CN117963390A

CN117963390A - Flexible goods to robot picking system, method and pre-picking method and device

Info

Publication number: CN117963390A
Application number: CN202410136665.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 余万涛
Original assignee: Cloud Machine Times Shanghai Intelligent Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Cloud Machine Times Shanghai Intelligent Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2024-01-31
Filing date: 2024-01-31
Publication date: 2024-05-03

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, and provides a flexible goods-to-robot picking system, a flexible goods-to-robot picking method, a flexible goods-to-robot pre-picking method and a flexible goods-to-robot pre-picking device, wherein the flexible goods-to-robot pre-picking method comprises the following steps of: the first buffer area is used for parking the movable goods shelf after the inventory operation and the disassembly operation are completed by the combined equipment; the second buffer area is used for parking the mobile goods shelves carried by the carrying robot from the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area; the third buffer area is used for parking the movable goods shelves of goods after being picked by a picking worker or a mechanical arm and/or the movable goods shelves after finishing inventory operation and disassembly operation according to pre-picking by the combined equipment; through the equipment and the dismantlement with material/packing box robot of moving goods shelves under different states, not only can reduce unnecessary goods transport, through letting the efficiency of moving goods shelves transport at every turn higher moreover, can reduce the demand to robot quantity by a wide margin, also can alleviate the traffic condition of on-the-spot robot when reducing the cost, further promote efficiency.

Description

Flexible goods to robot picking system, method and pre-picking method and device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of warehouse logistics, in particular to a flexible goods-to-robot picking system, a flexible goods-to-robot picking method, a flexible goods-to-robot pre-picking method and flexible goods-to-robot pre-picking equipment.

Background

Along with the rapid development of artificial intelligence and electronic commerce, a huge development opportunity is brought for the intellectualization of warehouse logistics. Existing AGV-based pallet-to-person solutions mainly include a pallet-to-person solution and a bulk/container-to-person solution. The goods shelf to person scheme adopts a mobile robot to carry the goods shelf to a warehouse area and a workstation, so that the goods can be automatically stored, and the work of loading the goods on the shelf, selecting the goods and the like is realized. The material/container-to-person scheme is to carry the material/container to the picking station by means of a multi-layer material/container robot or by means of a multi-layer material/container robot in conjunction with a carrier robot.

For the goods shelf to person scheme and the material/container to person scheme, when picking operation, the hit rate of carrying the movable goods shelf once is not high due to the limit of the number of picking orders of a picking workstation, a lot of goods irrelevant to the orders can be carried by carrying the movable goods shelf each time, and the number of the orders which can be hit by carrying a plurality of or single material/container at one time is limited. In addition, when the movable shelf, the material/the container need to be picked at different picking stations, the movable shelf, the material/the container can only be firstly moved to one picking station and then moved to the next picking station according to the system dispatching sequence, and the process can lead to waiting between the robot and the movable shelf or the material/the container at the different picking stations, so that the picking efficiency is slow.

Additionally, the AGV-based pallet-to-person solution does not allow for the use of high-end pallets, whereas in the pallet/container-to-person solution, fixed pallets often require the placement of pallet/container transfer buffer locations at the bottom of the fixed pallet. Therefore, the storage efficiency of the warehouse is reduced, and the storage expense is increased.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems, the invention provides the following technical scheme:

The invention provides a flexible goods-to-robot picking system, comprising:

the fixed goods shelf storage area is used for placing a fixed goods shelf;

The fixed goods shelf is provided with fixed goods shelf goods positions for placing materials/containers, the fixed goods shelf is provided with fixed goods shelf identification codes which are uniquely identified, and each fixed goods shelf goods position is provided with fixed goods shelf goods position identification codes which are uniquely identified;

The movable goods shelf is provided with movable goods shelf goods positions for placing materials/containers, the movable goods shelf is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf identification code, and each movable goods shelf goods position is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf goods position identification code; preferably, the bottom of the movable shelf is provided with rollers, and a picking worker or a mechanical arm can drag the movable shelf to move the movable shelf or directly carry the movable shelf to a destination through a carrying robot.

A materials/containers robot for handling materials/containers and mobile racks based on order, task and/or dispatch confirmation; the material/container robot is further provided with a connecting device, and the material/container robot and the movable goods shelf form a robot and movable goods shelf combined device through the connecting device, and is used for storing, taking and selecting the material/containers confirmed based on orders, tasks and/or scheduling, and storing and carrying the corresponding material/containers between the fixed goods shelf and the movable goods shelf;

The first buffer area is used for parking the movable goods shelves after the inventory operation and the disassembly operation are completed by the combined equipment, a plurality of movable goods shelf parking positions are arranged in the first buffer area, and each movable goods shelf parking position is provided with a first buffer position identification code which is uniquely identified;

a transfer robot for transferring the mobile shelf confirmed based on the order, the task, and/or the schedule, and transferring the mobile shelf to a destination; preferably, the transfer robot may perform transfer by lifting, dragging, pulling, or the like.

The order seeding wall is arranged in an order picking and seeding operation area in the warehouse and is used for placing an order box, and the order box is used for placing goods of corresponding orders picked by a picking worker or a mechanical arm; the order box is provided with a unique order box position identifier which is used for identifying the position of the order box on an order sowing wall; the order seeding wall comprises a plurality of order picking and seeding stations;

The second buffer area is used for parking the movable goods shelves which are carried by the carrying robot from the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area, the movable goods shelves are provided with materials/containers to be selected, a plurality of movable goods shelf parking positions are arranged in the second buffer area, and each movable goods shelf parking position is provided with a unique identification code of a second buffer position;

the third buffer area is used for parking the movable goods shelves of goods after being picked by a picking worker or a mechanical arm and/or the movable goods shelves after finishing inventory operation and disassembly operation according to pre-picking by the combined equipment; a plurality of mobile goods shelf parking positions are arranged in the third cache region, and each mobile goods shelf parking position is provided with a third cache position identification code which is uniquely identified;

Wherein, the inventory operation means that the material/container robot obtains the material/container from the fixed goods shelf, takes the material/container on the goods site of the fixed goods shelf out, and places the material/container on the goods site of the movable goods shelf;

the disassembly operation refers to that the movable shelf is detached from the combination device.

Further, the first buffer area, the second buffer area and the third buffer area are respectively defined in the warehouse and comprise a plurality of movable goods shelf parking positions;

Or the first buffer area, the second buffer area and/or the third buffer area are respectively a set of a plurality of scattered movable shelf parking positions.

Preferably, the first buffer zone, the second buffer zone and the third buffer zone can be arranged at any position of the warehouse, but in order to reduce the movement path of the material/container robot, the first buffer zone is preferably arranged near the fixed shelf storage area; in order to reduce the movement path of the transfer robot, the second buffer zone is preferably arranged near each order picking and seeding station; the third buffer area can be planned into a single area according to the requirement of warehouse management, and can also be part of the movable shelf parking positions in the first buffer area and/or the second buffer area.

The invention provides a pre-picking method of a flexible goods-to-robot, which is based on the flexible goods-to-robot picking system, and comprises the following steps:

When the warehouse is idle, the following steps are specifically executed:

(101) The method comprises the steps of carrying out predictive analysis on order data of a previous period, and analyzing goods possibly needed in the future according to the order data of the previous period to form a predictive order, wherein the predictive order at least comprises an order row; the previous period of order data may refer to any defined previous period of order data; the order data of the previous period of time can also refer to any one or more batch order data before; the order data of the previous period of time may also refer to any one or more previous wave order data;

(102) Analyzing the needed goods according to the predicted orders, determining a material/container for placing the goods, generating storage/fetching information and sending the storage/fetching information to a material/container robot; the goods storing/taking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf goods position information, goods storing/taking task instructions and scheduling instructions;

(103) The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment;

(104) According to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken which are determined by the storage/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container needing to be stored/taken is taken off from the fixed goods shelf by the combined equipment through a material/container robot and is placed on a movable goods shelf of the combined equipment, and a movable goods shelf identification code, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf cargo position identification code of the movable goods shelf where the material/container is placed are recorded;

(105) Under the condition that the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment is full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the buffer position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to a target buffer position, then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable goods shelf is parked at the buffer position in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area.

Further, the pre-picking method further includes:

(106) Determining a movable goods shelf needing temporary storage according to the predicted order and/or the goods storage/retrieval information, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot; the handling information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a handling task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(107) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelf in the first buffer area to the buffer position of the third buffer area for temporary storage in a lifting, dragging and traction mode.

The invention provides a flexible goods to robot picking method, which is based on the flexible goods to robot picking system, and comprises the following steps:

When the warehouse is not idle, namely, the warehouse has order processing, the following specific steps are executed:

(201) Analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

(202) Determining a material/container for placing the goods according to the goods required by the order, generating storage/picking information and sending the storage/picking information to a material/container robot, wherein the storage/picking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, a storage/picking task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(203) The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment;

(204) According to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken which are determined by the storage/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container needing to be stored/taken is taken off from the fixed goods shelf by the combined equipment through a material/container robot and is placed on a movable goods shelf on the combined equipment, and a movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container is placed, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf goods position identification code are recorded;

(205) Under the condition that the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or under the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the buffer position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to a target buffer position, then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable goods shelf is parked at the buffer position in the first buffer area;

(206) According to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, determining a movable goods shelf needing to be selected and sown, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, and the movable goods shelf identification information, a carrying task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(207) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelf in the first buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

(208) The system generates shift operation information according to order data and/or the goods storage/picking information and/or the carrying information and sends the shift operation information to handheld equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(209) The picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker and the mechanical arm transfer robot move the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area appointed by the displacement operation information;

(210) Generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

(211) Picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods from the movable goods shelves according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable goods shelves into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

(212) After the picking worker or the mechanical arm finishes order picking and sowing operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the carrying robot carries out shifting operation on the movable shelf according to shifting operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a buffer position in a second buffer area appointed by the shifting operation information.

Further, after the order picking and seeding operation for the mobile shelf is completed, the picking method further comprises:

analyzing the goods demand according to the follow-up order data, and analyzing the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area; the subsequent order data refers to order data after the order, and may refer to subsequent order data of one or more batches; and may also refer to subsequent one or more wave order data;

if the goods demand of the subsequent order contains goods information on a movable goods shelf in the second buffer area, temporarily storing the movable goods shelf in the current buffer position to wait for the next order picking and sowing operation;

If the goods requirements of the subsequent orders do not contain the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area, the system analyzes possible goods requirements in a future period according to the processed order data of the previous period; the order data of the previous period of time may refer to any defined order data of the previous period of time; the order data of the previous period of time can also refer to any one or more batch order data before; the order data of the previous period of time may also refer to any one or more previous wave order data;

If the goods demand in a period of time in the future contains goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer zone, confirming that the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored, generating transportation information by a system, sending the transportation information to a transportation robot, and transporting the movable goods shelf from the buffer position to a target buffer position in a third buffer zone for temporary storage by the transportation robot in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

If the demand of the goods in the future period of time does not contain the information of the goods on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area, confirming that the goods on the movable goods shelf need to be returned to the warehouse.

Further, the specific steps of the database returning operation are as follows:

the system generates and transmits the carrying information to the carrying robot and generates and transmits the storing/taking information to the material/container robot; according to the conveying information, the conveying robot conveys the movable goods shelf to a target cache position in the first cache region; the handling information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a handling task instruction and a scheduling instruction; the material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment; the goods storing/taking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, goods storing/taking task instructions and scheduling instructions;

The combined equipment moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container to be stored/fetched is taken off from the movable goods shelf by the material/container robot and placed on the fixed goods shelf, and the material/container storage information of the fixed goods shelf and the movable goods shelf is updated;

Under the condition that the warehouse returning operation of the movable goods shelf is completed, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or the emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the cache position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the cache position in the first cache region; then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable goods shelf is parked in the first buffer area.

The invention provides a picking method of flexible goods to a robot, which comprises the pre-picking method, wherein the picking method comprises the following steps:

When the warehouse is not idle and pre-picking is performed, the following specific steps are executed:

(301) Analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

(302) The material/container of the required goods is determined from the pre-picked goods, the goods stored on the fixed shelves and the goods required in connection with the order.

Further, when the material/container of the desired article is on the fixed shelf, the following operations are performed:

(30211) The system generates and stores/fetches the goods information and sends the goods information to the material/container robot;

(30212) The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment;

(30213) According to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken which are determined by the storage/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container needing to be stored/taken is taken off from the fixed goods shelf by the combined equipment through a material/container robot and is placed on a movable goods shelf on the combined equipment, and a movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container is placed, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf goods position identification code are recorded;

(30214) Under the condition that the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or under the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the buffer position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to a target buffer position, then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable goods shelf is parked at the buffer position in the first buffer area;

(30215) According to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, determining a movable goods shelf needing to be selected and sown, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, and the movable goods shelf identification information, a carrying task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(30216) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

(30217) The system generates shift operation information according to the order data, the goods storage/picking information and/or the carrying information and sends the shift operation information to the handheld equipment of the picking workers, the mechanical arm or the carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(30218) The picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area appointed by the displacement operation information;

(30219) Generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

(30220) Picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

(30221) After the picking worker or the mechanical arm finishes order picking and sowing operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the carrying robot carries out shifting operation on the movable shelf according to shifting operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a buffer position in a second buffer area appointed by the shifting operation information.

Further, when the required material/container of the goods is at the buffer position of the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area, wherein the material/container of the goods in the third buffer area is a movable goods shelf from pre-picking and carrying to the third buffer area, the following specific steps are executed:

(30231) The system generates the conveying information and sends the conveying information to the conveying robot;

(30232) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

(30233) The system generates shift operation information according to order data, storage/picking information and/or carrying information and sends the shift operation information to a picking worker handheld device, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(30234) The picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area appointed by the displacement operation information;

(30235) Generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

(30236) Picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

(30237) After order picking and sowing operations are completed on the movable shelf by the picking workers or the mechanical arms, the picking workers, the mechanical arms or the carrying robots carry out shifting operations on the movable shelf according to shifting operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a buffer position in a second buffer area appointed by the shifting operation information.

Further, the picking method further includes:

Analyzing the goods demand according to the follow-up order data, and analyzing the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area; the subsequent order data refers to order data after the order or refers to subsequent order data of one or more batches; or refers to subsequent one or more wave order data;

Further, the specific steps of the database returning operation are as follows:

the system generates and transmits the carrying information to the carrying robot and generates and transmits the storing/taking information to the material/container robot; according to the conveying information, the conveying robot conveys the movable goods shelf to a target cache position in the first cache region;

The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment;

The handling information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a handling task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

The goods storing/taking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, goods storing/taking task instructions and scheduling instructions.

The invention provides a picking method of flexible goods to a robot, which comprises the steps of:

when the warehouse is not idle and pre-picking and at least one order picking have been performed, the following specific steps are performed:

(401) Analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

(402) And determining the material/container of the required goods according to the goods stored on the current fixed goods shelf, the goods stored on the movable goods shelf temporarily stored in the second cache area and/or the third cache area and the goods required by combining the orders.

(40211) The system generates and stores/fetches the goods information and sends the goods information to the material/container robot;

(40212) The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form combined equipment;

(40213) According to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken which are determined by the storage/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container needing to be stored/taken is taken off from the fixed goods shelf by the combined equipment through a material/container robot and is placed on a movable goods shelf on the combined equipment, and a movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container is placed, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf goods position identification code are recorded;

(40214) Under the condition that the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or under the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the buffer position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to a target buffer position, then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable goods shelf is parked at the buffer position in the first buffer area;

(40215) According to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, determining a movable goods shelf needing to be selected and sown, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, and the movable goods shelf identification information, a carrying task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(40216) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

(40217) The system generates shift operation information according to the order data, the goods storage/picking information and/or the carrying information and sends the shift operation information to the handheld equipment of the picking workers, the mechanical arm or the carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(40218) The picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area appointed by the displacement operation information;

(40219) Generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

(40220) Picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

(40221) After the picking worker or the mechanical arm finishes order picking and sowing operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the carrying robot carries out shifting operation on the movable shelf according to shifting operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a buffer position in a second buffer area appointed by the shifting operation information.

Further, when the required material/container of the goods is located at the buffer position of the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area, wherein the material/container of the goods located in the third buffer area is a mobile shelf from pre-picking and carrying to the third buffer area, and a mobile shelf from picking and sowing before the present order is completed and carrying to the third buffer area, the following specific steps are executed:

(40231) The system generates the conveying information and sends the conveying information to the conveying robot;

(40232) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

Further, the picking method further includes:

Further, the specific steps of the database returning operation are as follows:

The invention provides a flexible goods-to-robot picking device, comprising: the system comprises a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein the computer program is used for realizing the flexible goods to robot pre-picking method and/or the flexible goods to robot picking method when being executed by the processor.

The invention provides a computer readable storage medium, wherein an information transmission implementation program is stored on the computer readable storage medium, and the program is executed by a processor, and the method for pre-picking the flexible goods to the robot and/or the method for picking the flexible goods to the robot are/is provided.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) According to the invention, by assembling and disassembling the mobile goods shelves with the material/container robots in different states, not only can unnecessary goods transportation be reduced, but also the requirement on the number of robots can be greatly reduced by enabling the efficiency of each mobile goods shelf transportation to be higher, the cost is reduced, the traffic condition of the site robots can be relieved, and the efficiency is further improved.

(2) The invention is also provided with the first buffer area, the second buffer area and the third buffer area, the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored in the first buffer area, the second buffer area and the third buffer area under different states through the system, the operation flexibility of the movable goods shelf and the buffer characteristic for goods are fully utilized, the operation flow efficiency of the whole system is higher, fewer robots are needed, and the efficiency of the whole system is improved while the cost is reduced.

(3) According to the invention, through combining analysis and prediction based on previous order data and analysis based on current order data, through combination and disassembly of the material/container robot and the movable goods shelf, rapid goods storage, taking and carrying between the movable goods shelf and the fixed goods shelf are realized, through setting a buffer area and temporary storage of the movable goods shelf in the buffer area, through carrying the movable goods shelf by the carrying robot, and through picking and sowing operation of picking workers or mechanical arms on the movable goods shelf, the most efficient working mode of 'people, machines and goods' can be realized to the greatest extent while flexible operation is realized in a warehouse ex-warehouse picking process.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic of the picking system of example 1.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the location relationship between the area and the equipment in the picking system of example 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the location of the area and the equipment in the picking system in example 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the area versus equipment location for the picking system of example 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the combined apparatus in example 1.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the pre-picking method in example 2.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method for pre-picking move to the third buffer in example 2.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the picking method in example 3.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart II of the picking method in example 3.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of the operation performed on the movable racks for the remaining items after the order picking sowing in embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of the rollback operation in embodiment 3.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart one of the picking method of example 4 when the material/container of the desired article is on the fixed shelf.

Fig. 13 is a second flowchart of the method of picking the material/container of the article on the fixed shelves when it is needed in embodiment 4.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of a picking method when a stock/container of a desired article is at a cache location of the first cache area and/or the third cache area in embodiment 4.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart one of the picking method of example 5 when the material/container of the desired article is on the fixed shelf.

Fig. 16 is a flow chart II of the picking method of example 5 when the material/container of the desired item is on a fixed shelf.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart of a picking method when a stock/container of a desired article is at a cache location of the first cache area and/or the third cache area in embodiment 5.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the picking apparatus in example 6.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, should be taken as illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting, the examples being intended to provide those skilled in the art with a better understanding and reproduction of the technical solutions of the invention, the scope of the invention still being defined by the claims. The terms "first" and "second" are used herein merely to distinguish technical features, and do not have other meanings, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated.

Example 1

The present embodiment provides a flexible cargo-to-robotic picking system.

As shown in fig. 1-5, the picking system includes:

A fixed shelf storage area 10 for placing a fixed shelf 101;

The fixed goods shelves 101, the fixed goods shelves 101 are provided with fixed goods shelf goods shelves for placing the materials/containers 20, the fixed goods shelves are provided with fixed goods shelf identification codes which are uniquely identified, and each fixed goods shelf is provided with a fixed goods shelf identification code which is uniquely identified; the fixed shelves may be overhead shelves and the material/container 20 is removed from the fixed shelves 101 by the material/container robot 30 to be placed on the moving shelves in combination therewith.

The movable goods shelf 40, the movable goods shelf 40 is provided with movable goods shelf goods shelves for placing the materials/containers 20, the movable goods shelf 40 is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf identification code, and each movable goods shelf is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf identification code; preferably, the bottom of the movable shelf 40 is provided with rollers, and the picking worker or the mechanical arm can pull the movable shelf to move the movable shelf or directly carry the movable shelf to a destination through a carrying robot. .

A materials/containers robot 30 for handling materials/containers 20 and mobile racks 40 that are validated based on orders, tasks, and/or scheduling; the material/container robot 30 is further provided with a connecting device, the material/container robot 30 and the movable shelf 40 form a combined device 31 (as shown in fig. 3) of the robot and the movable shelf through the connecting device, and the combined device is used for storing, taking and picking the material/container confirmed based on orders, tasks and/or scheduling, and completing the storage, the transportation and the carrying of the corresponding material/container between the fixed shelf and the movable shelf; preferably, the connecting device is of the prior art, which is used for fixing the material/container robot and the mobile pallet, which is not the focus of protection of the application and is therefore not described further.

A first buffer area 401 for parking the mobile shelf after the inventory operation and the disassembly operation by the combination device 31, wherein a plurality of mobile shelf parking positions are arranged in the first buffer area 401, and each mobile shelf parking position is provided with a uniquely identified first buffer position identification code;

a transfer robot 50 for transferring the mobile shelf 40 confirmed based on the order, the task, and/or the schedule, and transferring the mobile shelf 40 to a destination; preferably, the transfer robot 50 may perform the transfer by lifting, dragging, pulling, or the like.

An order picking and seeding operation area 60 for placing an order seeding wall 601;

An order seeding wall 601, which is arranged in an order picking and seeding operation area in a warehouse and is used for placing an order box, wherein the order box is used for placing goods of corresponding orders picked by a picking worker or a mechanical arm; the order box is provided with a unique order box position identifier which is used for identifying the position of the order box on an order sowing wall; the order seeding wall may contain a plurality of order picking seeding stations 602; each order picking and seeding station 602 is used for an order picking and seeding operation by a picking worker or a mechanical arm; preferably, the order seeding wall may be fixed or movable. In the movable condition, after one-side sowing and picking are completed, the machine is moved away from the picking station to a packing and warehouse-out area.

A second buffer area 402, configured to park a mobile shelf 40 that is carried by the carrying robot 50 from the first buffer area 402 and/or the third buffer area, where a material/container to be picked is placed on the mobile shelf, where a plurality of mobile shelf parking positions are provided in the second buffer area, where each mobile shelf parking position is provided with a unique identified second buffer position identification code;

a third buffer area 403 for parking the movable shelves of the goods still after being picked by the picking worker or the mechanical arm and/or the movable shelves after finishing the stock operation and the disassembly operation by the combining apparatus according to the pre-picking; a plurality of mobile goods shelf parking positions are arranged in the third cache region, and each mobile goods shelf parking position is provided with a third cache position identification code which is uniquely identified;

Wherein, the stock operation means that the stock/container robot 30 takes the stock/container 20 from the fixed goods shelf 101, takes the stock/container 20 on the goods shelf of the fixed goods shelf, and places the stock/container on the goods shelf of the movable goods shelf 40;

the detaching operation refers to the detachment of the movable shelf 40 from the combining device 31.

In some preferred embodiments, the first buffer 401, the second buffer 402, and the third buffer 403 are each defined in the warehouse and include a plurality of mobile shelf parking positions;

or the first buffer area 401, the second buffer area 402 and/or the third buffer area 403 are each a set of several mobile shelf parking positions scattered.

Preferably, the first buffer zone 401, the second buffer zone 402 and the third buffer zone 403 may be arranged at any position of the warehouse, but in order to reduce the movement path of the material/container robot 30, the first buffer zone 401 is preferably arranged near the fixed shelf storage area 10; in order to reduce the movement path of the handling robot 50, the second buffer 402 is preferably arranged near each order picking and seeding station; the third buffer area 403 may be configured as a separate area according to the needs of warehouse management, or may be a part of the mobile shelf parking positions near the first buffer area 401 and/or the second buffer area 402.

Preferably, the empty mobile shelving 40 may be placed at any location in the warehouse where a buffer is provided, and for faster response to orders, the empty mobile shelving is preferably placed near the fixed shelf storage area 10, or a specific area may be set separately for placement of the empty mobile shelving.

Example 2

The present embodiment provides a pre-picking method of a flexible freight to robotic robot based on one of the flexible freight to robotic picking systems of embodiment 1.

As shown in fig. 6, when the pre-picking method is used for idle warehouse, the following steps are specifically executed:

s101, carrying out predictive analysis on the order data of the previous period, and analyzing goods possibly needed in the future according to the order data of the previous period to form a predicted order, wherein the predicted order at least comprises an order line; the previous period of order data may refer to any defined previous period of order data; the order data of the previous period of time can also refer to any one or more batch order data before; the order data of the previous period of time may also refer to any one or more previous wave order data;

s102, analyzing the needed goods according to the predicted orders, determining a material/container 20 for placing the goods, generating storage/fetching information and sending the storage/fetching information to the material/container robot 30; the goods storing/taking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf goods position information, goods storing/taking task instructions and scheduling instructions;

S103, moving the material/container robot 30 to the position of the moving goods shelf according to the moving goods shelf to be combined and carried determined by the goods storage/picking information, and connecting and combining the material/container robot with the moving goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form a combined device 31;

S104, moving the combined equipment 31 to the side of the fixed goods shelf 101 according to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken determined by the storage/taking information, taking the material/container 20 needing to be stored/taken off the fixed goods shelf 101 by the combined equipment 31 through a material/container robot, placing the material/container 20 on the movable goods shelf of the combined equipment 31, and recording the movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf where the material/container 20 is placed, the material/container identification code and the corresponding movable goods shelf cargo position identification code;

S105, when the movable shelf on the combined equipment 31 is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or the emergency order processing flow is triggered, the combined equipment 31 moves to the target cache position according to the cache position determined by the goods storing/taking information, then the combined equipment 31 performs the disassembling operation, and the movable shelf 40 is parked at the cache position in the first cache region 401 and/or the third cache region 403.

As shown in fig. 7, the pre-picked mobile racks may also be carried to the third buffer area 403 according to the requirement, so as to save the corresponding time, and the specific implementation steps include:

S106, determining a movable goods shelf needing temporary storage according to the predicted order and/or the goods storage/retrieval information, generating transportation information and sending the transportation information to the transportation robot; the handling information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a handling task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S107, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the moving rack in the first buffer 401 to the buffer position in the third buffer 403 for temporary storage by lifting, dragging, and pulling.

Example 3

The present embodiment provides a flexible cargo to robotic picking method based on the flexible cargo to robotic picking system of embodiment 1.

As shown in fig. 8-9, the picking method is suitable for performing the following steps in particular when the warehouse is not idle, i.e. when the warehouse has order processing:

s201, analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

s202, determining a material/container 20 for placing goods according to the goods required by an order, generating storage/picking information, and sending the storage/picking information to a material/container robot, wherein the storage/picking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, a storage/picking task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S203, a movable goods shelf which is determined according to the goods storage/picking information and needs to be combined and carried, wherein the material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form a combined device 31;

S204, moving the combined equipment to the side of the fixed goods shelf 101 according to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/taken and the material/container needing to be stored/taken determined by the storage/taking information, taking the material/container needing to be stored/taken off the fixed goods shelf 101 by the combined equipment 31 through a material/container robot, placing the material/container on the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment 31, and recording the movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container 20 is placed, the material/container identification code and the corresponding movable goods shelf position identification code;

S205, when judging that the movable shelf on the combined equipment 31 is full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or when the emergency order processing flow is triggered, moving the combined equipment to a target cache position according to the cache position determined by the goods storing/taking information, then performing a disassembling operation by the combined equipment 31, and parking the movable shelf 40 in the cache position in the first cache region 401;

S206, determining the movable goods shelf 40 to be picked and sown according to the order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to the carrying robot 50, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, carrying task instructions and scheduling instructions;

S207, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the movable shelf 40 in the first buffer area 401 to the buffer position in the second buffer area 402 for temporary storage in a lifting, dragging and pulling manner;

s208, the system generates shift operation information according to order data, the goods storage/picking information and/or the carrying information, and sends the shift operation information to the handheld equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

s209, a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a transfer robot performs a displacement operation on the movable shelf 40 in the second buffer area 402 according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable shelf 40 to a buffer position in the second buffer area 402 designated by the displacement operation information;

S210, generating order picking and sowing operation information according to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

s211, picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods from the movable goods shelves according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and the goods on the movable goods shelves are placed into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

S212, after the picking worker or the mechanical arm finishes order picking and seeding operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot performs shifting operation on the movable shelf 40 according to the shifting operation information, and moves the movable shelf 40 to a cache position in a second cache area 402 designated by the shifting operation information.

As shown in fig. 10, after the order picking and seeding is completed, the goods on the movable shelves in the second buffer area 402 are not necessarily completely picked, and the following picking method is performed on the movable shelves with goods, specifically:

Analyzing the demand of the goods according to the subsequent order data and analyzing the information of the goods on the moving shelf 40 in the second buffer area 402; the subsequent order data refers to order data after the order, and may refer to subsequent order data of one or more batches; and may also refer to subsequent one or more wave order data;

If the goods requirement of the subsequent order contains the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area 402, temporarily storing the movable goods shelf in the current buffer position to wait for the next order picking and seeding operation;

If the demand for the good of the subsequent order does not contain the information of the good on the mobile shelf in the second buffer 402, the system analyzes the possible demand for the good in the future time according to the processed data of the order in the previous time; the order data of the previous period of time may refer to any defined order data of the previous period of time; the order data of the previous period of time can also refer to any one or more batch order data before; the order data of the previous period of time may also refer to any one or more previous wave order data;

If the goods demand in the future period of time contains the goods information on the movable goods shelf 40 in the second buffer area 402, confirming that the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored, sending the system generated transportation information to the transportation robot 50, and the transportation robot 50 transporting the movable goods shelf from the located buffer position to the target buffer position in the third buffer area 403 for temporary storage in a jacking, dragging and traction manner;

If the demand for the good for a future period of time does not contain information for the good on the mobile shelf in the second cache area 402, it is confirmed that the good on the mobile shelf needs to be returned to the warehouse.

As shown in fig. 11, the specific steps of the database returning operation are as follows:

The system generates transfer information to be sent to the transfer robot 50 and generates deposit/pick-up information to be sent to the material/container robot 30; according to the transfer information, the transfer robot 50 transfers the movable shelf 40 to a destination buffer position in the first buffer area 401; the handling information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a handling task instruction and a scheduling instruction; the material/container robot 30 moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot 30 to form a combination device 31; the goods storing/taking information comprises material/container information, fixed goods shelf goods position information, cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, goods storing/taking task instructions and scheduling instructions;

the combination device 31 moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf 101 according to the fixed goods shelf needing to be stored/fetched and the material/container needing to be stored/fetched determined by the storage/fetched information, the combination device 31 removes the material/container needing to be stored/fetched from the movable goods shelf through the material/container robot and places the material/container on the fixed goods shelf 101, and the material/container storage information of the fixed goods shelf and the movable goods shelf is updated;

Under the condition that the movable shelf returning operation is judged to be completed, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or the emergency order processing flow is triggered, the combined equipment 31 moves to the buffer position in the first buffer area 401 according to the buffer position determined by the goods storing/taking information; the combined device 31 then performs a disassembly operation to park the mobile pallet in the first buffer area or in the placement area of an empty mobile pallet.

Example 4

The present embodiment provides a picking method of a flexible freight to a robot including the pre-picking method in embodiment 2.

When the warehouse is not idle and pre-picking is carried out, the movable goods shelves with picking are placed in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area in advance, and the following specific steps are executed:

S301, analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

s302, determining the material/container of the needed goods according to the pre-selected goods, the goods stored on the fixed goods shelf and the goods needed by combining the orders. The items at this time may not be picked ahead of time on fixed shelves 101 or the items may have been picked ahead of time and placed in the first buffer and/or the third buffer's buffer locations.

As shown in fig. 12 to 13, when a material/container of a desired article is on the fixed shelf 101, the following operations are performed:

S30211, the system generates and sends the information of storage/picking up goods to the material/container robot 30;

s30212, a movable shelf to be combined and carried is determined according to the storage/pickup information, and the material/container robot moves to the position of the movable shelf and is connected and combined with the movable shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form a combination device 31;

s30213, moving the combination device 31 to the side of the fixed goods shelf according to the fixed goods shelf required to be stored/taken and the material/container required to be stored/taken determined by the storage/taking information, taking the material/container required to be stored/taken off the fixed goods shelf by the combination device through a material/container robot, placing the material/container on the movable goods shelf on the combination device 31, and recording a movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container is placed, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf cargo position identification code;

s30214, under the condition that the movable shelf on the combination device is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or under the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, the combination device moves to a target cache position according to the cache position determined by the goods storage/retrieval information, then the combination device performs a disassembling operation, and the movable shelf 40 is parked at the cache position in the first cache region 401;

s30215, determining a movable goods shelf 40 to be selected and sown according to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to the carrying robot 50, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, carrying task instructions and scheduling instructions;

s30216, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the movable shelf 40 in the first buffer area 401 to the buffer position in the second buffer area 402 for temporary storage by means of lifting, dragging and traction;

S30217, the system generates shift operation information according to order data, the goods storage/taking information and/or the carrying information, and sends the shift operation information to a picking worker handheld device, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S30218, a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a transfer robot performs a displacement operation on the movable shelf 40 in the second buffer area 402 according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area 402 designated by the displacement operation information;

S30219, generating order picking and sowing operation information according to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, movable goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

s30220, picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

S30221, after order picking and sowing operations are completed on the movable storage racks by the picking workers or the mechanical arms, the picking workers, the mechanical arms or the transfer robots perform shifting operations on the movable storage racks according to the shifting operation information, and the movable storage racks are moved to the cache positions in the second cache area appointed by the shifting operation information.

As shown in fig. 14, when the required material/container of the goods is at the buffer location of the first buffer zone 401 and/or the third buffer zone 403, wherein the material/container of the goods located in the third buffer zone 403 is a mobile shelf from pre-picking to the third buffer zone 403, the following specific steps are performed:

s30231, the system generates the conveyance information and transmits the conveyance information to the conveyance robot 50;

s30232, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the movable shelves in the first buffer area 401 and/or the third buffer area 403 to the buffer position in the second buffer area 402 for temporary storage in a lifting, dragging and pulling manner;

S30233, generating shift operation information according to order data, goods storage/retrieval information and/or carrying information by the system, and sending the shift operation information to handheld equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S30234, a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a transfer robot performs a displacement operation on the movable shelf 40 in the second buffer area 402 according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area 402 appointed by the displacement operation information;

s30235, generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storage/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

s30236, picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

S30237, after order picking and sowing operations are completed on the movable shelf by the picking workers or the mechanical arms, the picking workers, the mechanical arms or the carrying robots carry out shifting operations on the movable shelf according to the shifting operation information, and the movable shelf 40 is moved to a cache position in the second cache area 402 appointed by the shifting operation information.

When the order picking and seeding is completed, the goods on the movable racks in the second buffer area 402 are not necessarily completely picked, and the following picking method is performed for the movable racks with goods, and this step is consistent with the operation in embodiment 3, and can be directly referred to as fig. 10, specifically:

Analyzing the goods demand according to the subsequent order data and analyzing the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area 402; the subsequent order data refers to order data after the order or refers to subsequent order data of one or more batches; or refers to subsequent one or more wave order data;

if the goods demand in the future period of time contains the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area 402, confirming that the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored, generating the transportation information by the system and sending the transportation information to the transportation robot, and the transportation robot 50 transports the movable goods shelf from the buffer position to the target buffer position in the third buffer area 403 for temporary storage by means of jacking, dragging and traction;

if the demand for the good for a future period of time does not contain information for the good on the mobile shelf 40 in the second cache area 402, it is confirmed that the good on the mobile shelf needs to be returned to the warehouse.

The specific steps of the return operation are (this step corresponds to the operation in embodiment 3, and reference may be made directly to fig. 11):

the system generates transfer information to be sent to the transfer robot and generates deposit/pick-up information to be sent to the material/container robot 50; the transfer robot 50 transfers the moving rack to a destination buffer position in the first buffer area 401 according to the transfer information;

The material/container robot 30 moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot 30 to form a combination device 31;

The combination device 31 moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the material/container to be stored/fetched is removed from the movable goods shelf by the material/container robot and placed on the fixed goods shelf, and the material/container storage information of the fixed goods shelf and the movable goods shelf is updated;

under the condition that the warehouse returning operation of the movable shelf is completed, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or the emergency order processing flow is triggered, according to the cache position determined by the goods storing/taking information, the combined equipment moves to the cache position in the first cache area 401; the combined device then performs a disassembly operation to park the mobile pallet in the first buffer area 401 or in a placement area of an empty mobile pallet.

Example 5

The present embodiment provides a picking method of a flexible freight to a robot based on the picking methods in embodiment 2 and embodiment 4 having been performed.

S401, analyzing the needed goods according to order data, wherein the order data at least comprises an order row;

S402, determining the material/container 20 of the needed goods according to the goods stored on the current fixed goods shelf 101, the goods stored on the movable goods shelf 40 temporarily stored in the second buffer area 402 and/or the third buffer area 403 and the goods needed by combining the order. The goods may not be picked in advance and placed on the fixed shelf 101 at this time, or the goods may be already picked in advance and placed on the buffer location of the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area, or the goods may be placed on a moving shelf where the goods are not picked after the last picking.

15-16, When the material/container of the desired article is on a fixed shelf, the following operations are performed:

s40211, the system generates and sends the information of storing/picking up goods to the material/container robot 50;

s40212, moving a goods shelf to be combined and carried according to the goods storage/taking information, wherein the material/container robot 30 moves to the position of the moving goods shelf and is connected and combined with the moving goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form a combined device 31;

s40213, moving the combined equipment to the side of a fixed goods shelf and a material/container to be stored/fetched according to the fixed goods shelf and the material/container to be stored/fetched determined by the storage/fetch information, taking the material/container to be stored/fetched off the fixed goods shelf 101 by the combined equipment 31 through a material/container robot, placing the material/container on the movable goods shelf on the combined equipment 31, and recording a movable goods shelf identification code of the movable goods shelf on which the material/container is placed, a material/container identification code and a corresponding movable goods shelf cargo position identification code;

S40214, under the condition that the movable shelf on the combined equipment is judged to be full, no more materials/containers need to be carried, or under the condition that an emergency order processing flow is triggered, the combined equipment moves to a target cache position according to the cache position determined by the goods storage/retrieval information, then the combined equipment performs disassembling operation, and the movable shelf 40 is parked at the cache position in the first cache region 401;

s40215, determining a movable goods shelf needing to be selected and sown according to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information and target cache position information, and the movable goods shelf identification information, a carrying task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S40216, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area 401 to the buffer position in the second buffer area 402 for temporary storage in a lifting, dragging and traction mode;

s40217, generating shift operation information according to order data, the goods storage/picking information and/or the carrying information by the system, and sending the shift operation information to a picking worker handheld device, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S40218, a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area 402 according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area 402 appointed by the displacement operation information;

S40219, generating order picking and sowing operation information according to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, movable goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

S40220, picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

S40221, after the picking worker or the mechanical arm finishes order picking and sowing operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot performs shifting operation on the movable shelf according to the shifting operation information, and moves the movable shelf to a cache position in a second cache area 402 designated by the shifting operation information.

As shown in fig. 17, when the required material/container of the goods is at the buffer location of the first buffer 401 and/or the third buffer 403, wherein the material/container 20 of the goods in the third buffer 403 is a mobile shelf from pre-picking to the third buffer 403 and a mobile shelf from picking to the third buffer 403 after seeding before the present order is completed, the following specific steps are executed:

S40231, the system generates the conveying information and sends the conveying information to the conveying robot 50;

s40232, according to the conveying information, the conveying robot 50 conveys the movable shelves in the first buffer area 401 and/or the third buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area 402 for temporary storage in a lifting, dragging and pulling manner;

s40233, generating shift operation information according to order data, goods storage/retrieval information and/or carrying information by the system, and sending the shift operation information to handheld equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

S40234, a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area 402 according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area 402 appointed by the displacement operation information;

S40235, generating order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data, the goods storage/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information by the system, and sending the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

S40236, picking workers or mechanical arms pick corresponding goods according to the order picking and sowing operation information, and placing the goods on the movable shelf into corresponding order boxes according to the order picking and sowing operation information;

S40237, after order picking and sowing operation is finished on the movable shelf by a picking worker or a mechanical arm, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or a carrying robot carries out displacement operation on the movable shelf according to displacement operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a cache position in a second cache area 402 appointed by the displacement operation information.

In some preferred embodiments, after the order picking and seeding is completed, the goods on the movable racks in the second buffer area 402 are not necessarily completely picked, and the following picking method is performed for the movable racks with goods, and this step is consistent with the operation in embodiment 3, and may be directly referred to fig. 10, specifically:

if the goods demand in the future period of time contains the goods information on the moving goods shelf in the second buffer area 402, confirming that the moving goods shelf is temporarily stored, generating the carrying information by the system and sending the carrying information to the carrying robot 50, and carrying the moving goods shelf from the buffer position to the target buffer position in the third buffer area 403 for temporary storage by the carrying robot 50 in a jacking, dragging and traction mode;

The system generates transfer information to be sent to the transfer robot 50 and generates deposit/pick-up information to be sent to the material/container robot 30; according to the conveying information, the conveying robot conveys the movable goods shelf to a target cache position in the first cache region 401;

The material/container robot moves to the position of the movable goods shelf and is connected and combined with the movable goods shelf through a connecting device arranged on the material/container robot to form a combination device 31;

the combination equipment 31 moves to the side of the fixed goods shelf, the goods/containers to be stored/fetched are removed from the movable goods shelf by the combination equipment 31 through the goods/containers robot, and are placed on the fixed goods shelf, and the storage information of the fixed goods shelf and the goods/containers of the movable goods shelf is updated;

Example 6

As shown in fig. 18, the present embodiment provides a flexible cargo-to-robotic picking device.

The flexible goods-to-robotic picking device 100 includes: a memory 101, a processor 103 and a computer program 102 stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which computer program, when being executed by the processor, implements a method of pre-picking a flexible pallet-to-robot as described above and/or a method of picking a flexible pallet-to-robot as described above.

Example 7

The present embodiment is a computer-readable storage medium.

The computer readable storage medium stores an implementation program of information transfer, and the program is executed by a processor, and the pre-picking method of the flexible goods to the robot and/or the picking method of the flexible goods to the robot are/is described.

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

It should be noted that technical features not described in detail in the present invention may be implemented by any prior art.

Claims

1. A flexible cargo to robotic picking system comprising:

the fixed goods shelf storage area is used for placing a fixed goods shelf;

The movable goods shelf is provided with movable goods shelf goods positions for placing materials/containers, the movable goods shelf is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf identification code, and each movable goods shelf goods position is provided with a uniquely identified movable goods shelf goods position identification code;

A transfer robot for transferring the mobile shelf confirmed based on the order, the task, and/or the schedule, and transferring the mobile shelf to a destination;

2. A flexible freight to robotic picking system as defined in claim 1, wherein the first, second and third buffers are each an area of a warehouse that includes a plurality of mobile shelf parking locations;

3. A method of pre-picking a flexible pallet to a robotic robot, the method being based on a flexible pallet to robotic robot picking system of any of claims 1-2, the method comprising:

When the warehouse is idle, the following steps are specifically executed:

(101) The method comprises the steps of carrying out predictive analysis on order data of a previous period, and analyzing goods possibly needed in the future according to the order data of the previous period to form a predictive order, wherein the predictive order at least comprises an order row;

4. A method of pre-picking a flexible freight to robotic robot as defined in claim 3, further comprising:

5. A method of picking a flexible cargo to a robotic robot, the method based on a flexible cargo to robotic robot picking system of any of claims 1-2, the method comprising:

(206) According to order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, determining a movable goods shelf needing to be selected and sown, generating carrying information and sending the carrying information to a carrying robot, wherein the carrying information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a carrying task instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(207) According to the carrying information, carrying the movable goods shelf in the first buffer area to a buffer position in the second buffer area by a carrying robot for temporary storage;

(208) The system generates shift operation information according to order data and/or goods storage/picking information and/or carrying information and sends the shift operation information to hand-held equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(209) The picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out displacement operation on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area according to the displacement operation information, wherein the displacement operation refers to that the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot moves the movable goods shelf to a buffer position in the second buffer area appointed by the displacement operation information;

(210) The system generates order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information, and sends the order picking and sowing operation information to a handheld device or a mechanical arm of a picking worker, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

(212) After the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot finishes order picking and sowing operation on the movable shelf, the picking worker, the mechanical arm or the transfer robot carries out shifting operation on the movable shelf according to shifting operation information, and the movable shelf is moved to a buffer position in a second buffer area appointed by the shifting operation information.

6. A method of picking a flexible pallet to a robotic robot as set forth in claim 5, wherein after the order picking and seeding operation for the mobile pallet is completed, the method further comprises:

Analyzing the goods demand according to the follow-up order data, and analyzing the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area;

If the goods requirements of the subsequent orders do not contain the goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer area, the system analyzes possible goods requirements in a future period according to the processed order data of the previous period;

If the goods demand in a period of time in the future contains goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer zone, confirming that the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored, generating transportation information by a system, sending the transportation information to a transportation robot, and temporarily storing the transportation robot by transporting the movable goods shelf from the buffer position to a target buffer position in a third buffer zone;

7. A method of picking a flexible freight to a robotic robot as defined by claim 6, wherein said returning comprises the steps of:

8. A method of picking a flexible cargo to a robotic robot comprising the pre-picking method of any of claims 3-4, the method of picking comprising:

9. A method of picking a flexible pallet to a robotic machine as defined by claim 8, wherein,

When the required stock/container of the goods is on the fixed shelf, the following operations are performed:

(30216) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage;

(30219) The system generates order picking and sowing operation information according to the order data and/or the goods storing/taking information, the carrying information and/or the shifting operation information, and sends the order picking and sowing operation information to a handheld device or a mechanical arm of a picking worker, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

10. A method of picking a flexible pallet to a robotic machine as defined by claim 8, wherein,

When the needed goods are placed on the first buffer area and/or the buffer position of the third buffer area, wherein the goods placed in the third buffer area are moving shelves from pre-picking to the third buffer area, the following concrete steps are executed:

(30232) According to the carrying information, carrying the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area to buffer positions in the second buffer area by a carrying robot for temporary storage;

(30233) The system generates shift operation information according to order data and/or goods storage/picking information and/or carrying information and sends the shift operation information to hand-held equipment of a picking worker, a mechanical arm or a carrying robot, wherein the shift operation information comprises initial cache position information, target cache position information, movable goods shelf identification information, a shift operation instruction and a scheduling instruction;

(30235) The system generates order picking and sowing operation information according to order data, storage/picking information, carrying information and/or displacement operation information, and sends the order picking and sowing operation information to a picking worker handheld device or a mechanical arm, wherein the order picking and sowing operation information comprises cache position information, mobile goods shelf identification information, mobile goods shelf goods position identification information, order information, goods information, order box position information, order picking and sowing operation instructions and scheduling instructions;

11. A method of picking a flexible pallet to a robotic robot as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein said method of picking further comprises:

if the goods demand in a period of time in the future contains goods information on the movable goods shelf in the second buffer zone, confirming that the movable goods shelf is temporarily stored, generating and sending the transportation information to the transportation robot by the system, and transporting the movable goods shelf from the buffer position to the target buffer position in the third buffer zone by the transportation robot for temporary storage;

12. A method of picking a flexible freight to a robotic robot as defined by claim 11, wherein said returning comprises the steps of:

13. A method of picking a flexible cargo to a robotic robot comprising the method of picking of any of claims 8-12, the method of picking comprising:

14. A method of picking a flexible pallet to robot as claimed in claim 13, wherein when the required stock/container of the goods is on a fixed shelf, the following operations are performed:

(40216) According to the carrying information, the carrying robot carries the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area to the buffer position in the second buffer area for temporary storage;

15. The flexible to robotic picking method of claim 13, wherein when the material/container of the desired item is in the first buffer and/or the third buffer, wherein the material/container of the item in the third buffer is from a mobile pallet pre-picked to the third buffer and a mobile pallet post-picked to the third buffer before the completion of the picking and seeding, the following steps are performed:

(40232) According to the carrying information, carrying the movable goods shelves in the first buffer area and/or the third buffer area to buffer positions in the second buffer area by a carrying robot for temporary storage;

16. A method of picking a flexible freight to a robotic robot as claimed in claim 14 or 15, wherein the method of picking further comprises:

17. A method of picking a flexible freight to robotic robot as defined by claim 16, wherein said returning comprises the steps of:

18. A flexible cargo to robotic picking device comprising: memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which computer program, when executed by the processor, implements a method of pre-picking a flexible pallet-to-robot according to any one of claims 3 to 4 and/or a method of picking a flexible pallet-to-robot according to any one of claims 5 to 17.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it has stored thereon a program for realizing information transfer, which program, when being executed by a processor, realizes a method for pre-picking a flexible pallet-to-person robot according to any of claims 3 to 4 and/or a method for picking a flexible pallet-to-person robot according to any of claims 5 to 17.