CN116788748A

CN116788748A - Sorting method, sorting device, electronic equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN116788748A
Application number: CN202210227978.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马林; 张冀
Original assignee: Wuzhou Online E Commerce Beijing Co ltd
Current assignee: Wuzhou Online E Commerce Beijing Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-03-08
Filing date: 2022-03-08
Publication date: 2023-09-22

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a picking method, a device, electronic equipment and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the steps of acquiring at least one order, placing a bin in which a picked object in the order is positioned in a picking area, and generating a target picking order by combining the order according to the number of bins in which the picked object in the order is positioned and the position of the bins in the picking area, so that the picked object picks the picked object in the picking area according to the target picking order. By applying the embodiment of the application, on one hand, the order is combined into the picking order, so that a picking object can pick a plurality of orders at the same time, and the picking efficiency is improved. On the other hand, the order is combined through the number of the bins where the picked objects are located in each order and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that an optimized target picking order can be obtained, the picked objects of the target picking order are convenient to pick, and the picking efficiency of the order is improved.

Description

Sorting method, sorting device, electronic equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of intelligent picking technologies, and in particular, to a picking method, a device, an electronic apparatus, and a storage medium.

Background

With the rapid development of warehouse technology, the requirement on the picking efficiency of an automatic stereoscopic warehouse is higher and higher. However, order picking using a general automated stereoscopic warehouse is to pick the next order after the current order is picked, and the picking efficiency is low.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a picking method, a picking device, electronic equipment and a storage medium, which are used for solving the problem of low order picking efficiency.

The embodiment of the application discloses a picking method which is applied to a storage system, wherein the storage system comprises a picking area, and the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring at least one order; wherein the bin in which the picked object in the order is located is placed in the picking area;

and combining the orders to generate a target picking list according to the number of the bins where the picked objects in the orders are located and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that the picked objects in the picking area are picked according to the target picking list.

Optionally, the generating, by combining the order according to the number of bins where the picked objects in the order are located and the positions of the bins in the picking area, includes:

Acquiring the number of orders corresponding to a to-be-formed picking order;

combining the orders according to the order quantity to generate a picking order;

determining a target picking list from the picking list according to the number of bins of the picked objects in the picking list and the positions of the bins in the picking area; and when the object to be picked in the target pick list is picked, the distance of the object to be picked is minimum.

Optionally, the storage system further comprises a storage area, after the acquiring at least one order, further comprising:

determining a first number of orders corresponding to each picked object in the storage area;

and transporting the bins where the sorted objects in the storage areas are located to the sorting area according to the first quantity from the large to the small.

Optionally, after the determining the first number of orders corresponding to each picked object in the storage area, the method further includes:

when the selection area does not have an idle storage position for placing a feed box, determining that the selected object in the selection area does not correspond to the order;

and transporting the bin of the picked area where the picked object which does not correspond to the order is located to the storage area.

when the picking area does not have an idle bin for placing a bin and all the objects to be picked in the picking area have the corresponding orders, determining a second number of the orders corresponding to all the objects to be picked in the picking area;

and according to the second quantity, transporting the bins of the part of the sorted objects in the sorting area to the storage area in the order from small to large.

Optionally, after the at least one order is acquired, the method further includes:

and stopping conveying the bin in the storage area to the picking area when the picked objects stored in the bin in the picking area are matched with all the picked objects of the order.

Optionally, the storage system further comprises a lifter, the picking area is located below the storage area, the picking area and the storage area are connected through the lifter, and the picking area and the storage area move between the picking area and the storage area through the lifter so as to complete transportation of the bin where the picked object is located between the picking area and the storage area.

Optionally, the storage area is formed by constructing a three-dimensional shelf, the storage area is multi-layer, the three-dimensional shelf is provided with storage positions for placing the feed boxes, and the storage positions are numbered according to the sequence of row, column and layer.

Optionally, the storage system further comprises a conveying device, each layer of the storage area is provided with a transverse tunnel and a longitudinal tunnel, the transverse tunnels are connected with the lifter, and the conveying device moves to the target longitudinal tunnel through the transverse tunnels and moves to the storage position of the target serial number through the target longitudinal tunnel to pick and place the material box.

Optionally, the transporting the bin where the picked object in the storage area is located to the picking area includes:

taking out a bin where the selected object is located from the storage position in the storage area through the transportation equipment, and conveying the bin to the lifter;

transporting the bin in which the picked object is located to the layer in the picking zone by the lifter, and transferring the bin in which the picked object is located to the transporting equipment in the layer in the picking zone;

and conveying the bin where the picked object is located to an idle storage position of the picking area through the conveying equipment.

The embodiment of the application also discloses a picking device, which comprises the following modules:

the order acquisition module is used for acquiring at least one order; wherein the bin in which the picked object in the order is located is placed in the picking area;

And the object picking module is used for combining the orders to generate a target picking order according to the number of the bins of the picked objects in the orders and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that the picked objects in the picking area are picked according to the target picking order.

Optionally, the object picking module includes:

the quantity acquisition sub-module is used for acquiring the quantity of orders corresponding to the order to be formed;

the order combination sub-module is used for combining the orders according to the order quantity to generate a picking order;

the picking list determining submodule is used for determining target picking lists from the picking lists according to the number of the bins where the objects to be picked are located in the picking lists and the positions of the bins in the picking areas; and when the object to be picked in the target pick list is picked, the distance of the object to be picked is minimum.

Optionally, the storage system further includes a storage area, further including:

a first quantity determining module, configured to determine a first quantity of the orders corresponding to each picked object in the storage area;

and the bin transportation module is used for transporting bins where the selected objects in the storage area are positioned to the sorting area according to the first quantity and from large to small.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the object determining module is used for determining the selected object which does not correspond to the order in the sorting area when the idle bin for placing the bin does not exist in the sorting area;

and the bin transportation module is also used for transporting bins where the selected objects which do not correspond to the orders are located in the sorting area to the storage area.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the second number determining module is further used for determining a second number of orders corresponding to each selected object in the picking area when no idle stock position for placing the bin exists in the picking area and the selected objects in the picking area all have the corresponding orders;

and the bin transportation module is also used for transporting the bins where the part of the selected objects are located in the sorting area to the storage area according to the second quantity and the order from small to large.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and the transportation stopping module is used for stopping the transportation of the bin in the storage area to the picking area when the picked objects stored in the bin in the picking area are matched with all the picked objects of the order.

In one embodiment of the present application, the storage system further comprises a lift, the picking zone is located below the storage area, the picking zone and the storage area are connected by the lift, and the picking zone and the storage area are moved between the picking zone and the storage area by the lift to complete the transportation of the bin in which the picked object is located between the picking zone and the storage area.

Optionally, the object transportation module includes:

the object taking-out sub-module is used for taking out a bin where the selected object is located from the storage position in the storage area through the transportation equipment and conveying the bin to the lifter;

an object transporting sub-module for transporting the bin where the object to be picked is located to the layer where the picking zone is located by the lifter, and transferring the bin where the object to be picked is located to the transporting equipment of the layer where the picking zone is located;

and the object placing sub-module is used for transporting the bin where the picked object is positioned to the idle storage position of the picking area through the transporting equipment.

The embodiment of the application also discloses an electronic device, which comprises: a processor; and a memory having executable code stored thereon that, when executed, causes the processor to perform the picking method as described in one or more of the above.

Also disclosed in embodiments of the application are one or more machine-readable media having executable code stored thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to perform a picking method as described in one or more of the above.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the application has the following advantages:

in the embodiment of the application, at least one order is acquired, the bin in which the selected object in the order is located is placed in a picking area, and the order is combined to generate a target picking order according to the number of the bins in which the selected object in the order is located and the position of the bins in the picking area, so that the selected object in the picking area is selected according to the target picking order. By applying the embodiment of the application, on one hand, the order is combined into the picking order, so that a picking object can pick a plurality of orders at the same time, and the picking efficiency is improved. On the other hand, the order is combined through the number of the bins where the objects to be picked are located in each order and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that an optimized target picking order can be obtained, the objects to be picked of the target picking order are convenient for the objects to be picked to pick, and the picking efficiency of the order is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of steps of one embodiment of a picking method of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of steps of another picking method embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an order combining method of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of steps of an embodiment of a method of transporting a picked object of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a bin scheduling method of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a memory system of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of the structure of a storage area of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an order picking process of the present application

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a picking device of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order that the above-recited objects, features and advantages of the present application will become more readily apparent, a more particular description of the application will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings and appended detailed description.

Referring to fig. 1, there is a flow chart of steps of an embodiment of a picking method of the present application, comprising the steps of:

step 101, at least one order is acquired.

The method is applied to a storage system, the storage system comprises a picking area, the picking area is provided with a storage position for placing a bin, the bin where the object to be picked in the order is located in the picking area can be placed in the picking area, the bin can store one or more objects to be picked, and the objects to be picked can be commodities, cargoes and the like.

Specifically, when the storage system obtains one or more orders, the storage system detects whether the objects to be picked stored in the bin in the picking area meet the demands in the orders according to the demands of the orders.

If the required pickles in the order are currently stored in the bin of the picking zone, indicating that the pickles stored in the bin in the picking zone meet the requirements in the order, the pickles are not transported to the picking zone.

If the required picked objects in the order are not stored in the picking area storage position, indicating that the picked objects stored in the bin in the picking area do not meet the requirements in the order, transporting the bin in which the required picked objects in the order are located to the idle storage position in the picking area, so that the picking area stores the required picked objects in the order.

And 102, combining the orders to generate a target picking list according to the number of bins of the picked objects in the orders and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that the picked objects in the picking area are picked according to the target picking list.

The target picking order is obtained by combining a plurality of orders, for example, the target picking order can be obtained by combining 2, 3 or 5 orders, and the like, and the target picking order can be specifically set according to actual needs.

The order of the target picking order is the order which can be satisfied by the picked object stored in the picking zone bin feeding box.

The picking object can be a picking robot or a picking operator, and can be specifically set according to actual needs, and the embodiment of the application does not limit the picking object.

Specifically, the objects to be picked of each order may be the same or different, and the orders may be combined by the number of bins in which the objects to be picked are located in the order and the positions of bins in which the objects to be picked are located in the picking zone, for example, a combination of orders with a small number of bins and with a close position of bins in the picking zone, or a combination of orders with a small number of bins and with a high overlap ratio of bins or with a high overlap ratio of bins in the picking zone, or a combination of orders with a small number of bins, a high overlap ratio of bins and a close position of bins in the picking zone, may be set according to actual needs, so as to obtain an optimized target picking order.

After the target picking order is obtained, the picking objects carry the target picking order and the bound picking vehicle, sequentially walk to a picking zone storage position indicated by the storage system, pick out a specified number of picked objects from the material box, and distribute the picked objects to order boxes corresponding to all orders needing the picked objects on the picking vehicle. When all orders of the picking order are picked, the next check, packing and ex-warehouse operation can be performed, and meanwhile, the picking object can pick up the next target picking order to continue operation.

In the embodiment of the application, on one hand, the order is combined into the picking order, so that a picking object can pick a plurality of orders at the same time, and the picking efficiency is improved. On the other hand, the order is combined through the number of the bins where the objects to be picked are located in each order and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that an optimized target picking order can be obtained, the objects to be picked of the target picking order are convenient for the objects to be picked to pick, and the picking efficiency of the order is improved.

Referring to fig. 2, there is a flow chart of steps of another picking method embodiment of the present application, including the steps of:

step 201: at least one order is acquired.

Step 202: and obtaining the number of orders corresponding to the order to be formed.

Specifically, the order number of orders constituting the pick order may be preset, and for example, 2 order constituting the pick order or 3 order constituting the pick order may be provided.

Step 203: and combining the orders according to the order quantity to generate a picking order.

Specifically, the orders are combined according to the number of the orders to obtain a plurality of picking orders, for example, the number of the orders is 2, the orders which can be satisfied by the picked objects stored in the sorting area bin are the orders 1, the orders 2 and the orders 3, and then the combined picking orders are the picking orders A (1 and 2), the picking orders B (1 and 3) and the picking orders C (2 and 3).

Step 204: and determining a target picking order from the picking order according to the number of the bins where the picked objects in the picking order are located and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that the picking objects can pick the picked objects in the picking area according to the target picking order.

Wherein, when the object to be picked in the target pick order is picked, the distance that the object to be picked moves is minimum.

Different bins occupy different bins in the picking zone, the fewer the number of bins in which the picked objects in the target pick list are located, the fewer the number of bins required, the smaller (short) the distance that the picked objects in the target pick list move when they are picked; the position of the bin in the picking area where the picked object in the target picking order is located is the bin position where the bin is located, and when the bin corresponding to the target picking order is closer, the distance moved by the picked object in the target picking order is smaller.

Specifically, based on the combined target picking orders, the picking orders can be screened according to the number of the bins where the objects to be picked are located in the picking orders and the positions of the bins in the picking areas, so that the target picking orders with the smallest picking distance length are obtained, and the objects to be picked in the picking areas can be picked according to the target picking orders.

In practical application, an integer programming model can be established for the order combination problem, and the aim is to minimize the picking number of digits of the picking order, minimize the picking distance length and generate a reasonable order combination scheme after solving. Assuming that the bin column numbers are sequentially increased from left to right, the objective function and constraint of the mathematical model of the order combining method are as follows:

s.t.

z _i,j ∈{0,1} (4)

equation (1) represents an objective function that minimizes the total picking distance length and total picking bin number for all objective pickers, whereRepresenting the number of bins required for the target pick order, each order of equation (2) can be assigned to only one target pick order, and equation (3) represents the number of orders each target pick order contains, i.e., the group order parameters.

Symbol definition:

aggregation: i: a pickable collection of orders; j: a set of target pickles;

subscript: i: order form; j: a target pick order;

the variables: x is x _i,j :0-1 variable, x _i,j =1 represents that order i is divided into lot j;

parameters: c (C) _i : a library position set of all the objects to be picked, which are needed by the order i, in a picking area; l (L) _i : all picked objects required for order i are in the leftmost bin column number in the pick zone bin, positiveAn integer; r is (r) _i : all objects to be picked required by the order i are in the rightmost bin row number and positive integer in the picking zone bin; alpha, beta: the weight coefficient and the value range are (0, 1) and are used for adjusting the importance degrees of different optimization targets; n: the number of orders contained by each pick order, i.e., the group order parameters, is a positive integer.

By solving the model, the orders can be reasonably combined to generate the target picking order, so that the total picking distance length of the target picking order is minimum, the walking distance of the picking object when picking the order is reduced as much as possible, and the picking efficiency of the order is improved.

By way of example, referring to FIG. 3, a schematic diagram of one order combination method embodiment of the present application is shown. The picked on the current pick zone bin meets the pick requirement for 4 orders, order 1 needs to be picked A, B, C, D, order 2 needs to be picked C, E, F, G, order 3 needs to be picked B, D, order 4 needs to be picked C, D, E, G, and the bin for the corresponding bin has been marked in the figure. When each target order comprises 2 orders, an optimized order combination method is used, the order combination result is shown by a dotted line frame, the orders 1 and 3 are divided into a batch to form the target order, the order is required to be picked from 4 bins, the picking distance length is 5, the orders 2 and 4 are divided into a batch to form the target order, the order is required to be picked from 5 bins, the picking distance length is 7, the average number of bins required to be picked for each order is 5, and the picking distance length is 6.

The possible result (shown by solid line frame) of using the worse order combination method is that the orders 1 and 2 are divided into a batch to form the target order, the number of the warehouse positions to be picked is 7, the picking distance length is 10, the orders 3 and 4 are divided into a batch to form the target order, the picking distance length is 8, the total picking distance length of all the order is 9, the average number of warehouse positions to be picked of each order is 6, and the picking distance length is 8.5.

The target order picking list obtained by using the optimized order grouping method has the advantages of fewer average warehouse digits and shorter picking distance, so that the time consumption of the picking object to finish the order picking list is shorter, and the picking efficiency is higher.

In the embodiment of the application, the order is combined into the picking order, so that a picking object can pick a plurality of orders at the same time, and the picking efficiency is improved. On the other hand, the order is combined through the number of the bins where the objects to be picked are located in each order and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so that an optimized target picking order can be obtained, when the objects to be picked are picked by the objects to be picked, the picking distance is shorter, the time consumption of the objects to be picked to finish the picking order is shorter, and the picking efficiency is higher.

Referring to fig. 4, which is a flowchart illustrating steps of an embodiment of a method for transporting objects to be picked, the embodiment of the present application mainly describes an implementation manner for transporting objects to be picked from a storage area to a picking area based on the embodiments shown in fig. 1 and 2, and specifically includes the following steps:

step 401: at least one order is acquired.

In an embodiment of the present application, after the step 401, the method further includes: and stopping conveying the bin in the storage area to the picking area when the picked objects stored in the bin in the picking area are matched with all the picked objects of the order.

Specifically, after the order is acquired, the selected object required by the order needs to be positioned, and when all the selected objects required by the order are positioned in the bin in the picking area, the bin in the storage area is not required to be transported to the picking area, and the order is directly combined to generate the target picking order so as to pick the order.

Step 402: a first number of the orders corresponding to each picked object in the storage area is determined.

The storage system further comprises a storage area, wherein the storage area is used for storing a bin, the picking area is used for temporarily storing the bin, and the bin can store one or more objects to be picked.

When the storage system acquires one or more orders, the storage system detects whether the selected objects stored in the bin in the picking area meet the demands in the orders according to the demands of the orders, when the selected objects corresponding to the orders are not stored in the bin in the picking area, the storage system indicates that the selected objects stored in the bin in the picking area do not meet the demands in the orders, and the bin in which the selected objects in the orders are needed is required to be transported from the storage area to the idle bin in the picking area, so that the selected objects needed by the orders are stored in the picking area.

Specifically, the same picked object may be required by multiple orders at the same time, so a first number of orders corresponding to each picked object (how many orders contain the picked object) is calculated, and the more the first number is, the more order picking requirements are satisfied by the picked object. The higher the priority of the bin in which the picked object is transported, the higher the priority of the bin in which the picked object is transported from the storage bin to the picking bin.

Step 403: and transporting the bins where the sorted objects in the storage areas are located to the sorting area according to the first quantity from the large to the small.

Wherein the bins transported from the storage area to the picking area are bins not in the picking area.

Specifically, since the more the first number of orders corresponds to a picked object, the more order picking requirements that the picked object meets. The higher the priority of the bin in which the picked object is transported, the higher the priority of the bin in which the picked object is transported from the storage bin to the picking bin. Therefore, after the first quantity corresponding to the picked objects is obtained, sorting the bins where the picked objects are located from large to small based on the first quantity, and transporting the bins where the picked objects are located in the storage area to the picking area according to sorting, so that the picked objects in the picking area can meet the requirements of more orders at the same moment, more orders are formed into a target picking order to participate in picking, and the order picking efficiency can be effectively improved.

In practice, the bin scheduling strategy from storage area handling to sorting area may be as follows:

for the picked object k E Q, calculate its individual order requirement or otherThe total number of times (first quantity) that the picked objects located in the pick zone together are collectively ordered is noted as C _k I.e.

According to C _k Sequentially generating tasks for carrying to the sorting area bin positions for the bins of the sorted objects k from large to small.

Symbol definition:

aggregation: o: an order collection; p: after all orders in the set O are subjected to inventory positioning, acquiring all sorted object sets in the sorting area inventory position; q: after all orders in the set O are subjected to inventory positioning, a sorted object set of all storage areas is obtained; a: the power set of set P, i.e. a=2 ^P A collection representing all combinations of picked objects in collection P; b: the power set of set Q, i.e. b=2 ^Q A set representing all combinations of picked objects in set Q; c: a set of objects to be picked required for all orders in set O;

subscript: i: order form; j: the selected objects are positioned in the sorting area library; k: the sorted objects are positioned in the storage area; m: a subset of set a; n: a subset of set B; s: a subset of set C;

the variables: x is x _s,i E {0,1}: a value of 1 indicates that the set of picked objects s is a subset of the set of picked objects required for order i; the value 0 is not.

In the embodiment of the application, after a batch of orders are acquired, a storage system performs inventory positioning on objects to be picked required by the orders, determines the objects to be picked, and the bin where the objects to be picked are located in a storage area, determines the first quantity of the orders corresponding to the objects to be picked, sorts the bin where the objects to be picked are located from large to small based on the first quantity, and transports the bin where the objects to be picked are located in the storage area to a picking area according to the sorting, so that the objects to be picked in the picking area can meet the demands of more orders at the same moment, and more orders are formed to participate in picking of a target picking order, thereby effectively improving the order picking efficiency.

In an embodiment of the present application, after the step 402, the method further includes: when the selection area does not have an idle storage position for placing a feed box, determining that the selected object in the selection area does not correspond to the order; and transporting the bin of the picked area where the picked object which does not correspond to the order is located to the storage area.

Specifically, in the process of transporting the bin where the picked object is located in the storage area to the picking area, if the picking area has no free bin at this time, the bin where the order is required to be picked cannot be directly transported to the picking area bin, so that the bin where the picked object is located in the picking area bin and is not required by the order needs to be transported to the storage area, and a new free bin is added in the picking area, so that the bin where the order is required to be picked is transported from the storage area to the free bin in the picking area.

In an embodiment of the present application, after the step 402, the method further includes: when the picking area does not have an idle bin for placing a bin and all the objects to be picked in the picking area have the corresponding orders, determining a second number of the orders corresponding to all the objects to be picked in the picking area; and according to the second quantity, transporting the bins of the part of the sorted objects in the sorting area to the storage area in the order from small to large.

Specifically, in the process of transporting the bin where the picked object in the storage area is located to the picking area, when the free bin for placing the bin does not exist in the picking area and the picked object in the picking area all has corresponding orders, and when the picked object in the picking area cannot meet the requirement of the orders at the moment, determining the second number of the orders corresponding to each picked object in the picking area, wherein the smaller the second number is, the fewer the orders met by the picked object are, and the higher the priority of transporting the bin corresponding to the picking object to the storage area is. Therefore, after the second number corresponding to the picked objects is obtained, sorting the bins in which the picked objects are located from small to large based on the second number, and transporting part of the bins in the sorting area in which the picked objects are located to the storage area according to the sorting so as to form a new free storage position in the sorting area, so that the picked objects meeting multiple orders can be transported to the sorting area conveniently.

In practical application, the bin scheduling strategy for transporting from the picking zone to the storage zone is as follows:

among the sorted objects in the sorting area, the sorted objects are not required by the order and are preferentially transported to the storage area.

If the current free bin number of the picking zone still cannot meet the requirement, bins in which part of the picked objects which are required by the orders and are already in the picking zone bin are temporarily transported to a storage area so as to obtain more free bins. For the picked object j e P, the total number of times (second number) that the order needs alone or together with the picked objects in other picking areas and storage areas is calculated and marked as C _j I.e.

According to C _j Sequentially carrying the bins of the sorted objects j to the storage from small to large.

Symbol definition:

In the embodiment of the application, the bins where the picked objects in the picking area are located are transported to the storage area from small to large according to the second number sorting so as to form a new free storage position in the picking area, and the picked objects meeting multiple orders are conveniently transported to the picking area. Under the same moment, the object to be picked in the picking area can meet the requirement of more orders, so that more orders can be formed into a target picking order to participate in picking, and the order picking efficiency can be effectively improved.

As an example, referring to fig. 5, a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a bin scheduling method of the present application is shown. Assuming that there are 4 bins in the picking area (picking surface), there are 5 orders currently, there are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I to the picked objects involved, A, F, H, I to the picked objects stored in the current picking area bin, B, C, D, E, G, J, K to the picked objects stored in the current storage area bin, and in the current state, the picked objects on the picking area bin cannot meet the picking requirement of any order. Therefore, the bin where the picked object F, H, I is located is transported from the picking zone bin to the storage area, and the bin where the picked object B, C, D is located is transported from the storage area bin to the picking zone bin, so that the picking zone bin stores A, B, C, D bins of four picked objects simultaneously, and then the picking requirements of a plurality of orders 1, 3 and 4 can be satisfied simultaneously.

In the embodiment of the application, the selected objects which are not required by the orders or are required by a small number of orders in the selecting area are transported to the storage area, so that a new idle storage position is formed in the selecting area, the selected objects meeting multiple orders are conveniently transported to the selecting area, the selected objects in the selecting area meet the requirements of more orders at the same time, more orders are formed into a target selecting order to participate in the selecting, and the order selecting efficiency can be effectively improved.

Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram of the structure of a memory system of the present application is shown. The storage system comprises a storage area and a picking area, wherein the picking area is positioned below the storage area, the picking area is connected with the storage area through a lifter, and the transportation of a material box for storing objects to be picked between the picking area and the storage area is completed through the lifter.

In the embodiment of the application, the picking area is positioned below the storage area, so that the picking object can conveniently take out the commodity from the bin in the storage position. When all the objects to be picked of the order are picked, the next checking, packing and warehouse-out operation can be performed.

In one embodiment of the application, the storage area is formed by constructing a three-dimensional shelf, the storage area is multi-layer, the three-dimensional shelf is provided with storage positions for placing the feed boxes, and the storage positions are numbered according to the sequence of rows, columns and layers. One bin may be placed in each bin, and one or more merchandise may be stored in each bin.

In the embodiment of the application, the selected objects are stored in the mode of storing the material boxes by the intensive three-dimensional shelf, so that the space utilization rate and the storage capacity of the logistics warehouse are greatly improved, and the storage cost is effectively reduced.

Referring to FIG. 7, a schematic top view of the structure of a storage area of the present application is shown. The storage system further comprises conveying equipment, each layer of the storage area is provided with a transverse roadway and a longitudinal roadway, and the conveying equipment moves to the target longitudinal roadway through the transverse roadway and moves to the storage position of the target number through the target longitudinal roadway to pick and place the material box.

The transportation equipment can be a shuttle, a robot and the like, and the roadway can be a track. Specifically, the transverse roadway is a roadway in which the transportation equipment switches longitudinal roadways, and the transportation equipment changes the longitudinal roadway of the current operation by moving to different roadway intersections; the transport equipment moves in the longitudinal tunnel and can reach the position of the warehouse with the designated number to take and place the feed box.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transporting the bin in which the picked object in the storage area is located to the picking area includes: taking out a bin where the selected object is located from the storage position in the storage area through the transportation equipment, and conveying the bin to the lifter; transporting the bin in which the picked object is located to the layer in the picking zone by the lifter, and transferring the bin in which the picked object is located to the transporting equipment in the layer in the picking zone; and conveying the bin where the picked object is located to an idle storage position of the picking area through the conveying equipment.

Specifically, if the bin in which the order is required to be picked is currently stored in the storage area bin, the storage system selects a proper bin and generates a transport task, the starting point of the task is the bin of the storage area, the end point of the task is a certain designated free bin of the picking area, transport equipment executes a transport action according to the task information, the bin is taken out of the bin from the starting point of the task and is sent to the lifter, the lifter transports the bin to the layer in which the picking area is located, the transport equipment in the layer in which the picking area is located is connected with the bin from the lifter, and the bin is transported to the destination bin of the task and is put down, so that the bin in which the order is required to be picked is transported from the storage area bin to the picking area bin, and the picking object can be picked.

If the sorting area has no free stock position at this time, a task for carrying the material box required by the order to the stock position of the sorting area cannot be directly generated, a task for carrying the material box positioned in the stock position of the sorting area back to the stock position of the storage area needs to be generated, after the task is executed, the stock position at the starting point of the task becomes a free stock position, and at this time, a carrying task for carrying the material box required by the order from the storage area to the free stock position of the sorting area can be generated.

With the continuous acquisition of orders, the bins with storage areas for storing the objects to be picked are moved to the picking area storage, meanwhile, the bins with no objects to be picked, stored on the picking area storage, are moved to the storage areas, and the inventory of the objects to be picked on the picking area storage is dynamically adjusted according to the picking requirements of the orders.

For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, an exemplary description is given with reference to fig. 8, specifically as follows:

referring to FIG. 8, a schematic diagram of one order picking process embodiment of the present application is shown. When a customer order arrives, the order is assembled by an assembler, i.e., informing the storage system of which orders (orders acquired by the storage system) need to be picked.

The storage system locates bins of the required sorted object stock according to the order details of the remitted orders. If the required pickles in the order are currently stored in the bin of the picking zone, indicating that the pickles stored in the bin of the picking zone meet the requirements in the order, the pickles are not transported. If the required picked objects in the order are not stored in the picking area storage position, indicating that the picked objects stored in the bin in the picking area do not meet the requirements in the order, transporting the bin in which the required picked objects in the order are located to the idle storage position in the picking area, so that the picking area stores the required picked objects in the order.

The storage system scans all orders which can be satisfied by the stock stored in the stock loading box of the current sorting area at regular time, and combines the orders into a plurality of batches by using an order combination strategy, wherein each batch is a target sorting order. The picking objects distribute a picking order and a bound picking vehicle, sequentially walk to a picking zone storage position indicated by a storage system, pick out a specified number of picked objects from a material box, and distribute the picked objects to order boxes corresponding to all orders requiring the picked objects on the picking vehicle. When all orders of the picking order are picked, the next check, packing and warehouse-out operation can be performed, and meanwhile, a picking operator can pick up the next picking order to continue operation.

According to the embodiment of the application, through reasonable storage system layout design and a method for optimizing the design of the bin scheduling problem, an integer programming model is established for solving the order combination method, a whole set of optimized order picking system is obtained, and order picking efficiency is improved.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the method embodiments are shown as a series of acts, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments are not limited by the order of acts, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently in accordance with the embodiments. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are presently preferred embodiments, and that the acts are not necessarily required by the embodiments of the application.

On the basis of the embodiment, the embodiment also provides a picking device which is applied to a storage system, wherein the storage system comprises a picking area. Referring to fig. 9, there is shown a block diagram of an embodiment of a picking device of the present application, which may include the following modules in particular:

an order acquisition module 901, configured to acquire at least one order; wherein the bin in which the picked object in the order is located is placed in the picking area;

and the object picking module 902 is configured to combine the orders according to the number of bins where the objects to be picked are located in the orders and the positions of the bins in the picking area, so as to generate a target picking order, so that the objects to be picked in the picking area are picked by the objects to be picked according to the target picking order.

In one embodiment of the application, the object picking module 902 includes:

In an embodiment of the present application, the storage system further includes a storage area, and further includes:

In an embodiment of the present application, further comprising:

In one embodiment of the application, the storage area is formed by constructing a three-dimensional shelf, the storage area is multi-layer, the three-dimensional shelf is provided with storage positions for placing the feed boxes, and the storage positions are numbered according to the sequence of rows, columns and layers.

In an embodiment of the present application, the storage system further includes a transport device, each layer of the storage area is provided with a transverse tunnel and a longitudinal tunnel, the transverse tunnel is connected with the lifter, and the transport device moves to a target longitudinal tunnel through the transverse tunnel, and moves to a storage position of a target number through the target longitudinal tunnel to pick and place the material box.

In one embodiment of the present application, the object transporting module includes:

The embodiment of the application also provides a non-volatile readable storage medium, in which one or more modules (programs) are stored, where the one or more modules are applied to a device, and the device can execute instructions (instructions) of each method step in the embodiment of the application.

Embodiments of the application provide one or more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an electronic device to perform a method as described in one or more of the above embodiments. In the embodiment of the application, the electronic equipment comprises various types of equipment such as terminal equipment, servers (clusters) and the like.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as an apparatus for performing a desired configuration using any suitable hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof, which may include electronic devices such as terminal devices, servers (clusters), etc. Fig. 10 schematically illustrates an exemplary apparatus 1000 that may be used to implement various embodiments described in the present disclosure.

For one embodiment, fig. 10 illustrates an example apparatus 1000 having one or more processors 1002, a control module (chipset) 1004 coupled to at least one of the processor(s) 1002, a memory 1006 coupled to the control module 1004, a non-volatile memory (NVM)/storage device 10010 coupled to the control module 1004, one or more input/output devices 1010 coupled to the control module 1004, and a network interface 1012 coupled to the control module 1004.

The processor 1002 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors, and the processor 1002 may include any combination of general-purpose or special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, baseband processors, etc.). In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 can be used as a terminal device, a server (cluster), or the like in the embodiments of the present application.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 can include one or more computer-readable media (e.g., memory 1006 or NVM/storage 10010) having instructions 1014 and one or more processors 1002 combined with the one or more computer-readable media configured to execute the instructions 1014 to implement the modules to perform the actions described in this disclosure.

For one embodiment, the control module 1004 may include any suitable interface controller to provide any suitable interface to at least one of the processor(s) 1002 and/or any suitable device or component in communication with the control module 1004.

The control module 1004 may include a memory controller module to provide an interface to the memory 1006. The memory controller modules may be hardware modules, software modules, and/or firmware modules.

Memory 1006 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions 1014 for device 1000, for example. For one embodiment, the memory 1006 may include any suitable volatile memory, such as a suitable DRAM. In some embodiments, the memory 1006 may comprise a double data rate type four synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR 4 SDRAM).

For one embodiment, the control module 1004 may include one or more input/output controllers to provide an interface to the NVM/storage device 10010 and the input/output device(s) 1010.

For example, NVM/storage 10010 may be used to store data and/or instructions 1014. NVM/storage 10010 may include any suitable nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory) and/or may include any suitable nonvolatile storage(s) (e.g., one or more Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), one or more Compact Disc (CD) drives, and/or one or more Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) drives).

NVM/storage 10010 may include a storage resource that is physically part of the device on which apparatus 1000 is installed, or it may be accessible by the device, or it may not be necessary as part of the device. For example, NVM/storage 10010 may be accessed over a network via input/output device(s) 1010.

Input/output device(s) 1010 may provide an interface for apparatus 1000 to communicate with any other suitable device, input/output device 1010 may include communication components, audio components, sensor components, and the like. Network interface 1012 may provide an interface for device 1000 to communicate over one or more networks, and device 1000 may communicate wirelessly with one or more components of a wireless network according to any of one or more wireless network standards and/or protocols, such as accessing a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc., or a combination thereof.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1002 may be packaged together with logic of one or more controllers (e.g., memory controller modules) of the control module 1004. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1002 may be packaged together with logic of one or more controllers of the control module 1004 to form a System In Package (SiP). For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1002 may be integrated on the same mold as logic of one or more controllers of the control module 1004. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1002 may be integrated on the same die with logic of one or more controllers of the control module 1004 to form a system on chip (SoC).

In various embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may be, but is not limited to being: a server, a desktop computing device, or a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computing device, a handheld computing device, a tablet, a netbook, etc.), among other terminal devices. In various embodiments, device 1000 may have more or fewer components and/or different architectures. For example, in some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 includes one or more cameras, a keyboard, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen (including a touch screen display), a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics chip, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and a speaker.

The detection device can adopt a main control chip as a processor or a control module, sensor data, position information and the like are stored in a memory or an NVM/storage device, a sensor group can be used as an input/output device, and a communication interface can comprise a network interface.

For the device embodiments, since they are substantially similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference is made to the description of the method embodiments for relevant points.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment is mainly described by differences from other embodiments, and identical and similar parts between the embodiments are all enough to be referred to each other.

Embodiments of the present application are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, terminal devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable xx terminal device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable xx terminal device, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable xxxx terminal device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable xxxx terminal device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable terminal device to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable terminal device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as including the preferred embodiment and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the embodiments of the application.

Finally, it is further noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article or terminal device comprising the element.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the principles and embodiments of the present application in order that the detailed description of a picking method and apparatus, an electronic device and a storage medium may be better understood, and in order that the present application may be better understood; meanwhile, as those skilled in the art will have variations in the specific embodiments and application scope in accordance with the ideas of the present application, the present description should not be construed as limiting the present application in view of the above.

Claims

1. A method of sorting, for application to a storage system, the storage system including a sorting area, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the combining the orders to generate the pick order based on the number of bins in which the picked object is located in the order and the locations of bins in the pick zone comprises:

acquiring the number of orders corresponding to a to-be-formed picking order;

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage system further comprises a storage area, after the acquiring the at least one order, further comprising:

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising, after said determining the first number of orders corresponding to each picked object in said storage area:

5. A method according to claim 3, further comprising, after said determining the first number of orders corresponding to each picked object in said storage area:

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein after said acquiring at least one order, further comprising:

7. The method of any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the storage system further comprises a lift, the picking zone being located below the storage zone, the picking zone and the storage zone being connected by the lift, the picking zone and the storage zone being moved between the picking zone and the storage zone by the lift to complete the transport of the bin between the picking zone and the storage zone in which the picked object is located.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the storage area is formed by a three-dimensional shelf, the storage area being multi-layered, the three-dimensional shelf having bins for bins, the bins numbered in a row, column, and layer order.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the storage system further comprises a transport device, each layer of the storage area is provided with a transverse roadway and a longitudinal roadway, the transverse roadway is connected with the elevator, the transport device moves to a target longitudinal roadway through the transverse roadway and moves to a storage location of a target number through the target longitudinal roadway to pick and place a bin.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transporting the bin in which the picked object in the storage area is located to the picking zone comprises:

11. A picking device for use with a storage system, the storage system including a picking zone, the device comprising:

12. An electronic device, comprising: a processor; and

memory having executable code stored thereon that, when executed, causes the processor to perform the picking method of one or more of claims 1-10.

13. One or more machine readable media having stored thereon executable code that, when executed, causes a processor to perform the picking method of one or more of claims 1-10.