CN115924369A

CN115924369A - Goods shelf transportation method, device, equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115924369A
Application number: CN202211550123.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李科勇; 郑捷
Original assignee: Guangzhou Hoolinks Technologies Corp ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Hoolinks Technologies Corp ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-05
Filing date: 2022-12-05
Publication date: 2023-04-07

Abstract

The invention discloses a shelf transportation method, a device, equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported; when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transportation channel, controlling a shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transportation channel; and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf. By adopting the technical scheme of the invention, the adjacent goods shelves on the two sides of the transportation channel can be closely arranged, the first goods shelf is transported to the idle position by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the target goods shelf is further transported, so that the space utilization rate of a warehouse is improved, the goods shelves are orderly transported by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the transportation efficiency is greatly improved.

Description

Shelf transportation method, device, equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of logistics, in particular to a shelf transportation method, a shelf transportation device, shelf transportation equipment and a storage medium.

Background

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are commonly used in the areas of warehousing, manufacturing, post offices, libraries, ports and airports. The AGV is provided with an automatic guiding device, such as magnetic stripe navigation, laser navigation and the like, so that the AGV runs along a specified guiding route, has the functions of safety protection and various material handling, and realizes almost unmanned full-automatic operation.

At present, AGV is adopted to transport goods shelves on the goods handling of mill, warehouse, workshop or the production assembly line of electronic manufacturing industry, but the transportation mode warehouse based on AGV has at least one side goods shelves and need be close to the transfer passage, this has just led to the space utilization in warehouse to be lower, and relatively intensive storage mode also only supports two goods shelves and places side by side to need many AGV (goods shelves transport vehicle) collaborative work, it is thus clear that, under the limited condition of goods shelves transport vehicle quantity, not only the conveying efficiency is low, but also the storage space in warehouse has been wasted.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a goods shelf transportation method, a device, equipment and a storage medium, which can realize that a target goods shelf is efficiently transported by a goods shelf transport vehicle on the premise of fully utilizing the space of a warehouse, thereby weakening the requirement on the number of the goods shelf transport vehicles; for the goods shelf, the goods shelf is tightly stored, and at least one goods shelf transport vehicle is needed to transport the goods shelf, so that the transport cost is greatly reduced, the transport efficiency is improved, and the maximum utilization rate of the storage space of the warehouse is realized.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of shelf transportation, the method comprising:

acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported;

when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transportation channel, controlling a shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transportation channel;

and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

Optionally, the controlling the rack transporter chain-transporting the first rack to an idle position includes:

determining a transportation task according to the number of the first shelves;

inquiring a current idle goods shelf transport vehicle according to the transport task, and determining a target idle position in the idle positions, wherein the target idle position can be used for placing a first goods shelf;

and sequentially transporting the first shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position through the currently idle shelf transport vehicle.

Further, the control shelf transport vehicle transports the first shelf chain to an idle position, and the control shelf transport vehicle further includes:

according to the transportation task, if the current idle goods shelf transport vehicle is not inquired, after the goods shelf transport vehicle in the working state in the warehouse is idle, determining a target idle position where a first goods shelf can be placed in the idle position;

and sequentially transporting the first shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position by the newly idle shelf transport vehicle.

Optionally, the number of the shelf positions on one side of the transportation channel is N in the direction perpendicular to the transportation channel, M in the direction parallel to the transportation channel, the number of the shelf positions on the other side of the transportation channel is P in the direction perpendicular to the transportation channel, M in the direction parallel to the transportation channel, N, P and M are integers greater than or equal to 3, and after the shelf is placed in the adjacent position, the adjacent shelves are closely arranged.

Further, the number of the idle positions is greater than or equal to N-1, and N is greater than or equal to P.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rack transport device comprising:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring the position information of a target shelf to be transported;

the first control module is used for controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the first shelf to an idle position in a chained mode when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transport channel, and the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transport channel;

and the second control module is used for controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

Optionally, the first control module includes:

a first determination unit for determining a transportation task according to the number of the first shelves;

the second determining unit is used for determining a target idle position in the idle positions, wherein the target idle position can be used for placing the first goods shelf when the current idle goods shelf transport vehicle is inquired according to the transport task;

and the transportation unit is used for sequentially transporting the first goods shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position through the currently idle goods shelf transportation vehicle.

Optionally, the shelf transport device is used for controlling the shelf transport vehicle, and the shelf transport vehicle is used for lifting the corresponding shelf for transportation after moving to the bottom of the shelf.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to implement a method of shelf transportation according to any embodiment of the invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having computer instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of shelf transportation according to any one of the embodiments of the present invention.

It should be understood that the statements in this section do not necessarily identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor do they necessarily limit the scope of the invention. Other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, 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 only some embodiments of the present application, 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 diagram of an application scenario of a shelf transportation method that can implement an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a shelf transportation method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a shelf conveyor according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of an electronic device for implementing the shelf transportation method of an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions better understood by those skilled in the art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only partial embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present application without making any creative effort shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of this application and in the drawings described above are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application described herein are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The rack transport vehicle in the embodiment of the present invention is the Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV).

Fig. 1 is a schematic view 100 of an application scenario of the shelf transportation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1, an application scenario 100 of the shelf transportation method includes: server 110, network 120, rack transporter 130, rack 140, control device 150, and warehouse doorway 160. Wherein the rack transport vehicle 130 is used for transporting the rack 140; the control device 150 may send instructions to the rack transporter 130 via the network 120 to control the rack transporter to perform transportation tasks; the warehouse doorway 160 may enable the rack wagon 130 to enter or exit the warehouse; note that: the number of the warehouse doors 160 may be two, one is capable of enabling the rack transporter 130 to enter the warehouse, and the other is capable of enabling the rack transporter 130 to leave the warehouse.

The server 110 may be configured to process data and/or information from external data sources, for example, the server 110 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), etc. and/or any combination thereof; it may be local, remote, or implemented on a cloud platform.

The network 120 may provide a conduit for information exchange, and information may be exchanged between the example server 110, the rack transporter 130, and the control device 150 via the network 120.

Example one

In accordance with an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a method of rack transportation, it being noted that the steps illustrated in the flowchart of fig. 2 may be performed in a computer system, such as a set of computer-executable instructions, and that while a logical order is illustrated in the flowchart, in some cases the steps illustrated or described may be performed in an order different than here. As shown in fig. 2, the shelf transportation method includes the steps of: s210, S220 and S230.

S210, obtaining the position information of the target shelf to be transported.

The positions of the shelves are specified in the warehouse, one shelf is correspondingly placed at each position, goods are placed on the shelves, the movement route of the shelf transport vehicle is determined by obtaining the position information of the shelves in the warehouse, and whether the current shelf transport vehicle can directly lift the target shelf from the current position or not is further inquired, and the target shelf is moved to the destination through the transportation channel.

S220, when a first goods shelf is arranged between the target goods shelf and the transportation channel, controlling the goods shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first goods shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first goods shelf and the target goods shelf is vertical to the transportation channel.

The number of the first goods shelves is not unique, namely the first goods shelves are arranged in the direction from the target goods shelves to the transportation channel, so that the goods shelf transportation vehicle cannot directly carry the target goods shelves; on the straight line of the first goods shelf and the target goods shelf, the goods shelf transport vehicle can only horizontally move on the straight line positioned at the bottom of each goods shelf; thus, the target rack can only be transported if the first rack is transported from its current position to an idle position in the current warehouse. Wherein the transportation channel is a high-speed movement area of the rack transport vehicle, and the transportation channel divides the warehouse into two areas, and the movement direction of the rack in each area points to the transportation channel.

Optionally, the controlling the rack transport vehicle to chain-transport the first rack to the idle position includes: determining a transportation task according to the number of the first shelves; according to the transportation task, inquiring a current idle shelf transport vehicle, and determining a target idle position where a first shelf can be placed in the idle position; and sequentially transporting the first shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position through the currently idle shelf transport vehicle.

The chain transportation means that after the shelf transport vehicle determines the position information of the target shelf, the transportation order of the first shelf is determined according to the rule closest to the transportation channel according to the first shelf which passes through the position of the target shelf and is arranged on the straight line vertical to the transportation channel, and then the first shelf is transported in sequence. In other words, the sum of the number of first racks and the target number of racks is the number of transportation tasks to be performed by the rack transporter, where the target number of racks is 1. The idle positions comprise preset turnover positions and positions which are newly idle after the shelf transport vehicle finishes a transport task. In the plurality of transportation tasks, the current idle goods shelf transportation vehicle executes the transportation task corresponding to the first goods shelf closest to the transportation channel in advance; if there are a plurality of currently idle rack transport carts in the warehouse, before sequentially transporting the first racks according to the transportation sequence of the first racks, it is necessary to determine which target idle position a single first rack is placed in among a plurality of idle positions, so as to avoid a situation that two or more rack transport carts transport two or more first racks to the same idle position. In short, the number of transportation tasks is greater than the number of currently empty rack trucks, which corresponds to the number of target empty locations.

Illustratively, first, the number of the first shelf is confirmed, and then the number of the transportation tasks required in the warehouse for completing the transportation process of the target shelf is one more than the number of the first shelf. Secondly, determining the shelf transport vehicle in an idle state in the current warehouse according to the number of the transport tasks: when the number of the transportation tasks is larger than or equal to the number of the idle goods shelf transportation vehicles, sequentially scheduling the idle transportation vehicles to transport the goods shelves closest to the transportation channel until the transportation of the target goods shelves is completed; when the number of the transportation tasks is smaller than that of the idle shelf transportation vehicles, the transportation efficiency is highest; in addition, when the number of the transportation tasks is 1, it indicates that the first shelf does not exist, and only one shelf transport vehicle is needed to complete the transportation task of the target shelf. For example, the first shelves between the target shelf and the transportation channel are a, B and C on a straight line perpendicular to the transportation channel passing through the target shelf, where a shelf is adjacent to the target shelf, B shelf is adjacent to a shelf and C shelf, and C shelf is adjacent to the transportation channel. Selecting one of the currently idle rack transport vehicles as a first transport sequence to transport the C rack in advance; if other idle shelf transport vehicles exist, the shelf B is used as a second transport sequence for subsequent transport; further, the shelf A is finally transported as a third transportation sequence; finally, the target shelf is transported. Specifically, the C rack is to be transported to a target idle position of one of the idle positions; because the idle positions in the warehouse are in a dynamically changing state, the target idle position for placing the shelf C is necessarily excluded from the target idle positions corresponding to the shelf B, and the three shelves A, B and C correspond to three different target idle positions respectively. Thus, after determining that the currently empty rack transporter is transporting the first rack, the target empty location at which the first rack is to be placed is determined. Wherein the idle rack transport vehicle can horizontally move on the straight line of the target rack and the positions of the A, B and C racks and can move on the C rack (close to the side of the transport passage) parallel to the transport passage.

It is worth noting that: because the idle position in the warehouse is dynamically changed, only the idle shelf transport vehicle which can execute the transport task can determine the idle position to which the first shelf is currently transported; and the first shelf does not need to be transported to the original location after the transportation task of the target shelf is finished.

Further, the control shelf transport vehicle transports the first shelf chain to an idle position, and the control shelf transport vehicle further includes: according to the transportation task, if the current idle goods shelf transport vehicle is not inquired, after the goods shelf transport vehicle in the working state in the warehouse is idle, determining a target idle position where a first goods shelf can be placed in the idle position; and sequentially transporting the first goods shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position through the newly idle goods shelf transportation vehicle.

And if the current idle goods shelf transport vehicle cannot be confirmed according to the transport task, monitoring the use conditions of all the goods shelf transport vehicles in the warehouse until a new idle goods shelf transport vehicle appears, and controlling the new idle goods shelf transport vehicle to execute the transport task in sequence. Likewise, the first shelf closest to the transport aisle is transported to the target empty position according to the newly empty shelf transporter.

And S230, controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

The storage mode of the shelves in the warehouse is that the shelves are closely arranged at the specified positions, namely, the transportation channel divides the warehouse into two areas, and the positions in different areas are divided in the same mode, so that when the shelves are displayed at the positions in each area, no channel exists between the shelves, the storage capacity of the warehouse is enlarged, and the storage space of the warehouse can be fully utilized. Furthermore, the rack wagon can be moved parallel to the transport path only on the side close to the transport path, being only horizontally movable in the direction perpendicular to the transport path. Illustratively, when the transportation lane divides the warehouse into a first area and a second area, the first area includes N × M rack positions, and the second area includes P × M rack positions; i.e. the first area is divided into M rows and N columns for storage shelves and the second area is divided into M rows and P columns for storage shelves. In the first area, the goods shelf transport vehicle can move along a straight line at N positions on the same straight line; in the second area, the goods shelf transport vehicle can move along a straight line at the position P on the straight line; the goods shelf transport vehicle can also move along a straight line on the straight line of M positions adjacent to the transport passage. When N is equal to P, the number of rack storage positions in the first area and the second area is the same.

Furthermore, the number of the idle positions is greater than or equal to N-1, and N is greater than or equal to P.

It should be noted that the warehouse is provided with idle positions, and the idle positions include turnaround positions, which indicate that the number of idle positions in the storage space of the warehouse is at least the number of turnaround positions; in order to maximize the utilization of the storage space of the warehouse, besides the goods shelves placed on the storage positions are closely arranged, the turnover positions are required to realize the goods shelf transportation method. Such as: when all storage locations in the warehouse, except for the transportation lanes, are X in total, then X = mxn + mxp; then the storage locations available in the warehouse must be less than X. If the number N of the positions of each row in the first area is larger than or equal to the number P of the positions of each row in the second area, the number of the turnover positions is N-1, the number of the idle positions is inevitably larger than or equal to N-1, and the number of the storage positions which can be used in the warehouse is X- (N-1).

The invention discloses a shelf transportation method, which comprises the following steps: acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported; when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transportation channel, controlling a shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transportation channel; and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf. By adopting the technical scheme of the invention, the adjacent goods shelves on the two sides of the transportation channel can be closely arranged, the first goods shelf is transported to the idle position by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the target goods shelf is further transported, so that the space utilization rate of a warehouse is improved, the goods shelves are orderly transported by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the transportation efficiency is greatly improved.

Example two

According to the embodiment of the invention, a structural schematic diagram of a shelf transportation device is provided, and the device can execute the shelf transportation method provided by the first embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the apparatus includes: an acquisition module 310, a first control module 320, and a second control module 330. Wherein:

the obtaining module 310 is configured to obtain position information of a target shelf to be transported.

The first control module 320 is configured to control the shelf transport vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position when the first shelf is located between the target shelf and the transport lane, where a straight line where the first shelf and the target shelf are located is perpendicular to the transport lane.

A second control module 330 for controlling the rack transporter to transport the target rack.

Optionally, the first control module 320 includes:

the second determining unit is used for determining a target idle position where the first shelf can be placed in the idle positions if the current idle shelf transport vehicle is inquired according to the transport task;

Optionally, the shelf conveyer is used for controlling the shelf conveyer, and the shelf conveyer is used for lifting the corresponding shelf to transport after moving to the bottom of the shelf.

The invention discloses a shelf transporting device, which comprises: the acquisition module is used for acquiring the position information of a target shelf to be transported; the first control module is used for controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the first shelf to an idle position in a chained mode when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transport channel, and the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transport channel; and the second control module is used for controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf. By adopting the technical scheme of the invention, the adjacent goods shelves on the two sides of the transportation channel can be closely arranged, the first goods shelf is transported to the idle position by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the target goods shelf is further transported, so that the space utilization rate of a warehouse is improved, the goods shelves are orderly transported by the goods shelf transport vehicle, and the transportation efficiency is greatly improved.

EXAMPLE III

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of an electronic device 400 suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present invention is shown. Electronic devices are intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. The electronic device may also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processing, cellular phones, smart phones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed herein.

As shown in fig. 4, electronic device 400 may include processing device 410, which may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with a program stored in Read Only Memory (ROM) 420 or a program loaded from storage device 480 into Random Access Memory (RAM) 430. The processing device 410 may be any of a variety of general purpose and/or special purpose processing components having processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of processing device 410 include, but are not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), various specialized Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, or the like. The processing device 410 performs the various methods and processes described above.

In the RAM 430, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the electronic apparatus 400 are also stored. The processing device 410, the ROM 420, and the RAM 430 are connected to each other by a bus 440. An input/output (I/O) interface 450 is also connected to bus 440.

Generally, the following devices may be connected to the I/O interface 450: input devices 460 including, for example, a touch screen, touch pad, keyboard, mouse, camera, microphone, accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.; output devices 470 including, for example, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), speakers, vibrators, or the like; storage 480 including, for example, magnetic tape, hard disk, etc.; and a communication device 490. The communication device 490 may allow the electronic device 400 to communicate wirelessly or by wire with other devices to exchange data. While fig. 4 illustrates an electronic device 400 having various means, it is to be understood that not all illustrated means are required to be implemented or provided. More or fewer devices may be alternatively implemented or provided.

In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, an embodiment of the invention includes a computer program product comprising a computer program carried on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program containing program code for performing the method illustrated by the flow chart. In such embodiments, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network through communication device 490, or installed from storage device 480, or installed from ROM 420. Which when executed by the processing means 410 performs the above-mentioned functions defined in the method of an embodiment of the invention. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the processing device 410 may be configured by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware) to perform the method of: acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported; when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transportation channel, controlling a shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transportation channel; and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

Example four

The computer readable medium of the present invention described above may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium or any combination of the two. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In contrast, in the present invention, a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated data signal may take many forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may also be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: electrical wires, optical cables, RF (radio frequency), etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

In some embodiments, the clients, servers may communicate using any currently known or future developed network Protocol, such as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), and may interconnect with any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communications network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), the Internet (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks), as well as any currently known or future developed network.

The computer readable medium may be embodied in the electronic device; or may be separate and not incorporated into the electronic device.

The computer readable medium carries one or more programs which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to: acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported; when a first shelf is arranged between the target shelf and the transportation channel, controlling a shelf transportation vehicle to chain-transport the first shelf to an idle position, wherein the straight line of the first shelf and the target shelf is vertical to the transportation channel; and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including but not limited to an object oriented programming language such as Java, smalltalk, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider).

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The modules described in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented by software or hardware. Wherein the name of a module in some cases does not constitute a limitation on the module itself.

The functions described herein above may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), system on a chip (SOCs), complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof, among others.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present invention, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having: a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to a user; and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which a user may provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices may also be used to provide for interaction with a user; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front-end component (e.g., a user computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include: local Area Networks (LANs), wide Area Network (WAN) blockchain networks, and the internet.

The computer system may include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. The server can be a cloud server, also called a cloud computing server or a cloud host, and is a host product in a cloud computing service system, so that the defects of high management difficulty and weak service expansibility in the traditional physical host and VPS service are overcome. The server may also be a server of a distributed system, or a server incorporating a blockchain.

Artificial intelligence is the subject of research that makes computers simulate some human mental processes and intelligent behaviors (such as learning, reasoning, thinking, planning, etc.), both at the hardware level and at the software level. Artificial intelligence hardware technologies generally include technologies such as sensors, dedicated artificial intelligence chips, cloud computing, distributed storage, big data processing, and the like; the artificial intelligence software technology mainly comprises a computer vision technology, a voice recognition technology, a natural language processing technology, a machine learning/deep learning technology, a big data processing technology, a knowledge map technology and the like.

Cloud computing (cloud computing) refers to accessing an elastically extensible shared physical or virtual resource pool through a network, where resources may include servers, operating systems, networks, software, applications, storage devices, and the like, and may be a technical system that deploys and manages resources in a self-service manner as needed. Through the cloud computing technology, high-efficiency and strong data processing capacity can be provided for technical application and model training of artificial intelligence, block chains and the like.

It should be understood that various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps reordered, added, or deleted. For example, the steps described in the present invention may be executed in parallel, sequentially, or in different orders, and the present invention is not limited herein as long as the desired result of the technical solution provided by the present invention can be achieved.

The above-described embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions may be made in accordance with design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of shelf transportation, the method comprising:

acquiring position information of a target shelf to be transported;

and controlling the shelf transport vehicle to transport the target shelf.

2. The rack transportation method according to claim 1, wherein the controlling the rack transporter to chain-transport the first rack to an idle position includes:

determining a transportation task according to the number of the first shelves;

according to the transportation task, inquiring a current idle shelf transport vehicle, and determining a target idle position where a first shelf can be placed in the idle position;

3. The rack transport method according to claim 2, wherein the controlling the rack transport vehicle to chain-transport the first rack to an idle position, further comprises:

if the current idle goods shelf transport vehicle is not inquired according to the transport task, determining a target idle position where a first goods shelf can be placed in the idle position after waiting for the goods shelf transport vehicle in a working state in the warehouse to be idle;

4. The rack transport method according to claim 1, wherein the number of rack positions on one side of the transport aisle is N in the direction perpendicular to the transport aisle and M in the direction parallel to the transport aisle, and the number of rack positions on the other side of the transport aisle is P in the direction perpendicular to the transport aisle and M in the direction parallel to the transport aisle, wherein N, P, and M are integers of 3 or more, and after placing racks on adjacent positions, the adjacent racks are arranged closely.

5. The rack transportation method according to claim 4, wherein the number of the vacant positions is N-1, N is P or more.

6. A shelf conveyor, characterized in that the device comprises:

7. The rack transport apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first control module comprises:

and the transportation unit is used for sequentially transporting the first shelf closest to the transportation channel to the target idle position through the currently idle shelf transport vehicle.

8. A rack transportation system, characterized by comprising the rack transportation device according to claim 6 or 7 and a rack transportation vehicle, wherein the rack transportation device is used for controlling the rack transportation vehicle, and the rack transportation vehicle is used for lifting a corresponding rack for transportation after moving to the bottom of the rack.

9. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor;

and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to implement the method of shelf transportation of any of claims 1-5.

10. A computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer instructions are for causing the computer to perform the method of shelf transportation of any of claims 1-5.