CN117566314A

CN117566314A - Goods sorting method and warehousing system

Info

Publication number: CN117566314A
Application number: CN202311552586.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 梁东
Original assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-11-20
Filing date: 2023-11-20
Publication date: 2024-02-20

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, and discloses a cargo sorting method and a warehouse system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area of a carrier in a sorting area; the delivery area is positioned at the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned at the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned above the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods positions for placing containers; determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods and the state information of the containers; generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in the delivery area of the carrier; the first delivery instruction is used for instructing the first robot to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container. By applying the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application, the space utilization rate in the warehouse system can be improved.

Description

Goods sorting method and warehousing system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a cargo sorting method and a warehouse system.

Background

In the floor picking scenario, the picking robot is typically in the same plane as the transfer container. For example, the transfer containers may typically be placed on the floor of a sorting area (i.e., a sorting area) in a warehouse, with a transfer robot transferring the goods between the workstation and the sorting area to deliver the goods into the transfer containers. In this case, when more containers are required for sorting, the area to be occupied in the warehouse for sorting areas is larger in order to accommodate more containers, thereby reducing the utilization rate of warehouse space.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems, the embodiment of the application provides a cargo sorting method and a warehousing system, and the space utilization rate of the warehousing system is improved. Specifically, the embodiment of the application discloses the following technical scheme:

a first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for sorting goods. The method comprises the following steps: firstly, acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area of a carrier in a sorting area of a warehousing system; the delivery area is positioned on the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods positions for placing containers. And secondly, determining a target container corresponding to the first goods to be sorted according to the first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted and the state information of the containers. Finally, under the condition that the target container is positioned in the delivery area of the carrier, generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container; the first delivery instruction is used for instructing a first robot in the warehousing system to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container under the condition that the target container is positioned in a temporary storage area of the carrier; the first dispatching instruction is used for instructing a second robot in the warehousing system to carry the target container from the temporary storage area to the target idle goods space of the delivery area. Generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space; the first robot is used for delivering the first goods to be sorted to a target container on a target idle goods position of a delivery area.

In some embodiments, the sorting area comprises a plurality of sorting units, each sorting unit consisting of two rows of carriers, a plurality of first robots, and one second robot, respectively; the first robot moves in the first channel to deliver cargoes to be sorted into the containers of the delivery areas of the two rows of carriers; a second robot moving in a second path different from the first path to transport containers between the temporary storage areas and the delivery areas of the two rows of carriers; the second channel is a channel between two rows of carriers.

In some embodiments, the status information includes an underfill status and a stock status; determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo according to a first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers, wherein the determining comprises the following steps: if there is a first candidate container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone and the first candidate container is in an unfilled state, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers, further comprises: if the delivery zone does not have a container associated with the first destination or the delivery zone has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining if the delivery zone has a first empty container; if it is determined that the delivery zone has a first empty container, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers, further comprises: if it is determined that the delivery zone does not have a first empty container, determining whether the temporary storage zone has a container associated with the first destination; if it is determined that the scratch pad exists with a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in an unsatisfied state, the second candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers, further comprises: if it is determined that the temporary storage area does not have a container associated with the first destination or the temporary storage area has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining whether the temporary storage area has a second empty container; and if the temporary storage area is determined to exist in the second empty container, determining the second empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers, further comprises: if the temporary storage area is determined to have no second empty container and the delivery area has a first empty cargo space, generating a first box filling instruction according to the first empty cargo space so as to instruct a second robot to convey the first candidate empty container to the first empty cargo space and determine the first candidate empty container as a target container; if the temporary storage area is determined to have no second empty container, the delivery area has no first idle goods position, and the temporary storage area has a second idle goods position, generating a second box filling instruction according to the second idle goods position to instruct a second robot to convey the second candidate empty container to the second idle goods position, and determining the second candidate empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further comprises a warehousing delivery line; the warehouse-in conveying line is provided with a first box inlet and a first box outlet; the warehouse-in conveying line is used for conveying empty containers from the first box inlet to the first box outlet so that the second robot can convey the empty containers from the first box outlet to an idle goods position on the carrier.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes a third robot; the method further comprises the steps of: generating a first container conveying instruction according to the first idle goods space; the first container transfer instruction is used for instructing the third robot to transfer the first candidate empty container to the bottom buffer position of the carrier where the first empty cargo position is located. Generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space, comprising: generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located, so as to instruct the second robot to carry the first candidate empty container from the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located to the first idle goods space.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further comprises a delivery line; the warehouse-out conveying line is provided with a second box inlet and a second box outlet; the warehouse-out conveying line is used for conveying full containers in a full state from the second box inlet to the second box outlet.

In some embodiments, after the first robot delivers the first to-be-sorted good to the target container, the method further comprises: determining state information of a target container; generating a first conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the first carrying instruction is used for instructing the second robot to place the full container at a second box inlet of the ex-warehouse conveying line so as to convey the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area through the ex-warehouse conveying line.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes a third robot; after the first robot delivers the first to-be-sorted good to the target container, the method further comprises: generating a second conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the second carrying instruction is used for indicating the second robot to place the full container at the bottom layer cache position of the carrier where the target container is located; generating a second container conveying instruction according to the bottom layer cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is positioned; the second container conveying instruction is used for instructing the third robot to convey the full container from the bottom layer buffer position of the carrier where the target container is located to the target processing point outside the sorting area.

In some embodiments, after the first robot delivers the first to-be-sorted good to the target container, the method further comprises: determining state information of a target container; if the state information of the target container is in an unfinished state, starting timing from delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container; when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, if the fact that the target container does not deliver new goods within the timing duration is determined, a second scheduling instruction is generated; the second dispatching instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the target container from the delivery area to an idle goods space of the temporary storage area or convey the target container from the delivery area to a buffer mechanism of the second robot.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes an endless conveyor line and a workstation; wherein, the annular conveying line is provided with a feeding port and a discharging port; the annular conveying line is used for conveying cargoes to be sorted from the feeding port to the workstation corresponding to the discharging port.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: if at least one second to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargo and a second destination corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargo; if the first underfilling container associated with the second destination exists, the first underfilling container is located in the temporary storage area, and the delivery area exists a third idle goods space, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is determined to be higher than the preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods space; the third scheduling instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to a third idle goods location.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: if at least one second cargo to be sorted is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining a second destination corresponding to the second cargo to be sorted; in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth dispatch instruction according to the fourth free space; the fourth dispatching instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the empty container in the temporary storage area to a fourth idle goods position.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the warehousing system further comprises a detection device, a first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted is obtained, and the detection device comprises: under the condition that the first goods to be sorted arrive at the feeding port of the annular conveying line, acquiring the goods information of the first goods to be sorted detected by the detection device; and determining a first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the goods information of the first to-be-sorted goods.

In some embodiments, the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the delivery zone of the carrier is greater than the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the temporary storage zone of the carrier.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a warehousing system. The warehousing system comprises a plurality of carriers, a control device and a first robot. Wherein, a plurality of carriers are positioned in a sorting area of the warehouse system; each carrier is respectively provided with a delivery area and a temporary storage area; the delivery area is located at the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is located at the upper layer of the carrier, and the temporary storage area is located above the delivery area. The control device is configured to: acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area; determining a target container corresponding to the first goods to be sorted according to the first destination and the state information of the containers; and generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container under the condition that the target container is positioned in the delivery area of the carrier. The first robot is configured to: and acquiring a first delivery instruction, and delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container according to the first delivery instruction.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an electronic device, including: a processor and a memory for storing computer-executable instructions; the processor is configured to read the instruction from the memory and execute the instruction to implement the cargo sorting method according to the first aspect.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when read by a computer, perform the method of sorting goods according to the first aspect.

A fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of sorting goods according to the first aspect described above.

According to the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application, the target container corresponding to the first cargo to be sorted is determined according to the first destination corresponding to the first cargo to be sorted and the state information of the plurality of containers located in the delivery area and the temporary storage area of the carrier, and the first robot (such as the sorting robot) can deliver the first cargo to be sorted to the target container located in the delivery area under the condition that the target container is located in the delivery area of the carrier. In the case that the target container is located in the temporary storage area of the carrier, the target container located in the temporary storage area can be transported to the delivery area by the second robot (such as a container robot), and after the target container is transported to the delivery area, the first robot can deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container. In the floor sort mode provided by the embodiment of the application, the containers are placed on the carrier, so that the sort area can accommodate more containers and corresponding more destinations. Meanwhile, the carrier is divided into a delivery area and a temporary storage area, and delivery of cargoes to be sorted at any destination is achieved through mutual cooperation between the sorting robot and the container robot. Therefore, the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application can improve the space utilization rate of the warehousing system and the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cargo sorting scenario provided in some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a sort zone provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system provided by some embodiments of the application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a method for sorting goods according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of yet another method of sorting goods provided in some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic view of a cargo sorting device according to some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system provided by some embodiments of the application;

fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to better understand the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention and make the above objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the field of warehouse logistics, the sorting process of cargoes (such as commodities or packages) can be divided into three links of supplying, delivering and collecting. Wherein the supply is used for distributing goods to be sorted to a supply station (such as a workstation); delivering a goods collecting box for delivering goods to be sorted on a goods supplying station to a sorting site; the collection bag is used for carrying a collection cargo box containing cargoes to be sorted to a collection station for delivery. Embodiments of the present application relate generally to delivery processes in sorting processes.

The cargo sorting process is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cargo sorting scenario provided in some embodiments of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, a sorting site 110 and a plurality of work stations 120 are provided in a warehouse 100, and a plurality of sorting robots 130 are operated at a warehouse entrance. For example, sorting robot 130 may move between sorting venue 110 and workpiece supply station 120 to carry the goods to be sorted on workpiece supply station 120 to sorting venue 110 for delivery.

In some examples, sorting venue 110 may be a venue where sorting operations are performed; the sorting venue 110 may include a plurality of totes 111 (which may also be referred to as delivery gates or delivery containers), each tote 111 being positionable in a preset arrangement at the sorting venue 110. A passage is provided between two adjacent turnover bins 111, and a sorting robot 130 may run in the passage between two adjacent turnover bins 111 to deliver goods to be sorted into the corresponding turnover bins 111.

In some examples, each turn-around bin 111 may correspond to one destination, respectively; the destinations corresponding to the turnover boxes 111 in the sorting site 110 may be the same or different. For example, the sorting robot 130 may deliver the goods to be sorted into the turn-around bin 111 associated with the destination according to the destination to which the goods to be sorted correspond.

Illustratively, a plurality of workpiece supply stations 120 are also included in warehouse 100, and workpiece supply stations 120 may be workstations. The supply station 120 may receive the goods to be sorted and assign the goods to be sorted to the sorting robot 130. The sorting robot 130 carries the goods to be sorted to the position of the corresponding turn-around bin 111 in the sorting yard 110 and delivers it. When the cargo space in the transfer box is full, the full transfer box can be transported by the box transport apparatus to the collection station for shipment.

For example, the cargo sorting scenario described in the above embodiments may be referred to as a floor-standing sorting scenario. In the floor-standing sort scenario, the sort robot 130 and the turnover bin 111 are located in the same plane. For example, sorting robot 130 operates on a warehouse floor, and turnover bin 111 is also placed on the warehouse floor. In this case, the number of turn-around bins 111 is related to the size of the area of the sorting floor 110.

In some examples, the area occupied by sorting sites 110 in warehouse 100 may be larger or smaller. When the area of the sorting floor 110 is larger, more turn-around bins 111 can be accommodated; when the area of the sorting floor 110 is smaller, the number of turn-around bins 111 accommodated will also be smaller.

As the number of cargoes to be sorted is continuously increased and the destinations corresponding to the cargoes to be sorted are more and more abundant, the number of turnover bins 111 corresponding to the cargoes to be sorted is also increased, so that the occupied area of the sorting site becomes very large, and the space utilization rate of the warehouse is reduced. If a larger number of turn-around bins 111 are placed at a smaller area of the sorting site 110, the passage between two adjacent turn-around bins 111 may not be allowed to pass through by the sorting robot, thereby limiting the travel path of the sorting robot and reducing the sorting efficiency of the sorting robot.

In order to solve the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a cargo sorting method and a warehouse system, where the cargo sorting method can improve the space utilization rate of a warehouse and the cargo sorting efficiency of the warehouse system in a floor-type sorting scene.

The warehousing system provided by the embodiment of the application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a warehousing system according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the warehousing system 200 includes a sorting area 210, at least one workstation 220, a plurality of first robots 230, a plurality of second robots 240, and a control device 250.

In some examples, the workstation 220, the first robot 230, and the second robot 240 may each be in communication with the control device 250 via a network. For example, the control device 250 may include a server or a terminal. The terminal can comprise at least one of a personal computer, a notebook computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer and a portable wearable device; the server may comprise a stand-alone server or a cluster of servers, which embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard.

In some examples, the first robot 230 may be a sorting robot having a liftable function. For example, the first robot 230 may be a liftable belt type sorting robot, or the first robot 230 may be a liftable flap type sorting robot. Note that, the first robot 230 may also be referred to as a sorting robot, such as the sorting robot 130 in the above embodiment. The specific form of the first robot 230 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, as long as the first robot 230 can deliver goods into a container.

For example, the first robot 230 may operate in the sorting region 210, or may operate outside the sorting region 210; the first robot 230 may perform handling and delivery of goods between the workstation 220 and the sorting area 210.

Illustratively, the sorting area 210 includes a plurality of carriers 211, and the plurality of carriers 211 may be placed in a predetermined arrangement. For example, the plurality of carriers 211 may be arranged in a single column and a plurality of rows. As shown in fig. 2, 6 rows (8 columns each) of carriers are disposed in sorting area 210. Fig. 2 shows a schematic top view of sorting area 210.

In some embodiments, each carrier 211 in the sorting area 210 is provided with a delivery zone and a staging zone, respectively. The delivery area is positioned on the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods positions for placing containers.

Illustratively, each carrier 211 may include a multi-deck beam, respectively, on each of which a plurality of cargo spaces may be disposed. Each carrier 211 may be divided into two parts in the up-down direction according to the number of layers of the cross beam; wherein, the upper layer part area is called a temporary storage area, and the lower layer part is called a delivery area. For example, the number of layers occupied by the delivery zone (beam) may be less than the number of layers occupied by the buffer zone (beam).

In some examples, the number of layers of the delivery zone including the cross beam may be determined by the liftable height of the first robot 230. For example, the delivery zone may include a total number of layers of beams having a total height less than or equal to the maximum height that the first robot 230 may ascend.

For example, when the maximum height at which the first robot 230 can ascend is the height of the two-layered cross beam, the cross beam area of the lowest two-layered cross beam of the vehicle may be determined as the delivery area in the order from bottom to top, or the cross beam area of the lowest two-layered cross beam of the vehicle may be determined as the delivery area. When the maximum height at which the first robot 230 can ascend is the height of one layer of the beam, the beam area of the lowest layer of the carrier may be determined as a delivery zone.

In some examples, the delivery area and the staging area of the carrier may each be provided with a plurality of cargo areas, each of which may or may not have a container placed thereon. The cargo space where the container is to be placed may be referred to as a non-empty cargo space and the cargo space where the container is not to be placed may be referred to as an empty cargo space.

For example, when the target container corresponding to the goods to be sorted is located at the delivery area of the lower layer of the carrier, the first robot 230 may directly travel to the position of the target container and deliver the goods to be sorted into the target container. When the target container corresponding to the goods to be sorted is located in the temporary storage area of the carrier high layer, the first robot 230 cannot directly deliver the goods to be sorted to the target container located in the temporary storage area because the lifting height of the first robot 230 is limited; in this case, the first robot 230 may complete delivery tasks of all goods to be sorted through cooperation between the first robot 230 and the second robot 240.

For example, the second robot 240 may also be referred to as a cargo box robot. For example, the second robot 240 may take out the container on the carrier by a telescopic fork, a suction cup, or the like. The second robot 240 may move within the sorting area 210 to perform a swap operation of containers placed on each carrier 211.

Illustratively, the second robot 240 may exchange (or handle) containers between the delivery area and the staging area of the carriers 211, or the second robot 240 may exchange containers between a row of carriers corresponding to the delivery area and the staging area. For example, the second robot 240 may carry containers located in the delivery area onto empty cargo spaces in the staging area; alternatively, the containers of the buffer may be transported to the free space of the delivery area.

In some embodiments, the second robot 240 may transfer the target container located in the staging area to one of the empty positions of the delivery area when the target container is located in the delivery area, and the first robot 230 may deliver the cargo to be sorted to the target container when the target container is located in the delivery area.

In some embodiments, the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the delivery area of the carrier 211 may be greater than the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the staging area of the carrier 211.

For example, when the spacing between adjacent two levels of crossbeams in the delivery area is set large, the spacing between the container located in the delivery area and the crossbeams above it is large, thereby facilitating the delivery of the goods to be sorted into the container in the delivery area by the first robot 230. When the interval between two adjacent layers of crossbeams of the temporary storage area is smaller, the number of containers which can be accommodated in the temporary storage area can be increased, so that the space utilization rate of the warehousing system is improved.

In some embodiments, the sorting area 210 in the warehousing system 200 may include a plurality of sorting units, each of which may be composed of two rows of carriers, a plurality of first robots 230, and one second robot 240, respectively.

In some embodiments, the first robot 230 may move in a first lane to deliver goods to be sorted into containers in a delivery zone of two rows of carriers; the second robot 240 may move in a second path different from the first path to transfer containers between the staging area and delivery area of the two rows of carriers.

In some examples, the second channel is a channel between two rows of carriers, the second channel being different from the first channel.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a sort zone provided in some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 3 shows a schematic side view of sorting area 210. The sorting area 210 is further described below in conjunction with fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 3, the sorting area 210 includes three sorting units 310, and each sorting unit 310 includes two rows of carriers, and both sides of each row of carriers are provided with channels. The channel between the two rows of carriers may be referred to as a second channel, unlike the second channel, and the channel provided on the other side of each row of carriers may be referred to as a first channel.

In some examples, the same lane, i.e., the second lane, is shared between two rows of carriers in each sorting unit 310. A second robot 240 may be provided in the second channel, and the second robot 240 may be movable in the second channel to effect a swap operation of containers located between the delivery area and the staging area of the two rows of carriers.

As shown in fig. 3, a first channel is disposed on one side (e.g., left side) of the first row of carriers, and a second channel is disposed on the other side (e.g., right side); one side (e.g., left side) of the second row of carriers is provided with a second channel, and the other side (e.g., right side) is provided with a first channel. Wherein, the second channel between the first row of carriers and the second row of carriers can be shared, and a second robot 240 is provided. The first channel of the first row of carriers and the first channel of the second row of carriers are each operated with at least one first robot 230.

For example, the same row of carriers may be provided with a delivery area and a temporary storage area, i.e. the delivery area height (or number of layers) of each carrier in the same row of carriers may be the same. The first robot 230 may deliver goods to be sorted to the delivery areas of the respective rows of carriers by operating in the first aisle. The second robot 240 can exchange containers located between the staging area and the delivery area of each row of carriers by moving in a second path.

As shown in fig. 3, in the first sorting unit 311 in the sorting area 210, the lower two layers of the first row of carriers (and the second row of carriers) may be set as a delivery area 2111, and the other layers above the first row of carriers may be set as a temporary storage area 2112. The arrangement of the delivery area and the temporary storage area in the other sorting units may be the same as or different from the first sorting unit 211, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application, as long as the arrangement height of the delivery area in each sorting unit is ensured to allow the first robot 230 to deliver the goods into the container of the delivery area. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application are schematically illustrated by taking the same height of the delivery area in each sorting unit as an example.

In some examples, the second robot 240 may swap containers on a staging area between two rows of carriers in the same sorting unit, or swap containers on a delivery area between two rows of carriers, or swap containers on a delivery area and a staging area between two rows of carriers.

For example, in the first sorting unit 311, the second robot 240 located between the first and second rows of carriers may exchange containers between the delivery area and the staging area of the first row of carriers (or the second row of carriers); alternatively, the second robot 240 may exchange containers between the staging area of the first row of carriers and the delivery area of the second row of carriers; alternatively, the second robot 240 may exchange containers between the delivery area of the first row of carriers and the staging area of the second row of carriers. The embodiment of the present application is not limited by comparison, and the second robot 240 is used to schematically illustrate the container exchange between the temporary storage area and the delivery area on the same row of carriers.

In some embodiments, a loop conveyor line may also be included in the warehousing system 200, where the loop conveyor line is provided with a feed port and a discharge port. The loop wire conveying line is used for conveying cargoes (such as cargoes to be sorted) from the feeding port to a workstation corresponding to the discharging port.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application. As shown in fig. 4, the warehousing system 200 includes an annular transfer line 260.

Illustratively, the overhead height of the endless conveyor line 260 may be higher than the maximum height of the first robot 230 when loaded, so that the first robot 230 may traverse within the sorting area 210.

The maximum height of the first robot 230 when loaded may be the maximum height of the first robot 230 when the goods are placed thereon. When the height of the annular conveying line 260 is higher and is higher than the height of the first robot 230 when the goods are placed thereon, the annular conveying line 260 does not affect the movement of the first robot 230, thereby further improving the space utilization of the warehouse system.

In some embodiments, the annular transfer wire 260 may be provided with at least one feed port and at least one discharge port. The endless conveyor line 260 is used to convey goods (e.g., packages) to be sorted to the corresponding workstation 220.

As shown in fig. 4, the annular conveying line 260 is provided with two feeding ports 261 and four discharging ports 262. Each outlet 262 may correspond to a respective one of the workstations 220, e.g., each outlet 262 may interface with a respective one of the workstations 220.

In some examples, the loading port 261 is used to place cargo and deliver the cargo to the discharge port 262 via a conveyor line, the discharge port 262 interfaces with the workstation 220, and when the cargo reaches the discharge port 262, the cargo at the discharge port 262 may be carried to the workstation 220. For example, a sorting person may place a good to be sorted at the loading port 261, and the good to be sorted moves the good to be sorted to the corresponding workstation 220 following the conveying direction of the endless conveyor line 260.

In some examples, the direction of travel of the endless conveyor line 260 may be set as desired. For example, the endless conveyor line 260 may be conveyed in a clockwise direction or in a counter-clockwise direction. The comparison of the examples is not limited.

In some examples, there may be a preset correspondence between each of the to-be-sorted cargos and the workstations 220, e.g., each of the workstations 220 may be used to sort different destination to-be-sorted cargos. The workstation corresponding to the goods to be sorted can be determined according to the relation between the destination corresponding to the goods to be sorted and the workstation. For example, after the goods to be sorted enter the endless conveyor line 260, the goods to be sorted are conveyed through the endless conveyor line 260 to the discharge port 262 that interfaces with the corresponding workstation 220.

In some examples, the workstation to which the goods to be sorted correspond may also be determined in accordance with the current workload of each workstation. For example, the endless conveyor line 260 may convey the goods to be sorted to a discharge port where a less-labor-intensive workstation interfaces; alternatively, the corresponding workstation may be determined randomly for each item to be sorted. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

For example, after the goods to be sorted reach the discharge port 262, the goods to be sorted may be transported from the discharge port 262 to the docking station 220; and after the goods to be sorted arrive at the workstation 220, the workstation 220 may assign the task to be sorted to the corresponding first robot 230, so that the first robot 230 carries the goods to be sorted to the delivery area of the sorting area 210 for delivery.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 200 also includes a warehousing delivery line and an ex-warehouse delivery line.

In some embodiments, the warehouse entry conveyor line is provided with a first bin inlet and a first bin outlet; the warehouse-in conveying line is used for conveying empty containers from the first box inlet to the first box outlet so that the second robot can convey the empty containers from the first box outlet to an idle goods position on the carrier.

For example, the warehouse entry conveyor line may convey empty containers outside of the sorting region 210 onto carriers of the sorting region 210. Empty containers are used to indicate containers in which no cargo is placed.

In some embodiments, the delivery line is provided with a second inlet and a second outlet; the warehouse-out conveying line is used for conveying full containers in a full state from the second box inlet to the second box outlet.

For example, the outfeed conveyor line may transport full containers on each carrier in the sorting region 210 from the sorting region 210 to an area outside of the sorting region 210. For example, the out-of-stock conveyor line may convey full containers to a target processing station for further operations on full containers, such as out-of-stock operations. Wherein a full container is used to indicate a container that has been filled with cargo.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application. The warehouse entry conveyor line and the warehouse exit conveyor line are further described below with reference to fig. 5. As shown in fig. 5, the warehousing system 200 also includes a warehousing conveyor line 270 and an ex-warehouse conveyor line 280.

As shown in fig. 5, the warehouse-in conveyor line 270 is provided with a first box inlet 271 and three box outlets 272. For example, the first bin inlet 271 is configured to receive empty containers placed by a sorting person (or sorting apparatus), the empty containers are conveyed to the first bin outlet 272 by a conveyor line, and when the empty containers reach the first bin outlet 272, the second robot 240 may remove the empty containers from the first bin outlet 272 and carry the empty containers to corresponding empty cargo spaces on the carrier.

As shown in fig. 5, three second box inlets 281 and one second box outlet 282 are provided on the warehouse-out conveyor line 280. For example, the second bin inlet 281 is configured to receive a full container placed by the second sorting robot 240 and convey the full container to the second bin outlet 282 via a conveyor line, and when the full container reaches the second bin outlet 282, a sorting person (or sorting equipment) may remove and handle the full container to a destination processing location.

Illustratively, the number of first bin outlets 272 of the warehouse-in conveyor line 270 and the number of second bin inlets 281 of the warehouse-out conveyor line 280 may be determined according to the number of sorting units 310. For example, the number of first bin outlets 272 and the number of second bin inlets 281 may be the same as the number of sorting units 310.

As shown in fig. 5, if three sorting units 310 are included in the sorting area 210, the number of the first and second bin inlets 272 and 281 may be set to three.

In some examples, as shown in fig. 5, the first bin outlet 272 may interface one side of the second channel between two rows of carriers in each sorting unit 310 (also may be referred to as one side of the sorting unit 310), and the second bin inlet 281 may interface the other side of the second channel between two rows of carriers in each sorting unit (also may be referred to as the other side of the sorting unit 310). When an empty container is transferred from the first inlet 271 to the first outlet 272, the second robot 240 may move to one side of the second path to take out the empty container at the first outlet 272 and place the empty container on an empty cargo space in two rows of carriers corresponding to the second robot 240. When there is a full container on both rows of carriers, the second robot 240 may take out the full container and move to the other side of the second path to place the full container at the second inlet 281 and deliver it to the second outlet 282 through the outbound delivery line 280.

In some embodiments, the rack height of both the warehouse entry conveyor line 270 and the warehouse exit conveyor line 280 is higher than the maximum height of the first robot 230 when loaded so that the first robot 230 can traverse within the sorting area 210.

When the erection heights of the warehouse-in conveying line 270 and the warehouse-out conveying line 280 are higher and are higher than the heights when the cargoes are placed on the first robot 230, the movement of the first robot 230 is not affected by the warehouse-in conveying line 270 and the warehouse-out conveying line 280, so that the space utilization rate of the warehouse system is further improved.

Illustratively, the height of the annular conveyor lines 260, the warehouse entry conveyor lines 270, and the warehouse exit conveyor lines 280 may be varied to ensure that the conveyor lines do not interfere with one another; alternatively, the erection heights of the warehouse-in conveying line and the warehouse-out conveying line may be the same, but they do not affect each other.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application. It should be noted that fig. 6 may be a schematic side view of the warehouse system 200.

As shown in fig. 6, the erection heights of the endless conveyor line 260, the warehouse-in conveyor line 270, and the warehouse-out conveyor line 280 are different. Wherein, the erection height of the warehouse-in conveying line 270 is higher than that of the warehouse-out conveying line 280, and the erection height of the warehouse-out conveying line 280 is higher than that of the annular conveying line 260. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

According to the warehousing system 200 provided by the embodiment of the application, the target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo is determined according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers located in the delivery area and the temporary storage area of the carrier, and the first robot (such as the sorting robot) can deliver the first to-be-sorted cargo to the target container located in the delivery area under the condition that the target container is located in the delivery area of the carrier. In the case that the target container is located in the temporary storage area of the carrier, the target container located in the temporary storage area can be transported to the delivery area by the second robot (such as a container robot), and after the target container is transported to the delivery area, the first robot can deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container. In the floor sort mode provided by the embodiment of the application, the containers are placed on the carrier, so that the sort area can accommodate more containers and corresponding more destinations. Meanwhile, the carrier is divided into a delivery area and a temporary storage area, and delivery of cargoes to be sorted at any destination is achieved through mutual cooperation between the sorting robot and the container robot. Therefore, the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application can improve the space utilization rate of the warehousing system and the working efficiency of the warehousing system.

The cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a method for sorting cargoes according to some embodiments of the present application. For example, the cargo space sorting method shown in fig. 7 may be implemented by the warehouse system 200 in the above embodiment, such as the control device 250 in the warehouse system 200. As shown in fig. 7, the cargo sorting method may include steps 710 to 730 as follows.

Step 710, acquiring a first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo, and status information of a plurality of containers located in a delivery area and a temporary storage area of the carrier in a sorting area of the warehouse system.

In some embodiments, the delivery zone is located at a lower level of the carrier, the staging zone is located at a higher level of the carrier, and the staging zone is located above the delivery zone, both the delivery zone and the staging zone including a plurality of cargo spaces for placement of containers. It should be noted that, the delivery area and the temporary storage area of the carrier have been described in the above embodiments, and are not repeated here.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 200 also includes a detection device. The detection device can be arranged at a position close to the feeding port of the annular conveying line so as to scan and detect cargoes to be sorted, which are placed on the feeding port.

For example, at least one load to be sorted can be transported on the endless conveyor line. The first item to be sorted is any item of the at least one item to be sorted. For example, a sorting person (or sorting equipment) may place a first to-be-sorted cargo at the loading opening of the annular conveying line, and after scanning and detecting by the detecting device, the first to-be-sorted cargo may enter the annular conveying line to be conveyed to a workstation around the sorting area 210 corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo. For example, the workstation may be a manual sorting and feeding workstation, after the first goods to be sorted arrive at the workstation, the first corresponding robots are assigned to the first goods to be sorted, and the first goods to be sorted are placed on the corresponding first robots by the sorting personnel.

In some examples, the detection means may be a reader, a code reading camera, or the like. For example, a radio frequency tag or an electronic code (such as a bar code) and the like can be arranged on the goods to be sorted (such as packages), and when the goods to be sorted are placed at the feeding opening of the annular conveying line, the detection device can acquire the goods information of the goods to be sorted by scanning the radio frequency tag or the electronic code on the goods to be sorted. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to a specific form of the detection device, and the embodiment of the present application uses the detection device as a code reader for example to describe schematically.

In some embodiments, obtaining a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted good may include: under the condition that the first goods to be sorted arrive at the feeding port of the annular conveying line, acquiring the goods information of the first goods to be sorted detected by the detection device; and determining a first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the goods information of the first to-be-sorted goods.

In some examples, when the sorting personnel places the first to-be-sorted goods at the loading port, the code reader positioned at the loading port may read the electronic bar code on the first to-be-sorted goods, thereby obtaining the goods information of the first to-be-sorted goods. For example, the item information for the item to be sorted may include an item identification. After the code reader obtains the goods identifier of the first goods to be sorted, the goods identifier can be sent to the control device, and the control device determines a first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted according to the goods identifier.

In some examples, each of the goods to be sorted may correspond to one destination, and the plurality of goods to be sorted may correspond to the same destination, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, a preset correspondence between each item to be sorted (e.g., item identification) and the destination may be stored. After the control device obtains the goods identifier of the first goods to be sorted, the first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted can be determined according to the preset corresponding relation.

For example, after the control device acquires the cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted, the state of the first cargo to be sorted may also be updated. For example, the control device may update the status of the first item to be sorted to an entering warehouse area to indicate that the first item to be sorted enters the endless conveyor line in a state awaiting sorting.

In some examples, the delivery area and the staging area of the carrier in the sorting area may each house at least one container, and each container may or may not house a good. For example, a container in which no cargo is placed may be referred to as an empty container, and a container in which cargo is placed may be referred to as an unfilled container or a filled container.

Illustratively, the status information of the container is used to indicate the status of the goods stored in the container. For example, the state information of the container may include an underfill state and a stock state. When there is less cargo placed in a container and the amount of the placed cargo does not reach the upper limit value of the container, that is, is not full, the state information of the container is in an unfilled state, and the container may be referred to as an unfilled container; when the amount of goods that have been placed in a container reaches the upper limit value of the container, i.e. is full, the state information of the container is a full state, which may be referred to as a full container.

In some examples, the status information of the container may also include an empty status, which may also be referred to as an empty container when no cargo is placed in the container.

Illustratively, each container may have a preset association relationship with the destination. Wherein one container may be associated with one destination and multiple containers may be associated with the same destination. The association of a destination with a container is used to represent delivery of the goods to be sorted into the container associated with its corresponding destination. For example, a preset association relationship between each container (such as a container identifier) and the destination may be stored. After the control device obtains the first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted, the target container corresponding to the first destination can be determined according to the preset association relation.

In some examples, an associated destination may be pre-specified for each container on the carrier. For example, in an initial state of sorting of goods, no goods are placed in each container, i.e. all empty containers. Each empty container may be pre-assigned a corresponding destination.

In other examples, the associated container may not be designated in advance for each container on the carrier, and after the placement of the cargo in the container begins, the destination associated with the container may be determined based on the destination of the cargo that has been placed in the container. For example, when no empty container is bound with a destination in an initial state, after goods sorting is started, goods are gradually placed in each container, and after one of the goods is placed in the container, the destination associated with the container can be determined according to the placed goods. It should be noted that, the comparison of the embodiments of the present application is not limited, and the embodiments of the present application are schematically illustrated by taking the related destination after goods are placed as an example.

Illustratively, the state information of the container may be updated dynamically. For example, at an initial time, the state information of the container is in an empty state, the state information of the container may be updated to an unfinished state after one of the goods to be sorted is placed in the container, and the state information of the container may be updated to a full state when the goods placed in the container is full.

In step 720, a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo is determined according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the containers.

After determining the first destination and the status information for each container according to step 710, a target container for delivering the first item to be sorted may be determined based on the first destination and the status information for each container. The target container may be located in a delivery area of the carrier or may be located in a temporary storage area of the carrier; alternatively, the target container may not be a container in the sorting area, i.e. the target container is neither in the delivery area nor in the staging area.

The process of determining the target container in step 720 is further described below in conjunction with fig. 8. It should be noted that the delivery area and the temporary storage area according to the embodiments of the present application may be a delivery area and a temporary storage area located on the same row of carriers (or the same carrier).

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another method for sorting goods according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the above step 720 may include steps 811 to 824 as follows.

Step 811 determines whether a first candidate container associated with a first destination exists in the delivery area.

If the delivery zone has a first candidate container associated with the first destination, step 812 is performed, and if the delivery zone does not have a first candidate container associated with the first destination, step 814 is performed.

Since the control device determines the first destination to which the first item to be sorted corresponds in step 720, it is determined from the first destination whether there is a first candidate container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone. For example, it may be determined whether the first destination exists in the destinations associated with the containers in the delivery area based on the first destination and a preset association of the containers with the destinations in the delivery area. If there is at least one container (or containers) of the plurality of containers of the delivery zone associated with the first destination, the at least one container may be referred to as a first candidate container.

Step 812, it is determined whether the first candidate container is in a full state.

If the first candidate container is in an underfill state (i.e., not in a underfill state), step 813 is performed, and if the first candidate container is in a underfill state, step 814 is performed.

In case it is determined that the delivery zone has a first candidate container, the current status information of the first candidate container may be further determined. The current state of the first candidate container may be an unsatisfied state or a full state.

Step 813, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container if the delivery zone has a first candidate container associated with the first destination and the first candidate container is in an unfilled state.

That is, if the status information of the first candidate container of the delivery area is in an unfinished state, the first candidate container may be determined as the target container.

In some examples, if the number of first candidate containers in an underfill state is multiple, the multiple first candidate containers in an underfill state may be located in a delivery area on the same column (or the same carrier) or may be located in a delivery area on a different column of carriers. In this case, one first candidate container may be randomly selected from the plurality of first candidate containers in an unsatisfied state to be determined as the target container; alternatively, one first candidate container having the closest delivery distance may be determined as the target container according to the delivery distances between the plurality of first candidate containers in the less than full state and the first robot performing the task of delivering the first goods to be sorted; alternatively, one first candidate container in which the goods are placed most or least may be determined as the target container according to the quantity of the goods placed in the plurality of first candidate containers in the less than full state. The comparison of the examples is not limited.

Step 814 determines whether a first empty container exists in the delivery zone.

If there is a first empty container in the delivery area, step 815 is performed, and if there is no first empty container in the delivery area, step 816 is performed.

When there is no container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone (e.g. a first candidate container) or the delivery zone has a first candidate container associated with the first destination and the first candidate container is in a full state, it is indicated that there is no container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone for placing the first item to be sorted. In this case it may be further determined whether the delivery area has a container with status information in an empty status, i.e. whether the delivery area has a first empty container. Wherein the first empty container may be at least one unassociated (or bound) destination and no container of any cargo is placed.

At step 815, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, if the delivery zone does not have a container associated with the first destination, or if the delivery zone has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining if the delivery zone has a first empty container; if it is determined that the delivery zone has a first empty container, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

If the delivery zone has a first empty container, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some examples, after the first empty container is determined to be the target container, the first empty container may be associated with the first destination and the association relationship saved.

Step 816 determines whether the scratch pad has a second candidate container associated with the first destination.

If the scratch pad does not have a second candidate container associated with the first destination, step 817 is performed, and if the scratch pad does not have a second candidate container associated with the first destination, step 819 is performed.

In some examples, when there is no target container in the delivery zone, the determination in the scratch pad may continue to be made as to whether there is a container associated with the first destination. If there is at least one container (or containers) in the plurality of containers of the scratch pad that is associated with the first destination, the at least one container may be referred to as a second candidate container.

Step 817 determines whether the second candidate container is in a full state.

If the second candidate container is in an not full state, step 818 is performed, and if the second candidate container is in a full state, step 819 is performed.

That is, in the case where the scratch pad determines that the second candidate container exists, the current state of the second candidate container may be further determined. The current state of the second candidate container may be an unsatisfied state or a full state.

At step 818, a second candidate container is determined as the target container.

In some embodiments, if it is determined that the delivery zone does not have a first empty container, determining whether the scratch pad has a container associated with the first destination; if it is determined that the scratch pad exists with a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in an unsatisfied state, the second candidate container is determined to be the target container.

That is, if the state information of the second candidate container of the temporary storage area is in an unsatisfied state, the second candidate container may be determined as the target container.

In some examples, if the number of second candidate containers in the underfill state is plural, the process of determining the target container in the plural second candidate containers in the underfill state is similar to the process of determining the target container in the plural first candidate containers in the underfill state in step 813 described above, and is not repeated here.

At step 819, it is determined whether a second empty container exists in the scratch pad.

If the second empty container exists in the temporary storage area, step 820 is executed, and if the second empty container does not exist in the temporary storage area, step 821 is executed.

When the scratch pad does not have a container associated with the first destination (e.g., a second candidate container), or the scratch pad has a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in a full container, it is indicated that the scratch pad does not have a container associated with the first destination to place the first load to be sorted. In this case, it may be further determined whether the temporary storage area has a container whose state information is in an empty state, i.e., whether the temporary storage area has a second empty container. Wherein the second empty container is at least one unassociated (or bound) destination and no cargo container is placed.

Step 820, determining the second empty container as the target container.

In some embodiments, if it is determined that the scratch pad does not have a container associated with the first destination, or that the scratch pad has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining whether the scratch pad has a second empty container; and if the temporary storage area is determined to exist in the second empty container, determining the second empty container as a target container.

If the temporary storage area has a second empty container, the second empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some examples, after the second empty container is determined to be the target container, the second empty container may be associated with the first destination and the association relationship saved.

Step 821, it is determined whether a first free cargo space exists in the delivery area.

If the delivery area has a first free space, then step 822 is performed, and if the delivery area does not have a first free space, then step 823 is performed.

When there is no container in both the staging area and the delivery area in which the first item to be sorted can be placed, it is necessary to further determine the status of each of the positions in the delivery area and the staging area.

In some examples, the status of the cargo space may include an idle state and a non-idle state. When a container is placed on a cargo space, the state information of the cargo space is a non-idle state, and the cargo space can also be called a non-idle cargo space; when a container is not placed on a cargo space, the state information of the cargo space is an idle state, which may also be referred to as an idle cargo space.

In some examples, it may be preferable to determine whether a free cargo space exists in the delivery area. When at least one (e.g., one or more) free cargo space exists in the delivery area, the at least one free cargo space may be referred to as a first free cargo space.

Step 822, generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle cargo space, so as to instruct the second robot to convey the first candidate empty container to the first idle cargo space, and determine the first candidate empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, if it is determined that the second empty container does not exist in the temporary storage area and the first empty cargo space exists in the delivery area, a first box filling instruction is generated according to the first empty cargo space to instruct the second robot to transfer the first candidate empty container to the first empty cargo space and determine the first candidate empty container as the target container.

When the first idle goods space exists in the delivery area, the control device can generate a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and send the first box filling instruction to the second robot. The second robot may be a second robot located in a second channel corresponding to the carrier in which the first idle cargo space is located.

For example, the control device may generate the first box filling instruction according to the position information of the first idle cargo space, that is, the carrier in which the first idle cargo space is located, and the position of the first idle cargo space in the delivery area of the carrier. And sending the first box filling instruction to the second robot. The second robot receives the first replenishment instruction and conveys an empty container, which may be referred to as a first candidate empty container, onto the first empty cargo space in accordance with the first replenishment instruction. When the second robot places the first candidate empty container at the first empty cargo space of the delivery area, the first candidate empty container may be determined as the target container.

In some embodiments, the first candidate empty containers may be transported to the second robot via a warehouse entry conveyor line and handled by the second robot to the first empty cargo space.

In some examples, after determining that the delivery area has a first empty cargo space, the control device may generate a warehouse-in conveying instruction to instruct the sorting apparatus (or the sorting personnel) to place an empty container (such as a first candidate empty container) on a first inlet of the warehouse-in conveying line, the empty container being conveyed to a first outlet corresponding to a side of the sorting unit where the first empty cargo space is located through the warehouse-in conveying line, and the second robot taking out the first candidate empty container at the first outlet and conveying the first candidate empty container to the first empty cargo space.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system further includes a third robot. The third robot may be referred to as a transfer robot, and the transfer robot may transfer the container. For example, a third robot may handle containers (empty or full) between within and outside of the sorting area.

The first candidate empty containers may also be transported to the first empty cargo space, for example, without the third robot and the second robot.

In some embodiments, the control means may generate the first container transfer instruction based on the first free cargo space. The first container transfer instruction is used for instructing the third robot to transfer the first candidate empty container to the bottom buffer position of the carrier where the first empty cargo position is located. Generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located, so as to instruct the second robot to carry the first candidate empty container from the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located to the first idle goods space.

In some examples, the carrier is provided with an underlying cache bit, which may be located at the lowest layer of the carrier. The second robot can take and place the container on the bottom layer buffer memory position, and the third robot can also take and place the container on the bottom layer buffer memory position. For example, the third robot may place the first candidate empty container on the bottom level cache after transporting an empty container (e.g., the first candidate empty container) to the bottom of the carrier; the second robot retrieves the first candidate empty container from the underlying cache location and places the first candidate empty container on the first free cargo space of the delivery area.

Step 823, determining whether the second free space exists in the temporary storage area.

If the second free space exists in the register, then execution continues with step 824.

Upon determining that the delivery area does not have a first free space, it may be further determined whether the temporary storage area has a free space. When at least one (e.g., one or more) free cargo space exists in the scratch pad, the at least one free cargo space may be referred to as a second free cargo space.

Step 824, generating a second tote instruction according to the second free location to instruct the second robot to transfer the second candidate empty container to the second free location and to determine the second candidate empty container as the target container.

In some embodiments, if it is determined that the buffer does not have a second empty container and the delivery zone does not have a first empty cargo space and the buffer does have a second empty cargo space, a second bin replenishment instruction is generated based on the second empty cargo space to instruct the second robot to transfer a second candidate empty container to the second empty cargo space and to determine the second candidate empty container as the target container.

After determining the second idle cargo space located in the temporary storage area, the control device may generate a second box filling instruction according to the second idle cargo space, and send the second box filling instruction to the second robot. The second robot may be a second robot located in a second channel corresponding to the carrier in which the second idle cargo space is located.

For example, the control device may generate the second box filling instruction according to the position information of the second idle cargo space, that is, the carrier in which the second idle cargo space is located, and the position of the temporary storage area of the second idle cargo space on the carrier. And sending a second box filling instruction to the second robot. The second robot receives the second replenishment instruction and conveys an empty container, which may be referred to as a second candidate empty container, onto a second free cargo space in accordance with the second replenishment instruction. When the second robot places the second candidate empty container at the second empty cargo space of the temporary storage area, the second candidate empty container may be determined as the target container.

It should be noted that, the second candidate empty container may be conveyed to the second empty cargo space through the warehouse conveying line and the second robot, or may be conveyed to the second empty cargo space through the third robot and the second robot, and the two conveying methods are similar to the conveying process of the first candidate empty container in the step 822, so that repetition is avoided, and no description is repeated here.

For example, if it is determined that the temporary storage area does not have any empty space, the first to-be-sorted cargo is temporarily unable to be allocated to any container in the sorting area, in which case, when the first to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed to the workstation by the endless conveyor line, the control device may generate a prompt message to prompt the workstation that the first to-be-sorted cargo is temporarily unable to be delivered, i.e. the workstation temporarily does not allocate a first robot for delivering the first to-be-sorted cargo. The first item to be sorted may be placed at the workstation 220 to wait until the corresponding target container is present, and then be handled and delivered by the first robot.

As can be seen from the above embodiment (i.e. step 720), the target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods may be located in the delivery area of the carrier or may be located in the temporary storage area of the carrier. When the target container is positioned in the delivery area, the first robot can directly deliver the first goods to be sorted; when the target container is located in the temporary storage area, the first robot cannot directly deliver the target container and needs to cooperate with the second robot, and after the second robot exchanges the target container from the temporary storage area to the delivery area, the target container is delivered by the first robot.

Illustratively, the location of the target container in the delivery zone of the carrier may include two situations, the first being: the target container is originally positioned in the delivery area of the carrier; the second case is: the target container is originally located in the temporary storage area of the carrier, and is transported from the temporary storage area to the temporary storage area by the second robot.

The first case where the target container is originally located in the delivery zone of the carrier is described below in connection with step 730. The target container in the delivery area may be any one of the first candidate container, the first empty container, and the first candidate empty container determined in steps 811 to 824.

Step 730, generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container in case the target container is located in the delivery zone of the carrier; the first delivery instruction is used for instructing a first robot in the warehousing system to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

In some examples, when the target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo determined by the control device is located in the delivery area of the carrier, a first delivery instruction may be generated according to the position information of the target container, and the first delivery instruction may be sent to the first robot. The first robot receives the first delivery instruction, conveys the first goods to be sorted to the position of the target container according to the first delivery instruction, and delivers the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

For example, the first robot for delivering the first goods to be sorted may be one of a plurality of first robots in a warehouse system. For example, the first robot may be one of the first robots closest to the workstation where the first goods to be sorted are located, or the first robot may be any robot currently in an idle state, which is not limited by the comparison in the embodiment of the present application.

The second case is described below with reference to fig. 9, where the target container is originally located in the temporary storage area of the carrier. The target container of the temporary storage area may be any one of the second candidate container, the second empty container, and the second candidate empty container determined in steps 811 to 824.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of yet another method of sorting goods according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 9, after the above step 720, the method further includes steps 910 to 920 as follows.

Step 910, generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container when the target container is located in the temporary storage area of the carrier; the first dispatching instruction is used for instructing a second robot in the warehousing system to carry the target container from the temporary storage area to the target idle goods space of the delivery area.

In some examples, when the control device determines that the target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo is located in the temporary storage area of the carrier, a first scheduling instruction may be generated according to the position information of the target container, and the first scheduling instruction is sent to the second robot, where the second robot carries the target container from the temporary storage area to one of the empty cargo positions (e.g., the target empty cargo position) of the delivery area according to the first scheduling instruction. The second robot executing the first scheduling instruction may be a second robot located in a second channel corresponding to the carrier where the target container is located.

In some examples, when at least one free cargo space exists in the delivery area, a target free cargo space may be determined in the at least one free cargo space. The target free cargo space may be any one of the at least one free cargo space, or may be a cargo space closest to the target container among the at least one free cargo space. The comparison of the examples is not limited.

In some examples, when there is no free space in the delivery area, the second robot may transfer containers placed on any one of the spaces in the delivery area to a buffer mechanism thereon, e.g., the second robot may transfer the containers to one of the buffer mechanisms, and then the second robot may transfer the target containers of the buffer area to the space (i.e., the target free space); alternatively, the second robot may take the target container out of the temporary storage area and place it on the buffer mechanism, then transfer the container placed on any of the delivery areas to the target container on the original location of the temporary storage area, and finally place the target container on the location of the container (i.e., the target free location). The comparison of the examples is not limited.

Step 920, generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space; the first robot is used for delivering the first goods to be sorted to a target container located on a target idle goods position of a delivery area.

For example, after the control device determines the target idle cargo space in the delivery area of the carrier, a second delivery instruction may be generated according to the position information of the target idle cargo space, and the second delivery instruction may be sent to the first robot. The first robot conveys the first goods to be sorted to the position of the target idle goods space according to the second delivery instruction, and delivers the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of yet another method for sorting goods according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, after the first robot delivers the first item to be sorted to the target container (i.e., step 730 or step 920), the method further includes steps 1010 through 1040 as follows.

In step 1010, state information of the target container is determined.

Since the state information of the target container may change after the first to-be-sorted cargo is delivered to the target container, the state information of the target container is determined and updated again after the first to-be-sorted cargo is delivered to the target container. The state information of the target container may be a full state or an unfilled state.

For example, when the state information of the target container is determined to be the full state, the target container may be referred to as a full container. In this case, the shipment operation may be performed on a target container (hereinafter, referred to as a full container) in a full state. When the state information of the target container is determined to be in an unfinished state, the target container can be further delivered with the goods to be sorted corresponding to the first destination.

In some examples, the out-of-stock operation may be performed on the full containers by the second robot and the out-of-stock transfer line, or may be performed on the full containers by the second robot and the third robot. The two delivery methods are described below, wherein step 1020 is a process of performing a delivery operation on the full container by the second robot and the delivery line, and steps 1030 to 1040 are processes of performing a delivery operation on the full container by the second robot and the third robot.

In step 1020, if the target container is determined to be full based on the status information of the target container, a first transfer instruction is generated based on the target container.

In some embodiments, the first handling instructions are for instructing the second robot to place the full container at the second infeed port of the outbound conveyor line to convey the full container through the outbound conveyor line to a target processing point outside the sorting area.

In some examples, in the case where it is determined that the target container is full, the control device may generate a first transfer instruction according to the position information of the target container, and transmit the first transfer instruction to the second robot. The second robot executing the first conveying instruction may be a second robot located in a second channel corresponding to the carrier where the target container is located.

For example, the second robot receives the first carrying instruction, and according to the first carrying instruction, takes out the full container from the current cargo space and places the full container at the corresponding second box inlet on the delivery line, and the full container can be delivered to the target processing point outside the sorting area through the delivery line to execute the delivery processing.

Step 1030, generating a second transport instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full based on the state information of the target container.

In some embodiments, the second handling instruction is configured to instruct the second robot to place the full container in a bottom cache location of a carrier in which the target container is located.

Step 1040, generating a second container delivery instruction according to the bottom cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is located.

In some embodiments, the second container transfer instruction is configured to instruct the third robot to transfer the full container from the bottom level cache location of the carrier in which the target container is located to the target processing location outside the sorting area.

In some examples, in the case where it is determined that the target container is full, the control device may generate a second transfer instruction according to the position information of the target container, and send the second transfer instruction to the second robot. And the second robot receives the second carrying instruction, and takes out the full container from the current goods position according to the second carrying instruction and places the full container on the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the target container is positioned. The second robot executing the second carrying instruction may be a second robot located in a second channel corresponding to the carrier where the target container is located.

In some examples, after the target container is placed onto the bottom cache, the control state may generate a second container delivery instruction according to the bottom cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is located, and send the second container delivery instruction to the third robot. And the third robot receives the second container conveying instruction, operates to the bottom layer buffer storage position according to the second container conveying instruction, and conveys the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area so as to execute ex-warehouse processing.

According to the cargo sorting method, the full containers in the sorting area in the full state can be conveyed to the target processing point to execute the shipment operation through cooperation of the shipment conveying line and the second robot or cooperation of the second robot and the third robot, and the shipment efficiency of cargoes is improved. Meanwhile, the full containers are output out of the sorting area, more idle goods spaces can be released in the sorting area to place more containers, and therefore the space utilization rate of the warehousing system is further improved.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of yet another cargo space sorting method according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, after the first robot delivers the first goods to be sorted to the target container (i.e., step 730 or step 920), the method further includes steps 1110 to 1130 as follows.

At step 1110, state information for the target container is determined.

For example, after delivering the first to-be-sorted goods to the target container, the state information of the target container may be in a full state or an under-full state.

For example, when the state information of the target container is in an underfill state, the position of the target container may be exchanged accordingly according to the heat information of the target container.

In step 1120, if the status information of the target container is not full, timing is started from the delivery of the first item to be sorted to the target container.

And 1130, when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, generating a second scheduling instruction if the target container is determined to not deliver new goods within the timing duration.

In some embodiments, the second scheduling instructions are for instructing the second robot to transfer the target container from the delivery area to an empty cargo space of the staging area or to transfer the target container from the delivery area to a caching mechanism of the second robot.

The first robot may start timing when delivering the first to-be-sorted goods to the target container, monitor whether a new to-be-sorted goods is delivered in the target container after the timing starts, and if the new to-be-sorted goods is not delivered in the target container when the timing time reaches the preset time, indicate that the current heat information of the target container is low, in this case, the control state may generate a second scheduling instruction and send the second scheduling instruction to the second robot, where the second robot receives the second scheduling instruction, and conveys the target container from the delivery area of the carrier to the temporary storage area of the carrier according to the second scheduling instruction, or on the buffer mechanism of the second robot. The container with lower heat information is exchanged from the delivery area to the temporary storage area, so that the container placed in the delivery area can be guaranteed to be the container with higher heat information, and the first robot can conveniently deliver the goods, so that the goods sorting efficiency of the storage system is further improved.

In some examples, the preset time period may be determined based on the size of the sorting area, and/or the operating efficiency of the warehousing system. For example, the greater the area of the sorting area, the longer the preset time; the higher the working efficiency of the warehousing system is, the shorter the preset time is. For example, the preset time period may be set to 10 minutes. The preset duration is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

According to the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application, whether the target container is delivered with the new cargo to be sorted or not within the preset time length after the first cargo to be sorted is placed in the target container can be determined, so that the current heat information of the target container can be determined. When the target container is delivered with new goods to be sorted within the preset time, the heat information of the target container is higher, and under the condition, the position of the target container is not required to be exchanged; when the target container is not delivered with new goods to be sorted within the preset time, the heat information of the target container is low, and in this case, the target container can be exchanged from the current delivery area to the temporary storage area so as to release the delivery area to place the container with higher heat information. Therefore, through the goods space sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application, the goods sorting efficiency of the warehousing system can be further improved.

In some embodiments, if at least one second item to be sorted is conveyed on the endless conveying line, the heat information of the second item to be sorted and a second destination corresponding to the second item to be sorted are determined. If the first underfilling container associated with the second destination exists, the first underfilling container is located in the temporary storage area, and the delivery area exists a third idle goods space, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is determined to be higher than the preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods space; the third scheduling instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to a third idle goods location.

In some examples, if a container associated with a second destination corresponding to each second item to be sorted on the endless conveyor line is in an unfinished state (i.e., a first unfinished container) and is located in the staging area, if there is a third empty cargo space in the delivery area, it may be determined whether the first unfinished container needs to be transported from the staging area to the delivery area based on the heat information of the second item to be sorted.

For example, when the second cargoes to be sorted arrive at the feeding port of the annular conveying line, the control device can acquire the heat information of each second cargoes to be sorted through the detected cargoes information of the detection device.

When the heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargos is higher than the preset heat threshold, namely, the heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargos is higher, the first unfinished containers corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargos can be conveyed from the temporary storage area to the delivery area in advance, so that after the second to-be-sorted cargos arrive at the workstation, the second to-be-sorted cargos can be directly conveyed to the first unfinished containers located in the delivery area by the first robot, and the cargo sorting efficiency of the warehouse system is improved.

In some embodiments, if at least one second item to be sorted is transported on the endless transport line, determining a second destination to which the second item to be sorted corresponds; in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth dispatch instruction according to the fourth free space; the fourth dispatching instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the empty container in the temporary storage area to a fourth idle goods position.

In some examples, if the containers associated with the second destination corresponding to each second load to be sorted on the endless conveyor line are in an unfinished state (i.e., second unfinished containers) and are both located in the delivery zone, no change in the location of the second unfinished containers is necessary. In this case, if the delivery area also has a fourth empty cargo space, a new empty container can be transported onto the fourth empty cargo space by the second robot. For example, the empty container may be an empty container of the scratch pad.

According to the cargo sorting method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the delivery area has an idle cargo space, a container corresponding to the second cargo to be sorted, which is conveyed on the annular conveying line, can be conveyed from the temporary storage area to the delivery area in advance; or, empty containers in the temporary storage area can be carried to the delivery area, so that the containers can be placed on the goods space in the delivery area, the first robot can directly deliver the goods to be sorted, and the goods sorting efficiency of the storage system is further improved.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of yet another method for sorting goods according to some embodiments of the present application. A specific cargo sorting process provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 12. As shown in fig. 12, the method includes:

step 1201, placing the package at a feed opening of the annular conveyor line.

The package may be the goods to be sorted in the above embodiment, such as the first goods to be sorted.

Step 1202, a reader of the feed port reads the package bar code.

Step 1203, update package status to entered into the warehouse area.

Step 1204, the package enters an endless conveyor line.

Step 1205, distributes the package to a loading workstation.

The feeding workstation may be the workstation 220 in the above embodiment, for example, the feeding workstation is an artificial feeding workstation.

In step 1206, the feeding workstation code reader reads the package bar code.

For example, a pick-up workstation dispenses a corresponding delivery sorting robot for a package by reading the package bar code.

Step 1207, the parcel is placed on a sorting robot.

For example, packages may be placed on corresponding sorting robots by sorting personnel. Wherein the sorting robot may be the first robot in the above-described embodiments.

Step 1208 determines whether there is a container in the shelf sort zone corresponding to the parcel destination.

If so, step 1226 is performed, and if not, step 1209 is performed.

The shelf sorting area may be a delivery area of the carrier in the above embodiment.

Step 1209, a determination is made as to whether empty containers are present in the shelf sort zone.

If so, step 1210 is performed, and if not, step 1211 is performed.

For example, when there is no container corresponding to the parcel destination in the shelf sorting zone, it is further determined whether there is an empty container in the shelf sorting zone.

At step 1210, a parcel destination is assigned to the empty container.

For example, when an empty container exists in the shelf sort zone, the empty container may be associated and bound with the package destination.

Step 1211, a determination is made as to whether an empty container exists in the shelf staging area.

If so, step 1222 is performed, and if not, step 1223 is performed.

The shelf sorting area may be a temporary storage area of the carrier in the above embodiment.

For example, when there is no container and empty container corresponding to the package destination in the shelf sorting area, it is further determined whether there is an empty container in the shelf scratch area.

At 1222, the container robot exchanges empty containers to the shelf sort zone.

Wherein the container robot may be the second robot in the above embodiments. When empty containers exist in the goods shelf temporary storage area, the container robot can convey the empty containers in the goods shelf temporary storage area to the goods shelf sorting area.

In step 1223, the drop-in workstation prompts that the package cannot be delivered.

Step 1224, generating a make-up box task, and assigning the make-up box task to the container machine.

In step 1225, the container robot obtains empty containers and supplements the empty containers to the shelf sort or shelf staging area.

Step 1226, a delivery job is generated and assigned to the sorting robot.

For example, after the container corresponding to the parcel destination is located in the shelf sorting zone, a delivery task may be generated and assigned to be performed by the corresponding sorting robot.

Step 1227, the sorting robot completes delivery of the package.

Step 1228, a determination is made as to whether the container is full.

If the container is full, step 1229 is performed, and if the container is not full, step 1227 is performed to continue receiving delivery from the sorting robot.

Step 1229, generating a full-box delivery task, and assigning the full-box delivery task to the cargo box robot.

In step 1230, the container robot carries the full container to the full container transfer line feed port.

The delivery process of the package is accomplished through steps 1201-1230 described above. It should be noted that, the specific implementation process of the steps 1201 to 1230 has been described in the above embodiment, and the description is omitted here for avoiding repetition.

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of yet another method for sorting cargos provided in some embodiments of the present application. A specific empty bin warehouse entry process provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 13. As shown in fig. 13, the method includes:

step 1301, placing an empty box at a feeding port of a warehouse-in conveying line.

For example, an operator may place an empty bin at the loading port of a warehouse entry conveyor line. The feeding port of the warehouse-in conveying line is the first box inlet port of the warehouse-in conveying line in the embodiment, and the empty box is the empty container.

Step 1302, conveying the empty boxes to a warehouse entry feed port through a warehouse entry conveying line.

The warehouse-in material inlet is the first box outlet of the warehouse-in conveying line in the embodiment.

And step 1303, notifying a container robot that an empty container is arranged at a material inlet of the empty container.

In step 1304, the container robot moves to the empty container feed port to hold the empty container.

After step 1304, steps 1305 and 1308 are performed, respectively.

Step 1305, whether the pallet sorting area has a free space.

If so, step 1306 is executed, and if not, step 1307 is executed.

At step 1306, the container robot places the empty container in the shelf sort zone.

In step 1307, the container robot places the empty container in the pallet buffer.

Step 1308, whether the feeding port is idle.

If the port is idle, the process continues to step 1302.

The empty bin warehouse entry process is implemented through steps 1301 to 1308 described above. It should be noted that, the specific implementation process of the steps 1301 to 1308 has been described in the above embodiment, and for avoiding repetition, the description is omitted here.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of yet another method for sorting cargos provided in some embodiments of the present application. A specific full bin delivery process provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 14. As shown in fig. 14, the method includes:

Step 1401, whether the shelf sorting area is full.

The full tank is the full container in the full state in the above embodiment.

At step 1402, the container robot is moved to a cargo space where the sorting area is full of containers.

Step 1403, the container robot embraces the full container.

Step 1404, whether the feed port of the delivery line is idle.

If so, step 1405 is performed.

The feeding port of the delivery line is the second box inlet of the delivery line in the embodiment.

In step 1405, the container robot delivers the full container to the delivery port of the delivery line.

In step 1406, whether the feed port is full.

If not, executing step 1407; if so, the process continues to step 1407 after the full bin of the feed port is removed.

Step 1407, the delivery conveyor line delivers the full bin to the delivery area.

The process of full-box delivery is achieved through steps 1401 to 1407 described above. It should be noted that, the specific implementation process of the steps 1401 to 1407 has been described in the above embodiment, and in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here.

Fig. 15 is a schematic view of a cargo sorting device according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 15, the cargo sorting device 1500 includes an acquisition module 1501, a determination module 1502, and a generation module 1503.

An acquisition module 1501 configured to: acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area of a carrier in a sorting area of a warehousing system; the delivery area is positioned on the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned on the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods positions for placing containers.

A determination module 1502 configured to: and determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods and the state information of the containers.

A generation module 1503 configured to: generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in the delivery area of the carrier; the first delivery instruction is used for instructing a first robot in the warehousing system to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

In some embodiments, the generation module 1503 is further configured to: generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container under the condition that the target container is positioned in a temporary storage area of the carrier; the first scheduling instruction is used for indicating a second robot in the warehousing system to carry the target container from the temporary storage area to a target idle goods space of the delivery area; generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space; the first robot is used for delivering the first goods to be sorted to a target container on a target idle goods position of a delivery area.

In some embodiments, the status information includes an underfill status and a stock status; the determination module 1502 is configured to: if there is a first candidate container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone and the first candidate container is in an unfilled state, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: if the delivery zone does not have a container associated with the first destination or the delivery zone has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining if the delivery zone has a first empty container; if it is determined that the delivery zone has a first empty container, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: if it is determined that the delivery zone does not have a first empty container, determining whether the temporary storage zone has a container associated with the first destination; if it is determined that the scratch pad exists with a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in an unsatisfied state, the second candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: if it is determined that the temporary storage area does not have a container associated with the first destination or the temporary storage area has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining whether the temporary storage area has a second empty container; and if the temporary storage area is determined to exist in the second empty container, determining the second empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, the generation module 1503 is further configured to: if the temporary storage area does not have the second empty container and the delivery area has the first empty cargo space, generating a first box filling instruction according to the first empty cargo space so as to instruct the second robot to convey the first candidate empty container to the first empty cargo space, and determining the first candidate empty container as a target container; if the temporary storage area does not have the second empty container, the delivery area does not have the first empty cargo space, and the temporary storage area has the second empty cargo space, generating a second box filling instruction according to the second empty cargo space so as to instruct the second robot to convey the second candidate empty container to the second empty cargo space, and determining the second candidate empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, the generation module 1503 is further configured to: generating a first container conveying instruction according to the first idle goods space; the first container transfer instruction is used for instructing the third robot to transfer the first candidate empty container to the bottom buffer position of the carrier where the first empty cargo position is located. Generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located, so as to instruct the second robot to carry the first candidate empty container from the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located to the first idle goods space.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: determining state information of a target container; the generation module 1503 is also configured to: generating a first conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the first carrying instruction is used for instructing the second robot to place the full container at a second box inlet of the ex-warehouse conveying line so as to convey the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area through the ex-warehouse conveying line.

In some embodiments, the generation module 1503 is further configured to: generating a second conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the second carrying instruction is used for indicating the second robot to place the full container at the bottom layer cache position of the carrier where the target container is located; generating a second container conveying instruction according to the bottom layer cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is positioned; the second container conveying instruction is used for instructing the third robot to convey the full container from the bottom layer buffer position of the carrier where the target container is located to the target processing point outside the sorting area.

In some embodiments, the cargo sorting device 1500 also includes a timing module. The determination module 1502 is further configured to: determining state information of a target container; the timing module is configured to: and if the state information of the target container is in an unfinished state, starting timing from delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container. The generation module 1503 is configured to: when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, if the fact that the target container does not deliver new goods within the timing duration is determined, a second scheduling instruction is generated; the second dispatching instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the target container from the delivery area to an idle goods space of the temporary storage area or convey the target container from the delivery area to a buffer mechanism of the second robot.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: and if at least one second to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining the heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargo and a second destination corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargo. The generation module 1503 is configured to: if the first underfilling container associated with the second destination exists, the first underfilling container is located in the temporary storage area, and the delivery area exists a third idle goods space, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is determined to be higher than the preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods space; the third scheduling instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to a third idle goods location.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to: and if at least one second cargo to be sorted is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining a second destination corresponding to the second cargo to be sorted. The generation module 1503 is configured to: in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth dispatch instruction according to the fourth free space; the fourth dispatching instruction is used for instructing the second robot to convey the empty container in the temporary storage area to a fourth idle goods position.

In some embodiments, acquisition module 1501 is configured to: under the condition that the first goods to be sorted arrive at the feeding port of the annular conveying line, the goods information of the first goods to be sorted detected by the detection device is obtained. The determination module 1502 is configured to: and determining a first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the goods information of the first to-be-sorted goods.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of yet another warehousing system according to some embodiments of the application. As shown in fig. 16, the warehousing system 1600 includes a control device 1601 and a first robot 1602. The warehousing system 1600 further includes a plurality of carriers, where the plurality of carriers are located in a sorting area of the warehousing system 1600; each carrier is respectively provided with a delivery area and a temporary storage area; the delivery area is located at the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is located at the upper layer of the carrier, and the temporary storage area is located above the delivery area.

The control apparatus 1601 is configured to: acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area; determining a target container corresponding to the first goods to be sorted according to the first destination and the state information of the containers; and generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container under the condition that the target container is positioned in the delivery area of the carrier.

The first robot 1602 is configured to: and acquiring a first delivery instruction, and delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container according to the first delivery instruction.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 1600 also includes a second robot 1603. The control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container under the condition that the target container is positioned in a temporary storage area of the carrier; the second robot 1603 is configured to: acquiring a first scheduling instruction, and carrying a target container from a temporary storage area to a target idle goods space of a delivery area according to the first scheduling instruction; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space; the first robot 1602 is configured to: and acquiring a second delivery instruction, and delivering the first goods to be sorted to a target container positioned on a target idle goods position of the delivery area according to the second delivery instruction.

In some embodiments, the sorting area comprises a plurality of sorting units, each sorting unit consisting of two rows of carriers, a plurality of first robots 1602 and one second robot 1603, respectively; the first robot 1602 moves in a first lane to deliver goods to be sorted into containers in a delivery zone of two rows of carriers; a second robot 1603 moves in a second path different from the first path to transport containers between the staging areas and delivery areas of the two rows of carriers; the second channel is a channel between two rows of carriers.

In some embodiments, the status information includes an underfill status and a stock status; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: if there is a first candidate container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone and the first candidate container is in an unfilled state, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: if the delivery zone does not have a container associated with the first destination or the delivery zone has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining if the delivery zone has a first empty container; if it is determined that the delivery zone has a first empty container, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: if it is determined that the delivery zone does not have a first empty container, determining whether the temporary storage zone has a container associated with the first destination; if it is determined that the scratch pad exists with a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in an unsatisfied state, the second candidate container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: if it is determined that the temporary storage area does not have a container associated with the first destination or the temporary storage area has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining whether the temporary storage area has a second empty container; and if the temporary storage area is determined to exist in the second empty container, determining the second empty container as a target container.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: if the temporary storage area is determined to not have the second empty container and the delivery area has the first idle goods space, generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space; the second robot 1603 is configured to: acquiring a first box filling instruction, and carrying a first candidate empty container to a first idle goods space according to the first box filling instruction; the control device 1601 is configured to determine a first candidate empty container as a target container; the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: if the temporary storage area is determined to have no second empty container, the delivery area has no first idle goods space, and the temporary storage area has a second idle goods space, generating a second box filling instruction according to the second idle goods space; the second robot 1603 is further configured to: acquiring a second box filling instruction, and carrying a second candidate empty container to a second idle goods space according to the second box filling instruction; the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: the second candidate empty container is determined to be the target container.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 1600 also includes a third robot; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: generating a first container conveying instruction according to the first idle goods space; the third robot is configured to: acquiring a first container conveying instruction, and conveying a first candidate empty container to a bottom layer buffer position of a carrier where a first idle goods position is located according to the first container conveying instruction; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located; the second robot 1603 is configured to: and acquiring a first box filling instruction, and carrying the first candidate empty container from the bottom cache position of the carrier where the first idle goods position is located to the first idle goods position according to the first box filling instruction.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: determining state information of a target container; generating a first conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the second robot 1603 is configured to: and acquiring a first conveying instruction, and placing the full container at a second box inlet of the delivery line according to the first conveying instruction so as to convey the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area through the delivery line.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 1600 also includes a third robot; the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: generating a second conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the second robot 1603 is configured to: acquiring a second carrying instruction, and placing the full container at the bottom layer cache position of the carrier where the target container is positioned according to the second carrying instruction; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: generating a second container conveying instruction according to the bottom layer cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is positioned; the third robot is configured to: and acquiring a second container conveying instruction, and conveying the full container from the bottom layer buffer storage position of the carrier where the target container is positioned to the target processing position outside the sorting area according to the second container conveying instruction.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: determining state information of a target container; if the state information of the target container is in an unfinished state, starting timing from delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container; when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, if the fact that the target container does not deliver new goods within the timing duration is determined, a second scheduling instruction is generated; the second robot 1603 is configured to: and acquiring a second scheduling instruction, and carrying the target container from the delivery area to an idle goods space of the temporary storage area or carrying the target container from the delivery area to a buffer mechanism of the second robot 1603 according to the second scheduling instruction.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: if at least one second to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargo and a second destination corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargo; if the first underfilling container associated with the second destination exists, the first underfilling container is located in the temporary storage area, and the delivery area exists a third idle goods space, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is determined to be higher than the preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods space; the second robot 1603 is configured to: and acquiring a third scheduling instruction, and carrying the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to a third idle goods space according to the third scheduling instruction.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 1601 is further configured to: determining a second destination corresponding to at least one second cargo to be sorted conveyed on the annular conveying line; in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth dispatch instruction according to the fourth free space; the second robot 1603 is configured to: and acquiring a fourth scheduling instruction, and carrying the empty container in the temporary storage area to a fourth idle goods position according to the fourth scheduling instruction.

In some embodiments, the warehousing system 1600 further includes a detection device configured to: under the condition that the first goods to be sorted arrive at the feeding port of the annular conveying line, detecting the goods information of the first goods to be sorted; the control apparatus 1601 is configured to: and acquiring cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted, and determining a first destination according to the cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted.

Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes one or more processors and memory. The memory is configured to: one or more programs are stored. Wherein the one or more processors implement the method of sorting goods in the above embodiments when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors.

As shown in fig. 17, the electronic device 1000 includes: a processor 1001 and a memory 1002. Illustratively, the electronic device 1000 may further include: a communication interface (Communications Interface) 1003 and a communication bus 1004.

The processor 1001, the memory 1002, and the communication interface 1003 perform communication with each other via the communication bus 1004. Communication interface 1003 is used to communicate with network elements of other devices such as clients or other servers.

In some embodiments, the processor 1001 is configured to execute the program 1005, and may specifically perform the relevant steps in the cargo sorting method embodiment described above. In particular, program 1005 may include program code comprising computer-executable instructions.

The processor 1001 may be, for example, a central processing unit CPU, or a specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present application. The one or more processors that the electronic device 1000 may include may be the same type of processor, such as one or more CPUs; but may also be different types of processors such as one or more CPUs and one or more ASICs.

In some embodiments, memory 1002 is used to store program 1005. The Memory 1002 may include a high-speed RAM Memory or may further include a Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), such as at least one magnetic disk Memory.

Program 1005 may be specifically invoked by processor 1001 to cause electronic device 1000 to perform a cargo sorting method operation.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium storing at least one executable instruction that, when executed on an electronic device 1000, cause the electronic device 1000 to perform the method for sorting goods in the above embodiments.

The executable instructions may be particularly useful for causing the electronic device 1000 to perform operations of a method of sorting goods.

For example, the computer readable storage medium may be Read-Only Memory (ROM), random-access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), compact disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, and the like.

The beneficial effects that can be achieved by the goods sorting device, the warehousing system, the electronic device and the computer readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the application can refer to the beneficial effects in the corresponding goods sorting method provided above, and are not repeated here.

It is noted that in the present application, 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 apparatus 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 apparatus. 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 apparatus that comprises an element.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a related manner, and identical and similar parts of each embodiment are all referred to each other, and each embodiment mainly describes differences from other embodiments. In particular, 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 in part.

Logic and/or steps represented in the flowcharts or otherwise described herein, e.g., a ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions.

For the purposes of this description, a "computer-readable medium" can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic device) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic device), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber device, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM).

Additionally, the computer-readable medium may even be paper or other suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program may be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. It is to be understood that portions of the present application may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

In the above-described embodiments, the various steps or methods may be implemented in software or firmware stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented in hardware, as in another embodiment, may be implemented using any one or combination of the following techniques, as is well known in the art: discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing logic functions on data signals, application specific integrated circuits having suitable combinational logic gates, programmable Gate Arrays (PGAs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and the like.

The above-described embodiments of the present application are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of sorting goods, the method being applied to a control device, the method comprising:

acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in a delivery area and a temporary storage area of a carrier in a sorting area of a warehousing system; the delivery area is positioned at the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned at the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned above the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods places which are used for placing the container;

determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods and the state information of the containers;

generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in a delivery area of the carrier; the first delivery instruction is used for instructing a first robot in the warehousing system to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

Generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in a temporary storage area of the carrier; the first scheduling instruction is used for instructing a second robot in the warehousing system to carry the target container from the temporary storage area to a target idle goods space of the delivery area;

generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space; the second delivery instruction is used for instructing the first robot to deliver the first goods to be sorted to the target container located on the target idle goods position of the delivery area.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sorting area comprises a plurality of sorting units, each sorting unit consisting of two rows of carriers, a plurality of first robots, and a second robot, respectively; the first robot moves in a first channel to deliver cargoes to be sorted into the containers of the delivery areas of the two rows of carriers; the second robot moving in a second lane different from the first lane to handle containers between the staging area and delivery area of the two rows of carriers; wherein the second channel is a channel between the two rows of carriers.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the status information comprises an underfill status and a full status; the determining, according to the first destination corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo and the state information of the plurality of containers, a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted cargo includes:

if there is a first candidate container associated with the first destination in the delivery zone and the first candidate container is in an unfilled state, the first candidate container is determined to be the target container.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining the target container corresponding to the first item to be sorted according to the first destination corresponding to the first item to be sorted and the status information of the plurality of containers, further comprises:

if the delivery zone does not have a container associated with the first destination or the delivery zone has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining if the delivery zone has a first empty container;

if it is determined that the first empty container exists in the delivery area, the first empty container is determined to be the target container.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the target container for the first item to be sorted based on the first destination for the first item to be sorted and the status information for the plurality of containers, further comprises:

if it is determined that the delivery zone does not have the first empty container, determining whether the staging zone has a container associated with the first destination;

if it is determined that the scratch pad exists a second candidate container associated with the first destination and the second candidate container is in an unfilled state, the second candidate container is determined to be the target container.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the target container for the first item to be sorted based on the first destination for the first item to be sorted and the status information for the plurality of containers, further comprises:

if it is determined that the scratch pad does not have a container associated with the first destination or that the scratch pad has a container associated with the first destination and in a full state, determining whether the scratch pad has a second empty container;

And if the second empty container exists in the temporary storage area, determining the second empty container as the target container.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining the target container for the first item to be sorted based on the first destination for the first item to be sorted and the status information for the plurality of containers, further comprises:

if the temporary storage area is determined to not have the second empty container and the delivery area is determined to have the first empty cargo space, generating a first box filling instruction according to the first empty cargo space so as to instruct a second robot to convey the first candidate empty container to the first empty cargo space and determine the first candidate empty container as the target container;

and if the temporary storage area does not exist the second empty container, the delivery area does not exist the first empty cargo space, and the temporary storage area does exist the second empty cargo space, generating a second box filling instruction according to the second empty cargo space so as to instruct the second robot to convey the second candidate empty container to the second empty cargo space, and determining the second candidate empty container as the target container.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the warehousing system further comprises a warehousing conveyor line; the warehouse-in conveying line is provided with a first box inlet and a first box outlet; the warehouse-in conveying line is used for conveying empty containers from the first box inlet to the first box outlet so that the second robot conveys the empty containers from the first box outlet to an idle goods position on the carrier.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the warehousing system further comprises a third robot; the method further comprises the steps of:

generating a first container conveying instruction according to the first idle goods space; the first container conveying instruction is used for instructing the third robot to convey the first candidate empty container to a bottom layer buffer position of a carrier where the first idle goods position is located;

generating a first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space, including: and generating the first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located, so as to instruct the second robot to carry the first candidate empty container from the bottom layer buffer memory position of the carrier where the first idle goods space is located to the first idle goods space.

11. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the warehousing system further comprises an ex-warehouse conveyor line; the warehouse-out conveying line is provided with a second box inlet and a second box outlet; the warehouse-out conveying line is used for conveying full containers in a full state from the second box inlet to the second box outlet.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein after the first robot delivers the first to-be-sorted good to the target container, the method further comprises:

determining state information of the target container;

generating a first conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the first carrying instruction is used for instructing a second robot to place the full container at a second box inlet of the ex-warehouse conveying line so as to convey the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area through the ex-warehouse conveying line.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the warehousing system further comprises a third robot; after the first robot delivers the first to-be-sorted good to the target container, the method further comprises:

Determining state information of the target container;

generating a second conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container; the second carrying instruction is used for instructing a second robot to place the full container at a bottom layer cache position of a carrier where the target container is located;

generating a second container conveying instruction according to the bottom layer cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is positioned; the second container conveying instruction is used for instructing the third robot to convey the full container from the bottom layer buffer position of the carrier where the target container is located to the target processing point outside the sorting area.

14. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that after the first robot delivers the first goods to be sorted to the target container, the method further comprises:

determining state information of the target container;

if the state information of the target container is in an unsatisfied state, starting timing from delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container;

when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, if the fact that the target container does not deliver new goods within the timing duration is determined, a second scheduling instruction is generated; the second scheduling instruction is used for instructing a second robot to carry the target container from the delivery area to an idle goods space of the temporary storage area or to carry the target container from the delivery area to a buffer mechanism of the second robot.

15. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the warehousing system further comprises an endless conveyor line and a workstation; wherein the annular conveying line is provided with a feeding port and a discharging port; the annular conveying line is used for conveying cargoes to be sorted from the feeding port to the workstation corresponding to the discharging port.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

if at least one second to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargo and a second destination corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargo;

if the first unfinished container associated with the second destination exists, the first unfinished container is located in the temporary storage area, and a third idle goods position exists in the delivery area, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is higher than a preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods position;

wherein the third scheduling instruction is for instructing a second robot to transfer the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to the third free cargo space.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

if at least one second cargo to be sorted is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining a second destination corresponding to the second cargo to be sorted;

in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth scheduling instruction in accordance with the fourth free space;

and the fourth scheduling instruction is used for instructing a second robot to convey the empty container in the temporary storage area to the fourth idle goods position.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the warehousing system further comprises a detection device, the acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first item to be sorted, comprising:

acquiring cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted detected by the detection device under the condition that the first cargo to be sorted reaches the loading port of the annular conveying line;

and determining the first destination corresponding to the first goods to be sorted according to the goods information of the first goods to be sorted.

19. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the delivery area of the carrier is larger than the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the temporary storage area of the carrier.

20. A warehousing system, comprising:

the plurality of carriers are positioned in the sorting area of the warehousing system; each carrier is respectively provided with a delivery area and a temporary storage area; the delivery area is positioned at the lower layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned at the upper layer of the carrier, the temporary storage area is positioned above the delivery area, and the delivery area and the temporary storage area both comprise a plurality of goods positions for placing containers;

a control device configured to: acquiring a first destination corresponding to a first to-be-sorted cargo and state information of a plurality of containers positioned in the delivery area and the temporary storage area; determining a target container corresponding to the first to-be-sorted goods according to the first destination and the state information of the containers; generating a first delivery instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in a delivery area of the carrier;

a first robot configured to: and acquiring the first delivery instruction, and delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container according to the first delivery instruction.

21. The warehousing system of claim 20 wherein the warehousing system further comprises a second robot;

the control device is further configured to: generating a first scheduling instruction according to the target container when the target container is positioned in a temporary storage area of the carrier;

the second robot is configured to: acquiring the first scheduling instruction, and carrying the target container from the temporary storage area to a target idle goods space of the delivery area according to the first scheduling instruction;

the control device is configured to: generating a second delivery instruction according to the target idle goods space;

a first robot configured to: and acquiring the second delivery instruction, and delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container positioned on the target idle goods position of the delivery area according to the second delivery instruction.

22. The warehousing system of claim 21 wherein the sorting area includes a plurality of sorting units, each sorting unit consisting of two rows of carriers, a plurality of first robots, and a second robot; the first robot moves in a first channel to deliver cargoes to be sorted into the containers of the delivery areas of the two rows of carriers; the second robot moving in a second lane different from the first lane to handle containers between the staging area and delivery area of the two rows of carriers; wherein the second channel is a channel between the two rows of carriers.

23. The warehousing system of any one of claims 20-22 wherein the status information includes an underfill status and a full status; the control device is configured to:

24. The warehousing system of claim 23, wherein the control device is further configured to:

25. The warehousing system of claim 24, wherein the control device is further configured to:

26. The warehousing system of claim 25, wherein the control device is further configured to:

27. The warehousing system of claim 26, wherein the control device is further configured to:

if the fact that the second empty container does not exist in the temporary storage area and the first idle goods space exists in the delivery area is determined, a first box filling instruction is generated according to the first idle goods space;

the second robot is configured to: acquiring the first box filling instruction, and carrying a first candidate empty container to the first idle goods position according to the first box filling instruction;

The control device is configured to determine the first candidate empty container as the target container;

the control device is further configured to: if the fact that the second empty container does not exist in the temporary storage area, the first idle goods space does not exist in the delivery area, and the second idle goods space exists in the temporary storage area is determined, a second box filling instruction is generated according to the second idle goods space;

the second robot is further configured to: acquiring the second box filling instruction, and carrying a second candidate empty container to the second idle goods position according to the second box filling instruction;

the control device is further configured to: the second candidate empty container is determined to be the target container.

28. The warehousing system of claim 27, wherein the warehousing system further comprises a warehousing conveyor line; the warehouse-in conveying line is provided with a first box inlet and a first box outlet; the warehouse-in conveying line is used for conveying empty containers from the first box inlet to the first box outlet so that the second robot conveys the empty containers from the first box outlet to an idle goods position on the carrier.

29. The warehousing system of claim 27 wherein the warehousing system further comprises a third robot; the control device is configured to:

Generating a first container conveying instruction according to the first idle goods space;

the third robot is configured to: acquiring the first container conveying instruction, and conveying the first candidate empty container to a bottom layer cache position of a carrier where the first idle goods position is located according to the first container conveying instruction;

the control device is configured to: generating the first box filling instruction according to the first idle goods space and a bottom layer cache position of a carrier where the first idle goods space is located;

the second robot is configured to: and acquiring a first box filling instruction, and carrying the first candidate empty container to the first idle goods position from the bottom layer buffer position of the carrier where the first idle goods position is located according to the first box filling instruction.

30. The warehousing system of any one of claims 20-22, wherein the warehousing system further comprises an ex-warehouse conveyor line; the warehouse-out conveying line is provided with a second box inlet and a second box outlet; the warehouse-out conveying line is used for conveying full containers in a full state from the second box inlet to the second box outlet.

31. The warehousing system of claim 30, wherein the control device is further configured to:

Determining state information of the target container; generating a first conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container;

the second robot is configured to: and acquiring the first conveying instruction, and placing the full container at a second box inlet of the warehouse-out conveying line according to the first conveying instruction so as to convey the full container to a target processing point outside the sorting area through the warehouse-out conveying line.

32. The warehousing system of claim 30 wherein the warehousing system further comprises a third robot; the control device is further configured to:

generating a second conveying instruction according to the target container if the target container is determined to be full according to the state information of the target container;

the second robot is configured to: acquiring the second carrying instruction, and placing the full container at a bottom layer cache position of a carrier where the target container is located according to the second carrying instruction;

the control device is configured to: generating a second container conveying instruction according to the bottom layer cache bit of the carrier in which the target container is positioned;

The third robot is configured to: and acquiring the second container conveying instruction, and conveying the full container from the bottom layer buffer storage position of the carrier where the target container is positioned to the target processing point position outside the sorting area according to the second container conveying instruction.

33. The warehousing system of any one of claims 20-22, wherein the control device is further configured to:

determining state information of the target container; if the state information of the target container is in an unsatisfied state, starting timing from delivering the first goods to be sorted to the target container; when the timing duration reaches the preset duration, if the fact that the target container does not deliver new goods within the timing duration is determined, a second scheduling instruction is generated;

the second robot is configured to: and acquiring the second scheduling instruction, and carrying the target container from the delivery area to an idle goods space of the temporary storage area or carrying the target container from the delivery area to a buffer mechanism of the second robot according to the second scheduling instruction.

34. The warehousing system of any one of claims 20-22, wherein the warehousing system further comprises an endless conveyor line and a workstation; wherein the annular conveying line is provided with a feeding port and a discharging port; the annular conveying line is used for conveying cargoes to be sorted from the feeding port to the workstation corresponding to the discharging port.

35. The warehousing system of claim 34, wherein the control device is further configured to:

if at least one second to-be-sorted cargo is conveyed on the annular conveying line, determining heat information of the second to-be-sorted cargo and a second destination corresponding to the second to-be-sorted cargo; if the first unfinished container associated with the second destination exists, the first unfinished container is located in the temporary storage area, and a third idle goods position exists in the delivery area, if the heat information of the second goods to be sorted is higher than a preset heat threshold value, a third scheduling instruction is generated according to the third idle goods position;

the second robot is configured to: and acquiring the third scheduling instruction, and carrying the first unfinished container from the temporary storage area to the third idle goods space according to the third scheduling instruction.

36. The warehousing system of claim 34, wherein the control device is further configured to:

determining a second destination corresponding to at least one second cargo to be sorted conveyed on the annular conveying line; in the event that there is a second unfinished container associated with the second destination and the second unfinished container is located in the delivery area and a fourth free space exists in the delivery area, generating a fourth scheduling instruction in accordance with the fourth free space;

The second robot is configured to: and acquiring the fourth scheduling instruction, and carrying the empty container in the temporary storage area to the fourth idle goods position according to the fourth scheduling instruction.

37. The warehousing system of claim 34, further comprising a detection device configured to: detecting cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted under the condition that the first cargo to be sorted reaches the loading port of the annular conveying line;

the control device is configured to: and acquiring the cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted, and determining the first destination according to the cargo information of the first cargo to be sorted.

38. The warehousing system of any one of claims 20-22 wherein the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the delivery area of the carrier is greater than the spacing between adjacent two layers of beams in the staging area of the carrier.

39. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory configured to: storing one or more programs;

wherein the one or more processors implement the method of sorting goods according to any one of claims 1-19 when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors.

40. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a processor, implements the method of sorting goods according to any one of claims 1-19.