CN112132479B

CN112132479B - Distributed coordinated conveyor line task grouping and sorting method and system

Info

Publication number: CN112132479B
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: 2024-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-09-29
Also published as: CN112132479A

Abstract

The invention discloses a distributed coordinated transmission line task grouping ordering method and a system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the downstream conveyor line searches each task with the destination of the end conveyor, performs grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain task grouping sequencing results from each upstream conveyor line, and sends the task grouping sequencing results to the corresponding upstream conveyor line; the upstream conveyor line routes the corresponding goods from the front end conveyor to the end conveyor and continues to route to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; after receiving goods, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds back the updated task grouping sequencing result 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 coordinated conveyor line task grouping and sorting method and system

Technical Field

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

Background

In conventional systems, the conveyor line control information is locally aggregated at the PLC and accessed into the warehouse control software. The warehouse control software sequences each task and transmits the tasks to the PLC to drive the conveyor line to execute. 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 communications with the PLC.

2. The path needs to be specified fixedly in the PLC, which can lead to significant implementation costs for large systems.

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

1. namely the conveying line-PLC-warehouse control software mode. The PLC is responsible for the bottom layer safety (emergency signal response) and the equipment linkage control, and the warehouse control software realizes path selection, sequencing and scheduling.

2. Conveyor line control software is employed. The control software is installed on a computer with an IO interface board, and the equipment is directly connected with the computer, so that the PLC is omitted. As the software can be directly controlled to a single machine, the scheduling flexibility is obviously improved. However, as such, the increase in software complexity results in poor interfacing 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 the introduction of uninterruptible power supplies, maintenance personnel work, and the like. At the same time, the deployment of software in the field means that the implementation process requires the installation of software in the field, thus increasing the implementation cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a distributed coordinated transmission line task grouping ordering method and system, and aims to solve the problems that an existing transmission line system scheduling mode is convenient to maintain and high in implementation cost.

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

grouping the conveyor line systems to obtain a plurality of groups of conveyor lines, wherein each group of conveyor lines comprises at least one conveyor, and each group of conveyor lines 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 conveyor line searches each task of which the source is the front end conveyor and notifies the downstream conveyor line of the search result;

the downstream conveyor line searches each task with the destination of the end conveyor, performs grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain task grouping sequencing results from each upstream conveyor line, and sends the task grouping sequencing results to the corresponding upstream conveyor 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 from the front-end conveyor to the tail-end conveyor and are routed to the front-end conveyor of the downstream conveying line continuously; if not, routing the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor, waiting, and routing the goods to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveying line when the task of the next packet number is executed;

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

Preferably, the downstream conveyor line searches each task destined for its end conveyor, performs packet sequencing on the tasks of its front end conveyor in combination with the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line, obtains a task packet sequencing result from each upstream conveyor line, and sends the task packet sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveyor line, including:

the downstream conveying line searches each task with the destination of the end conveyor, and performs grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the searching result sent by the upstream conveying line to obtain an initial task grouping sequencing result;

the downstream conveying line sorts the initial task grouping sorting result according to a preset maximum value of task queues from each upstream conveying line to obtain a sorted task grouping sorting result;

and the downstream conveying line sends the updated task grouping sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line.

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

After receiving goods sent by the upstream conveying line at present each time, the downstream conveying line updates task grouping sequencing results from the corresponding upstream conveying line;

the downstream conveying line rearranges the updated task grouping sequencing result according to the preset maximum value of the task queues from each upstream conveying line to obtain a rearranged task grouping sequencing result;

and the downstream conveying line sends the updated task grouping sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route cargoes corresponding to the tasks of the current grouping number.

Preferably, after receiving the goods sent by the current packet number of the upstream transfer line, the downstream transfer line updates the task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream transfer line, and feeds back the updated task packet sequencing result to the corresponding upstream transfer line after the task of the current packet number is executed, so that the upstream transfer line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number, and the method further includes:

after receiving the goods with the current packet number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates the task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and rearranges the updated task packet sequencing result according to the preset maximum value of the task queues from each upstream conveying line to obtain a rearranged task packet sequencing result;

And the downstream conveying line sends the sorted task grouping sorting result to a corresponding upstream conveying line, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route cargoes corresponding to the task of the next grouping number.

Preferably, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.

Preferably, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

the source of goods corresponding to the tasks with the same task number is set to be the same conveying line, or the source of goods corresponding to the tasks with the same task number is set to be different conveying lines.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

when an urgent task is received, setting a packet number which is earlier than all current packet numbers for the urgent task and storing the packet number.

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

the conveying line grouping unit is used for grouping the conveying line systems 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, wherein each group of tasks comprises a plurality of tasks;

An acquisition unit for acquiring a task number, a packet number, a source and a destination of each task;

the first retrieval unit is used for retrieving each task of which the source is the front end conveyor of the upstream conveyor line and notifying the retrieval result to the downstream conveyor line;

the second retrieval unit is used for retrieving each task of which the destination is the end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line, carrying out grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the retrieval result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain task grouping sequencing results from each upstream conveyor line, and sending the task grouping sequencing results to the corresponding upstream conveyor line;

the conveying unit is used for judging whether a task to be executed exists under the current packet number or not by the upstream conveying line, if so, routing the corresponding goods from the front-end conveyor to the tail-end conveyor and continuing to route the goods to the front-end conveyor of the downstream conveying line; if not, routing the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor, waiting, and routing the goods 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 sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line after receiving the goods sent by the current grouping number of the upstream conveying line, and feeding back the updated task grouping sequencing result 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.

Preferably, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one downstream conveyor line and a plurality of upstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith; alternatively, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributed coordinated transmission line task grouping ordering method and a system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the downstream conveyor line searches each task with the destination of the end conveyor, performs grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain task grouping sequencing results from each upstream conveyor line, and sends the task grouping sequencing results to the corresponding upstream conveyor line; the upstream conveyor line routes the corresponding goods from the front end conveyor to the end conveyor and continues to route to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; after receiving goods, the downstream conveying line updates the task grouping sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds back the updated task grouping sequencing result 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 at the cloud end instead of the local part of a client, and the conveyor line section can adopt an internet of things (IoT) intelligent terminal, keep information communication with the upper system and respectively complete 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 required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

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

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

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a third conveyor line system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are some, but not all embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

It should be understood that the terms "comprises" and "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 this specification 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 the present specification and the appended claims refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and includes such combinations.

s101, grouping the conveyor line systems to obtain a plurality of groups of conveyor lines, wherein each group of conveyor lines comprises at least one conveyor, and each group of conveyor lines 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 place and a destination of each task;

s104, searching each task of which the source is the front end conveyor by the upstream conveyor line, and notifying the downstream conveyor line of a searching result;

s105, searching each task with the destination of the end conveyor by the downstream conveyor line, sorting the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the searching result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain task grouping sorting results from each upstream conveyor line, and sending the task grouping sorting results to the corresponding upstream conveyor 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 from the front-end conveyor to the tail-end conveyor and are routed to the front-end conveyor of the downstream conveying line continuously; if not, routing the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor, waiting, and routing the goods 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 packet number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates the task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds back the updated task packet sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line after the task of the current packet number is executed, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet 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 at the cloud instead of the local client because: (1) Specific processing is not required for the route scene, so that one set of warehouse control software can be compatible with the requirements of a plurality of different business scenes; (2) The communication requirement between the conveyor line and the warehouse control software is reduced, so that the communication requirement is not required to be installed locally.

In the embodiment of the invention, the conveyor line segment can adopt an internet of things (IoT) intelligent terminal, keep information communication with an upper system and respectively complete task management related to the conveyor line segment.

In the embodiment of the invention, a small control system can be deployed locally for processing complex internal path conditions (such as a ring structure) of the conveying line and simultaneously providing an engineer equipment monitoring interface. This mini-control system would connect with the upper warehouse control software and the lower IoT intelligent terminals.

In the 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 conveyor line is considered as a system, the stations outside the system typically have: an input station and an output station, and both input and output stations (hereinafter, the stations are listed as input station and output station according to functions, respectively, unless otherwise specified). The internal functions of the system are to route goods from an input site to a specific output site or to load balance between several specific output sites. The complex scenario also includes task grouping ordering of output sites (detailed below) and urgent tasks (detailed below). The internal structure of the conveyor line may not be simply linear but include a ring-like structure.

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

In the example of fig. 1, three groups of conveyor lines are divided: the first group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004; the second group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1005, 1006, 1007, 1008; the third group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012. The numbering of the conveyor lines of each group is not sequential.

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 the step S102, the execution sequence of the tasks is grouped to obtain a plurality of groups of tasks, and each group of tasks includes a plurality of tasks, that is, the tasks are grouped and ordered.

Packet ordering refers to: in the process of executing a group of tasks, the execution sequence of the tasks is required to be grouped. For example, a shipment order may contain 5 groupings, each with a number. The order is not taken out of the warehouse until the previous group is taken out of the warehouse, so that the order of the output sites is ensured. The order of the different goods within the same group is not required. For different situations, separate designation is required for whether ordering is required between different orders. For example, some export sites (typically logistics system endpoints for loading operations) may simultaneously require that one order cannot be processed before another order is completed, 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 grouping numbers of different tasks may be the same. The task numbers represent only the order in which the tasks were generated, irrespective of logic. The packet numbers represent the order in which tasks should be performed.

Taking fig. 1 as an example, the task numbers, the packet numbers, the sources and the destinations described above may be presented in the form of a task table, as shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

Task numbering	Origin place	Destination(s)	Packet number
				1	1001	1012	2
2	1001	1012	3
				3	1005	1012	1
4	1005	1012	2
				5	1005	1012	3

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

For example, in fig. 1, the first group of conveyor lines retrieves tasks from sources 1001: 1. 2, informing a third group of conveyor lines that the tasks will likely be sent from 1004 to 1009; the second group of conveyor lines retrieves tasks from 1005: 3. 4, 5, to a third group of conveyor lines, will possibly be sent 1008 to the tasks 1009.

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

And then grouping and sequencing the tasks of the front-end conveyor by combining the search results sent by the upstream conveying line. For example, after the third group of conveyor lines finishes searching the tasks, the first grouping and sorting can be performed first, and the initial task grouping and sorting result is obtained as follows:

packet number 1: task number 3

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Packet number 3: task number 2, 5

And then carrying out second grouping sequencing by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveying line to obtain a final task grouping sequencing result as follows:

1009 the task queue after the entry point ordering is:

from 1004:

packet number 1: no task

Packet number 2: task number 1

Packet number 3: task number 2

From 1008:

packet number 1: task number 3

Packet number 2: task number 4

Packet number 3: task number 5

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

In the step S106, the upstream conveyor line judges whether there is a task to be executed under the current packet number, if so, the corresponding goods are routed from the front end conveyor to the end conveyor, and continue to be routed to the front end conveyor of the downstream conveyor line; and if not, routing the goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number from the front end conveyor to the tail end conveyor and waiting, and routing the goods 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 feedback (task group ordering result) sent by the first group of delivery lines to the third group of delivery lines, since group number 1 has no task, illustrates that the third group of delivery lines now refuses to accept the task sent from the first group of delivery lines (for the current task queue). If the device is idle and the rule allows, the front-end system is required to start providing the goods corresponding to the task of the next group (i.e. group number 2, task number 1) to 1001, but after the goods reach 1001 and are routed to 1004, the third group of delivery lines can only wait for release, and then enter 1009. That is, the cargo will wait at 1004. This improves concurrency efficiency.

The second group of conveyor lines is connected to the feedback from the third group of conveyor lines, with group number 1 being tasked. The second group of conveyor lines thus requires the lead system to begin providing the cargo corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 3) to 1005, and after the cargo is routed from 1005 to 1008, if the conditions have not changed, the routing continues to 1009. When the task number 3 good arrives at 1009, it continues to route to 1012. The task number 3 will be completed at 1012, completing its own task (to move to the next system, the goods taken away, etc.).

In the step S107, after receiving the goods sent by the current packet number of the upstream transport line, the downstream transport line updates the task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream transport line, and after completing the task execution of the current packet number, feeds back the updated task packet sequencing 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 packet number.

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

from 1004:

packet number 2: task number 1

Packet number 3: task number 2

From 1008:

packet number 2: task number 4

Packet number 3: task number 5

Thus, the first and second sets of conveyor lines will begin processing the task with a packet number of 2. If the first group of conveyor lines has now routed the goods corresponding to task number 1 to 1004, it will be sent directly to 1009. The second group of delivery lines is connected to the feedback from the third group of delivery lines, with group number 2 being tasked. The second group of conveyor lines thus requires the lead system to begin providing the cargo corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 2, task number 4) to 1005, and after the cargo is routed from 1005 to 1008, if the conditions have not changed, the routing is continued to 1009. When the task number 4 good arrives at 1009, it continues to route to 1012. The task number 4 will be completed after completing its own task (move to the next system, the cargo is taken away, etc.) at 1012.

And the like, all tasks can be completed.

The embodiment of the invention distributes logic originally deployed in warehouse control software to the equipment segment for processing. The main advantages are: 1. warehouse control software no longer needs to be developed separately according to different projects, and therefore multiple projects can be serviced simultaneously as one product. 2. If the scattered programs are directly installed in independent embedded equipment and assembled with a conveyor line to leave the factory, the implementation time of the field can be reduced. 3. The scattered algorithms are uniformly deployed in a certain computer on site, and can also be used as a transition scheme before realizing the 2. 4. And no matter 2 or 3, the communication quantity of direct communication between the warehouse control software and the bottom equipment is reduced, and after the combination of 1, the warehouse control software can be deployed to the cloud. 5. After realizing 4 and 2, the field will no longer need computer equipment.

In one embodiment, the step S105 includes:

In the embodiments of the present invention, essentially, the method of pulling task ordering from the endpoint. Taking the structure of fig. 1 as an example, it is assumed that an extreme situation occurs: the odd numbered tasks of the group are all from the first group of conveyor lines and the even numbered tasks of the group are all from the second group of conveyor lines.

If the third group of delivery lines only provides the task information with the smallest packet number to the upstream:

in fig. 1, when just started, the conveyor 1009 must only accept the task of packet number 1. That is, only the first group of conveyor lines may provide the cargo to 1009. At this point, the second set of conveyor lines is idle. When the tasks with the group number of 1 are all completed, the state is switched to the state that only the second group of conveying lines can provide cargoes to 1009 and the first group of conveying lines are idle. And so forth. From the start of the mission, the goods will follow a path trajectory of several minutes before reaching the final conveyor line. That is, when the task of the packet number 1 has not yet completely reached 1009, all the tasks of the subsequent packets have not yet been performed at all. When the task with the packet number 1 completely reaches 1009, 1009 starts to wait for the goods corresponding to the task with the packet number 2. As a result, half of the equipment is always completely idle, and the utilization of the overall equipment is too low. Thus, this approach may result in reduced device utilization.

If the third group of delivery lines provides all of the task information upstream:

since the former case is not good, it is desirable that even if the currently processed packet does not have a task of a certain transport line packet, the subsequent task should be informed to be ready. The corresponding tasks can be transported to the tail ends of the conveyor line groups, and after the last task group is completed, the tasks are directly released, so that the efficiency can be improved. That is, when a task with a group number of 1 is performed on the first group of conveyor lines, it is also desirable that a task with a group number of 2 starts to be performed on the second group of conveyor lines, but the latter task can only wait at 1008. Only after the goods corresponding to the task with the group number of 1 completely enter 1009, the goods corresponding to the task with the group number of 2 can enter 1009. Similarly, it is also desirable that task … … of group 3 be handled similarly after task 1 of the first group of conveyor lines because the front section of the first group of conveyor lines may also face similar demarcation points and may also face similar concurrency optimization problems. From this point of view, the most concurrent solution is to push all tasks to the front conveyor line.

However, if this scheme is adopted, the following two problems occur: 1. if the total task number is large and the task number of a group number is considerable, the conveyor line corresponding to the task group which cannot be released at present may be filled with tasks, and goods corresponding to the tasks cannot be released to the rear end temporarily. A stuffed conveyor line, if corresponding to multiple functions (e.g., multiple exits) at the same time, would therefore not be able to service another exit. Moreover, when an urgent task needs to be scheduled, the team cannot be inserted to a front position any more. 2. If several groupings of conveyor lines correspond to the same source (assuming that only one worker is simultaneously placing a good on both the first and second sets of conveyor lines), this distribution pattern may result in a more advanced device being unable to know which set of tasks should be met first (this worker is to meet the delivery of a portion of the good to the first conveyor line, the delivery of a portion of the good to the second conveyor line, and is unaware that the good of the second conveyor line is waiting only on-line), resulting in poor task ordering for the performance bottleneck device (or person) when executing linearly (obviously the first set of tasks should be met first at this time).

Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention need to take into account the two situations described above: the upstream device is informed of the subsequent grouping tasks, but is limited in number to prevent overstock.

The practical meaning of setting a to x from B's task queue maximum is: b tells a that my stock time is longer (x is greater) or shorter (x is smaller), asking me not less than the x tasks in the a queue before belonging to the part that B can provide, but not telling me too many tasks.

Preferably, the step S107 includes:

Preferably, the step S107 further includes:

In this embodiment, after receiving the goods with the current packet number, the downstream transport line updates the task packet sorting result as a whole, and rearranges the task packet sorting result in combination with the maximum value of the task queue, and then sends the rearranged 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 conveyor lines includes at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.

Preferably, the distributed coordinated transmission line task grouping and ordering method further comprises the following steps:

That is, 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.

Emergency tasks refer to a special task type that does not participate in sequencing, and once present, the conveyor line needs to complete it preferentially, possibly inserted into an existing task group during completion.

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

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

But since the time of the emergency task insertion may be later than the normal task, the conveyor line may already be performing other tasks. The emergency task is thus not guaranteed to be completed certain advantages over other tasks.

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

The process of the present invention will be described in detail by means of specific examples.

Since the embodiment of fig. 1 has been described in the foregoing, it is mainly described herein by way of example in fig. 2, 3 and 4.

Taking fig. 2 as an example, the conveyor lines are divided into five groups: the first group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004; the second group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1005, 1006, 1007; the third group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016, 1017; the fourth group of conveyor lines comprises conveyors with: 1008, a step of; the fifth group comprises conveyors with: 1009. 1010, 1011, 1012. The task table has tasks as in table 2:

TABLE 2

Task of first group delivery line retrieval source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, informing a third group of conveyor lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1004 to 1009; task of second group delivery line retrieval source 1005: 5. 6, 7, 8, telling to the fourth group of conveyor lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1007 to 1008; the third group of delivery lines retrieves the tasks of source 1013: 9. 10, 11, 12, to a fourth group of conveyor lines, will possibly be sent from 1017 to 1008.

The fourth group of conveyor lines receives tasks advertised by the second group of conveyor lines and the third group of conveyor lines: 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, to a fifth group of conveyor lines, will probably be sent from 1008 to 1009.

A fifth group of conveyor lines retrieves tasks destined for 1012: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The result after packet ordering is:

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

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 2, 11, 12

Packet number 3: task numbers 3, 7, 8

Packet number 4: task number 4

Combining the information sent by the first group of conveying lines and the fourth group of conveying lines, and the task queues after the sorting of the 1009 entry points are as follows:

from 1004:

packet number 1: no task

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 2

Packet number 3: task number 3

Packet number 4: task number 4

From 1008:

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

Packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Packet number 3: task number 7, 8

Packet number 4: no task

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 be 8. Because the group number 1 has 4 tasks and the group number 2 has 4 tasks, the first 4 tasks are only the group number 1; the first 8 tasks would have packet number 1 and packet number 2. After sorting, the task queues after sorting at 1009 entry points are:

from 1004:

packet number 1: no task

From 1008:

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

Packet 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; the number of task queues of the fourth group of conveyor lines from the third group of conveyor lines is set to be 4 at maximum.

And the fourth group of conveying lines are connected to feedback sent by the fifth group of conveying lines, and the task queues after 1008 inlet point sequencing are combined with the information sent by the second group of conveying lines and the third group of conveying lines:

from 1007:

packet number 1: task numbers 5, 6

Packet number 2: no task

From 1017:

packet number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

The feedback from the first group of delivery lines to the fifth group of delivery lines indicates that the fifth group of delivery lines now refuses to accept the delivered task from the first group of delivery lines (for the current task queue) because of the absence of the task for group number 1.

The second group of conveyor lines is connected to the feedback from the fourth group of conveyor lines, with group number 1 being tasked. The second group of conveyor lines thus requires the lead system to begin providing the cargo corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 5 or 6) to 1005, and after the cargo is routed from 1005 to 1007, if the conditions have not changed, the routing continues to 1008.

The third group of conveyor lines is connected to the feedback from the fourth group of conveyor lines, with group number 1 being tasked. The third group of conveyor lines thus requires the lead system to begin providing the corresponding good for this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 9 or 10) to 1013, and after the good is routed from 1013 to 1017, if the conditions have not changed, the routing will continue to 1008.

Here, it is assumed that the goods of task number 5 reach the second group of conveyor lines first and reach 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 can modify the task queue after the 1009 entry points are ordered into:

from 1007:

packet number 1: task number 6

From 1017:

packet number 1: task numbers 9, 10

If the fifth set of conveyor line conditions has not changed, the shipment of cargo may continue to 1009.

After the fifth group conveying line receives goods corresponding to the task number 5 sent by the fourth group conveying line, 3 tasks remain in the group number 1, 4 tasks exist in the group number 2, and 3 tasks exist in the group number 3, so that the first 4 tasks comprise the group number 1 and the group number 2, and the first 8 tasks comprise the group number 1, the group number 2 and the group number 3. After the sorting, the task queue after the sorting of 1009 entry points is modified as follows:

from 1004:

packet number 1: no task

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 2

From 1008:

packet number 1: task numbers 6, 9, 10

Packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Packet number 3: task number 7, 8

From 1007:

packet number 1: task number 6

Packet number 2: no task

Packet number 3: task number 7, 8

From 1017:

packet number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Packet number 3: no task

The remaining 3 tasks are group number 1, group number 2 has 2 tasks, group number 3 has 2 tasks. The first 4 tasks thus include packet number 1 and packet number 2. After finishing, modifying the task queue after 1008 entrance point sequencing as follows:

from 1007:

packet number 1: task number 6

Packet number 2: no task

From 1017:

packet number 1: task numbers 9, 10

Packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

The feedback from the first group of delivery lines to the fifth group of delivery lines indicates that the fifth group of delivery lines now refuses to accept the delivered task from the first group of delivery lines (for the current task queue) because of the absence of the task for group number 1. If the device is idle and the rule allows, the front-end system is required to start providing the goods corresponding to a certain task (i.e. the packet number 2, the task number 1 or 2) of the next packet to 1001, but after the goods reach 1001 and are routed to 1004, the goods can only enter 1009 after the fifth group of conveying lines are released. That is, the cargo will wait at 1004. This increases concurrency efficiency, but has the disadvantage of blocking the transport line so that it cannot handle other task queues at the same time.

The second group of conveyor lines is connected to the feedback from the fourth group of conveyor lines, with group number 1 being tasked. The second group of conveyor lines thus requires the lead system to begin providing the cargo corresponding to this task (i.e., group number 1, task number 6) to 1005, and after the cargo is routed from 1005 to 1007, if the conditions have not changed, the routing continues to 1008.

Thereafter, the process of the goods of the task numbers 6, 9, 10 going to 1009 is skipped.

After receiving 3 cargoes corresponding to task numbers 6, 9 and 10 sent by the fourth group of conveyor lines, the fifth group of conveyor lines modifies the task queue after the 1009 entry point ordering to (the maximum waiting task number is considered):

from 1004:

packet number 2: task numbers 1, 2

Packet number 3: no task

Packet number 4: no tasks (task No. 4 does not meet the maximum task number requirements and is not listed)

From 1008:

packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Packet number 3: task number 7, 8

Packet number 4: no task

The fourth group of conveying lines are connected to feedback sent by the fifth group of conveying lines, and the task queues after 1008 inlet point sequencing are combined with the information sent by the second group of conveying lines and the third group of conveying lines (the maximum waiting task number is considered):

from 1007:

packet number 2: no task

Packet number 3: task number 7, 8

From 1017:

packet number 2: task numbers 11, 12

Packet number 3: no task

Thus, the first and third groups of conveyor lines will begin processing the task with group number 2. If the first group of conveyor lines has now routed the goods corresponding to task number 1 to 1004, it will be sent directly to 1009.

After the cargo reaches 1009, it continues to route to 1012. The task itself is completed (will move to the next system, the cargo is taken away, etc.) at 1012, and the corresponding task will be completed.

And later will be omitted.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, three groups of conveyor lines are divided: the first set of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004 and the system entry points 1001, 1004 are connected to 1009. The second set of conveyor lines comprises conveyors 1005, 1006, 1007, 1008, and the system entry points 1005, 1008 are connected to 1009. The third set of conveyor lines includes conveyors 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, and system exit points 1012, 1009 accept 1004, 1008. The task table has tasks as in table 3:

TABLE 3 Table 3

Fig. 3 is a multi-source mission, which is often seen in forklift launch, or where multiple load balancing schemes are docked from a pre-system, the cargo of the present conveyor line system may come from multiple different entrances.

Task of first group delivery line retrieval source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, informing a third group of conveyor lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1004 to 1009; task of second group delivery line retrieval source 1005: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, to a third group of conveyor lines, these tasks will likely be sent from 1008 to 1009.

The third group of conveyor lines retrieves tasks destined for 1012: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5. The result after packet ordering is:

packet number 1: task number 3

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Packet number 3: task number 2, 5

Combining the information sent by the first group of conveying lines and the second group of conveying lines, the task queues after the sorting of the 1009 entry points are as follows:

from 1004:

packet number 1: task number 3

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Packet number 3: task number 2, 5

From 1008:

packet number 1: task number 3

Packet number 2: task numbers 1, 4

Packet number 3: task number 2, 5

The first and third groups of conveyor lines each require the lead system to deliver goods corresponding to task number 3 to their own entrance conveyor (1001, 1005). When a good is sent to one of them (e.g., 1001), the first group of lanes will announce the result to all other lanes (third group of lanes) for the task, both of which will delete 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 conveyor lines are divided: the conveyor 1001, 1002, 1003 comprised by the first set of conveyor lines, the system entry point 1001, 1003 will be connected to 1004, 1004. The second set of conveyor lines includes conveyors 1004, 1005, 1006, system exit points 1006, 1004 receiving 1003. The third set of conveyor lines includes conveyors 1007, 1008, 1009, 1010, and system exit points 1010, 1007 accept 1003. The task table has the tasks as in table 4:

TABLE 4 Table 4

Task numbering	Origin place	Destination(s)	Order number	Packet 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

Task of first group delivery line retrieval source 1001: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, telling the second and third sets of conveyor lines that these tasks will likely be delivered from 1003 to 1004, 1007.

The second group of conveyor lines retrieves tasks destined for 1006: 1. 2. The sorting result after grouping is:

order number 1 packet number 1: task number 1

Order number 1 packet number 2: task number 2

This information is used as a task queue after the entry point ordering 1004.

Setting a third group of conveying lines to have ordering requirements among orders, namely, the actual ordering group number is a combination of an order number and a group number; the first group of conveyor lines has no order space ordering requirements.

The third group of delivery lines retrieves tasks destined for 1010: 3. 4, 5, 6, 7. The sorting result after grouping is:

Order number 2 packet number 1: task number 3

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

Order number 3 packet number 1: task number 6, 7

This information is used as the task queue after the entry point ordering of 1007.

The feedback of the first group of conveyor lines to the second and third groups of conveyor lines requires that the lead system starts to provide the goods corresponding to tasks 1 and 3 to 1001, and after the goods are routed from 1001 to 1003, if the conditions are unchanged, the goods continue to be routed to 1004 or 1007 according to the conditions.

Assuming task 1 has entered 1001 the corresponding good, task 1 will be deleted from the task list, so that its order for subsequent tasks may be required to be provided. At this time, the tasks required to be provided by the front-end system become 2, 3.

And later will be omitted.

It should be noted that, if the third group of transfer lines also has no order-space ordering requirement, the third group of transfer lines search tasks and then have the following ordering results:

order number 2 packet number 1: task number 3

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

The method comprises the steps of,

order number 3 packet number 1: task number 6, 7

There is no order between the two subsequences. Thus, at this point, the first set of conveyor lines, when fed back by the second and third sets of conveyor lines, would require the lead system to begin providing 1001 the corresponding cargo for tasks 1, 3, 6, and 7.

And later will be omitted.

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

1. the warehouse control software does not re-divide tasks to specific lines nor does it order.

2. The warehouse control software decomposes tasks to a system level, i.e. the tasks are classified according to the boundaries of the system, but do not decompose the inside of the conveyor line system. For example, a job of leaving a warehouse uses a stacker from an elevated warehouse, and is delivered to a forklift for manual loading via a conveyor line system. The task may be broken down into: stacker gets and puts task, transfer chain task, fork truck job task.

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

4. Each transport line packet, when implemented, requires configuration of each entry point: whether it is an entry point to the system; and the exit point of which conveyor line, if any, is connected.

5. Each transport line packet, when implemented, requires configuration of each egress point: whether it is the exit point of the system; and which, if any, of the transfer lines is connected to.

6. Each transport line packet, when implemented, requires configuration path workload for computing the shortest path for a task. Either a constant or an algorithm based on real-time load calculations.

7. Each conveyor line with system entry points is grouped, and the task list of the conveyor line system after the decomposition of warehouse control software is consulted by itself. Searching a task taking the entry point as a task starting point in a task list of the conveyor line system, generating a task set, and setting the workload of each task to be 0.

8. Each transport line group, the task set (possibly from 7 or 8) of the entry point of the user is intersected, the workload of each task is increased by the value of the path workload of the user (this path is only used for calculating the path with the minimum cost and is not shown in the following example), and the transport line group associated with each exit point of the user is notified. If a duplicate item (duplicate task) is found when taking the intersection, only one of the smaller workload is taken.

9. Each conveyor line with system exit points is grouped, and the task list of the conveyor line system after the decomposition of warehouse control software is consulted by itself.

a. And searching the task with the exit point as a task end point in a task list of the conveyor line system, wherein the task must be positioned in an entry point task set of the conveyor line group (i.e. the task can be routed to the conveyor line), and generating a task set of the exit point.

b. And classifying tasks in the task set of the exit point according to the preset rule, and attributing the tasks to different task function queues. Typically, the ex-warehouse task, the warehouse-in task, the quality inspection inventory task and the emergency task will belong to different functional queues. Because tasks between different queues have no ordering requirements and have priority differences.

c. For each task function queue: the tasks are ordered according to the groups, and after the task is collected and intersected with the task set of each entry point, the task is used as an ordered task queue of the entry point. Typically, only the top-ranked sets of tasks are processed, and the total number of tasks is limited according to the actual situation.

Explanation: the sorting by group means that the tasks are divided into a plurality of groups according to the group numbers of the tasks, and then the sorting is performed according to the group numbers. Tasks within the same group have no order requirements.

Explanation: after the intersection is taken with the task set for each entry point, the possibility may occur that the current packet number has no tasks.

Explanation: the number of tasks to be processed is specified according to the position and functional characteristics of the conveyor line. The greater the number, the more advantageous other conveyor line optimization tasks are, but at the same time, the more likely line blockage is caused. (refer to the embodiment of FIG. 2). This number will be set for each source. Typically, when the line is longer, this value will tend to increase as the arrival time of the goods involved in the task will be longer. But the value is not set too large in order to secure multiplexing of lines and emergency response capability (e.g. need for transportation emergency tasks).

10. Each conveyor line system searches the sequenced task queues of the inlet points of the downstream conveyor line feedback, and for each task queue (only one inlet point is processed, and each task function queue only has one task queue), the tasks are sequenced according to the groups, and after the tasks are combined with the task set of each inlet point, the task queue is used as the sequenced task queue of the inlet point. Typically, only the top-ranked sets of tasks are processed, and the total number of tasks is limited according to the actual situation. (rule and 9 c)

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

12. When the transport line packet contains a system exit point: after the goods are removed from the exit point, the corresponding tasks need to be notified to the warehouse control software, marking completion.

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

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

15. When a task may enter the system from multiple portals, or multiple portals leave the system, other portals or portals need to be notified to relinquish the waiting for the task once it enters or leaves the system (refer to the embodiment of fig. 3).

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

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

The specific content of the above system embodiment corresponds to the specific content of the above method embodiment one by one, and for details of implementation of the above system embodiment, please refer to the description of the method embodiment, which is not repeated here.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A distributed coordinated conveyor line task grouping ordering method, comprising:

the downstream conveyor line searches each task with the destination of the end conveyor, and performs grouping sequencing on the tasks of the front end conveyor by combining the search result sent by the upstream conveyor line to obtain an initial task grouping sequencing result from each upstream conveyor line; the downstream conveying line sorts the initial task grouping sorting result according to a preset maximum value of task queues from each upstream conveying line to obtain a sorted task grouping sorting result; the updated task grouping sequencing result is sent to a corresponding upstream conveying line;

after receiving goods sent by the current packet number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates the task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds back the updated task packet sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line after the task of the current packet number is executed, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number;

after receiving goods sent by the current packet number of the upstream conveying line, the downstream conveying line updates a task packet sequencing result from the corresponding upstream conveying line, and feeds back the updated task packet sequencing result to the corresponding upstream conveying line after the task of the current packet number is executed, so that the upstream conveying line continues to route goods corresponding to the task of the next packet number, and the method comprises the following steps:

2. The method for sorting task packets of a distributed coordinated transmission line according to claim 1, wherein after receiving goods sent by a current packet number of an upstream transmission line, the downstream transmission line updates a task packet sorting result from a corresponding upstream transmission line, and feeds back the updated task packet sorting result to the corresponding upstream transmission line after completing task execution of the current packet number, so that the upstream transmission line continues to route goods corresponding to a task of a next packet number, and further comprising:

3. The method of distributed coordinated lane task grouping ordering of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sets of lanes comprise at least one downstream lane and a plurality of upstream lanes interfacing therewith.

4. The method of distributed coordinated lane task grouping ordering of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sets of lanes comprise at least one upstream lane and a plurality of downstream lanes interfacing therewith.

5. The distributed coordinated lane task grouping ordering method of claim 1, further comprising:

6. The distributed coordinated lane task grouping ordering method of claim 1, further comprising:

7. A distributed coordinated conveyor line task packet ordering system for implementing the distributed coordinated conveyor line task packet ordering method of claim 1, comprising:

8. The distributed coordinated lane task grouping ordering system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of sets of lanes comprise at least one downstream lane and a plurality of upstream lanes interfacing therewith; alternatively, the plurality of sets of conveyor lines includes at least one upstream conveyor line and a plurality of downstream conveyor lines interfacing therewith.