Multi-Position Picking Layout for Bin Retrieval Robots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current warehouse systems face inefficiencies in item storage and picking processes, particularly in expanding Electronic Commerce markets, where automated solutions are needed to enhance the efficiency of item retrieval and processing.
Innovation Solution
An automated storage and retrieval system featuring a rack with multiple floors, transportation robots, and picking stations, where robots can transport bins between floors and align at multiple picking positions to facilitate efficient item picking and loading, reducing the need for manual handling and optimizing storage and retrieval operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual handling and single-bin transport methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity and picking work efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the picking process into multiple parallel picking positions (first, second, third picking positions) where different bins can be processed simultaneously. Each picking position is served by dedicated transportation robots, allowing concurrent operations and significantly improving picking throughput without requiring a single complex centralized mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The transportation robots are equipped with autonomous navigation and bin handling capabilities, enabling them to independently transport bins between storage and picking positions without manual intervention. The robots self-manage the transport tasks, reducing the need for complex centralized control mechanisms while maintaining high productivity.
2Loss of time
If multiple bins are processed sequentially, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The picking station is divided into multiple independent picking positions that can operate simultaneously. Each position has its own bin receptacle and is served by transportation robots, enabling parallel processing of multiple bins. This segmentation eliminates sequential bottlenecks and significantly reduces total picking processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous operation by having multiple transportation robots continuously transport bins between storage and picking positions. While one bin is being picked at the first position, another bin is being transported to the second position, ensuring that picking operations continue without interruption and minimizing idle time.
3Volume of stationary object
If storage density is increased by reducing aisle space, then volume efficiency improves, but transportation robot movement capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from traditional horizontal aisle-based access to a three-dimensional storage structure with multiple levels (first, second, and third floors). Transportation robots move along surfaces of each floor and use elevators for vertical movement,充分利用ing vertical space to increase storage density while maintaining adequate movement pathways through the multi-dimensional layout.
Solution Approach 2:
Elevators serve as intermediary devices that enable transportation robots to move between different floors of the storage system. This intermediary mechanism allows the system to achieve high storage density through vertical stacking while maintaining full accessibility to bins on any floor, as robots can efficiently transition between levels via the elevator system.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an automated storage and retrieval system including: a rack storing a plurality of bins for containing items; a picking station for picking the item from the bin; and a transportation robot for transporting the bin between the rack and the picking station. The picking station defines a plurality of picking positions at which a plurality of the transportation robots transporting the bins are simultaneously aligned to enable picking work of the item from the bin.