done by determining information about at least one cell that needs to be traversed from the cell at the starting point coordinates to the cell at the ending point coordinates. The second connectivity relationship is the information about the connectable cells from the starting point coordinates to the ending point coordinates.

[0187] In some embodiments, the target transport device is a cell of a connected component in the second connectivity relationship from the starting point coordinates to the ending point coordinates.

[0188] In some embodiments, when the current position coordinates of the target handling device are the same as the starting point coordinates, the management system can plan the target path by planning a path from the starting point coordinates to the ending point coordinates, thus obtaining the target path. In this case, the first connectivity relationship between the current position coordinates and the starting point coordinates can include only the cell containing the starting point coordinates or the cell containing the current position coordinates.

[0189] For example, as shown in Figure 6C, taking the current position coordinates of the target handling equipment as the coordinates of node a, and the starting coordinates as the coordinates of node a, the management system can plan the target path from the coordinates of node a to the end coordinates by taking the coordinates of node a as the starting point.

[0190] In some embodiments, the first connected component and the second connected component can be the same connected component or different connected components. For example, when the current position coordinates of the conveying device are the same as the starting point coordinates, the first connected component and the second connected component are the same.

[0191] For example, as shown in Figure 6C, the first connected component is abc. When the current position coordinates of the transport device are the coordinates of node a, the first connected component is the same as the second connected component; when the current position coordinates of the transport device are not the coordinates of node a, the first connected component is different from the second connected component.

[0192] In some embodiments, generating a target path based on a first connectivity relationship and a second connectivity relationship may include: determining a first path for the target transport device based on the current location coordinates and the coordinates of at least one cell in the first connected component; wherein the first connected component reflects a first connectivity relationship of at least one cell between the current location coordinates and the starting coordinates of the target task; determining a second path for the target transport device based on the starting coordinates of the target task and the coordinates of at least one cell in the second connected component; wherein the second connected component reflects a second connectivity relationship of at least one cell between the starting coordinates of the target task and the ending coordinates of the target task; and generating a target path based on the first path and the second path.

[0193] In some embodiments, based on the current position coordinates and the coordinates of at least one cell in the first connected component, a first path can be determined from the current position coordinates of the target handling device to the starting coordinates of the target task. At least one cell in the first connected component is a cell that has a connectivity relationship between the current position coordinates and the starting coordinates.

[0194] In some embodiments, a second path from the starting point coordinates to the ending point coordinates of the target transport device can be determined based on the coordinates of at least one cell in the starting point coordinates and the second connected component. The cells in the second connected component are cells that have a connectivity relationship between the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates.

[0195] In some embodiments, a target path is generated based on a first path and a second path. For example, the first path and the second path can be connected. For example, as shown in Figure 6B, the target handling device's current position coordinates are C, the starting point coordinates are D, and the ending point coordinates are G, i.e., the first path is from C to D, and the second path is from D to G. By connecting the first path and the second path, the target path is obtained, i.e., the target path is from C to G.

[0196] The map generation and control methods proposed in this disclosure can determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells based on cell attribute information, thereby obtaining at least one connected component. The management system can perform operations such as task creation, allocation of handling equipment, and path planning based on the information of the at least one connected component, realizing real-time and rapid connectivity detection, enhancing the real-time performance and reliability of the system, and thus improving the overall efficiency of the warehousing system.

[0197] The following is a connectivity detection process based on disjoint-set data structure or Tarjan's algorithm.

[0198] Figure 6A shows a schematic diagram of the connectivity graph. The connectivity graph is divided into static data and dynamic data. When a cell is locked or unlocked for 5 seconds, the connectivity graph needs to be redefined; or when a cell becomes congested, the connectivity graph needs to be redefined.

[0199] The following is one way to perform connectivity detection:

[0200] 1. Connectivity detection based on disjoint-set data structure or Tarjan algorithm.

[0201] (1) The disjoint set detection only needs to traverse all cells in the map once, and the recursive path compression is performed by the disjoint set data structure.

[0202] Figure 6B shows a schematic diagram of disjoint-set data structure detection:

[0203] The disjoint-set data structure first traverses to C. The parent node of C is C, and the parent node is the previous node before C. When C has no previous node, its parent node is itself.

[0204] When traversing to D, the parent node of D is C;

[0205] When traversing to E, the parent node of E is D;

[0206] When traversing to H, H's parent node is E;

[0207] Following this pattern, after traversing all cells, path compression is performed. Taking node H as an example, since H's parent node is E, and E's parent node is not equal to itself, compression is needed. Continue searching for the parent node through E until you find C, whose parent node is equal to itself. Then, the parent nodes of cells D, E, and H encountered along the way will all be updated to C. These cells will ultimately all point to the same parent node C, indicating that they are all within the same connected component and are considered interconnected. The parent node is not fixed; it depends on the order in which the cells are traversed and is randomly selected.

[0208] (2) The space complexity of Tarjan's algorithm is the same as that of disjoint set, but since it is necessary to traverse the cells once, obtain the directed graph through the connecting lines between the cells, and then perform data calculation through the algorithm, the corresponding time complexity is slightly higher, but it still has a linear time complexity of O(V+E). The running time of the algorithm is linearly related to the input size (i.e., the number of vertices V and the number of edges E).

[0209] For example, as shown in Figure 6C, a Tarjan's detection diagram is used. A Depth-First Search (DFS) traversal is performed on the map, recording the timestamp (dfn) and low value (low) of each node. dfn[u] represents the nth time node u was visited, and low[u] represents the minimum dfn value among all nodes reachable from u. A stack is used during the DFS to store nodes on the current path. When dfn[u] == low[u], all nodes in the subtree rooted at u cannot find a node visited earlier than u. This means these nodes form a closed ring structure, reachable from each other. Popping all nodes from this component from the stack forms a strongly connected component. Alternatively, u may have no reachable nodes (u is the root node), or u may have reachable nodes whose dfn values ​​are the same as u's.

[0210] 2. How to use connectivity.

[0211] In some examples, unidirectional connectivity can be determined by checking if the parent nodes of two cells are the same, thus indicating whether two cells are in the same connected component, i.e., connected.

[0212] In some examples, the determination of connectivity between multiple cells is similar to that of unidirectional connectivity. For instance, taking a map with N cells, to detect A->B and B cannot reach A through connected components, each cell essentially needs to traverse all surrounding connected components before determining the direction between A and B. To achieve this result, it means performing N*N*2 path planning operations and recording N*N*2 (no load) data points, as shown in the connected component diagram in Figure 6D. To determine whether A to I is reachable, it is necessary to plan ABC [CDMN is considered a connected component] - EF [FGOP is considered a connected component] - HI, i.e., unidirectional connectivity is considered disconnected. If unidirectional connectivity is set to be connected, i.e., A to I is reachable and I to A is reachable, then the real-time efficiency of using the connectivity graph for subsequent processes can be further improved.

[0213] The advantage of Tarjan's algorithm over disjoint-set data structures is that it can compute bidirectional connectivity.

[0214] The map generation method provided in this disclosure can achieve rapid real-time connectivity detection, significantly improving the real-time response of task allocation and path planning in logistics and warehousing systems.

[0215] In some examples, the map generation method provided in this disclosure can respond quickly in real time. For example, the average time complexity of a single detection of connectivity between cells is close to O(α(n)), where α is the inverse Ackermann function, which grows extremely slowly and is almost a constant for the value of n in practical applications.

[0216] In some examples, the map generation method provided in this disclosure can query only the stored parent node information and rank information of each cell during the process of querying the connectivity between cells, thus the overall space complexity is O(n). For example, the connectivity between two cells can be determined by whether the parent node information is consistent; the time complexity of this connectivity query method is O(1).

[0217] In some examples, the map generation method provided in this disclosure determines the connectivity between cells by updating parent node relationships and path compression, which is a fixed calculation method. Furthermore, the method for determining whether two nodes have a connectivity relationship can be extended with different rules based on different business scenarios. For example, different rules (such as the first rule) can be set based on empty load information, vehicle type matching information, and right-of-way matching information to obtain the connectivity relationship between cells in the current map according to different rules in different business scenarios. As shown in the connectivity detection diagram in Figure 6E, it can be set that 1.1 a transport device under load cannot pass through two separate connected areas, and 1.2 a transport device under empty load can pass through two connected areas, meaning that two connected areas can be merged into one connected area.

[0218] The map generation method provided in this disclosure can quickly detect and obtain the connectivity between cells, enhancing the real-time performance and reliability of the system, thereby bringing significant economic and technical benefits to automated logistics and warehousing systems.

[0219] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a map generation device 700 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the device includes:

[0220] The determination module 710 is configured to determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map.

[0221] The generation module 720 is configured to generate a target map based on connectivity relationships, the target map including at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationships between at least two cells.

[0222] The sending module 730 is configured to send a target map to the management system so that the management system can plan a target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map.

[0223] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to traverse all first cells in the current map, determine the parent node of each first cell, and determine the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map by recursive path compression based on the parent node of each first cell.

[0224] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to determine the second cell in the current map as the first node based on a first rule, the first rule indicating the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map; take the parent node of the first node as the second node, determine the parent node of the second node based on the first rule, and recursively search until the parent node of the third node is the third node, and determine that the first node, the second node, and the third node belong to a connected component.

[0225] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to traverse all third cells in the current map, determine first information for each third cell, the first information including a first value and a second value, the first value being used to indicate the current traversal order of the third cell, and the second value being used to indicate the minimum traversal order of the cells that the third cell can reach; and based on the first information, determine the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map.

[0226] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to traverse all third cells in the current map, determine a directed graph based on the line segment between any two third cells, determine the first and second values ​​of the third cells in the current map based on the directed graph, and store the first and second values ​​of the third cells in the first information corresponding to the third cells.

[0227] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to traverse the first information corresponding to each third cell until the first value of the fourth cell is equal to the second value of the fourth cell, thereby obtaining a first connected component. The first connected component includes the fourth cell and at least one third cell that is connected to the fourth cell. Based on at least one cell in the first connected component and a first rule, the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map is determined. The first rule indicates the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map.

[0228] In some embodiments, the determining module is further configured to, if there are cells in the target map that satisfy the first condition, obtain the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; update the target map based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; and send the updated target map to the management system.

[0229] In some embodiments, the first condition includes at least one of the following: any cell in the target map is triggered to be locked, and the locking duration reaches a first duration; any cell in the target map is triggered to be unlocked, and the unlocking duration reaches a second duration; at least one cell in the target map is in a congested state.

[0230] In the above embodiments, the map generation device can determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, thereby obtaining at least one connected component. Based on the obtained connectivity relationship, a target map can be obtained, which includes all the obtained connected components, for use by the management system to create tasks, allocate handling equipment, and plan routes.

[0231] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a control device 800 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, the device includes:

[0232] The acquisition module 810 is configured to acquire a target map, which is determined based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map. The target map includes at least one connected component, which is used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells.

[0233] The control module 820 is configured to plan a target path for the target handling equipment to perform target tasks based on the target map.

[0234] In some embodiments, the control module is further configured to acquire the current position coordinates of the target handling device and the starting coordinates and ending coordinates of the target task; based on the target map, determine the first connectivity relationship between the current position coordinates and the starting coordinates, and the second connectivity relationship between the starting coordinates and the ending coordinates; and generate the target path based on the first connectivity relationship and the second connectivity relationship.

[0235] In some embodiments, the control module is further configured to determine a first path for the target transport device based on the current position coordinates and the coordinates of at least one cell in a first connected component; wherein the first connected component reflects a first connectivity relationship between the current position coordinates and the starting coordinates of the target task; determine a second path for the target transport device based on the starting coordinates of the target task and the coordinates of at least one cell in a second connected component; wherein the second connected component reflects a second connectivity relationship between the starting coordinates of the target task and the ending coordinates of the target task; and generate a target path based on the first path and the second path.

[0236] In some embodiments, the control module is further configured to acquire the start coordinates and end coordinates of at least one order task; determine a third connectivity relationship between the start coordinates and the end coordinates of the first order task in the at least one order task based on the target map; and determine the target task in the at least one order task based on the third connectivity relationship.

[0237] In some embodiments, the control module is further configured to acquire status information of at least one transport device; and, based on the starting coordinates of the target task and the status information of at least one transport device, determine the target transport device among the at least one transport device through at least one connected component in the target map.

[0238] The map generation apparatus provided in this embodiment allows the control device to plan a target path for the target handling equipment to perform target tasks based on at least one connected component in the acquired target map. This improves the execution efficiency of the control device, thereby enhancing the real-time performance and reliability of the system and ultimately improving the overall efficiency of the warehousing system.

[0239] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 900 for implementing the above-described map generation and control methods according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The components of the electronic device 900 include, but are not limited to, a memory 910 and a processor 920. The processor 920 is connected to the memory 910 via a bus 930, and a database 950 is used to store data.

[0240] Electronic device 900 also includes access device 940, which enables electronic device 900 to communicate via one or more networks 960. Examples of these networks include Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), or combinations of communication networks such as the Internet. Access device 940 may include one or more of any type of wired or wireless network interface (e.g., network interface controller (NIC)), such as an IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) wireless interface, a Wi-MAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) interface, an Ethernet interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a cellular network interface, a Bluetooth interface, a Near Field Communication (NFC) interface, and so on.

[0241] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the aforementioned components of the electronic device 900, as well as other components not shown in FIG. 9, may be interconnected, for example, via a bus. It should be understood that the electronic device structural block diagram shown in FIG. 9 is merely for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art can add or replace other components as needed.

[0242] Electronic device 900 can be any type of stationary or mobile computing device, including mobile computers or mobile computing devices (e.g., tablet computers, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, notebook computers, netbooks, etc.), mobile phones (e.g., smartphones), wearable computing devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses, etc.) or other types of mobile devices, or stationary computing devices such as desktop computers or personal computers (PCs). Electronic device 900 can also be a mobile or stationary server.

[0243] The processor 920 executes the computer instructions to implement the steps of the map generation method and control method.

[0244] The above is an illustrative scheme of an electronic device according to an embodiment of this disclosure. It should be noted that the technical solution of this electronic device and the technical solution of the control method described above belong to the same concept. Details not described in detail in the technical solution of the computing electronic device can be found in the descriptions of the technical solutions of the map generation method and the control method described above.

[0245] Embodiments of this disclosure also propose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are used to cause a computer to execute the map generation method and control method described in the above embodiments of this disclosure.

[0246] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer program product, including a computer program that is executed by a processor using the map generation method and control method described in the above embodiments of this disclosure.

[0247] The foregoing has described specific embodiments of this disclosure. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than that shown in the embodiments and may still achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0248] In some embodiments, computer instructions include computer program code, which may be in the form of source code, object code, executable file, or some intermediate form. The computer-readable medium may include any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording media, USB flash drive, portable hard drive, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrical carrier signals, telecommunication signals, and software distribution media, etc.

[0249] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, the foregoing method embodiments are all described as a series of actions. However, those skilled in the art should understand that this disclosure is not limited to the described order of actions, because according to this disclosure, some steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Furthermore, those skilled in the art should also understand that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily essential to this disclosure.

[0250] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0251] The preferred embodiments disclosed above are merely illustrative of this disclosure. The optional embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementations described. Clearly, many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this disclosure. These embodiments are selected and specifically described in this disclosure to better explain the principles and practical applications of this disclosure, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize this disclosure. This disclosure is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A map generation method, the method comprising: Based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map; Generate a target map based on the connectivity relationships; The target map includes at least one connected component, which reflects the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; The target map is sent to the management system so that the management system can plan the target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The step of determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map includes: Traverse all first cells in the current map and determine the parent node of each first cell; Based on the parent node of each first cell, the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map is determined through recursive path compression.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The process of determining the connectivity relationship between any two first cells in the current map through recursive path compression, based on the parent nodes of each first cell, includes: Based on the first rule, the second cell in the current map is determined as the first node; the first rule indicates the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map; Using the parent node of the first node as the second node, and based on the first rule, determine the parent node of the second node. Through recursive search, continue until the parent node of the third node is the third node, and determine that the first node, the second node, and the third node belong to a connected component.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The step of determining the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map includes: Traverse all third cells in the current map and determine the first information of each third cell; the first information includes a first value and a second value, the first value is used to represent the current traversal order of the third cell, and the second value is used to represent the minimum traversal order of the cells that the third cell can reach. Based on the first information, the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map is determined.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The step of traversing all third cells in the current map and determining the first information of each third cell includes: Traverse all the third cells in the current map and determine a directed graph based on the line segment between any two third cells; Based on the directed graph, the first value and the second value of the third cell in the current map are determined, and the first value and the second value of the third cell are stored in the first information corresponding to the third cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, Determining the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map based on the first information includes: Traverse the first information corresponding to each third cell until the first value of the fourth cell is equal to the second value of the fourth cell, and obtain the first connected component; the first connected component includes the fourth cell and at least one third cell that is connected to the fourth cell; Based on at least one cell in the first connected component and the first rule, the connectivity relationship between any two third cells in the current map is determined; the first rule indicates the attribute conditions of the connected components in the target map.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, further comprising: If there are cells in the target map that satisfy the first condition, obtain the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; Update the target map based on the updated attribute information of each cell in the target map; The updated target map is sent to the management system.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The first condition includes at least one of the following: Any cell in the target map is locked, and the lock duration reaches the first duration. Any cell in the target map is triggered to unlock, and the unlocking time reaches the second duration; At least one cell in the target map is in a congested state.

9. A control method, the method comprising: Obtain a target map; wherein the target map is determined based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, and the target map includes at least one connected component, the connected component being used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; Based on the target map, a target path is planned for the target handling equipment to perform the target task.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of planning a target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map includes: Obtain the current position coordinates of the target handling equipment, as well as the start and end coordinates of the target task; Based on the target map, determine the first connectivity relationship between the current location coordinates and the starting point coordinates, and the second connectivity relationship between the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates; The target path is generated based on the first connectivity relationship and the second connectivity relationship.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The step of generating the target path based on the first connectivity relationship and the second connectivity relationship includes: Based on the current location coordinates and the coordinates of at least one cell in the first connected component, a first path for the target handling device is determined; wherein, the first connected component reflects the first connectivity relationship of at least one cell between the current location coordinates and the starting coordinates of the target task; A second path for the target transport device is determined based on the coordinates of at least one cell in the starting coordinates of the target task and the coordinates of the ending coordinates of the target task; wherein the second connected component reflects the second connectivity relationship of at least one cell between the starting coordinates of the target task and the ending coordinates of the target task. The target path is generated based on the first path and the second path.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9-11, further comprising: Obtain the start and end coordinates of at least one order task; Based on the target map, a third connectivity relationship is determined between the starting coordinates and the ending coordinates of the first order task in the at least one order task. The target task is determined in the at least one order task based on the third connectivity relationship.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Obtain the status information of at least one handling device; Based on the starting coordinates of the target task and the status information of the at least one transport device, the target transport device is determined among the at least one transport device through at least one connected component in the target map.

14. A map generation apparatus, comprising: The determination module is used to determine the connectivity relationship between any two cells in the current map based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map; A generation module is used to generate a target map based on the connectivity relationship, wherein the target map includes at least one connected component, and the connected component is used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; The sending module is used to send the target map to the management system, so that the management system can plan the target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map.

15. A control device, comprising: The acquisition module is configured to: acquire a target map, which is determined based on the attribute information of each cell in the current map, and the target map includes at least one connected component, which is used to reflect the connectivity relationship between at least two cells; The control module is configured to plan a target path for the target handling equipment to perform the target task based on the target map.

16. A warehousing system, comprising a map generation module and a management system: The map generation module is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8; The management system is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 13.

17. An electronic device comprising: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store computer-executable instructions; The processor is configured to read the instructions from the memory and execute the instructions to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 or 9 to 13.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, The storage medium stores computer program instructions, which, when read by a computer, execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 or 9 to 13.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein, When executed by a processor, the computer program implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 or 9 to 13.

Images