CN116331707A - Flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on a mobile robot, which relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics and comprises the following steps: s1, a distribution center is established, wherein the distribution center comprises a warehouse dispatching system, a warehouse temporary storage area, a picking workstation, an order temporary storage area and an order goods collection area; s2, warehousing and temporary storage; s3, scheduling and carrying; s4, selecting operation; s5, order handling; s6, collecting and carrying. According to the invention, the multi-type carriers, the shelves, the multi-type mobile robots and the multi-type flexible picking workstations are arranged, and then the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the multi-type mobile robots to realize flexible transportation from 'multi-type orders and multi-type cargoes' to the multi-type picking workstations, flexible picking of multi-type SKUs and rapid goods collection and delivery of multi-order clients. Comprehensively improving the efficiency, speed, quality and flexibility of the cross warehouse.

Description

Flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on mobile robot

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on a mobile robot.

Background

With the rapid development of retail, community group purchase and fresh cold chain, and the competition is becoming more and more vigorous, inventory and cost management becomes more important. The more the warehouse is as a new supply and distribution mode, the purpose of reducing the stock cost and rapidly distributing can be achieved, and the more the warehouse is as an important option for designing the supply and distribution mode of the distribution center.

The Cross shipping refers to the operation of receiving, sorting, packaging and delivering goods from different suppliers to a distribution center after customer orders are preferentially obtained or predicted orders, and then directly delivering the goods to different customers.

Prior art a: before the whole batch of the traditional manual warehouse-crossing scheme crosses the warehouse, a temporary storage area is planned for each order, and a user prompts a land cow forklift to carry cargoes to the corresponding order temporary storage area according to an operation terminal and put the cargoes into a container, so that after seeding and sorting of the corresponding orders are completed, packing, loading and shipping are carried out by personnel.

The prior art B: before the automatic sorting line crosses the warehouse, each order is bound with the outlet of the sorting machine in information before the whole batch crosses the warehouse, the goods are manually moved to the inlet of the sorting line for delivery, the sorting line conveys the materials to the corresponding grid according to bar code reading information, order collection is completed, and personnel carry out packaging, loading and delivery.

Prior art C: the AGV goods arrives at the people and crosses the storehouse scheme, all carry out the warehouse entry operation after whole batch material arrives at the goods, firstly, AGV dispatch system distributes the order to artifical selecting workstation, order and workstation carry out information binding, secondly, AGV dispatch system will select the material that the workstation distributes the order corresponds, will hit goods shelves and carry to selecting workstation in order one by one through AGV, carry out artifical order collection of selecting, personnel carry out packing loading delivery.

The main disadvantages of the above mentioned various prior art are:

a, the operation line is disordered, the manual walking distance is long, the manual allocation errors are large, and the warehouse-crossing operation efficiency is low and the period is long;

and B, the rigidity equipment has low flexibility, large floor area, multiple throwing code supports and multiple carrying, and is not suitable for the warehouse-crossing scenes of multiple products, multiple specifications, multiple orders and multiple clients.

The manual picking efficiency of all the products in the workstation is low, the manual carrying efficiency after picking and collecting the products is low, and the sorting is carried out after the whole batch of materials arrives at the products, so that the automatic sorting machine is not suitable for the warehouse-crossing operation of batch materials and batch arrival materials;

disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on a mobile robot, which can improve warehouse-crossing efficiency, speed, quality and flexibility aiming at complex warehouse-crossing scenes of multiple products, multiple specifications, multiple orders and multiple clients.

The invention provides a flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on a mobile robot, which comprises the following steps: s1, a distribution center is established, wherein the distribution center comprises a warehouse dispatching system, a warehouse temporary storage area, a picking workstation, an order temporary storage area and an order goods collection area; s2, warehouse entry temporary storage: after receiving goods, placing the tray on a carrier, scanning material information and carrier codes, and binding, and dispatching a mobile robot to carry the goods-storing carrier to a warehouse-in temporary storage area by a warehouse dispatching system; s3, scheduling and carrying: the warehouse dispatching system calculates the volume of the order materials according to the order BOM, automatically selects the quantity of the order material stock boxes, and dispatches a plurality of mobile robots of various types to carry the materials hit in the warehouse temporary storage area and the order hit carriers in the order temporary storage area to the corresponding picking work stations; s4, selecting operation: the warehouse dispatching system carries out flexible picking according to the information of the multi-type order goods carried to the picking workstation; s5, order handling: the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the mobile robot to carry the picked carrier to a warehouse temporary storage area, and carries the picked order material box to the order temporary storage area; s6, carrying the collection: and the warehouse dispatching system dispatches an order bin corresponding to the mobile robot carrying loading list to a designated order goods collecting area according to the loading list sequence information issued by the upper service system, and then carries out loading and shipping.

Further, in S1, the warehouse entry temporary storage area includes different types of shelves and different types of carriers corresponding to the operation of different types of mobile robots, and a terminal device for scanning information.

Further, in S2, the material information and the carrier codes are scanned and bound by the terminal device, and the warehouse scheduling system schedules the mobile robot corresponding to the type of carrier to carry the inventory carrier to the corresponding type of shelf in the warehouse temporary storage area.

Further, the picking workstation comprises: the manual picking workstation comprises a prompting device capable of receiving order picking information in real time; the automatic picking workstation comprises a mechanical arm which can automatically pick according to SKU and order information.

Further, in S3, the warehouse scheduling system selects a corresponding manual picking workstation or automatic picking workstation according to the order SKU.

Further, in S4, the warehouse dispatching system selects the mechanical arms of different corresponding types to automatically pick according to the order SKU, or transmits the picking information to the visual prompting device to pick manually.

Further, the warehouse scheduling system judges the shape and size attributes of the order SKU according to the order hit materials and the order hit carrier information carried to the appointed picking workstation, the irregular materials are scheduled to be picked manually, and the regular materials are scheduled to be picked by the mechanical arm.

Further, mobile robots include, but are not limited to, holding box pick AGVs, single box carrier AGVs, and KIVA.

According to the technical scheme, the multi-type carrier, the goods shelves, the multi-type mobile robots and the multi-type flexible picking work stations are arranged, and the storage scheduling system schedules the multi-type mobile robots to realize flexible transportation from 'multi-type orders and multi-type goods' to the multi-type picking work stations, flexible picking of multi-type SKUs and rapid goods collection and delivery of multi-order clients. Comprehensively improving the efficiency, speed, quality and flexibility of the cross warehouse.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described, and it is obvious that the drawings in the description below are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Reference numerals illustrate:

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distribution center layout of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an automated picking workstation of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a manual picking workstation of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow diagram of the modules of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cross-warehouse delivery method in the background of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of prior art A in the background of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of prior art B in the background of the invention;

1-warehouse entry temporary storage area, 2-picking workstation, 201-automatic picking workstation, 202-manual picking workstation, 203-order picking information prompting device, 204-order hit bin, 205-order hit material, 206-mechanical arm, 207-manual, 3-order temporary storage area, 4-order goods collection area, 5-mobile robot, 501-KIVA, 502-single box transport AGV, 503-holding box picking AGV, 6-goods dispatch transport, 7-order dispatch transport;

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in connection with the embodiments, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. 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.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings are merely for convenience in describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise. Furthermore, the terms "mounted," "connected," "coupled," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Example 1

The invention provides a flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on a mobile robot, which comprises the following steps:

s1, a distribution center is established, wherein the distribution center comprises a warehouse dispatching system and four specific working areas: a warehouse entry temporary storage area 1, a picking workstation 2, an order temporary storage area 3 and an order goods collection area 4, wherein:

the warehouse dispatching system is used for inventory management and robot equipment dispatching and comprises an order management module, a task management module, a goods position management module, a material management module, a warehouse management module, a robot dispatching module (including traffic control and route arrangement) and the like, and mainly has the following functions: (1) interfacing with an upper level business system (e.g., connecting the order volume of each type of product generated by the business system); (2) controlling order tasks (e.g., receiving various types of order services generated in real time and delivering materials to a warehouse in connection with suppliers); (3) material inventory management (e.g., monitoring inventory margins of different types in real time and assigning different cargo 6 materials according to inventory flexibility); (4) vehicle dispatch management (e.g., dispatch mobile robots 5 of different types and numbers to carry different types and sizes of cargo 6 materials, and dispatch trucks to corresponding order collection areas 4, etc.).

The warehouse-in temporary storage area 1 is used for storing materials for receiving goods 6, comprises a plurality of stock shelves and a plurality of storage carriers which correspond to the work of different mobile robots 5, and terminal equipment used for scanning information, wherein the KIVA501 bracket stores tray materials and can be matched with the KIVA501 for carrying, and the stock shelves, the storage carriers and the corresponding mobile robots 5 can be flexibly selected according to the materials for receiving the goods 6.

The picking workstation 2 is used for order picking and comprises a manual picking workstation 202 and an automatic picking workstation 201, wherein the manual picking workstation 202 comprises a prompting device 203 capable of receiving order picking information in real time, and the automatic picking workstation 201 comprises a mechanical arm 206 capable of automatically picking according to SKU and the order information. The SKU materials are flexibly configured according to different picking stations 2, and the dispatching system flexibly distributes picking orders to the different picking stations 2 according to the configuration.

Order temporary storage area 3 is used for storing order materials after picking, and comprises a high-density bin storage shelf, and can be matched with a holding bin picking AGV503 and a single bin carrying AGV502 for carrying. Inventory racks, inventory carriers, corresponding mobile robots 5 may be flexibly selected according to the volume weight of the order, etc.

The order collection area 4 is used for storing and delivering immediately-loaded materials, is used as a bin connection station, can be carried by matching with a single bin carrying AGV502, and is also provided with various mobile robots 5 (including a holding bin picking AGV503, a single bin carrying AGV502, a KIVA501 and the like); the order goods collection module flexibly selects goods collection modes and goods collection starting sequences according to the packing and docking truck modes, and can be flexibly matched with a packing table to carry out goods discharge packing operation.

S2, warehouse entry temporary storage: after receiving the goods, the pallet is placed on the carrier, the material information and the carrier codes are scanned and bound, and the warehouse scheduling system schedules the mobile robot 5 to move the carrier to the warehouse temporary storage area 1. Specifically, after the order goods 6 of each supplier are sent to the warehouse, the goods are received manually, and different goods 6 materials obtain the material information through a scanning terminal device (such as a code scanner) and are bound with the carrier codes of the materials, so that the materials can be positioned according to the code information on the carrier. The mobile robot 5 in the warehouse entry temporary storage area 1 can select a KIVA501 robot, the carrier is specifically a KIVA501 bracket, and the warehouse scheduling system schedules the KIVA501 to carry the storage carrier to the warehouse entry temporary storage area 1.

S3, scheduling and carrying: the warehouse dispatching system calculates the volume of order materials according to the order BOM, automatically selects the quantity of the order material stock boxes, dispatches a plurality of mobile robots 5 of various types to carry the order hit materials 205 in the warehouse entry temporary storage area 1 (for goods dispatching and carrying 6) and the order hit carriers in the order temporary storage area 3 (for order dispatching and carrying 7) to the corresponding picking work stations 2. Specifically, the warehouse scheduling system selects a corresponding picking workstation 2 according to the order SKU, then schedules the KIVA501 to carry the order hit material 205 stored in the warehouse temporary storage area 1 to the picking workstation 2, and simultaneously, schedules the single box carrying AGV502 to carry the order hit material box 204 of the material to be stored in the order temporary storage area 3 to the corresponding picking workstation 2, and the selection of the picking workstation 2 is comprehensively judged according to the shape, size, material property and the like of the material, for example, a large-size mechanical arm picking station is selected for a large-size material, a small-size material is selected for a small-size mechanical arm picking station, and a manual picking station is adopted for a small-size irregular or fragile material. The automatic carrying from the order and the goods to the picking station is realized, a locking order priority dispatching strategy, a locking goods position priority dispatching strategy and the like can be flexibly adopted, and the efficiency and the speed of crossing the warehouse are improved.

S4, selecting operation: the warehouse dispatching system performs flexible picking according to the information of the multi-type order goods 6 which are carried to the picking workstation 2. Specifically, the picking process of the picking workstation 2 is determined according to the information of the KIVA501 bracket materials and the order material boxes which are conveyed to the designated picking workstation 2, specifically, the shape and the size attribute of the SKU are judged to select different types of mechanical arms 206 which can be picked, or the picking information is transmitted to a visual prompting device to be manually picked 207, for example, irregular materials are picked manually, regular materials are picked automatically by using mechanical arms, and flexible picking of multiple types of SKUs is completed by using mechanical arms or staff.

S5, order handling: the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the mobile robot 5 to convey the picked carrier (no or little goods at this time, some of the goods have been picked) to the warehouse temporary storage area 1, and convey the picked order goods 6 to the order temporary storage area 3. Specifically, after the goods 6 are carried to the picking workstation 2 and picked, the picked bin filled with the order goods 6 needs to be moved to the order temporary storage area 3 through the dispatch single bin carrying AGV502 and the holding bin picking AGV503, and the carrier KIVA501 bracket originally used for containing the goods 6 is moved back to the original warehouse entry temporary storage area 1 through the KIVA 501.

S6, carrying the collection: and the warehouse dispatching system dispatches an order bin corresponding to the mobile robot 5 to the appointed order goods collecting area 4 according to the order sequence information of the loading orders issued by the upper business system, and then carries out loading and shipping. Specifically, the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the order boxes corresponding to the single box carrying AGVs 502 and the holding box picking AGVs 503 carrying loading bills to the appointed cargo outlet cargo collecting area, and then the manual loading is used for shipping.

It should be noted that, in the present invention, the terms BOM and SKU are common terms in the warehouse logistics field, and the bill of BOM (Bill of Material), that is, a file describing a product structure in a data format, is a product structure data file that can be identified by a computer. SKU (Stock Keeping Unit stock unit), i.e., the base unit of inventory in and out metering, may be in units of pieces, boxes, trays, etc. Belongs to the prior art content and needs no repeated description.

It should be noted that the receiving temporary storage module includes: various stock shelves, various stock carriers, various mobile robots 5, terminal devices; the order temporary storage module comprises: various inventory racks, various inventory carriers, and various mobile robots 5. The above-described forms for the inventory racks, inventory carriers, corresponding mobile robots 5 may take forms including, but not limited to, the following: KIVA501+ KIVA501 support, AGV fork truck + tray and tray goods shelves, workbin embrace and get AGV + workbin and workbin goods shelves, pull AGV + cage car.

In addition, the warehouse dispatching system can be provided with a locking order priority dispatching strategy, a locking goods space priority dispatching strategy and a flexible dispatching strategy:

the order priority scheduling strategy is locked, and a plurality of cargoes 6 hit by the order is transported to the target picking workstation 2 for queuing by the target order scheduling mobile robot 5 to realize the rapid picking matching combination of the orders and the cargo space, so that the method is applicable to the conditions of more orders and small SKU batch;

the goods space priority scheduling strategy is locked, and the mobile robot 5 is scheduled to carry a plurality of order carriers hitting the goods 6 to the target picking workstation 2 for queuing by preferentially locking the target goods 6, so that the rapid picking matching combination of the goods space and the orders is realized, and the method is suitable for the conditions of large quantity of SKU delivery and scattered orders;

the flexible dispatching strategy can set thresholds such as order line number, order shipment number, single-line SKU shipment number and the like, and the system can freely select a locking order priority dispatching strategy and a locking goods space priority dispatching strategy according to the threshold settings.

According to the flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on the mobile robot, the multi-type carriers, the goods shelves, the multi-type mobile robots 5 and the multi-type flexible picking work stations 2 are arranged, and the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the multi-type mobile robots 5 to realize flexible transportation from multi-type orders and multi-type goods 6 to the multi-type picking stations, flexible picking of multi-type SKUs and quick goods collection and delivery of multi-order clients.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention, and not for limiting the same; although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some or all of the technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (8)

1. The flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on the mobile robot is characterized by comprising the following steps of:

s1, a distribution center is established, wherein the distribution center comprises a warehouse dispatching system, a warehouse temporary storage area, a picking workstation, an order temporary storage area and an order goods collection area;

s2, warehouse entry temporary storage: after receiving goods, placing the tray on a carrier, scanning material information and carrier codes, and binding, and dispatching a mobile robot to carry the goods-storing carrier to a warehouse-in temporary storage area by a warehouse dispatching system;

s3, scheduling and carrying: the warehouse dispatching system calculates the volume of the order materials according to the order BOM, automatically selects the quantity of the order material stock boxes, and dispatches a plurality of mobile robots of various types to carry the materials hit in the warehouse temporary storage area and the order hit carriers in the order temporary storage area to the corresponding picking work stations;

s4, selecting operation: the warehouse dispatching system carries out flexible picking according to the information of the multi-type order goods carried to the picking workstation;

s5, order handling: the warehouse dispatching system dispatches the mobile robot to carry the picked carrier to a warehouse temporary storage area, and carries the picked order material box to the order temporary storage area;

s6, carrying the collection: and the warehouse dispatching system dispatches an order bin corresponding to the mobile robot carrying loading list to a designated order goods collecting area according to the loading list sequence information issued by the upper service system, and then carries out loading and shipping.

2. The flexible over-the-garage operation method based on mobile robots according to claim 1, wherein in S1, the warehouse entry temporary storage area includes different types of shelves and different types of carriers corresponding to different types of mobile robots to operate, and terminal equipment for scanning information.

3. The flexible warehouse-crossing operation method based on the mobile robot according to claim 2, wherein in S2, the terminal device scans the material information and the carrier codes and binds them, and the warehouse-crossing dispatching system dispatches the mobile robot corresponding to the type of carrier to carry the inventory carrier to the corresponding type of shelf in the warehouse-crossing temporary storage area.

4. The mobile robot-based flexible over-the-garage operation method of claim 1, wherein the picking workstation comprises:

the manual picking workstation comprises a prompting device capable of receiving order picking information in real time;

the automatic picking workstation comprises a mechanical arm which can automatically pick according to SKU and order information.

5. The mobile robot-based flexible over-the-warehouse operation method of claim 4, wherein in S3, the warehouse scheduling system selects a corresponding manual picking workstation or an automatic picking workstation based on the order SKU.

6. The flexible over-warehouse operation method based on the mobile robot as recited in claim 5, wherein in S4, the warehouse dispatching system selects the mechanical arms with different corresponding types according to the order SKU to automatically pick, or transmits the picking information to the visual prompting device to manually pick.

7. The flexible over-warehouse operation method based on the mobile robot as claimed in claim 6, wherein the warehouse dispatching system judges the shape and size attributes of the order SKUs according to the information of the order hit materials and the order hit carriers carried to the designated picking workstation, dispatches irregular materials to use manual picking, dispatches regular materials to use mechanical arms to pick.

8. The mobile robot-based flexible over-the-garage operation method of claim 1, wherein the mobile robots include, but are not limited to, a holding box pick AGV, a single box handling AGV, and a KIVA.

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