CN112132479A

CN112132479A - Distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method and system

Info

Publication number: CN112132479A
Application number: CN202011051054.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邵健锋; 崔巍
Original assignee: New Trend International Logis Tech Co ltd
Current assignee: New Trend International Logis Tech Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-29
Filing date: 2020-09-29
Publication date: 2020-12-25
Anticipated expiration: 2040-09-29
Also published as: CN112132479B

Abstract

The invention discloses a distributed coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method and a system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the retrieval destination of the downstream conveying line is each task of the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line are grouped and sequenced by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line, the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line is obtained, and the task grouping and sequencing result is sent to the corresponding upstream conveying line; the upstream conveyor line routes the corresponding goods from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor and continues to route to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; and after receiving the goods, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds the updated task grouping and sequencing result back to the corresponding upstream conveying line after the task of the current grouping number is executed, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next grouping number. The invention reduces the dependence on the upper system.

Description

Distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method and system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of industrial conveying line systems, in particular to a distributed and coordinated conveying line task grouping and sequencing method and system.

Background

In conventional systems, the conveyor line control information is locally aggregated in the PLC and interfaced to the warehouse control software. And the warehouse control software sequences each task and delivers the task to the PLC-driven conveying line for execution. The path of the conveyor line is specified by the PLC.

In the conventional system, there are mainly the following problems:

1. warehouse control software needs to be deployed locally to enable high-throughput low-latency communication with the PLC.

2. The path needs to be fixed in the PLC, and for large systems, this requirement results in significant implementation cost.

3. When packet ordering is required: if the warehouse control software takes tasks as a sequencing unit, the concurrency is reduced in consideration of the problems of multi-path input of a conveying line, path complexity in a system and the like; if the warehouse management software considers the path of the conveying line, and after the tasks are grouped according to the key nodes of the equipment path, the tasks are disassembled and then sequenced, the development difficulty of the warehouse control software is increased, and the time required by system joint debugging is obviously prolonged. At present, two methods are generally adopted for dispatching in an industrial conveying line system:

1. i.e. the conveyor line-PLC-warehouse control software model, as described above. The PLC is responsible for bottom layer safety (emergency signal response) and equipment linkage control, and path selection, sequencing and scheduling are realized by warehouse control software.

2. And (4) adopting transmission line-control software. The control software is installed on a computer with an IO interface board, and the equipment is directly connected with the computer, so that a PLC is omitted. Because the software can be directly controlled to a single machine, the scheduling flexibility is obviously improved. But also, therefore, the increase of software complexity leads to poor docking capability with external systems and poor inter-scheduling with other logistics hardware.

Both of the above solutions essentially require the installation of control software in the field. Since the control software needs to be installed on a specific industrial personal computer or server, one or more computer devices need to be maintained on site, thereby requiring introduction of an uninterruptible power supply, work of maintenance personnel, and the like. Meanwhile, the software is deployed in the field, which means that the implementation process needs to install the software in the field, and therefore, the implementation cost is increased.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method and system, and aims to solve the problems that the existing transmission line system scheduling mode maintenance part is convenient, the implementation cost is high and the like.

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method, which comprises the following steps:

grouping the conveying line system to obtain a plurality of groups of conveying lines, wherein each group of conveying lines comprises at least one conveyor and does not comprise a path selection node;

grouping the execution sequence of the tasks to obtain a plurality of groups of tasks, wherein each group of tasks comprises a plurality of tasks;

acquiring a task number, a packet number, a source and a destination of each task;

the upstream conveying line searches each task of the front-end conveyor from the source and informs the downstream conveying line of the search result;

the retrieval destination of the downstream conveying line is each task of the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line are grouped and sequenced by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line, the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line is obtained, and the task grouping and sequencing result is sent to the corresponding upstream conveying line;

the upstream conveying line judges whether a task to be executed exists under the current packet number, if so, the corresponding goods are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor, and continue to be routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line; if not, the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor and wait, and the goods are routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line when the task of the next packet number is executed;

and after the downstream conveying line receives the goods sent by the current group number of the upstream conveying line, the task group sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line is updated, and after the task of the current group number is executed, the updated task group sequencing result is fed back to the corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number.

Preferably, the destination of the search of the downstream conveyor line is each task of the end conveyor thereof, and the tasks of the front end conveyor thereof are grouped and sorted by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line, so as to obtain the task grouping and sorting result from each upstream conveyor line, and the task grouping and sorting result is sent to the corresponding upstream conveyor line, including:

the retrieval destination of the downstream conveying line is each task of the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, and the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line are grouped and sequenced by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line to obtain an initial task grouping and sequencing result;

the downstream transmission line sorts the initial task grouping sorting results according to a preset maximum value of the task queue from each upstream transmission line to obtain sorted task grouping sorting results;

and the downstream transmission line transmits the updated task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream transmission line.

Preferably, after receiving the goods sent by the current group number of the upstream transport line, the downstream transport line updates the task group sorting result from the corresponding upstream transport line, and after the task of the current group number is completed, feeds back the updated task group sorting result to the corresponding upstream transport line, so that the upstream transport line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number, including:

after receiving the goods currently sent by the upstream conveying line each time, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line;

the downstream transmission line sorts the updated task grouping sorting results again according to the preset maximum value of the task queue from each upstream transmission line to obtain the sorted task grouping sorting results;

and the downstream transmission line transmits the updated task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream transmission line, so that the upstream transmission line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the current grouping number.

Preferably, after receiving the goods sent by the current group number of the upstream transport line, the downstream transport line updates the task group sorting result from the corresponding upstream transport line, and after the task of the current group number is completed, feeds back the updated task group sorting result to the corresponding upstream transport line, so that the upstream transport line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number, further comprising:

after receiving the goods of the current grouping number of the upstream transmission line, the downstream transmission line updates the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream transmission line, and sorts the updated task grouping and sequencing result again according to the preset maximum value of the task queue from each upstream transmission line to obtain the sorted task grouping and sequencing result;

and the downstream conveying line sends the sorted task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number.

Preferably, the plurality of sets of conveying lines comprises at least one downstream conveying line and a plurality of upstream conveying lines butted with the downstream conveying line.

Preferably, the plurality of sets of conveying lines comprises at least one upstream conveying line and a plurality of downstream conveying lines butted with the upstream conveying line.

Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

and setting the source of the goods corresponding to the tasks with the same task number as the same conveying line, or setting the source of the goods corresponding to the tasks with the same task number as different conveying lines.

Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

when receiving the emergency task, setting a packet number which is prior to all the current packet numbers for the emergency task and storing the packet number.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing system, where the system includes:

the conveying line grouping unit is used for grouping the conveying line system to obtain a plurality of groups of conveying lines, each group of conveying lines comprises at least one conveyor, and each group of conveying lines does not comprise a path selection node;

the task grouping unit is used for grouping the execution sequence of the tasks to obtain a plurality of groups of tasks, and each group of tasks comprises a plurality of tasks;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a task number, a packet number, a source, and a destination of each task;

a first retrieval unit for the upstream conveyor line to retrieve each task whose source is the front end conveyor thereof and to notify the downstream conveyor line of a retrieval result;

the second retrieval unit is used for the downstream conveying line to retrieve each task of which the destination is the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, and performs grouping and sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line to obtain the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line, and sends the task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line;

the conveying unit is used for judging whether tasks to be executed exist under the current packet number by the upstream conveying line, routing the corresponding goods from the front-end conveyor to the tail-end conveyor if the tasks to be executed exist under the current packet number, and continuously routing the goods to the front-end conveyor of the downstream conveying line; if not, the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor and wait, and the goods are routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line when the task of the next packet number is executed;

and the feedback unit is used for updating the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream transmission line by the downstream transmission line after receiving the goods sent by the current grouping number of the upstream transmission line, and feeding back the updated task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream transmission line after the task of the current grouping number is executed, so that the upstream transmission line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next grouping number.

Preferably, the plurality of groups of conveying lines comprise at least one downstream conveying line and a plurality of upstream conveying lines butted with the downstream conveying line; alternatively, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines comprises at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines abutting the upstream conveyor line.

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method and a system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the retrieval destination of the downstream conveying line is each task of the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line are grouped and sequenced by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line, the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line is obtained, and the task grouping and sequencing result is sent to the corresponding upstream conveying line; the upstream conveyor line routes the corresponding goods from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor and continues to route to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; and after receiving the goods, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds the updated task grouping and sequencing result back to the corresponding upstream conveying line after the task of the current grouping number is executed, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next grouping number. The invention reduces the dependence on an upper system (such as warehouse control software), so that the upper system can be deployed in a cloud rather than a client, and the transmission line segment can adopt an IoT (industrial Internet) intelligent terminal, keeps information communication with the upper system and respectively completes task management related to the upper system.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a first conveyor line system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a second conveyor line system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a third conveyor line system provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth conveyor line system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification and the appended claims, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the specification of the present invention and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should be further understood that the term "and/or" as used in this specification and the appended claims refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

s101, grouping the conveying line system to obtain a plurality of groups of conveying lines, wherein each group of conveying lines comprises at least one conveyor and does not comprise a path selection node;

s102, grouping the execution sequence of the tasks to obtain a plurality of groups of tasks, wherein each group of tasks comprises a plurality of tasks;

s103, acquiring a task number, a packet number, a source and a destination of each task;

s104, the upstream conveying line searches each task of the front-end conveyor as a source and informs the downstream conveying line of a search result;

s105, the retrieval destination of the downstream conveying line is each task of the tail end conveyor of the downstream conveying line, the tasks of the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line are grouped and sequenced by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line, the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line is obtained, and the task grouping and sequencing result is sent to the corresponding upstream conveying line;

s106, the upstream conveying line judges whether a task to be executed exists under the current packet number, if so, the corresponding goods are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor, and continue to be routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line; if not, the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor and wait, and the goods are routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line when the task of the next packet number is executed;

and S107, after receiving the goods sent by the current group number of the upstream transmission line, the downstream transmission line updates the task group sequencing result from the corresponding upstream transmission line, and after the task of the current group number is executed, the updated task group sequencing result is fed back to the corresponding upstream transmission line, so that the upstream transmission line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number.

The embodiment of the invention reduces the dependency on an upper-layer system (such as warehouse control software), so that the upper-layer system can be deployed in a cloud instead of a client, because: (1) specific processing is not required for route scenes, so that one set of warehouse control software can be compatible with the requirements of various different service scenes; (2) the communication requirements between the conveyor line and the warehouse control software are reduced so that it does not have to be installed locally.

In the embodiment of the invention, the transmission line segment can adopt an IoT (industrial Internet) intelligent terminal, keeps information communication with an upper system and respectively completes task management related to the transmission line segment.

In the embodiment of the invention, a small control system can be locally deployed and used for processing the condition of a complex internal path of a conveying line (such as a ring structure) and providing an engineer equipment monitoring interface. The small control system is connected with the warehouse control software on the upper layer and the IoT intelligent terminal on the lower layer.

In step S101, the conveyor line systems are grouped to obtain a plurality of groups of conveyor lines, each group of conveyor lines includes at least one conveyor, and each group of conveyor lines does not include a routing node.

If the transmission line is regarded as a system, the external stations of the system usually have: an input station, an output station, and a station that can both input and output (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, this station is listed as an input station and an output station according to functions). The internal function of the system is to route goods from a certain input site to a certain output site or to perform load balancing among several specific output sites. Complex scenarios also include task grouping ordering at the output site (detailed below) and urgent tasks (detailed below). The internal structure of the conveyor line may not be simply linear but may include a ring structure.

The invention groups the transmission line system according to the path nodes. Each group of transmission lines does not include a path selection node. That is, the delivery line systems are grouped at each path node.

In fig. 1, as an example, three groups of conveyor lines are provided: the first group of conveyor lines comprises

conveyors

1001, 1002, 1003 and 1004; the second group of conveyor lines comprises

conveyors

1005, 1006, 1007, 1008; the third set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1009, 1010, 1011, 1012. The numbering of the groups of conveyor lines is not required in order.

The direction of travel of each group of conveyor lines is determined by its equipment characteristics, and may in part support bi-directional transport.

In step S102, the execution sequences of the tasks are grouped to obtain a plurality of groups of tasks, where each group of tasks includes a plurality of tasks, i.e., the tasks are grouped and ordered.

Packet ordering refers to: in the execution process of a group of tasks, grouping requirements are provided for the execution sequence of the tasks. For example, an ex-warehouse order, may contain 5 groups, each with a number. And before the previous group finishes the warehouse-out, the next group of the order cannot be warehouse-out, so that the sequence of output stations is guaranteed. The order of the different items within the same group is not required. For different situations, respective designation is needed for whether or not ordering is needed between different orders. For example, some output sites (typically logistics system terminals for truck loading operations) may require that one order cannot be processed until the other order is processed, while some do not.

In the step S103, a task number, a packet number, a source and a destination of each task are acquired. The task numbers of different tasks are all different, but the packet numbers of different tasks may be the same. The task numbers only represent the sequence of the tasks when generated, and are not related to logic. The packet number represents the order in which tasks should be executed.

Taking fig. 1 as an example, the task number, the packet number, the source and the destination may be presented in the form of a task table, which is specifically shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

Task numbering	Source ground	Destination	Group number
					1	1001	1012	2
2	1001	1012	3
				3	1005	1012	1
4	1005	1012	2
				5	1005	1012	3

In step S104, the upstream conveyor line retrieves each task whose source is the front end conveyor thereof, and notifies the downstream conveyor line of the retrieval result.

For example, in fig. 1, a first set of delivery lines retrieves tasks originating from 1001: 1. 2, inform the third set of delivery lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1004 to 1009; the second group of delivery lines retrieves the task originating from 1005: 3. 4, 5, inform the third set of delivery lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1008 to 1009.

In said step S105, the downstream conveyor line retrieves each task destined for its end conveyor. For example, in FIG. 1, the third group of delivery lines retrieves tasks destined for 1012: 1. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

And then the tasks of the front-end conveyor are grouped and sequenced according to the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveying line. For example, after the third group of transport lines has retrieved the task, the first group sorting may be performed first, and the initial task group sorting result is obtained as follows:

group number 1: task number 3

Group number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Group number 3: task numbers 2, 5

And then, performing second grouping sequencing by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream transmission line to obtain a final task grouping sequencing result as follows:

1009 the task queue with the entry points ordered is:

from 1004:

group number 1: task free

Group number 2: task number 1

Group number 3: task number 2

From 1008:

group number 1: task number 3

Group number 2: task number 4

Group number 3: task number 5

The above is the task grouping sequencing result from each upstream transmission line, and then the task grouping sequencing result is sent to the corresponding upstream transmission line.

In step S106, the upstream conveyor line determines whether there is a task to be executed under the current packet number, and if so, routes the corresponding cargo from the front-end conveyor to the tail-end conveyor, and continues to route the cargo to the front-end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; and if not, the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number are routed to the tail end conveyor from the front end conveyor and wait, and the goods are routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line when the task of the next packet number is executed.

Taking fig. 1 as an example, the first group of conveyor lines receives feedback (task grouping ordering result) from the third group of conveyor lines, and since the group number 1 has no task, it is shown that the third group of conveyor lines now rejects to accept the task (for the current task queue) from the first group of conveyor lines. If the equipment is idle and the rule allows, the front-end system is also required to start providing goods corresponding to a certain task (i.e. group number 2, task number 1) of the next group to 1001 in advance, but after the goods reach 1001 and are routed to 1004, the front-end system can only enter 1009 after waiting for the third group of conveying lines to clear. That is, the cargo may wait at position 1004. This will improve concurrency efficiency.

The second group of transmission lines is connected to the feedback from the third group of transmission lines, and the group number 1 has a task. The second group of delivery lines therefore requires the front-end system to start providing the goods corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 3) to 1005, and after the goods are routed from 1005 to 1008, if the conditions are not changed, the routing continues to 1009. When the cargo of task number 3 reaches 1009, it will continue to 1012. At 1012, the task itself is completed (will move to the next system, goods are taken away, etc.), and task number 3 will be completed.

In step S107, after receiving the goods sent by the current group number of the upstream transport line, the downstream transport line updates the task group sorting result from the corresponding upstream transport line, and after the task of the current group number is completed, feeds back the updated task group sorting result to the corresponding upstream transport line, so that the upstream transport line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next group number.

Taking fig. 1 as an example, after receiving the goods corresponding to the task number 3 sent by the second group of transport lines, the third group of transport lines modifies 1009 the task queue after the entry point is sorted into (i.e. updates the task grouping sorting result):

from 1004:

group number 2: task number 1

Group number 3: task number 2

From 1008:

group number 2: task number 4

Group number 3: task number 5

Thus, the first group of conveyor lines and the second group of conveyor lines start processing the task with group number 2. If the first group delivery line has routed 1004 the cargo corresponding to task number 1 at this point, it is sent 1009 directly. The second group of transmission lines is connected to the feedback from the third group of transmission lines, and the group number 2 has a task. The second group of delivery lines therefore requires the front-end system to start providing the goods corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 2, task number 4) to 1005, and after the goods are routed from 1005 to 1008, if the conditions are not changed, the routing continues to 1009. When the cargo of task number 4 arrives 1009, it will continue routing to 1012. At 1012, the task itself is completed (will move to the next system, goods are taken away, etc.), and task number 4 will be completed.

By analogy, all tasks can be completed.

The embodiment of the invention disperses the logic originally deployed in the warehouse control software to the equipment section for processing. The main advantages are that: 1. the warehouse control software does not need to be developed according to different projects, and therefore, the warehouse control software can serve a plurality of projects simultaneously as one product. 2. If the dispersed program is directly installed in an independent embedded device and assembled with a transmission line for delivery, the field implementation time can be reduced. 3. The dispersed algorithm is uniformly deployed in a certain computer on the site, and can also be used as a transition scheme before the implementation 2. 4. No matter 2 or 3, the communication quantity of direct communication between the warehouse control software and the bottom layer equipment is reduced, and after the warehouse control software is combined with the communication quantity 1, the warehouse control software can be deployed to the cloud. 5. After 4 and 2 are implemented, no computer equipment will be needed in the field.

In one embodiment, the step S105 includes:

In the embodiment of the invention, the task sequencing method is essentially a method for pulling the task sequencing from the end point. Taking the structure in fig. 1 as an example, assume that an extreme case occurs: tasks with odd group numbers all come from a first group of transmission lines, and tasks with even group numbers all come from a second group of transmission lines.

If the third group of transport lines only provide task information with the smallest packet number upstream:

in fig. 1, the conveyor 1009 must only accept packet number 1 tasks when it is just started. That is, only the first set of delivery lines may provide goods to 1009. At this point, the second group of conveyor lines is idle. When the tasks with the group number of 1 are all completed, the state is switched to be that only the second group of conveying lines can provide goods to 1009, and the first group of conveying lines are idle. So as to reciprocate. From the start of the assignment, the goods will follow a path of several minutes before reaching the final conveyor line. That is, when the task with packet number 1 has not yet fully reached 1009, the tasks of all subsequent packets have not yet been executed at all. When the task with the group number 1 completely reaches 1009, the lengthy waiting for the goods corresponding to the task with the group number 2 is started 1009. The result of this is that half of the equipment is always idle and the utilization of the whole equipment is too low. Therefore, this scheme may result in a reduction in equipment utilization.

If the third set of transmission lines provide all task information upstream:

since the above situation is not good, it is expected that even if a currently processed packet does not have a task of a certain transfer line packet, a subsequent task thereof should be notified to be ready. The corresponding tasks can be transported to the tail end of the conveyor line group, and the tasks are directly released after the last task group is completed, so that the efficiency can be improved. That is, while a task with group number 1 is executing on the first set of delivery lines, it is also expected that a task with group number 2 will begin executing on the second set of delivery lines, but the latter task will only wait at 1008. Only after goods corresponding to the task with the group number 1 completely enter 1009 can goods corresponding to the task with the group number 2 enter 1009. Similarly, it is also expected that the first set of conveyor lines will also be followed by the group number 1 task … … which will also be processed by the group number 3 task because the preceding section of the first set of conveyor lines may also face a similar demarcation point and may also face a similar concurrent optimization problem. From this point of view, the best concurrency solution is to push all tasks to the front segment delivery line.

However, if this scheme is adopted, the following two problems occur: 1. if the total number of tasks is large and the number of tasks of a group number is also considerable, the conveying lines corresponding to the task groups which cannot be released currently may be full of tasks, and the goods corresponding to the tasks cannot be released to the back end temporarily. A jammed transport line, if simultaneously corresponding to multiple functions (e.g., multiple outlets), may therefore not be able to service another outlet. Moreover, when an urgent task needs to be scheduled, it is no longer possible to queue up to a previous location. 2. If several lines are grouped to the same source (assuming that only one worker puts goods onto the first and second lines at the same time), this allocation pattern may result in the former equipment not knowing which group of tasks should be satisfied first (the worker needs to satisfy the task of sending part of the goods to the first line and part of the goods to the second line, but does not know that the goods of the second line can wait on the line), and thus the equipment (or person) that causes the performance bottleneck may have a poor task ordering when performing linearly (obviously, the first group of tasks should be satisfied first).

Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention needs to take into account the two situations: it is important to inform the upstream device of the status of subsequent grouping tasks, but it is also necessary to impose a number limit in case of over-stocking.

The practical meaning of setting the maximum value of the task queue from B to x is as follows: b tells A that my stock time is longer (x is larger) or shorter (x is smaller), and asks I to be told that not less than x tasks in front of the queue of A belong to the part which can be provided by B, but does not tell I too many tasks.

Preferably, the step S107 includes:

Preferably, the step S107 further includes:

In this embodiment, after receiving the goods of the current packet number, the downstream transport line updates the task packet sorting result as a whole, sorts the task packet sorting result again in combination with the maximum value of the task queue, and then sends the sorted task packet sorting result to the corresponding upstream transport line.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, 2 and 3, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 4, the plurality of sets of conveying lines includes at least one upstream conveying line and a plurality of downstream conveying lines connected with the upstream conveying line.

Preferably, the distributed and coordinated transportation line task grouping and sequencing method further includes:

That is to say, in the embodiment of the present invention, the goods with the same task number may be conveyed from the same conveying line, or may be conveyed from different conveying lines.

An urgent task refers to a special type of task that does not participate in the sequencing, and once it exists, the transport line needs to complete it preferentially, possibly inserting into the existing task group during the completion process.

When an emergency task exists, the task is marked as the emergency task in the warehouse control software task.

When ordering tasks, such tasks are considered to be the top of all packets (packet number is smallest). Therefore, this task is preferentially executed.

But since the time of the emergency task insertion may be later than the normal task, the delivery line may already be performing other tasks. Emergency tasks cannot guarantee certain advantages over other tasks.

In addition, since the urgent task belongs to the intrusive task, it is also likely to be completed by tasks interspersed with other packet numbers.

The process of the present invention is described in detail below by way of specific examples.

Since the embodiment of fig. 1 has been described in detail above, fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4 are mainly used as examples for illustration.

Taking fig. 2 as an example, the conveying lines are divided into five groups: the first group of conveyor lines comprises

conveyors

1001, 1002, 1003 and 1004; the second group of conveyor lines comprises

conveyors

1005, 1006, 1007; the third group of lines comprises

conveyors

1013, 1014, 1015, 1016, 1017; a fourth set of conveyor lines comprises conveyors having: 1008; a fifth group comprises conveyors having: 1009. 1010, 1011, 1012. The task table has the tasks as in table 2:

TABLE 2

The first set of transmission lines retrieves the tasks of source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, to a third set of delivery lines, which will probably deliver these tasks from 1004 to 1009; the second set of delivery lines retrieves the task of source 1005: 5. 6, 7, 8, informing a fourth group of delivery lines that the tasks will be possible to be delivered from 1007 to 1008; the third set of delivery lines retrieves the task of source 1013: 9. 10, 11, 12, to a fourth set of delivery lines, these tasks will likely be delivered from 1017 to 1008.

And the fourth group of transmission lines receives the tasks announced by the second group and the third group of transmission lines: 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, to a fifth group of delivery lines, these tasks will likely be delivered from 1008 to 1009.

The fifth group of delivery lines retrieves tasks destined for 1012: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The result after the grouping and sequencing is as follows:

group number 1: task numbers 5, 6, 9, 10

Group number 2:

task numbers

1, 2, 11, 12

Group number 3: task numbers 3, 7, 8

Group number 4: task number 4

Combining the information sent by the first group and the fourth group of transmission lines, 1009 the task queue after the entry point is ordered is:

from 1004:

group number 1: task free

Group number 2:

task numbers

1, 2

Group number 3: task number 3

Group number 4: task number 4

From 1008:

group number 1: task numbers 5, 6, 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Group number 3: task numbers 7, 8

Group number 4: task free

Setting the maximum number of task queues of the fifth group of conveying lines from the first group of conveying lines to be 4; the maximum number of task queues of the fifth group of conveyor lines from the fourth group of conveyor lines is set to 8. Because the packet number 1 has 4 tasks and the packet number 2 has 4 tasks, the first 4 tasks only have the packet number 1; the first 8 tasks have packet number 1 and packet number 2. After sorting, 1009 the entry point ordered task queue is:

from 1004:

group number 1: task free

From 1008:

group number 1: task numbers 5, 6, 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Setting the maximum number of task queues of the fourth group of conveying lines from the second group of conveying lines to be 4; let the maximum number of task queues for the fourth group of lines from the third group of lines be 4.

The feedback from the fourth group of transmission lines to the fifth group of transmission lines, combined with the information from the second and third groups of transmission lines, 1008 has a task queue with a sorted entry point of:

from 1007:

group number 1: task numbers 5, 6

Group number 2: task free

From 1017:

group number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

The feedback from the first group of lines to the fifth group of lines, since group number 1 is empty, indicates that the fifth group of lines now refuses to accept the task from the first group of lines (for the current task queue).

The second group of transmission lines is connected to the feedback from the fourth group of transmission lines, and the group number 1 has a task. The second group of lines therefore requires the front-end system to start providing the goods corresponding to this task (i.e. group number 1, task number 5 or 6) to 1005, and after the goods have been routed from 1005 to 1007, if the conditions have not changed, the routing continues to 1008.

The third group of transmission lines receives the feedback from the fourth group of transmission lines, and the group number 1 has a task. The third group of lines therefore requires the front-end system to start providing the cargo for this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 9 or 10) to 1013, and after the cargo is routed from 1013 to 1017, if the conditions are not changed, the routing continues to 1008.

Here, it is assumed that the cargo of task number 5 arrives at the second group of conveyor lines first and arrives at the fourth group of conveyor lines. After receiving the goods corresponding to the task number 5 sent by the second group of conveying lines, the fourth group of conveying lines modify 1009 the task queue after the entry point is sorted into:

from 1007:

group number 1: task number 6

From 1017:

group number 1: task numbers 9, 10

If the fifth set of conveyor lines conditions have not changed, delivery of cargo continues 1009.

After the fifth group of conveying lines receive the goods corresponding to the task number 5 sent by the fourth group of conveying lines, the group number 1 has 3 remaining tasks, the group number 2 has 4 tasks, and the group number 3 has 3 tasks, so that the first 4 tasks include the group number 1 and the group number 2, and the first 8 tasks include the group number 1, the group number 2 and the group number 3. After consolidation, 1009 the task queue after entry point ordering is modified to:

from 1004:

group number 1: task free

Group number 2:

task numbers

1, 2

From 1008:

group number 1: task numbers 6, 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Group number 3: task numbers 7, 8

from 1007:

group number 1: task number 6

Group number 2: task free

Group number 3: task numbers 7, 8

From 1017:

group number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Group number 3: task free

Packet number 1 has 3 remaining tasks, packet number 2 has 2 tasks, and packet number 3 has 2 tasks. The first 4 tasks thus include packet number 1 and packet number 2. After consolidation, 1008 the task queue with the sorted entry points is modified to:

from 1007:

group number 1: task number 6

Group number 2: task free

From 1017:

group number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

The feedback from the first group of lines to the fifth group of lines, since group number 1 is empty, indicates that the fifth group of lines now refuses to accept the task from the first group of lines (for the current task queue). If the equipment is idle and the rule allows, the front-end system is also required to start providing goods corresponding to a certain task (i.e. group number 2, task number 1 or 2) of the next group to 1001 in advance, but after the goods arrive 1001 and are routed to 1004, the front-end system can only enter 1009 after waiting for the fifth group of conveying lines to pass. That is, the cargo may wait at position 1004. This would increase concurrency efficiency, but would have the disadvantage of blocking the transmission line from processing other task queues at the same time.

The second group of transmission lines is connected to the feedback from the fourth group of transmission lines, and the group number 1 has a task. The second group of lines therefore requires the front-end system to start providing the goods corresponding to this task (i.e. group number 1, task number 6) to 1005, and after the goods are routed from 1005 to 1007, if the conditions are not changed, the routing continues to 1008.

After that, the process of task number 6, 9, 10 cargo entry 1009 is skipped.

After receiving 3 goods corresponding to the task numbers 6, 9, and 10 sent by the fourth group of conveying lines, the fifth group of conveying lines modifies 1009 the task queue after the entry points are sorted into (considering the maximum number of waiting tasks):

from 1004:

group number 2:

task numbers

1, 2

Group number 3: task free

Group number 4: no task (task number 4 not meeting the maximum number of tasks requirement and not listed)

From 1008:

group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Group number 3: task numbers 7, 8

Group number 4: task free

The feedback from the fourth group of lines to the fifth group of lines, combined with the information from the second and third groups of lines, 1008 results in a task queue with an ordered entry point (considering the maximum number of waiting tasks):

from 1007:

group number 2: task free

Group number 3: task numbers 7, 8

From 1017:

group number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Group number 3: task free

Thus, the first and third groups of transfer lines start processing the packet number 2 task. If the first group delivery line has routed 1004 the cargo corresponding to task number 1 at this point, it is sent 1009 directly.

When the cargo arrives 1009, it will continue to route 1012. At 1012, the task itself is completed (will move to the next system, goods are taken away, etc.), and the corresponding task will be completed.

Followed by a little.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, three groups of conveying lines are provided: the first set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, and system entry points 1001, 1004 coupled to 1009. The second group of delivery lines includes

conveyors

1005, 1006, 1007, 1008, to which system entry points 1005, 1008 are connected 1009. The third set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, and system exit points 1012, 1009 receiving

conveyors

1004, 1008. The task table has the tasks as in table 3:

TABLE 3

Fig. 3 illustrates a multi-source task, which is often the case when a forklift is launched or when multiple load balancing schemes are docked from a pre-positioned system, the cargo in the conveyor line system may come from multiple different entrances.

The first set of transmission lines retrieves the tasks of source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, to a third set of delivery lines, which will probably deliver these tasks from 1004 to 1009; the second set of delivery lines retrieves the task of source 1005: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, to a third set of delivery lines, will probably be delivered from 1008 to 1009 for these tasks.

The third set of delivery lines retrieves a task with a destination of 1012: 1. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The result after the grouping and sequencing is as follows:

group number 1: task number 3

Group number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Group number 3: task numbers 2, 5

In conjunction with the information sent by the first and second sets of delivery lines, 1009 the task queue with the ordered entry points is:

from 1004:

group number 1: task number 3

Group number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Group number 3: task numbers 2, 5

From 1008:

group number 1: task number 3

Group number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Group number 3: task numbers 2, 5

The first and third groups of conveyor lines require the front-end system to deliver the goods corresponding to task number 3 to its own entrance conveyor (1001, 1005). When the cargo is sent to one of them (e.g., 1001), the first group of lines will inform all other lines (the third group of lines) of the task of the result, and both will remove the task from the entry point task queue.

Slightly later (similar to the scheme of fig. 1).

Taking fig. 4 as an example, three groups of conveying lines are divided: the first set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1001, 1002, 1003, and system entry points 1001, 1003 are connected to 1004, 1004. The second set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1004, 1005, 1006, and system exit points 1006, 1004 take up 1003. The third set of transport lines includes

conveyors

1007, 1008, 1009, 1010, system exit points 1010, 1007 take over 1003. The task table has the tasks as in table 4:

TABLE 4

Task numbering	Source ground	Destination	Order number	Group number
						1	1001	1006	1	1
2	1001	1006	1	2
					3	1001	1010	2	1
4	1001	1010	2	2
					5	1001	1010	2	2
6	1001	1010	3	1
					7	1001	1010	3	1

The first set of transmission lines retrieves the tasks of source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 tells the second and third group of lines that it will probably be possible to deliver these tasks from 1003 to 1004, 1007.

The second group of delivery lines retrieves tasks with destination 1006: 1. 2. The sorting result after grouping is as follows:

order number 1 group number 1: task number 1

Order number 1 group number 2: task number 2

This information is queued as 1004 entry points.

Setting a third group of transmission lines with ordering requirements among orders, namely setting the actual ordering group number as the combination of the order number and the group number; the first group of lines has no ordering requirement among orders.

The third group of transmission lines retrieves tasks with a destination of 1010: 3. 4, 5, 6 and 7. The sorting result after grouping is as follows:

order number 2 group number 1: task number 3

Order number 2 group number 2: task numbers 4, 5

Order number 3 group number 1: task numbers 6, 7

This information would be queued as the 1007 entry point.

The feedback from the connection of the first set of transmission lines to the second and third sets of transmission lines requires the front-end system to start providing the goods corresponding to

tasks

1 and 3 to 1001, and after the goods are routed from 1001 to 1003, if the conditions are not changed, the goods will continue to be routed to 1004 or 1007 according to the conditions.

Assuming that the goods corresponding to task 1 enter 1001, task 1 will be deleted from the task list, so that the subsequent tasks of its order can be requested to be provided. At this time, the tasks required to be provided by the front-end system become 2 and 3.

The latter is omitted.

It should be noted that, if the third group of delivery lines also has no ordering requirement among orders, the result of the ordering after grouping of the retrieval task of the third group of delivery lines is:

order number 2 group number 1: task number 3

Order number 2 group number 2: task numbers 4, 5

And the number of the first and second groups,

order number 3 group number 1: task numbers 6, 7

There is no order between the two sub-sequences. Therefore, the first group of conveyor lines is fed back to the second and third groups of conveyor lines, and the front-end system is required to start providing the goods corresponding to

tasks

1, 3, 6 and 7 to 1001.

The latter is omitted.

The working principle of the embodiment of the invention is summarized as follows:

1. the warehouse control software no longer decomposes tasks to specific lines and does not perform sequencing.

2. The warehouse control software decomposes the tasks to a system level, namely, the tasks are classified according to the boundary of the system, but the inside of the conveying line system is not decomposed. For example, a delivery task is manually performed by a forklift for loading from an elevated warehouse by a stacker via a conveyor line system. The task is decomposed into: the stacker is used for picking and placing tasks, conveying line tasks and forklift work tasks.

3. For a conveyor line system, each task needs to be assigned to an entry point of the system, an exit point of the system. A task may have multiple entries (meaning that the task may enter from any of these entries) and multiple exits (meaning that the task may exit from any of these exits).

4. Each delivery line group needs to be configured with each entry point in its implementation: whether it is the entry point of the system; and, if any, to which delivery line the exit point.

5. Each group of lines needs to be configured at each exit point in the implementation: whether it is the exit point of the system; and the entry point to which delivery line, if any, is connected.

6. Each transport line group needs to be configured with path workload when being implemented, and the path workload is used for calculating the shortest path of a task. It may be a constant or an algorithm based on real-time load calculations.

7. And (4) grouping the transmission lines at each system entry point, and automatically consulting the transmission line system task list decomposed by the warehouse control software. And searching the task taking the entry point as a task starting point in the task list of the transmission line system, generating a task set, and setting the workload of each task to be 0.

8. And each delivery line group takes the intersection of the task sets (possibly from 7 or 8) of all the entry points of the group, and notifies the delivery line group associated with each exit point of the group after the workload of each task is increased by the value of the workload of the path of the group (the path is only used for calculating the path with the minimum cost and is not shown in the following example). If a duplicate item (duplicate task) is found when taking the intersection, only any one with a smaller workload is taken.

9. And (4) grouping the conveying lines of each system exit point, and automatically consulting a conveying line system task list decomposed by the warehouse control software.

a. The task with the exit point as the task end point is searched in the task list of the transmission line system, and the task must be located in the entry point task set of the transmission line group (i.e. the task can be routed to the transmission line), and the task set of the exit point is generated.

b. And classifying the tasks in the task set of the exit point according to a preset rule, and belonging to different task function queues. The ex-warehouse task, the in-warehouse task, the quality inspection and checking task and the emergency task can belong to different functional queues. Because tasks between different queues have no ordering requirement and have priority differences.

c. For each task function queue: and sequencing the tasks according to groups, and taking intersection with the task set of each entry point as a sequenced task queue of the entry point. Generally, only the first few groups of tasks are processed, and the total number of tasks is limited according to actual conditions.

Explanation: the sorting by group means that the tasks are divided into a plurality of groups according to the grouping numbers of the tasks and then sorted according to the grouping numbers. There is no ordering requirement for tasks within the same group.

Explanation: after intersecting the set of tasks at each entry point, the possibility may arise that the current group number is without tasks.

Explanation: the number of tasks to be processed needs to be specified according to the position and the functional characteristics of the conveying line. The larger the number, the more favourable the other conveyor line optimization tasks, but at the same time more easily leads to line blockages. (refer to the embodiment of fig. 2). This number is set for each source. Generally, when the route is longer, this value tends to increase as the arrival time of the cargo involved in the mission may be longer. But the value is not set too large in order to guarantee the multiplexing and emergency response capabilities of the line (e.g., the need to transport emergency tasks).

10. And each transmission line system searches the sequenced task queue which is fed back by the downstream transmission line and aims at the self entry point, and for each task queue (only one entry point is processed, and only one task queue exists in each task function queue), the tasks are sequenced according to groups, and after the task groups are combined with the task set of each entry point to form an intersection, the intersection is used as the sequenced task queue of the entry point. Generally, only the first few groups of tasks are processed, and the total number of tasks is limited according to actual conditions. (rule same 9c)

11. When the goods arrive at the conveying line group, the corresponding task state in the group needs to be updated and deleted from the task queue of the entry point.

12. When the delivery line group contains a system exit point: after the goods are removed from the exit point, the corresponding task needs to be notified to the warehouse control software, marking complete.

13. When the transport line packet contains a system entry point: when a good is placed at the entry point, the conveyor line system needs to obtain the corresponding task information for that good from the warehouse control software.

14. When the goods move among the conveyor line groups, whether the next conveyor line group receives the goods is judged again, and if the goods are received, the corresponding task information is informed to the next conveyor line when the goods are moved.

15. When a task may enter the system from multiple entrances or multiple exits, when the task enters or exits the system once, it is necessary to notify other entrances or exits to forego waiting for the task (see the embodiment of fig. 3).

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing system, which comprises:

In one embodiment, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfaced therewith; alternatively, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines comprises at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines abutting the upstream conveyor line.

The specific contents of the system embodiment correspond to the specific contents of the method embodiment one to one, and for details of the system embodiment, reference is made to the description of the method embodiment, which is not repeated herein.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not limited thereto, and various equivalent modifications and substitutions can be easily made by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A distributed and coordinated transmission line task grouping and sequencing method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

2. The distributed and coordinated conveying line task grouping and sequencing method according to claim 1, wherein the downstream conveying line searches for each task of a terminal conveyor thereof as a destination, performs grouping and sequencing on the tasks of a front-end conveyor thereof in combination with the search result sent by the upstream conveying line to obtain the task grouping and sequencing result from each upstream conveying line, and sends the task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line, and the method comprises the following steps:

3. The distributed and coordinated conveying line task grouping and sequencing method according to claim 2, wherein after receiving the goods sent by the current grouping number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and after the task of the current grouping number is executed, feeds the updated task grouping and sequencing result back to the corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next grouping number, and the method comprises the following steps:

4. The distributed and coordinated conveying line task grouping and sequencing method according to claim 3, wherein after receiving the goods sent by the current grouping number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping and sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and after the task of the current grouping number is executed, feeds back the updated task grouping and sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next grouping number, further comprising:

5. The distributed coordinated conveyor line task grouping sequencing method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of groups of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfaced therewith.

6. The distributed coordinated conveyor line task grouping sequencing method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of groups of conveyor lines includes at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines interfaced therewith.

7. The distributed coordinated delivery line task group sequencing method of claim 1, further comprising:

8. The distributed coordinated delivery line task group sequencing method of claim 1, further comprising:

9. A distributed and coordinated conveyor line task grouping and sequencing system is characterized by comprising:

10. The distributed coordinated conveyor line task grouping sequencing system of claim 9, wherein said plurality of groups of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfaced therewith; alternatively, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines comprises at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines abutting the upstream conveyor line.