Detailed Description
The present application will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. It should be noted that, for convenience of description, only the portions related to the related invention are shown in the drawings.
It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict. The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments.
Fig. 1 shows an exemplary system architecture 100 to which embodiments of the method for generating path information or the apparatus for generating path information of embodiments of the present application may be applied.
As shown in fig. 1, the system architecture 100 may include terminal devices 101, 102, a server 103, a network 104, and a vehicle 105. The network 104 is used to provide a medium of communication links between the terminal devices 101, 102, the server 103 and the vehicle 105. Network 104 may include various connection types, such as wired, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables, to name a few.
The terminal devices 101, 102, the server 103 may interact with the vehicle 105 through the network 104 to receive or transmit messages (e.g., receive location information of the vehicle 105, transmit instructions indicating that the vehicle 105 is traveling), and the like. Various communication client applications, such as a vehicle control application, a web browser application, a shopping application, a search application, an instant messaging tool, a mailbox client, social platform software, and the like, may be installed on the terminal devices 101 and 102.
The terminal apparatuses 101 and 102 may be hardware or software. When the terminal devices 101 and 102 are hardware, they may be various electronic devices with information transmission function, including but not limited to smart phones, tablet computers, laptop portable computers, desktop computers, and the like. When the terminal apparatuses 101 and 102 are software, they can be installed in the electronic apparatuses listed above. It may be implemented as a plurality of software or software modules (e.g., software or software modules used to provide distributed services) or as a single software or software module. And is not particularly limited herein.
The server 103 may be a server that provides various services, such as a background server that supports operations that the terminal apparatuses 101, 102 or the vehicle 105 need to perform. The backend server may analyze and otherwise process the received data such as the path planning request, and feed back the processing result (e.g., path information) to the terminal device 101 or 102 or the vehicle 105.
It should be noted that the method for generating path information provided in the embodiment of the present application may be executed by the terminal devices 101 and 102, and accordingly, the apparatus for generating path information may be disposed in the terminal devices 101 and 102; the method for generating the path information provided by the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by the server 103, and accordingly, the apparatus for generating the path information may also be disposed in the server 103; furthermore, the method for generating the route information provided by the embodiment of the present application may also be executed by the vehicle 105 (for example, a unit for generating the route information in the vehicle 105), and accordingly, a device for generating the route information may also be provided in the vehicle 105.
The server may be hardware or software. When the server is hardware, it may be implemented as a distributed server cluster formed by multiple servers, or may be implemented as a single server. When the server is software, it may be implemented as multiple pieces of software or software modules (e.g., software or software modules for providing distributed services) or as a single piece of software or software module. And is not particularly limited herein.
It should be understood that the number of terminal devices, networks, and servers in fig. 1 is merely illustrative. There may be any number of terminal devices, networks, and servers, as desired for an implementation. When the electronic device on which the information processing method is executed does not need to perform data transmission with other electronic devices, the system architecture may not include other electronic devices other than the electronic device on which the information processing method is executed.
With continued reference to fig. 2, a flow 200 of one embodiment of a method for generating path information in accordance with the present application is shown. The method for generating path information includes the following steps:
step 201, position information of at least one goods to be picked is obtained.
In this embodiment, an execution subject of the method for generating route information (for example, a server, a terminal device or a vehicle shown in fig. 1) may obtain the location information of at least one item to be picked from other electronic devices or locally through a wired connection manner or a wireless connection manner. The goods to be picked may be goods to be picked. The location information may be indicative of the location of the goods to be picked.
Step 202, determining a channel for picking at least one goods to be picked in a predetermined channel set according to the position information.
In this embodiment, according to the position information obtained in step 201, the executing entity may determine a lane for picking at least one item to be picked in a predetermined lane set.
In practice, the goods to be picked may be stored in a warehouse, in which equipment for placing the goods (e.g. shelves, etc.) may be provided. The equipment room for placing the goods to be picked can be provided with a channel for picking personnel to pick the goods and for the picking vehicle to drive in. The execution main body or other electronic devices connected to the execution main body in communication may store position information of the goods to be picked, position information of a passage, and the like. Therefore, the execution main body can indicate the running path of the vehicle in a mode of sending instructions to the vehicle, so that the picking personnel can pick the goods to be picked. Here, the channel may be a single-row channel (a channel that is not reversible) or a double-row channel (a channel that is reversible).
As an example, the executing agent may determine, from the lane set, a lane closest to the position of the item to be picked as a lane for picking the item to be picked according to the position information of the item to be picked.
Alternatively, when the lane closest to the position of the item to be picked is occupied by another object (e.g., another picking vehicle or an obstacle) and the closest lane cannot enter, the executing body may determine, from the lane set, a lane second closest to the position of the item to be picked as the lane for picking the item to be picked.
In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the channel is a single row of channels. It will be appreciated that the narrower the passageway, the higher the cargo storage capacity of the warehouse (the higher the utilization of the warehouse). Thus, a single row lane may increase the storage capacity of the warehouse relative to a double row lane; the single-row lane may save physical strength of the pickers and improve the picking efficiency of the pickers relative to lanes that are narrower than the single-row lane (e.g., lanes that are not accessible to vehicles).
At step 203, a pick-up path through the determined channel is determined starting at a predetermined first position and ending at a predetermined second position.
In this embodiment, the execution body may determine a picking path passing through the determined channel with a predetermined first position as a starting point and a predetermined second position as an ending point. The first position may be a position at which the picking vehicle is parked before the picking vehicle picks the picking vehicle, or may be a position other than the position at which the picking vehicle is parked, which is available for the picking vehicle to travel into the warehouse. The second position may be a position at which the picking vehicle is parked after the picking vehicle has picked, or may be a position other than the position at which the picking vehicle is parked in the warehouse, into which the picking vehicle can be driven.
As an example, the executing entity may determine all picking paths passing through the determined aisle starting from the predetermined first position and ending at the predetermined second position, or may determine all picking paths passing through the determined aisle starting from the predetermined first position and ending at the predetermined second position and meeting a predetermined condition (for example, the determined picking path has a length shorter than other picking paths passing through the determined aisle ending at the predetermined second position).
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the executing main body may execute the step 203 according to the following steps: and constructing a directed graph. Wherein the directed graph includes: the node representing the starting point, the node representing the end point and the node representing the end point of the determined channel are communicated with each other, and the weight of the edge of the directed graph represents the driving distance between the positions corresponding to the two nodes connected by the edge. Wherein the endpoints of the aisles may be aisle entry and exit points (e.g., in fig. 3, the endpoints of the aisles at pick points 3028-3034 are pick point 3028 and pick point 3034). The travel distance may be a distance that the picking vehicle may travel. It is understood that when there is no obstacle between the line segments connecting the two positions, the length of the line segment may be the above-described travel distance; when an obstacle exists between line segments connecting two positions, the length of a path which the picking vehicle passes through from one position to the other position avoiding the obstacle is the travel distance.
From the determined pick-up paths, a pick-up path of shortest length is determined, step 204.
In this embodiment, the execution body may determine the shortest picking path from the determined picking paths.
For example, when the executing agent determines only one picking path through step 203, the executing agent may determine the determined one picking path as the picking path with the shortest length; when the executing agent determines more than one picking path through step 203, the executing agent may determine the picking path with the shortest length by comparing the lengths of the determined picking paths.
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, when the step 203 is executed in the manner of constructing the directed graph, the executing main body may execute the step 204 according to the following steps:
the first step, from the directed graph, determining a shortest path subgraph which takes the node representing the starting point as the starting point and the node representing the end point as the end point and comprises the node representing the end point of the determined channel.
And step two, determining a picking path corresponding to the shortest path subgraph as the picking path with the shortest length.
It is understood that the shortest path subgraph includes nodes representing the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels, and the edges of the shortest path subgraph represent the driving distance between the corresponding positions of the two nodes (including the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels), so that the shortest path subgraph can represent (i.e. correspond to) the picking paths.
In step 205, route information of the pick-up route with the shortest length is generated.
In this embodiment, the execution body may generate the route information of the picking route having the shortest length. The route information may indicate, among other things, the order in which the vehicles pass through the various lanes, the entry point for each lane, and so on.
In some use cases, the execution body may also send the path information to a vehicle (e.g., an AGV vehicle) to instruct the vehicle to travel.
With continuing reference to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the method for generating path information according to the present embodiment. In the application scenario of fig. 3, the terminal device acquires position information of items to be picked 3101, 3102, 3103 and 3104. Then, the terminal apparatus determines, based on the position information, a lane for picking the items to be picked 3101-3104 (i.e., a lane on which the picking points 3021 to 3027 and a lane on which the picking points 3028 to 3034 are located and a lane on which the picking points 3035 to 3041 are located, where the end points of the lanes on which the picking points 3021 to 3027 are the picking point 3021 and the picking point 3027, the end points of the lanes on which the picking points 3028 to 3034 are located and the end points of the lanes on which the picking points 3035 to 3041 are located are the picking point 3035 and the picking point 3041) in a predetermined set of lanes (including the lanes on which the picking points 3021 to 3027 and the lanes on which the picking points 3038 to 3034 are located for picking the items). The terminal device then determines a pick path through the aisles at pick points 3021-3027 and aisles at pick points 3028-3034 starting from the predetermined first position 300 and ending at the predetermined second position 301. Next, the terminal device determines a picking path 310 (shown by a dotted line) having the shortest length from the determined picking paths. Finally, the terminal device generates path information of the pick path 310 having the shortest length. For example, the path information may be "300-3028-3029-3030-3031-3032-3033-3034-3027-3026-3025-3024-3023-3022-3021-301".
The method provided by the above embodiment of the application determines the lane for picking at least one goods to be picked in the predetermined lane set according to the acquired position information of at least one goods to be picked, then determines the picking paths passing through the determined lane with the predetermined first position as the starting point and the predetermined second position as the end point, then determines the picking path with the shortest length from the determined picking paths, and finally generates the path information of the picking path with the shortest length.
With further reference to fig. 4, a flow 400 of yet another embodiment of a method for generating path information is shown. The process 400 of the method for generating path information includes the following steps:
step 401, position information of at least one item to be picked is obtained.
In this embodiment, step 401 is substantially the same as step 201 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 2, and is not described here again.
Step 402, determining a channel for picking at least one goods to be picked in a predetermined channel set according to the position information.
In this embodiment, step 402 is substantially the same as step 202 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 2, and is not described herein again.
Step 403, constructing a directed graph.
In the present embodiment, an execution subject (e.g., a server, a terminal device, or a vehicle shown in fig. 1) of the method for generating route information may construct a directed graph. Wherein, the directed graph includes: the node representing the starting point, the node representing the end point and the node representing the end point of the determined channel are communicated with each other, and the weight of the edge of the directed graph represents the driving distance between the positions corresponding to the two nodes connected by the edge. Wherein the end points of a channel may be a channel entry point and an exit point. The travel distance may be a distance that the picking vehicle may travel. It is understood that when there is no obstacle between the line segments connecting the two positions, the length of the line segment may be the above-described travel distance; when an obstacle exists between line segments connecting two positions, the length of a path which the picking vehicle passes through from one position to the other position avoiding the obstacle is the travel distance.
As an example, the execution body described above may construct a directed graph G. Wherein the directed graph G includes a set of nodes V = { V = } 1 ,……,v n N denotes the number of nodes included in the directed graph G, node v 1 Characterizing the starting point, node v n Characterizing the above end point, node v 2 To node v n-1 The endpoints of the determined channels are characterized. Here, assume node v i And node v i+1 Being the two end points of one channel. Where i is a positive even number less than n (thereby ensuring that a vehicle enters from one end of the aisle and exits, i.e. passes, from the other end of the aisle). The set of edges is E, (v) i ,v j ) Representing a slave node v i To node v j Is directed to the edge of the graph G. Any two nodes in the directed graph G are connected.
Step 404, determining a path subgraph from the directed graph, wherein the path subgraph takes the node representing the starting point as the starting point, takes the node representing the end point as the end point, and comprises the node representing the end point of the determined channel.
In this embodiment, the execution subject may determine, from the directed graph, a path subgraph including nodes representing end points of the determined channels, with a node representing a start point as a start point and a node representing an end point as an end point.
As an example, the execution body may represent the edge (v) by 0 or 1 (or other identifiers) i ,v j ) Whether or not to be selected, for example:
wherein x is ij For identifying edges (v) i ,v j ) Whether it is selected.
Thus, the execution topic may determine the path subgraph by determining the selected edge in the directed graph.
Step 405, determining the path subgraph which meets the preset conditions in the determined path subgraphs as a target path subgraph.
In this embodiment, the execution body may further determine a path sub-graph, which meets a preset condition, in the determined path sub-graphs as a target path sub-graph. The preset condition may be a preset condition for determining a target path subgraph, and the target path subgraph may be a path subgraph with the shortest length in the determined path subgraphs, or may be a path subgraph with certain characteristics (for example, no self-loop or the like).
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the preset condition may include at least one of: in the nodes included in the path subgraph, the degree of entry of the nodes except the representation starting point and the representation end point is 1, and the degree of exit of the nodes except the representation starting point and the representation end point is 1; the path subgraph does not include self-loops; and edges of two nodes corresponding to two end points of the connecting channel are edges passed by the path subgraph.
It is to be understood that when the preset condition includes the above three items, the determined target path subgraph is generally the path subgraph with the shortest length in the determined path subgraphs.
And step 406, determining a path subgraph with the shortest length from the determined target path subgraphs as a shortest path subgraph.
In this embodiment, the execution subject may determine, as the shortest path subgraph, a path subgraph with the shortest length from the determined target path subgraphs.
As an example, when the execution main body determines only one picking path through step 405 (for example, the preset condition includes that, of the nodes included in the path subgraph, the entry degree of the nodes other than the characterization start point and the characterization end point is 1 and the exit degree is 1, and the edges of the two nodes corresponding to the two end points where the path subgraph does not include the self-loop and the connecting channel are the edges passed by the path subgraph), the execution main body may determine the determined one picking path as the picking path with the shortest length as the shortest path subgraph; when the executing agent determines more than one picking path through step 405, the executing agent may determine the picking path with the shortest length as the shortest path sub-graph by comparing the lengths of the determined picking paths.
Step 407, determining the picking path corresponding to the shortest path subgraph as the picking path with the shortest length.
In this embodiment, the executing entity may determine the picking path corresponding to the shortest path sub-graph as the picking path with the shortest length.
It is understood that the shortest path sub-graph includes nodes representing the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels, and the edges representing the driving distance between the corresponding positions (including the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels) of the two nodes connected by the edges, so that the shortest path sub-graph can represent (i.e. correspond to) the picking paths, and further, the executing body can obtain the picking paths with the shortest length.
In step 408, route information of the picking route with the shortest length is generated.
In this embodiment, step 408 is substantially the same as step 205 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 2, and is not described herein again.
As can be seen from fig. 4, compared with the embodiment corresponding to fig. 2, the flow 400 of the method for generating path information in the present embodiment highlights the step of determining the picking path with the shortest length by using the directed graph. Therefore, the scheme described in the embodiment can introduce constraint conditions to assist in determining the picking path with the shortest length, so that on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of the shortest vehicle running path when the goods are picked, the solving process for solving the picking path with the shortest length is further simplified, the solving speed for solving the picking path with the shortest length is increased, and the goods picking efficiency is improved.
With further reference to fig. 5, as an implementation of the methods shown in the above figures, the present application provides an embodiment of an apparatus for generating path information, which corresponds to the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, and which may include the same or corresponding features as the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, in addition to the features described below. The device can be applied to various electronic equipment.
As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 for generating path information of the present embodiment includes: an acquisition unit 501, a first determination unit 502, a second determination unit 503, a third determination unit 504, and a generation unit 505. Wherein the obtaining unit 501 is configured to obtain position information of at least one item to be picked; the first determining unit 502 is configured to determine a lane for picking at least one item to be picked in a predetermined set of lanes according to the position information; the second determining unit 503 is configured to determine a pick-up path passing through the determined channel with a predetermined first position as a starting point and a predetermined second position as an ending point; the third determining unit 504 is configured to determine a pick path of shortest length from the determined pick paths; the generation unit 505 is configured to generate path information of the pickup path having the shortest length.
In this embodiment, the obtaining unit 501 of the apparatus 500 for generating route information may obtain the position information of at least one item to be picked from other electronic devices, or locally, through a wired connection manner or a wireless connection manner. The goods to be picked may be goods to be picked. The location information may be indicative of the location of the goods to be picked.
In this embodiment, based on the position information obtained by the obtaining unit 501, the first determining unit 502 may determine a lane for picking at least one to-be-picked item in a predetermined lane set.
In practice, the goods to be picked may be stored in a warehouse, in which equipment for placing the goods (e.g. racks, etc.) may be provided. The equipment room for placing the goods to be picked can be provided with a channel for picking personnel to pick the goods and for the picking vehicle to drive in. The device 500 or other electronic devices communicatively connected to the device 500 may store the position information of the goods to be picked, the position information of the passage, and the like. Thus, the device 500 may instruct the vehicle to travel along a route so that the order picker can pick the goods to be picked by the order picker by sending an instruction to the vehicle. Here, the channel may be a single-row channel (irreversible, or reversible channel), or a double-row channel (reversible, or reversible channel).
In this embodiment, the second determining unit 503 may determine the picking path passing through the determined channel with the predetermined first position as the starting point and the predetermined second position as the ending point. The first position may be a position where the picking vehicle stops before the picking vehicle picks the picking vehicle, or may be a position other than the position where the picking vehicle stops, in the warehouse, into which the picking vehicle can travel. The second position may be a position at which the picking vehicle stops after the picking vehicle picks the object, or may be a position other than the position at which the picking vehicle stops in the warehouse, into which the picking vehicle can travel.
In this embodiment, the third determining unit 504 may determine the shortest picking path from the determined picking paths.
In this embodiment, the generating unit 505 may generate the path information of the picking path with the shortest length. The route information may indicate, among other things, the order in which the vehicles pass through the various lanes, the entry point for each lane, and so on.
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the second determining unit 503 may include: the construction module (not shown in the figure) is configured to construct a directed graph. Wherein, the directed graph includes: the nodes representing the starting points, the nodes representing the end points and the nodes representing the determined end points of the channel are communicated with each other, and the weight of the edges of the directed graph represents the driving distance between the positions corresponding to the two nodes connected by the edges. Where the endpoints of a channel may be the channel entry and exit points. The travel distance may be a distance that the picking vehicle may travel. It is understood that when there is no obstacle between the line segments connecting the two positions, the length of the line segment may be the above-described travel distance; when an obstacle exists between line segments connecting two positions, the length of a path which the picking vehicle passes through from one position to the other position avoiding the obstacle is the travel distance.
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the third determining unit 504 may include: a first determining module (not shown in the figure) is configured to determine, from the directed graph, a shortest path subgraph having a starting point representing a node of the starting point and an end point representing a node of the end point, including a node representing an end point of the determined channel; a second determination module (not shown) is configured to determine the picking path corresponding to the shortest path sub-graph as the picking path with the shortest length.
It is understood that the shortest path subgraph includes nodes representing the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels, and the edges of the shortest path subgraph represent the driving distance between the corresponding positions of the two nodes (including the starting points, the end points or the end points of the channels), so that the shortest path subgraph can represent (i.e. correspond to) the picking paths.
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the first determining module (not shown in the figure) may include: a first determining submodule (not shown in the figure) configured to determine, from the directed graph, a path subgraph starting from a node characterizing the starting point and ending from a node characterizing the ending point, including nodes characterizing the ends of the determined channels; the second determining sub-module (not shown in the figure) is configured to determine a path sub-graph meeting the preset condition in the determined path sub-graphs as a target path sub-graph; a third determining sub-module (not shown in the figure) is configured to determine a path sub-graph with the shortest length from the determined target path sub-graphs as a shortest path sub-graph.
In some optional implementations of this embodiment, the preset condition includes at least one of: in the nodes included in the path subgraph, the degree of entry of the nodes except the representation starting point and the representation end point is 1, and the degree of exit of the nodes except the representation starting point and the representation end point is 1; the path subgraph does not include self-loops; and edges of two nodes corresponding to two end points of the connecting channel are edges passed by the path subgraph.
It is to be understood that when the preset condition includes the above three items, the determined target path subgraph is generally the path subgraph with the shortest length in the determined path subgraphs.
In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the channels are single row channels.
It will be appreciated that the narrower the passageway is set, the higher the cargo storage capacity of the warehouse. Thus, a single row lane may increase the storage capacity of the warehouse relative to a double row lane; the single-row lane may save physical strength of the pickers and improve the picking efficiency of the pickers relative to lanes that are narrower than the single-row lane (e.g., lanes that are not accessible to vehicles).
The apparatus provided in the above embodiment of the present application obtains the position information of at least one item to be picked by the obtaining unit 501, then the first determining unit 502 determines a lane for picking at least one item to be picked in a predetermined lane set according to the position information, then the second determining unit 503 determines a picking path passing through the determined lane with a predetermined first position as a starting point and a predetermined second position as an end point, then the third determining unit 504 determines a picking path with a shortest length from the determined picking paths, and finally the generating unit 505 generates path information of the picking path with the shortest length, thereby contributing to improving the picking efficiency of the item based on the determined picking path with the shortest length, contributing to simplifying the solving process for solving the picking path with the shortest length on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of the shortest path traveled by the vehicle when the item is picked, and increasing the speed for solving the picking path with the shortest length.
Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a block diagram of a computer system 600 suitable for use in implementing the electronic device of an embodiment of the present application. The electronic device shown in fig. 6 is only an example, and should not bring any limitation to the functions and the scope of use of the embodiments of the present application.
As shown in fig. 6, the computer system 600 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 601 that can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 602 or a program loaded from a storage section 608 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 603. In the RAM 603, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the system 600 are also stored. The CPU 601, ROM 602, and RAM 603 are connected to each other via a bus 604. An input/output (I/O) interface 605 is also connected to bus 604.
The following components are connected to the I/O interface 605: an input portion 606 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output portion 607 including a display such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the like, and a speaker; a storage section 608 including a hard disk and the like; and a communication section 609 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, or the like. The communication section 609 performs communication processing via a network such as the internet. A driver 610 is also connected to the I/O interface 605 as needed. A removable medium 611 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is mounted on the drive 610 as necessary, so that the computer program read out therefrom is mounted in the storage section 608 as necessary.
In particular, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer program product comprising a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising program code for performing the method illustrated in the flow chart. In such an embodiment, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network through the communication section 609, and/or installed from the removable medium 611. The computer program performs the above-described functions defined in the method of the present application when executed by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 601.
It should be noted that the computer readable medium described herein can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium or any combination of the two. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the present application, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In this application, however, a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated data signal may take many forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, fiber optic cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present application may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, smalltalk, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider).
The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present application. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The units described in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by software or hardware. The described units may also be provided in a processor, which may be described as: a processor includes an acquisition unit, a first determination unit, a second determination unit, a third determination unit, and a generation unit. Where the names of the units do not in some cases constitute a limitation of the unit itself, the acquiring unit may also be described as a "unit acquiring position information of at least one item to be picked", for example.
As another aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which may be contained in the electronic device described in the above embodiments; or may be separate and not incorporated into the electronic device. The computer readable medium carries one or more programs which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to: acquiring position information of at least one cargo to be picked; determining a channel for picking at least one goods to be picked in a predetermined channel set according to the position information; determining a picking path which takes a predetermined first position as a starting point and a predetermined second position as an end point and passes through the determined channel; determining the order picking path with the shortest length from the determined order picking paths; and generating path information of the picking path with the shortest length.
The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the application and is illustrative of the principles of the technology employed. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the scope of the invention herein disclosed is not limited to the particular combination of features described above, but also encompasses other arrangements formed by any combination of the above features or their equivalents without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the above features may be replaced with (but not limited to) features having similar functions disclosed in the present application.