JP2024061556A - Picking system, picking control device, and picking control program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To efficiently pick up parcels and transport them to a predetermined position. [Solution] A picking system includes a first cart equipped with a first arm and traveling on a first lane set outside a storage unit in which parcels are stored, a second cart equipped with a second arm and traveling on a second lane set outside the first lane, and a control unit that controls the first cart to pick up the parcel with the first arm while traveling on the first lane and hand it over to the second cart, and the second cart to receive the parcel picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling on the second lane and transport it to a predetermined position. [Selected Figure] Figure 3

Description

This disclosure relates to a picking system, a picking control device, and a picking control program.

Patent Document 1 discloses a picking device that transports items within a controlled area, characterized in that the picking device is equipped with a robot that autonomously travels around multiple shelves arranged in the controlled area based on a predetermined collection plan for the items, collects and returns items to the shelves, and transports the items to a predetermined picking station.

JP 2022-068557 A

When using autonomous carts to pick up items in a warehouse and transport them to a predetermined location, it is inefficient for one cart to be responsible for both picking the items and transporting them to the predetermined location.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a picking system, a picking control device, and a picking control program that can efficiently pick packages and transport them to a predetermined location.

The picking system according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes a first cart having a first arm and traveling on a first lane set outside a storage unit in which luggage is stored, a second cart having a second arm and traveling on a second lane set outside the first lane, and a picking control device that controls the first cart to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling on the first lane and transfer it to the second cart, and the second cart to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling on the second lane and transport it to a predetermined position.

The picking control device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure includes a control unit that controls a first cart that includes a first arm and travels along a first lane set outside a storage unit in which luggage is stored, to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling along the first lane and to transfer it to the second cart, and a second cart that includes a second arm and travels along a second lane set outside the first lane, to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling along the second lane and to carry it to a predetermined position.

The picking control program according to the third aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute a process including controlling a first cart, which has a first arm and travels along a first lane set outside a storage unit in which luggage is stored, to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling along the first lane and to hand it over to the second cart, and a second cart, which has a second arm and travels along a second lane set outside the first lane, to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling along the second lane and to carry it to a predetermined position.

1 is a plan view of a warehouse floor to which a picking system according to a first embodiment is applied. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cart robot according to a first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which a basket is handed over from a local cart to a high-speed cart. 13 is a flowchart showing a control routine for a process of picking up a basket by a local cart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a cart robot. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of computer hardware that functions as an information processing device of the humanoid robot in the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a picking control device in a second embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of a picking control process in the second embodiment.

The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

<First embodiment>

The first embodiment is described below.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a warehouse floor 50 to which the picking system according to this embodiment is applied.

Picking work is the job of gathering (picking up) the necessary items. Picking staff (cart robots 52 in this embodiment) play an essential role in shipping items from within a warehouse, and are deployed in warehouses of all kinds. Note that this is not limited to cart robots, and may also be humanoid robots.

For example, the main job of a picker is to collect specified items based on a pre-specified list or order form, and then pass the items together to the inspector and packer. The larger the warehouse, the greater the variety and number of items stored, so a large number of picking staff will be moving around within Floor 50.

1, a storage section (warehouse, shelf, etc.) 54 is provided on the floor 50, in which a plurality of baskets 56 (see FIG. 3) are stored. A cart robot 52 moves around the storage section 54. The cart robot 52 is mainly responsible for receiving and delivering baskets 56, and is classified into a Fast Track Cart 52A (high-speed cart 52A) as a cart 52 that moves along a Fast Lane 58 (high-speed lane 58) and a Local Track Cart 52B (local cart 52B) as a cart 52 that moves along a Local Picking Lane 60 (local lane 60). The storage section 54 is an example of a storage section in the present disclosure. The local lane 60 is an example of a first lane in the present disclosure. The high-speed lane 58 is an example of a second lane in the present disclosure. The local cart 52B is an example of a first cart in the present disclosure. Additionally, the high-speed cart 52A is an example of a second cart of the present disclosure.

The local lane 60 is an inner lane within the floor 50, in other words, a lane set outside the storage unit 54, in which the local cart 52B snakes toward and away from the storage unit 54 while temporarily decelerating to pick up the basket 56 from the storage unit 54.

As shown in FIG. 2, the local cart 52B picks up a basket containing luggage with two picking arms 62 installed on the inside, and then passes the basket 56 to the high-speed cart 52A moving on the high-speed lane 58 with three passing arms 64 installed on the outside. The picking arms 62 and passing arms 64 are examples of the first arms.

The local cart 52B also has a built-in counterbalance battery (not shown) to prevent it from tipping over.

The high-speed lane 58 is an outer lane within the floor 50, in other words, a lane set outside the local lane 60, and travels non-stop at, for example, 20 km/h, receiving the basket 56 from the local cart 52B moving along the local lane 60 with three receiving arms 66 (see FIG. 3). The receiving arms 66 are an example of a second arm.

The sequence of operations involves the local cart 52B in the local lane 60 picking up the basket 56, then traveling parallel to the high-speed cart 52A in the outer high-speed lane 58 at a speed of 20 km/h, passing the basket 56 to the high-speed cart 52A non-stop using the three passing arms 64 of the local cart 52B and the three receiving arms 66 of the high-speed cart 52A, in a relay baton-passing manner.

A docking station 68 is installed on the floor 50 in correspondence with the storage unit 54. Note that the location of the docking station 68 is an example of a predetermined location in this disclosure.

The docking station 68 is the connection point between the express lane 58 and the local lane 60.

The docking station 68 has 20 arms and is capable of receiving the basket 56 from the high-speed lane 58.

At the docking station 68, the high-speed cart 52A temporarily decelerates to, for example, 2 km/h, transfers the basket within, for example, one minute, and then accelerates again.

On floor 50, a group of warehouse sensors 70, including cameras and LiDAR, are installed on the ceiling and walls.

These in-warehouse sensors 70 constantly measure the distance and speed between the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B, and use this information to synchronize them with each other.

In addition, a group of vehicle sensors 72 including cameras and LiDAR is installed on each vehicle body (cart body) of the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B, and by controlling the distance between vehicles to be equal to the number of carts, it is possible to predict the necessary distance between vehicles (e.g., 3 m or more).

In the above picking system, the high-speed carts on the floor 50 and the local carts 52B work at a perfectly synchronized tempo, so there is no risk of accidents such as interference (contact or collision). In addition, because picking work is performed non-stop, time-based unauthorized work can be minimized.

Here, the carts in this embodiment (high-speed cart 52A and local cart 52B) each have multiple arms, as described above.

The local cart 52B has two picking arms 62 and three passing arms 64, and the high-speed cart 52A has three receiving arms 66. Hereinafter, they will be referred to collectively as arms 62, 64, and 66.

The arms 62, 64, and 66 move in three dimensions based on tasks such as picking baskets 56 and transferring items between carts, and therefore cross the monitoring area of a group of vehicle body sensors 72 installed on the cart body.

Due to this three-dimensional movement, blind spots may occur in any of the vehicle body sensors 72. The arms 62, 64, and 66 move irregularly, and the movement trajectory is particularly large closer to the tip. Furthermore, the blind spots of the vehicle body sensors 72 change over time.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a group of arm sensors 74 such as small cameras and LiDAR are attached to the tip of each arm 62, 64, 66 of each cart (high-speed cart 52A and local cart 52B).

The arm sensor group 74 at the tip of the arms 62, 64, and 66 can eliminate blind spots of the vehicle body sensor group 72 on the cart body.

In addition, for example, by adding a temperature sensor, hardness sensor, or the like as the type of arm sensor group 74 at the tip of the arms 62, 64, and 66, it is possible to set the gripping strength, etc., when transferring (holding) the basket 56. By setting the gripping strength, etc., deformation or damage to the basket 56 can be prevented.

The warehouse interior sensor group 70, vehicle body sensor group 72, and arm sensor group 74 may be the highest performance cameras, solid-state LiDAR, multi-color laser coaxial displacement meters, or various other sensor groups. Other examples include vibration meters, thermo cameras, hardness gauges, radar, LiDAR, high-pixel, telephoto, ultra-wide-angle, 360-degree, high-performance cameras, vision recognition, fine sounds, ultrasound, vibration, infrared, ultraviolet, electromagnetic waves, temperature, humidity, spot AI weather forecasts, high-precision multi-channel GPS, low-altitude satellite information, or long-tail incident AI data.

In addition to the above information, the warehouse interior sensor group 70, the vehicle body sensor group 72, and the arm sensor group 74 detect images, distance, vibration, heat, smell, color, sound, ultrasound, ultraviolet light, or infrared light. Other information detected by the warehouse interior sensor group 70, the vehicle body sensor group 72, and the arm sensor group 74 includes the movement of the center of gravity of the cart robot 52, the material of the floor on which the cart robot 52 is installed, the outside air temperature, the outside air humidity, the up, down, sideways, and diagonal tilt angle of the floor, and the amount of moisture. The warehouse interior sensor group 70, the vehicle body sensor group 72, and the arm sensor group 74 perform these detections, for example, every nanosecond.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of the control system of the information processing device 14 mounted on the cart robot 52.

The information processing device 14 includes an information acquisition unit 140, a control unit 142, and an information storage unit 144.

The information acquisition unit 140 acquires information about objects detected by the vehicle body sensor group 72 and the arm sensor group 74.

The control unit 142 uses the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 140 and AI (artificial intelligence) to control the rotational movement of the connecting unit 4, the vertical movement, and the movement of the arms 5 and 6. The control unit 142 is an example of a picking control unit of the present disclosure.

For example, the control unit 142 executes the following processes:

(1) Drive the arms 62, 64, and 66 and the gripping parts at their tips so that they can grasp an object.

(2) It moves up and down to match the height of the work table of the storage unit 54, etc.

(3) Maintain your balance to prevent falling.

(4) Control the drive of the wheels when moving.

The operation of this embodiment is explained below with reference to the flowchart in Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the control routine for picking up the basket 56 by the local cart 52B.

In step 100, a command to pick up the basket 56 is accepted. In the next step 102, the basket 56 starts moving toward the destination at normal speed along the local lane 60.

In the next step 104, it is determined whether the desired basket 56 has been detected, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106, where the basket 56 is picked up by the pickup arm 62, and the process proceeds to step 108.

In step 108, the car moves at speed control (e.g., 20 km/h), then proceeds to step 110, where the car approaches the high-speed cart 52A while zigzagging toward the high-speed lane 58.

In the next step 112, the basket 56 is handed over from the local cart 52B to the high-speed cart 52A by the passing arm 64 of the local cart 52B and the receiving arm 66 of the high-speed cart 52A, and the process proceeds to step 114.

In step 114, the local cart 52B returns to normal speed travel and ends the routine to await the next command.

However, because the arms 62, 64, and 66 move in three dimensions based on tasks such as picking baskets 56 and transferring items between carts, they may cross the monitoring area of the group of vehicle body sensors 72 installed on the cart body, which may result in a blind spot being created in one of the group of vehicle body sensors 72.

However, in this embodiment, the arm sensor group 74 at the tip of the arms 62, 64, and 66 can eliminate blind spots of the vehicle body sensor group 72 of the cart body.

If the arm sensors 74 at the tips of the arms 62, 64, and 66 are temperature sensors, hardness sensors, etc., the gripping strength, etc. can be adjusted when the basket 56 is handed over (gripped), preventing deformation or damage to the basket 56.

(Implementation of information processing device 14 of cart robot 52)

FIG. 6 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 1200 functioning as an information processing device 14. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of the device according to the present embodiment, or cause the computer 1200 to execute operations or one or more "parts" associated with the device according to the present embodiment, and/or cause the computer 1200 to execute a process or steps of the process according to the present embodiment. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described in this specification.

The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are connected to each other by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input/output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input/output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, etc. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, etc. The computer 1200 also includes input/output units such as a ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to the input/output controller 1220 via an input/output chip 1240.

The CPU 1212 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 1230 and the RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 1216 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1212 into a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 1214 or into itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 1218.

The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive reads programs or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and/or writes programs and data to an IC card.

ROM 1230 stores therein a boot program, etc., executed by computer 1200 upon activation, and/or a program that depends on the hardware of computer 1200. I/O chip 1240 may also connect various I/O units to I/O controller 1220 via USB ports, parallel ports, serial ports, keyboard ports, mouse ports, etc.

The programs are provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or an IC card. The programs are read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are also examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by CPU 1212. The information processing described in these programs is read by computer 1200, and brings about cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be constructed by realizing the operation or processing of information according to the use of computer 1200.

For example, when communication is performed between computer 1200 and an external device, CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded into RAM 1214 and instruct communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of CPU 1212, communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in RAM 1214, storage device 1224, a DVD-ROM, or a recording medium such as an IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

The CPU 1212 may also cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), an IC card, etc. to be read into the RAM 1214, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 1212 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search/replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and writes back the results to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. in the recording medium. For example, when multiple entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 1212 may search for an entry whose attribute value of the first attribute matches a specified condition from among the multiple entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on the computer 1200 or in the vicinity of the computer 1200. In addition, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the programs to the computer 1200 via the network.

<Second embodiment>

The second embodiment will be described. Note that the same parts as in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and detailed descriptions will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, a picking control device is used to perform overall control of the cart 52, etc.

Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the picking control device 40 according to the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the picking control device 40 includes a controller 42.

The controller 42 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 42A, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42B, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 42C, and an input/output interface (I/O) 42D. The CPU 42A, the ROM 42B, the RAM 42C, and the I/O 42D are connected to each other via a bus 42E. The bus 42E includes a control bus, an address bus, and a data bus. The I/O 42D is connected to a communication unit 44 and a storage unit 46. The CPU 42A is an example of a generation unit and a picking control unit.

The communication unit 44 is an interface for data communication with the high-speed cart 52A, the local cart 52B, the warehouse sensor group 70, the vehicle body sensor group 72, the arm sensor group 74, and external devices such as a higher-level device (not shown).

The memory unit 46 is configured, for example, with a non-volatile memory. As shown in FIG. 7, the memory unit 46 stores the picking control program 46A and the like.

The CPU 42A is an example of a processor. The term "processor" here refers to a processor in a broad sense, and includes a general-purpose processor (e.g., a CPU) or a dedicated processor (e.g., a GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, an ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, an FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, a programmable logic device, etc.).

The picking control program 46A may be stored in a non-volatile, non-transient recording medium or distributed via a network and installed in the picking control device 40 as appropriate.

Examples of non-volatile non-transient recording media include CD-ROMs (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), optical magnetic disks, HDDs (hard disk drives), DVD-ROMs (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), flash memory, memory cards, etc.

Figure 8 is a flowchart of the picking control process executed by the CPU 42A. For example, when an instruction to execute the picking control process is received from a higher-level device (not shown), the CPU 42A reads and executes the picking control program 46A, thereby executing the picking process shown in Figure 8.

In step 200, the CPU 42A starts the travel control of the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B. Specifically, the CPU 42A controls the multiple high-speed carts 52A to travel in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1 at a predetermined speed on the high-speed lane 58 while maintaining a constant distance between the cars. The CPU 42A also controls the multiple local carts 52B to travel in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1 at a predetermined speed on the local lane 60, which meanders to approach and move away from the storage unit 54, while maintaining a constant distance between the cars. Note that the high-speed lane 58 and the local lane 60 are not physical travel lanes, but represent the trajectory on which the cart 52 travels. In other words, the CPU 42A controls the high-speed cart 52A to travel according to the trajectory of the high-speed lane 58, and controls the local cart 52B to travel according to the trajectory of the local lane 60.

In step 201, the CPU 42A determines whether or not it has received a basket 56 pick-up command from a higher-level device (not shown). The pick-up command includes information such as the position and size of the basket 56 to be picked up. In addition, the local cart 52B can accommodate multiple baskets 56 depending on the size of the baskets 56. For this reason, there are cases where the higher-level device instructs the local cart 52B to pick up multiple baskets 56. In this case, information such as the positions and sizes of the multiple baskets 56 is included in the pick-up command.

If a pickup instruction for the basket 56 is received from the higher-level device, the process proceeds to step S202; if a pickup instruction is not received, the process waits until a pickup instruction is received.

In step 202, the CPU 42A selects the local cart 52B that picks up the basket 56 and the high-speed cart 52A to which the basket 56 should be handed over. For example, the CPU 42A calculates the position and running speed of each high-speed cart 52A and each local cart 52B based on signals from the warehouse sensor group 70 and the vehicle body sensor group 72, and selects from among the multiple local carts 52B the local cart 52B that can pick up the basket 56 to be picked up in the shortest time based on the calculation result. Also, from among the multiple high-speed carts 52A, the CPU 42A selects the high-speed cart 52A that can receive the basket 56 from the selected local cart 52B in the shortest time based on the calculation result. In the following, the selected local cart 52B is referred to as the selected local cart 52B, and the selected high-speed cart 52A is referred to as the selected high-speed cart 52A. When an instruction is given to pick up multiple baskets 56, a high-speed cart 52A is selected for each of the multiple baskets 56.

In step 203, the CPU 42A generates a travel trajectory of the selected local cart 52B. Specifically, the CPU 42A generates a travel trajectory of the selected local cart 52B based on the position of the basket 56 to be picked up by the selected local cart 52B and the position of the selected high-speed cart 52A to which the basket 56 picked up by the selected local cart 52B should be handed over. For example, a travel trajectory is generated that minimizes the time it takes to move to the position of the basket 56 to be picked up, pick up the basket 56, and hand it over to the selected high-speed cart 52A. Note that when an instruction is given to pick up multiple baskets 56, the multiple baskets 56 will be handed over to the multiple selected high-speed carts 52A in sequence, so the CPU 42A generates a travel trajectory of the selected local cart 52B based on the order in which the multiple baskets 56 are handed over to the multiple selected high-speed carts 52A.

In addition, since the position at which the basket 56 is handed over to the selected high-speed cart 52A varies depending on the size of the basket 56, the travel trajectory of the selected local cart 52B is generated based on the size of the basket 56.

In step 204, the CPU 42A controls the selected local cart 52B so that the selected local cart 52B travels along the travel trajectory generated in step 203 and picks up the basket 56. Specifically, the CPU 42A controls the selected local cart 52B so that the selected local cart 52B uses the picking arm 62 to pick up the basket 56.

In step 205, the CPU 42A controls the selected local cart 52B and the high-speed cart 52A so that the selected local cart 52B travels along the travel trajectory generated in step 203 and passes the picked-up basket 56 to the selected high-speed cart 52A. Specifically, the CPU 42A controls the picking arm 62 and passing arm 64 of the selected local cart 52B and also controls the receiving arm 66 of the selected local cart 52B so that the local cart 52B transfers the basket 56 picked by the picking arm 62 to the passing arm 64 and passes it to the receiving arm 66 of the high-speed cart 52A.

At this time, the CPU 42A controls the basket 56 to be handed over from the selected high-speed cart 52A to the selected high-speed cart 52A, with the handover position being a position where the speeds of the selected local cart 52B and the selected high-speed cart 52A are equal and the distance between the selected local cart 52B and the selected high-speed cart 52A is the smallest. The handover position is a position within the range where the movement range of the passing arm 64 of the selected local cart 52B overlaps with the movement range of the receiving arm 66 of the selected high-speed cart 52A.

In step 206, the CPU 42A controls the selected high-speed cart 52A, which has received the basket 56, to transfer the basket 56 to the docking station 68.

In step S207, the CPU 42A determines whether or not to end the picking control of the basket 56. Specifically, it determines whether or not an instruction to end the picking control has been received from a higher-level device (not shown). If an instruction to end the picking control has been received, the process proceeds to step 208. If an instruction to end the picking control has not been received, the process returns to step 201 and repeats the same process as described above.

In step 208, the CPU 42A stops the travel control of the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B, and stops the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B.

In this way, in this embodiment, the picking control device 40 controls the travel of the high-speed cart 52A and the local cart 52B. Then, based on the position of the basket 56 to be picked up by the selected local cart 52B and the position of the selected high-speed cart 52A to which the selected local cart 52B should transfer the basket 56 picked up, a travel trajectory of the selected local cart 52B is generated, and based on the generated travel trajectory, the selected local cart 52B picks up the basket 56 with the picking arm 62 while traveling along the local lane 60 and transfers it to the selected high-speed cart 52A, and the selected high-speed cart 52A receives the basket 56 picked up by the selected local cart 52B with the receiving arm 66 while traveling along the high-speed lane 58, and transports it to the docking station 68. This allows the basket 56 to be picked up efficiently and transported to the docking station 68.

The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in each of the above embodiments may represent stages of a process in which an operation is performed or "parts" of a device responsible for performing the operation. Particular stages and "parts" may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and/or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Dedicated circuitry may include digital and/or analog hardware circuitry, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and/or discrete circuits. Programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuitry including AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements, such as, for example, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like.

A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by a suitable device, such that a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or flash memories), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), Blu-ray disks, memory sticks, integrated circuit cards, and the like.

The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk (registered trademark), JAVA (registered trademark), C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.

The computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, either locally or over a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, to cause the processor of the general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, to execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

The present invention has been described above using an embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiment. It is clear from the claims that forms with such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before" or "prior to," and it should be noted that the processes may be performed in any order, unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is necessary to perform the processes in this order.

14 Information processing device, 50 Floor, 52 Cart robot, 54 Storage unit, 52A High-speed cart, 52B Local cart, 56 Basket, 58 High-speed lane, 60 Local lane, 62 Picking arm, 64 Passing arm, 66 Receiving arm, 68 Docking station, 70 Warehouse sensor group, 72 Vehicle body sensor group, 74 Arm sensor group, 1200 Computer, 1210 Host controller, 1212 CPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 Graphic controller, 1218 Display device, 1220 Input/output controller, 1222 Communication interface, 1224 Storage device, 1230 ROM, 1240 Input/output chip

Claims (6)

a first cart including a first arm and configured to travel along a first lane set outside a storage unit in which luggage is stored;
a second cart including a second arm and configured to travel on a second lane set outside the first lane;
a picking control unit that controls the first cart to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling along the first lane and to transfer the luggage to the second cart, and the second cart to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling along the second lane and to carry the luggage to a predetermined position;
A picking system equipped with The picking system according to claim 1 , wherein the picking control unit performs control such that the package is handed over from the first cart to the second cart while the first cart and the second cart run side by side. The picking control unit controls the transfer of the parcel from the first cart to the second cart at a position where the speeds of the first cart and the second cart are equal and the distance between the first cart and the second cart is the smallest, the transfer position being determined as such. The picking system according to claim 3 , wherein the pre-transfer position is a position within a range where a moving range of the first arm and a moving range of the second arm overlap each other. A picking control device comprising: a picking control unit that controls a first cart, which has a first arm and travels along a first lane set outside a storage unit in which luggage is stored, to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling along the first lane and hand it over to a second cart, and a second cart, which has a second arm and travels along a second lane set outside the first lane, to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling along the second lane and transport it to a predetermined position. On the computer,
A picking control program that executes a process including controlling a first cart, which has a first arm and travels along a first lane set outside a storage section in which luggage is stored, to pick up the luggage with the first arm while traveling along the first lane and hand it over to a second cart, and a second cart, which has a second arm and travels along a second lane set outside the first lane, to receive the luggage picked up by the first cart with the second arm while traveling along the second lane and carry it to a predetermined position.