TWI850639B - Task allocation method, device, control terminal and warehousing system - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a task allocation method, device, a control terminal and a warehousing system. The method includes: determining an upper limit value of the number of warehousing robots corresponding to each work station of a target warehouse; then determining a first number of warehousing robots corresponding to each work station of the target warehouse according to the upper limit value, where the first number is smaller than or equal to the number upper limit value; and controlling a second number of storage robots corresponding to each work station according to the to-be-distributed material box carrying tasks of each work station to carry the material boxes to the work stations, where the second number is smaller than or equal to the first number. The embodiment of the present disclosure realize the robot task allocation under the upper limit of the number of the robots of each workstation, and solve the problems that when there are too many robots in a workstation, the workstation becomes congested, the robot waiting time is long, and the robot resource is wasted; and when there are few robots in the workstation, the workers have no work to do, and the order picking efficiency is low.

Description

Task allocation method, device, control terminal and storage system

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligent warehousing technology, and in particular to a task allocation method, device, control terminal and warehousing system.

With the increase of goods, there are more and more warehouses for storing goods. Take the storage of goods in e-commerce as an example. With the rapid development of e-commerce, e-commerce companies have established warehouses in various places in order to deliver goods more quickly. Each warehouse has to handle tens of thousands of orders of various sizes every day. The delivery efficiency of orders will directly affect the user's consumption experience, and the efficiency of picking goods is closely related to the efficiency of order delivery. Therefore, the position of warehousing and picking operations in the entire warehouse management is becoming more and more important.

Currently, in the warehouse picking process, the warehouse robot needs to transport the material box to a site for the staff to pick the goods. This site is called a workstation.

The existing warehouse assigns tasks to warehouse robots in a rather chaotic manner. After tasks are assigned to robots, it is possible that many robots will simultaneously move material boxes to the same workstation, or a small number of robots or even no robots will move material boxes to a certain workstation, causing congestion in some workstations, the robots waiting time is too long, resulting in a waste of robot resources, or the staff in some workstations have no goods to pick up, reducing the picking efficiency of the workstation.

The disclosed embodiment provides a task allocation method, device, control terminal and warehouse system, which realizes the task allocation of warehouse robots in warehouse workstations, reduces the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstations, reduces the waste of robot resources, and improves the picking efficiency of the workstations.

In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for allocating tasks, the method comprising:

Determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation in the target warehouse;

Determining a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the quantity upper limit value, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the quantity upper limit value;

According to the material box handling tasks to be assigned to each workstation, instructions are sent to a second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport materials to the workstations corresponding to the materials, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

In a possible implementation, determining the first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the quantity upper limit value includes:

Determine the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned storage robots include storage robots that have been assigned to the material boxes of workstation i, storage robots that are transporting the material boxes of workstation i, and storage robots at workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, and n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse;

According to the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, determining a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i according to the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i includes:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i includes:

Obtaining the picking efficiency of the workstation i;

The number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, includes:

Determine the number of storage robots required for the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i and the correspondence between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required for the workstation;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the number of storage robots required by the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, before determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the method further includes:

Determine one or more of the quantity, type, outbound time and layout location of the material box corresponding to the workstation i;

Determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, comprises:

The number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i is determined according to one or more of the number, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, determining a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i according to the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i includes:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse includes:

Determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse;

According to the number of the storage robots, an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined.

In a possible implementation, determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse includes:

Obtaining pending orders in the target warehouse;

Determine the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the pending order;

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to the number of material boxes corresponding to the orders to be processed.

In a possible implementation, before determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of boxes corresponding to the to-be-processed orders, the method further includes:

Determine one or more of the type, delivery time and layout location of the container corresponding to the pending order;

Determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of material boxes corresponding to the pending orders comprises:

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to one or more of the type, outbound time and layout location of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and the number of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders.

In a possible implementation, before determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of storage robots, the method further includes:

Determine one or more of the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and the attributes of each workstation, wherein the attributes include parameters of a conveyor line in the workstation;

Determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots comprises:

An upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined according to the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, one or more of the attributes of each workstation, and the number of storage robots.

In a second aspect, the present disclosure further provides a task allocation device, the device comprising:

The quantity upper limit determination module is used to determine the quantity upper limit of the storage robot corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse;

A robot determination module, configured to determine a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the quantity upper limit value, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the quantity upper limit value;

A task allocation module is used to send instructions to a second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the container handling tasks to be assigned to each workstation, wherein the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport the containers to the workstations corresponding to the containers, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

Determine the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned storage robots include storage robots that have been assigned to the material boxes of workstation i, storage robots that are transporting the material boxes of workstation i, and storage robots at workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, and n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse;

According to the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

Obtaining the picking efficiency of the workstation i;

The number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

Determine the number of storage robots required for the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i and the correspondence between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required for the workstation;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the number of storage robots required by the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

Determine one or more of the quantity, type, outbound time and layout location of the material box corresponding to the workstation i;

The number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i is determined according to one or more of the number, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module is specifically used to:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module is specifically used to:

Determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse;

According to the number of the storage robots, an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module is specifically used to:

Obtaining pending orders in the target warehouse;

Determine the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the pending order;

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to the number of material boxes corresponding to the orders to be processed.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module is specifically used to:

Determine one or more of the type, delivery time and layout location of the container corresponding to the pending order;

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to one or more of the type, outbound time and layout location of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and the number of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module is specifically used to:

Determine one or more of the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and the attributes of each workstation, wherein the attributes include parameters of a conveyor line in the workstation;

An upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined according to the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, one or more of the attributes of each workstation, and the number of storage robots.

In a third aspect, the present disclosure further provides a control terminal, comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program; wherein the computer program is stored in the memory and is configured to be executed by the processor to implement the task allocation method provided by any embodiment corresponding to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure further provides a warehousing system, comprising: a control terminal, a warehousing robot and a shelf provided by a cooperative manufacturer of the present disclosure in accordance with the corresponding embodiment, wherein the warehousing robot is connected to the control terminal and is used to transport a material box to a workstation corresponding to the material box according to an instruction sent by the control terminal, wherein the material box is placed on the shelf.

In a fifth aspect, the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer execution instructions are stored. When the computer execution instructions are executed by a processor, they are used to implement the task allocation method provided in any embodiment corresponding to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

In a sixth aspect, the present disclosure further provides a computer program product, characterized in that it includes computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, are used to implement the task allocation method provided in any embodiment corresponding to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

The task allocation method, device, control terminal and warehouse system provided by the disclosed embodiment determine the upper limit value of the number of warehouse robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, and then, based on the upper limit value, determine the first number of warehouse robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, the first number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value, thereby, according to the material box handling task to be allocated to each workstation, control the corresponding warehouse robots of each workstation A second number of storage robots transport material boxes to the workstation, and the second number is less than or equal to the first number mentioned above, thereby realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long robot waiting time, and waste of robot resources, as well as too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods to pick up by the staff and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

Exemplary embodiments are described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure as detailed in the attached claims.

The following is a detailed description of the technical solution of the present disclosure and how the technical solution of the present disclosure solves the above technical problems with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments. The following will be combined with the attached drawings to describe the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the related technologies, take the storage of goods in e-commerce as an example. With the rapid development of e-commerce, e-commerce companies have established warehouses in various places in order to deliver goods more quickly. Each warehouse has to handle tens of thousands of orders of all sizes every day. The delivery efficiency of orders will directly affect the user's consumption experience, and the efficiency of picking goods is closely related to the efficiency of order delivery. Therefore, the position of warehouse picking operations in the entire warehouse management is becoming more and more important. In the current warehouse picking process, the warehouse robot needs to consign the material box to a website for the staff to pick up the goods. This website is called a workstation (also known as a manual operation area).

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG1 , a storage robot 101 in a warehouse extracts a material box from a shelf 102 in a shelf area and moves it to a workstation, where a worker at the workstation selects the materials in the material box and takes them out of the warehouse.

However, the existing warehouses assign tasks to warehouse robots in a rather chaotic manner. After tasks are assigned to robots, it is possible that many robots will simultaneously move material boxes to the same workstation, or a small number of robots or even no robots will move material boxes to a certain workstation, causing congestion in some workstations, the robots waiting time is too long, resulting in a waste of robot resources, or the staff in some workstations have no goods to pick up, reducing the picking efficiency of the workstations.

Therefore, the present disclosed embodiment proposes a task allocation method, by determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation in the warehouse, and then, based on the upper limit value, controlling a certain number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport material boxes to the workstation, and the number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value, thereby realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods to pick up by the staff and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

Optionally, the task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment can be applied to the application scenario shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 only describes a possible application scenario of the task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment in an exemplary manner, and the application scenario of the task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment is not limited to the application scenario shown in Figure 2.

In FIG2 , a storage system 200 is provided in the target warehouse, and the storage system 200 includes a control terminal 201, a storage robot 202, and a shelf 203. The control terminal 201 can control the storage robot 202 to extract the material box on the shelf 203 in the shelf area, and move it to the workstation, and the staff at the workstation selects the materials in the material box and takes them out of the warehouse.

It will be appreciated that the components shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

In a specific implementation process, the storage system 200 processes the boxes stored in the target warehouse. The control terminal 201 in the storage system 200 can determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots 202 corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, and then control a certain number of storage robots 202 corresponding to each workstation to extract boxes on the shelves 203 in the shelf area and transport the boxes to the workstation based on the upper limit of the number and the order requirements, and the above number is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number. The control terminal 201 receives the order, determines the goods required in the order, determines the material box corresponding to the order according to the required goods, and then executes the step of determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots 202 corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse. Alternatively, the control terminal 201 may also receive a control instruction sent by a user, such as receiving a start work instruction sent by a user, and then starts working according to the instruction, and executes the step of determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots 202 corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse.

Here, the control terminal 201 determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, and thus, based on the upper limit, controls a certain number of storage robots 202 corresponding to each workstation to transport material boxes to the workstation, thereby realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation, and solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods for the staff to pick up and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

It should be understood that the application scenarios described in the present disclosed embodiments are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the present disclosed embodiments, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the present disclosed embodiments. Ordinary technical personnel in this field can know that with the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the present disclosed embodiments are also applicable to similar technical problems.

The technical solution of the present disclosure is described below using several embodiments as examples, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments.

FIG3 is a flowchart of a task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment. The execution subject of the disclosed embodiment may be the control terminal 201 in FIG2. The specific execution subject may be determined according to the actual application scenario, and the disclosed embodiment does not impose any special restrictions on this. As shown in FIG3, the task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment may include the following steps:

S301: Determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse.

Among them, the target warehouse is the warehouse that needs to be assigned tasks and can be determined according to the actual situation.

Here, the control terminal may first determine the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, and then, based on the number of storage robots, determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse.

Among them, the number of storage robots in the target warehouse determined by the control terminal may be the total number of storage robots in the target warehouse, or may be the number of some storage robots in the target warehouse, such as the number of storage robots in working state in the target warehouse.

Exemplarily, the control terminal may obtain the total number of storage robots in the pre-stored target warehouse, and use the total number of storage robots as the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, or the number of storage robots in working state in the target warehouse may be determined according to the recorded state of the storage robots, and the number of storage robots in working state may be used as the number of storage robots in the target warehouse. The control terminal may record the state of the storage robot. For example, if the storage robot is extracting a material box, the control terminal records the state of the storage robot as working state. If the storage robot is not started, the control terminal records the state of the storage robot as idle. In this way, the control terminal can determine the number of the storage robots in working state according to the recorded state of the storage robot, and use the number of the storage robots in working state as the number of storage robots in the target warehouse.

In the disclosed embodiment, after determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, the control terminal can determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of storage robots. For example, the control terminal divides the number of storage robots, and then determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the division result.

Exemplarily, the above division result can be determined according to the actual situation, for example, the division result is that the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations is the same.

Here, when determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, the control terminal can also determine the number of workstations in the target warehouse, thereby determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse based on the number of storage robots and the number of workstations. For example, the control terminal averagely divides the number of storage robots according to the number of workstations, and determines the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse based on the average division result. Assuming that there are 20 storage robots and 5 workstations in the target warehouse, the control terminal evenly divides the number of storage robots (20) according to the number of workstations (5), and obtains that the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation is 4. Therefore, the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation is determined to be 4.

Among them, when the control terminal determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots and the number of workstations, it can only consider the workstations to be put online. For example, there are 5 workstations in the target warehouse, of which 4 are to be put online. That is, the control terminal can first determine the number of workstations to be put online from the number of the workstations, which includes at least one workstation, and then determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the workstations to be put online according to the number of the storage robots and the number of the workstations to be put online. For example, there are 20 storage robots and 4 workstations to be put online in the target warehouse. The control terminal evenly divides the number 20 of the storage robots according to the number 4 of the workstations to be put online, and obtains that the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations to be put online is 5. Therefore, the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations to be put online is determined to be 5.

In addition, when the control terminal determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse based on the number of the storage robots and the number of workstations, if the number of the storage robots cannot be evenly divided (cannot be divided evenly by the number of workstations), for example, there are 21 storage robots and 5 workstations in the target warehouse, the number of storage robots cannot be evenly divided. At this time, the control terminal can perform a rounding operation, that is, the control terminal can round the result of dividing the number 21 of the storage robots according to the number of workstations 5, and obtain that the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations is 4. Therefore, the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations is determined to be 4.

S302: Determine a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations according to the above-mentioned upper quantity limit, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper quantity limit.

Here, after determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, the control terminal can determine the first number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation based on the upper limit value, and then send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation, so that the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation transports the material box to the workstation corresponding to the material box, and the second number is less than or equal to the first number, thereby realizing the robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots for each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation.

Exemplarily, when the control terminal determines the first number of warehouse robots corresponding to each of the workstations based on the upper limit of the quantity, it may first determine the number of warehouse robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned warehouse robots including the warehouse robots to which the material boxes of workstation i have been assigned, the warehouse robots that are transporting the material boxes of workstation i, and the warehouse robots at workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse, and then determine the first number of warehouse robots corresponding to workstation i according to the number of warehouse robots assigned to workstation i and the upper limit of the number of warehouse robots corresponding to workstation i.

For example, if the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the above-mentioned control terminal can determine the number n of storage robots that can be added to workstation i, and thus, based on the number of n storage robots that can be added to workstation i, determine the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i. For example, the above-mentioned control terminal can set the above-mentioned first number to the above-mentioned number of n storage robots that can be added. In this way, the above-mentioned control terminal assigns the material box handling task to a second number of storage robots, for example, m storage robots, according to the material box handling task to be assigned to workstation i, where m is less than or equal to n, thereby realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation and reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation.

If the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the control terminal can determine the number of storage robots that can be reduced at workstation i, and further, determine the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i according to the number of storage robots that can be reduced at workstation i. For example, the control terminal calculates the difference between the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i and the number of storage robots that can be reduced at workstation i, and uses the difference as the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i.

Among them, when the above-mentioned control terminal determines the number of storage robots that can be reduced at workstation i, it can calculate the difference between the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, and use the difference as the number of storage robots that can be reduced at workstation i, thereby reducing the above-mentioned number of storage robots from the storage robots allocated to workstation i, and determining the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i.

Here, in order to reduce the situation where there are too few robots corresponding to a workstation, resulting in the staff in the workstation having no goods to pick up, the above control terminal can only regard the storage robot that has been assigned to the material box of workstation i as the storage robot assigned to workstation i, and not regard the storage robot that is moving the material box of workstation i and the storage robot at workstation i as the storage robot assigned to workstation i. This is because the storage robot that is moving the material box of workstation i and the storage robot at workstation i will soon complete the task and leave workstation i, causing congestion in workstation i, the robot waiting time is too long, and the probability of wasting robot resources is relatively low. Therefore, the above control terminal will treat the storage robot of the material box assigned to workstation i as the storage robot assigned to workstation i to execute subsequent processes. Please refer to the above for details and will not elaborate on them here.

S303: According to the material box handling task to be assigned to each of the above workstations, send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

In the disclosed embodiment, the control terminal determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, and then, based on the upper limit, determines the first number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, the first number is less than or equal to the upper limit, and then, based on the material box handling task to be assigned to each workstation, controls the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation. When transporting material boxes to the workstation, the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity mentioned above, realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots in each workstation, solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long robot waiting time, and waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods to pick up by the staff and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

In addition, in the disclosed embodiment, when determining the first number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above-mentioned workstations according to the above-mentioned upper limit value of the number, the above-mentioned control terminal first determines the number of storage robots that have been allocated to workstation i, and then, according to the number of storage robots that have been allocated to workstation i and the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, determines the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i. If the number of storage robots that have been allocated to workstation i is less than the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the above-mentioned control terminal first determines the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i, and then, according to the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i, determines the first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i. In order to determine the number of storage robots that can be added to the workstation i more accurately, the control terminal takes into account the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the quantity, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, etc.

FIG4 is a flowchart of another task allocation method proposed in the disclosed embodiment, in which the control terminal considers the picking efficiency of workstation i and determines the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i as an example. As shown in FIG4, the method includes:

S401: Determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse.

Among them, the implementation method of step S401 is the same as that of the above-mentioned step S301, and will not be repeated here.

S402: Determine the number of warehouse robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned warehouse robots include the warehouse robots to which the material boxes of workstation i have been assigned, the warehouse robots that are transporting the material boxes of the workstation i, and the warehouse robots at workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, n is equal to the number of workstations in the above-mentioned target warehouse.

S403: If the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the picking efficiency of workstation i is obtained.

Here, the control terminal can determine the picking efficiency of each workstation by obtaining the historical picking efficiency of each workstation. The historical picking efficiency can be the picking efficiency of each workstation over a period of time, such as the picking efficiency within three days from the current time or the picking efficiency within one week from the current time, etc., which can be determined according to actual conditions.

S404: Determine the number of storage robots to be added to workstation i according to the picking efficiency of workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i.

Exemplarily, the control terminal can determine the number of storage robots required by workstation i based on the picking efficiency of workstation i and the correspondence between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required by the workstation. If the number of storage robots required by workstation i is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the control terminal can determine the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i based on the number of storage robots required by workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i. For example, the difference between the number of storage robots required by workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i is calculated, and the difference is used as the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i. If the number of storage robots required by workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the control terminal can determine the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i. For example, the difference between the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i is calculated, and the difference is used as the number of storage robots that can be added to workstation i.

Among them, the corresponding relationship between the above-mentioned preset workstation picking efficiency and the number of storage robots required by the workstation can be determined according to actual conditions. For example, the above-mentioned control terminal obtains the relationship between the picking efficiency of a large number of workstations and the number of storage robots required by the workstation, and then determines the corresponding relationship between the picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required by the workstation based on the relationship.

In addition, in order to make the number of storage robots that can be added to the workstation i more accurate, the control terminal can also consider the number of material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots assigned to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i when determining the number of storage robots that can be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots assigned to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i. Thus, according to one or more of the quantity, type, outbound time and layout location of the material boxes corresponding to workstation i, as well as the picking efficiency of workstation i, the number of warehouse robots allocated to workstation i and the upper limit of the number of warehouse robots corresponding to workstation i, the number of warehouse robots that can be added to workstation i is determined.

S405: Determine a first number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i according to the number of storage robots to be added at workstation i, wherein the first number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value.

S406: According to the material box handling task to be assigned to each of the above workstations, send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the above first number.

Among them, the implementation of steps S405-S406 is similar to the above-mentioned steps S302-S303, please refer to the above, and will not be repeated here.

In the present disclosed embodiment, when the control terminal determines the first number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above-mentioned workstations according to the above-mentioned upper limit value of quantity, the first number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value of quantity, considering the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i. If the number of storage robots allocated to workstation i is less than the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, then according to the picking efficiency of workstation i, the number, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to workstation i, etc., the number of storage robots that can be added to the workstation i can be determined more accurately. Subsequently, the control terminal can accurately determine the first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i according to the number of storage robots that can be added to the workstation i, and then control the second number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i to transport the material boxes to the workstation, and the second number is less than or equal to the first number, thereby realizing the robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots in each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation, and solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods for the staff to pick up and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

In addition, in the disclosed embodiment, when determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, the number of storage robots in the target warehouse is first determined, and then the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined based on the number of storage robots. Here, in order to make the determination result more accurate, when determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, the control terminal also considers obtaining the pending orders in the target warehouse, and then determines the number of material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and determines the number of storage robots in the target warehouse based on the number of material boxes corresponding to the pending orders.

FIG5 is a flow chart of another task allocation method proposed in the disclosed embodiment. As shown in FIG5, the method includes:

S501: Obtain pending orders from the target warehouse.

Here, the control terminal can obtain the pending orders in the target warehouse from the recorded information. For example, the control terminal records the correspondence between the warehouse and the pending orders, and the control terminal can obtain the pending orders in the target warehouse based on the correspondence.

The control terminal may also record the time information of the order, such as the time when the order is shipped out. The pending orders in the target warehouse obtained by the control terminal may be pending orders within a period of time, such as pending orders with a shipping time of today or pending orders with a shipping time of 9 am to 12 pm today.

S502: Determine the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned order to be processed.

After obtaining the pending order, the control terminal may determine the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the pending order according to the correspondence between the order and the material boxes. The correspondence between the order and the material boxes may be pre-stored in the control terminal.

S503: Determine the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of material boxes corresponding to the orders to be processed.

Exemplarily, the control terminal may preset a correspondence between the number of material boxes and the number of storage robots, for example, 100 material boxes correspond to 10 storage robots. The above-mentioned control terminal can determine the number of storage robots in the above-mentioned target warehouse according to the corresponding relationship and the number of material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders. The number of storage robots is the number of robots that should be in a working state. Then, according to the number of storage robots, the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the above-mentioned target warehouse is determined. Based on the upper limit of the number, a certain number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation are controlled to transport material boxes to the workstation. The number is less than or equal to the above upper limit of the number, thereby realizing the robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation.

Among them, in order to make the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse determined later more accurate, the above-mentioned control terminal, when determining the number of storage robots in the above-mentioned target warehouse, in addition to considering the number of material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders, can also consider the type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders.

In the disclosed embodiment, the control terminal may determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the target warehouse according to one or more of the type of the material box corresponding to the pending order, the outgoing time and the layout position, and the number of the material box corresponding to the pending order. Alternatively, the control terminal may also determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the target warehouse according to one or more of the type of the material box corresponding to the pending order, the outgoing time, the layout position and the number of the material box.

If the control terminal considers the type of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders in addition to the number of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders, the control terminal may first determine whether the types of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders are the same. If they are different, the control terminal may determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the above-mentioned target warehouse according to the type of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders and the number of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders. For example, the types of material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders include large, medium and small, and different types of material boxes require different numbers of storage robots to move. For example, the number of storage robots required to move large material boxes is 3, the number of storage robots required to move medium-sized material boxes is 2, and the number of storage robots required to move small material boxes is 1. In this way, the above-mentioned control terminal can determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the above-mentioned target warehouse according to the type of material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders and the number of material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders.

The storage robot is an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle, AGV), for example, a lifting type material box robot, a lifting type material box robot, or a multi-material box robot, etc., which is not limited here. The storage robot can be of different types, for example, large, medium and small. Different types of storage robots transport different types of material boxes, for example, large storage robots transport large material boxes, medium storage robots transport medium material boxes, and small storage robots transport small material boxes. The control terminal may determine the number of storage robots that should be in working order in the target warehouse according to the type of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, the number of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and the type of the storage robots.

In addition to the above, if the control terminal considers the outbound time of the material boxes corresponding to the above pending orders in addition to the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the above pending orders, the control terminal can determine the outbound time of the material boxes corresponding to the above pending orders according to the outbound time of the above pending orders, and further, determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the above target warehouse according to the outbound time of the material boxes corresponding to the above pending orders and the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the above pending orders. For example, the delivery time of the material boxes corresponding to the above-mentioned pending orders is between 9:00 and 12:00 this morning, among which there are 100 material boxes between 9:00 and 10:00, 10 material boxes between 10:00 and 11:00, and 1 material box between 11:00 and 12:00. The above-mentioned control terminal can determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the above-mentioned target warehouse between 9:00 and 10:00, between 10:00 and 11:00, and between 11:00 and 12:00 according to the corresponding relationship between the number of the above-mentioned material boxes and the number of storage robots.

In addition, if the control terminal considers the layout positions of the boxes corresponding to the pending orders in addition to the number of boxes corresponding to the pending orders, the control terminal can determine the layout positions of the boxes corresponding to the pending orders according to the layout positions of the boxes in the target warehouse, and further, determine the number of storage robots that should be in working state in the target warehouse according to the layout positions of the boxes corresponding to the pending orders and the number of boxes corresponding to the pending orders.

S504: According to the number of the above-mentioned storage robots, determine the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the above-mentioned target warehouse.

S505: Determine a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations according to the above quantity upper limit value, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the above quantity upper limit value.

S506: According to the material box handling task to be assigned to each of the above workstations, send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

Among them, steps S505-S506 are implemented in the same way as the above steps S302-S303, and will not be repeated here.

In the disclosed embodiment, when the control terminal determines the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, it also considers obtaining the number, type, delivery time and layout location of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders in the target warehouse, so as to make the determined number of storage robots in the target warehouse more accurate. Subsequently, the above-mentioned control terminal can accurately determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots, and then control a certain number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport material boxes to the workstation based on the upper limit of the number, and the number is less than or equal to the above upper limit of the number, thereby realizing the robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation, and solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods for the staff to pick up and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

In addition, when the control terminal determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse, it determines the number of storage robots in the target warehouse, and then determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse based on the number of storage robots. Among them, when determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the above-mentioned target warehouse according to the number of the above-mentioned storage robots, the above-mentioned control terminal can consider the number of workstations in the above-mentioned target warehouse, and can also consider the picking efficiency of each of the above-mentioned workstations, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation and the attributes of each workstation, etc., wherein the attributes include the parameters of the conveyor line in the workstation. Therefore, the control terminal can more accurately determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots, the number of workstations, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation and one or more of the attributes of each workstation.

FIG6 is a flowchart of another task allocation method proposed in the disclosed embodiment, in which the control terminal determines the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of storage robots, and also considers the picking efficiency of each workstation. As shown in FIG6, the method includes:

S601: Determine the number of storage robots in the target warehouse.

S602: Obtain the picking efficiency of each workstation in the target warehouse.

Here, the control terminal can determine the picking efficiency of each workstation by obtaining the historical picking efficiency of each workstation. The historical picking efficiency can be the picking efficiency of each workstation over a period of time, such as the picking efficiency within three days from the current time or the picking efficiency within one week from the current time, etc., which can be determined according to actual conditions.

S603: According to the picking efficiency of each of the workstations and the number of the storage robots, determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations.

Exemplarily, the control terminal can determine the proportion of each workstation to the number of the storage robots according to the picking efficiency of each workstation, and then obtain the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the proportion. For example, there are 3 workstations in the target warehouse, and the picking efficiency of each workstation is 100 pieces/hour, 200 pieces/hour, and 300 pieces/hour. Therefore, the control terminal can determine that the proportion of each workstation to the number of the storage robots is 1/6, 1/3, and 1/2, and then obtain the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the proportion, so that the obtained upper limit of the number is more in line with the actual situation. Therefore, the above-mentioned control terminal controls a certain number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport material boxes to the workstation based on the upper limit value of the quantity. The number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value of the quantity, thereby realizing the robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation and reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation.

If the control terminal also considers the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation when determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse based on the number of storage robots, then the control terminal can determine the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation based on the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation and the number of storage robots.

Exemplarily, the control terminal may first determine the third number of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations according to the number of the storage robots, and then determine whether the third number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i is greater than the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, and n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse. If the third number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i is greater than the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in workstation i, then the third number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i is adjusted according to the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in workstation i to obtain the fourth number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, which is less than or equal to the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in workstation i. Finally, the fourth number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i is used as the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i.

Among them, the third number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations can be the number of storage robots determined according to the average division result after the above control terminal evenly divides the number of the above storage robots. The above-mentioned control terminal adjusts the third number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and obtains the fourth number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation. The fourth number is less than or equal to the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in the corresponding workstation. Then, the fourth number is used as the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the corresponding workstation, and then based on the upper limit, the storage robot is controlled to transport the material box to the workstation, so as to reduce congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, and waste of robot resources.

If the control terminal also considers the attribute of each workstation when determining the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots, the control terminal can determine the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the attribute of each workstation and the number of the storage robots.

Among them, the above attributes include parameters of the conveyor lines in the workstation, which may include the number of conveyor lines and the conveying speed, etc. The above control terminal may first determine the proportion of each of the above workstations to the number of the storage robots according to the attributes of each of the above workstations. For example, taking the above target warehouse as an example, there are 3 workstations, and the attributes of each workstation are 1 conveyor line, 2 conveyor lines, and 3 conveyor lines, wherein the conveying speed of each conveyor line is the same, and thus, the above control terminal may determine that the proportion of each of the above workstations to the number of the above storage robots is 1/6, 1/3, and 1/2. Then, the control terminal can obtain the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the proportion of each workstation to the number of storage robots, so that the upper limit value is more consistent with the actual situation. The subsequent processing results of the control terminal based on the upper limit value are more accurate and suitable for application.

S604: Determine a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each of the workstations according to the quantity upper limit, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the quantity upper limit.

S605: According to the material box transportation task to be assigned to each of the above workstations, send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each of the above workstations to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

Among them, steps S604-S605 are implemented in the same way as the above steps S302-S303, and will not be repeated here.

When the control terminal of the disclosed embodiment determines the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of the storage robots, it may consider the number of workstations in the target warehouse as well as the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and the attributes of each workstation, so that the obtained upper limit value of the number is more in line with the actual situation. Therefore, the control terminal controls a certain number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport material boxes to the workstation based on the above-mentioned upper limit value of quantity, and the number is less than or equal to the above-mentioned upper limit value of quantity, thereby realizing robot task allocation based on the upper limit of the number of robots at each workstation, reducing the situation of too many or too few robots in the workstation, and solving the problems of too many robots in the workstation, resulting in congestion in the workstation, long waiting time of the robot, waste of robot resources, and too few robots in the workstation, resulting in no goods for the staff to pick up and reduced picking efficiency of the workstation.

Corresponding to the task allocation method of the above embodiment, FIG7 is a structural schematic diagram of the task allocation device provided by the present disclosed embodiment. For the convenience of explanation, only the parts related to the present disclosed embodiment are shown. FIG7 is a structural schematic diagram of a task allocation device provided by the present disclosed embodiment, and the task allocation device 70 includes: a quantity upper limit determination module 701, a robot determination module 702 and a task allocation module 703. The task allocation device here can be the above-mentioned control terminal itself, or a chip or integrated circuit that realizes the function of the control terminal. It should be explained here that the division of the quantity upper limit determination module, the robot determination module and the task allocation module is only a division of logical functions, and the two can be physically integrated or independent.

Among them, the quantity upper limit determination module 701 is used to determine the quantity upper limit of the storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse.

The robot determination module 702 is used to determine a first quantity of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the upper quantity value, wherein the first quantity is less than or equal to the upper quantity value.

The task allocation module 703 is used to send instructions to a second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the container handling tasks to be assigned to each workstation, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport the containers to the workstations corresponding to the containers, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

Determine the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned storage robots include storage robots that have been assigned to the material boxes of workstation i, storage robots that are transporting the material boxes of workstation i, and storage robots at workstation i, where i=1, 2, 3...n, and n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse;

According to the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

Obtaining the picking efficiency of the workstation i;

The number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

Determine the number of storage robots required for the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i and the correspondence between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required for the workstation;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined according to the number of storage robots required by the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i;

If the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

Determine one or more of the quantity, type, outbound time and layout location of the material box corresponding to the workstation i;

The number of storage robots to be added at the workstation i is determined according to one or more of the number, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i.

In a possible implementation, the robot determination module 702 is specifically used to:

If the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i is determined;

According to the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i, a first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module 701 is specifically used for:

Determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse;

According to the number of the storage robots, an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module 701 is specifically used for:

Obtaining pending orders in the target warehouse;

Determine the quantity of the material boxes corresponding to the pending order;

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to the number of material boxes corresponding to the orders to be processed.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module 701 is specifically used for:

Determine one or more of the type, delivery time and layout location of the material box corresponding to the pending order;

The number of warehousing robots in the target warehouse is determined according to one or more of the type, outbound time and layout location of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and the number of the material boxes corresponding to the pending orders.

In a possible implementation, the quantity upper limit value determination module 701 is specifically used for:

Determine one or more of the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and the attributes of each workstation, wherein the attributes include parameters of a conveyor line in the workstation;

An upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined according to the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, one or more of the attributes of each workstation, and the number of storage robots.

The device provided in the disclosed embodiment can be used to implement the technical solution of the above-mentioned method embodiment. Its implementation principle and technical effect are similar, and the disclosed embodiment will not be described in detail here.

Optionally, FIG8 schematically provides a possible basic hardware architecture diagram of the control terminal described in the present disclosure.

8 , the control terminal 800 includes at least one processor 801 and a communication interface 803. Optionally, it may also include a memory 802 and a bus 804.

In the control terminal 800, the number of processors 801 may be one or more, and FIG. 8 only illustrates one of the processors 801. Optionally, the processor 801 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a digital signal processor (DSP). If the control terminal 800 has multiple processors 801, the types of the multiple processors 801 may be different or the same. Optionally, the multiple processors 801 of the control terminal 800 may also be integrated into a multi-core processor.

The memory 802 stores computer instructions and data; the memory 802 can store computer instructions and data required to implement the above-mentioned task allocation method provided by the present disclosure, for example, the memory 802 stores instructions for implementing the steps of the above-mentioned task allocation method. The memory 802 can be any one or any combination of the following storage media: non-volatile memory (such as read-only memory (ROM), solid state hard disk (SSD), hard disk (HDD), optical disk), volatile memory.

The communication interface 803 can provide information input/output for the at least one processor, and can also include any one or any combination of the following devices: a network interface (such as an Ethernet interface), a wireless network card, and other devices with network access functions.

Optionally, the communication interface 803 can also be used to control the terminal 800 to communicate data with other computing devices or terminals.

Further optionally, FIG8 uses a thick line to represent a bus 804. The bus 804 can connect the processor 801 to the memory 802 and the communication interface 803. In this way, the processor 801 can access the memory 802 through the bus 804, and can also use the communication interface 803 to exchange data with other computing devices or terminals.

In the present disclosure, the control terminal 800 executes the computer instructions in the memory 802, so that the control terminal 800 implements the above-mentioned task allocation method provided by the present disclosure, or enables the control terminal 800 to deploy the above-mentioned task allocation device.

From the perspective of logical function division, illustratively, as shown in FIG8 , the memory 802 may include a quantity upper limit value determination module 701, a robot determination module 702, and a task allocation module 703. The inclusion here only involves that when the instructions stored in the memory are executed, the functions of the quantity upper limit value determination module, the robot determination module, and the task allocation module can be realized respectively, and is not limited to the physical structure.

In addition, the control terminal can be implemented through software as shown in FIG. 8 , or it can be implemented through hardware as a hardware module or as a circuit unit.

Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a storage robot provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 9, the storage robot includes: a mobile chassis 901, a picking device 902, a storage shelf 903 and a controller 904.

Among them, the storage shelf 903 is arranged on the mobile chassis 901, the picking device 902 is mechanically connected to the storage shelf 903, and the controller 904 is connected to the mobile chassis 901 and the picking device 902 respectively, and is used to receive instructions sent by the control terminal, and control the mobile chassis 901 and the picking device 902 to move the material box to the storage shelf 903 according to the instructions, and then move the material box to the workstation corresponding to the material box.

Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a warehousing system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 10, the warehousing system includes: a warehousing robot 1001, a shelf 1002 and a control terminal 1003.

Among them, the material box is placed on the shelf 1002, the control terminal 1003 is the storage robot provided by any embodiment corresponding to Figure 8 of the present disclosure, the storage robot 1001 is the storage robot provided by any embodiment corresponding to Figure 9 of the present disclosure, and the storage robot 1001 is connected to the control terminal 1003, and is used to move the material box to the workstation corresponding to the material box according to the instructions sent by the control terminal 1003.

The present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer program product includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions instruct a computing device to execute the above-mentioned task allocation method provided by the present disclosure.

Among them, computer-readable storage media can be ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk and optical data storage device, etc.

The present disclosure also provides a computer program product, including computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are executed by a processor to implement the above-mentioned task allocation method provided by the present disclosure.

The present disclosure also provides a chip, including at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface provides information input and/or output for the at least one processor. Furthermore, the chip may also include at least one memory, wherein the memory is used to store computer instructions. The at least one processor is used to call and run the computer instructions to execute the above-mentioned task allocation method provided by the present disclosure.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of modules is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

Other implementations of the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the disclosure disclosed herein. The disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure that follow the general principles of the disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the disclosure. The specification and embodiments are to be regarded as exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the disclosure is indicated by the claims below.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the attached claim form.

101: Warehouse robot 102: Shelf 200: Warehouse system 201: Control terminal 202: Warehouse robot 203: Shelf S301~S303, S401~S406, S501~S506, S601~S605: Steps 70: Task allocation device 701: Quantity upper limit determination module 702: Robot determination module 703: Task allocation module 800: Control terminal 801: Processor 802: Memory 803: Communication interface 804: Bus 901: Mobile chassis 902: Pick-up device 903: Storage shelves 904: Controller 1001: Storage robot 1002: Shelves 1003: Control terminal

The drawings herein are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification, show embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, and together with the specification are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a robot carrying a material box provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 2 is an application scenario diagram of the task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 3 is a flow chart of a task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 4 is a flow chart of another task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 5 is a flow chart of another task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 6 is a flow chart of another task allocation method provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a task allocation device provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the hardware architecture of a control terminal provided by the disclosed embodiment; Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a storage robot provided by the disclosed embodiment Figure 10 is a structural schematic diagram of a storage system provided by the disclosed embodiment. The above-mentioned figures have shown clear embodiments of the present disclosure, which will be described in more detail later. These figures and text descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way, but to illustrate the concept of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments.

S301~S303: Steps

Claims (15)

A task allocation method, comprising: determining an upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of a target warehouse; determining the number of storage robots to be added to each workstation according to the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots already allocated to each workstation, and the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation; and determining a first number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the number of storage robots to be added to each workstation; wherein the first number the quantity is less than or equal to the upper limit of the quantity; according to the material box handling tasks to be assigned to each workstation, an instruction is sent to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation, the instruction is used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity; wherein according to the picking efficiency of each workstation, the quantity of the storage robots assigned to each workstation and the number of the storage robots corresponding to each workstation The number of storage robots to be added to each workstation is determined based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots required, including: determining the number of storage robots required by the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i and the correspondence between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required by the workstation; wherein i=1, 2, 3...n, n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse; if the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is less than or equal to the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, If the number of storage robots required by workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to workstation i is determined according to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i. If the number of storage robots required by workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to workstation i is determined according to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i. According to the method of claim 1, determining the first number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation includes: determining the number of storage robots assigned to workstation i, the assigned storage robots including storage robots that have been assigned to the material box of workstation i, storage robots that are transporting the material box of workstation i, and storage robots at workstation i. According to the method of claim 2, if the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is less than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i is determined; according to the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i, the first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i is determined. According to the method of claim 3, the determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i includes: obtaining the picking efficiency of the workstation i; Determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots assigned to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i. The method according to claim 4, wherein before determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots assigned to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, the method further includes: determining one or more of the number, type, outbound time, and layout position of the bins corresponding to the workstation i; determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots assigned to the workstation i, and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i; The number of robots and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i are used to determine the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i, including: determining the number of storage robots to be added to the workstation i according to one or more of the number, type, outbound time and layout position of the material boxes corresponding to the workstation i, as well as the picking efficiency of the workstation i, the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i and the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i. The method according to claim 2 further comprises: if the number of storage robots allocated to the workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, then determining the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i; and determining the first number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i according to the number of storage robots to be reduced at the workstation i. According to the method of any one of claim items 1 to 4, wherein the determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse comprises: determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse; and determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of storage robots. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse comprises: obtaining pending orders in the target warehouse; determining the number of bins corresponding to the pending orders; and determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of bins corresponding to the pending orders. According to the method of claim 8, before determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of boxes corresponding to the pending orders, it further includes: determining one or more of the type, outbound time and layout location of the boxes corresponding to the pending orders; determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to the number of boxes corresponding to the pending orders includes: determining the number of storage robots in the target warehouse according to one or more of the type, outbound time and layout location of the boxes corresponding to the pending orders, and the number of boxes corresponding to the pending orders. The method according to claim 7, wherein, before determining the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse according to the number of storage robots, it also includes: determining one or more of the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, and the attributes of each workstation, wherein the attributes include parameters of the conveyor line in the workstation; According to the number of the storage robots, the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined, including: according to the number of workstations in the target warehouse, the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots that can be accommodated in each workstation, one or more of the attributes of each workstation, and the number of storage robots, the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of the target warehouse is determined. A task allocation device comprises: a quantity upper limit value determination module, used to determine the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation of a target warehouse; a robot determination module, used to determine the number of storage robots to be added to each workstation according to the picking efficiency of each workstation, the number of storage robots already allocated to each workstation and the upper limit value of the number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation, and determine the number of storage robots to be added to each workstation according to the number of storage robots to be added to each workstation. The first number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation is determined according to the number of robots; the task allocation module is used to send instructions to the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation according to the material box transportation tasks to be allocated to each workstation, and the instructions are used to instruct the second number of storage robots corresponding to each workstation to transport the material boxes to the workstations corresponding to the material boxes, wherein the second number is less than or equal to the first number; wherein the robots A determination module is specifically used to determine the number of storage robots required by the workstation i according to the picking efficiency of the workstation i and the corresponding relationship between the preset picking efficiency of the workstation and the number of storage robots required by the workstation; wherein i=1, 2, 3...n, n is equal to the number of workstations in the target warehouse; if the number of storage robots required by the workstation i is less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to the workstation i, then according to the workstation i The number of storage robots required by workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i are used to determine the number of storage robots to be added to workstation i; if the number of storage robots required by workstation i is greater than the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i, the number of storage robots to be added to workstation i is determined based on the upper limit of the number of storage robots corresponding to workstation i and the number of storage robots already allocated to workstation i. A control terminal includes a memory, a processor and a computer program; wherein the computer program is stored in the memory and is configured to be executed by the processor to implement the task allocation method as described in any one of claim items 1 to 10. A storage system, comprising: the control terminal as described in claim 12, a storage robot and a shelf; wherein the storage robot is connected to the control terminal and is used to transport a material box to a workstation corresponding to the material box according to an instruction sent by the control terminal, wherein the material box is placed on the shelf. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer execution instructions, wherein the computer execution instructions are used to implement the task allocation method as described in any one of claim items 1 to 10 when executed by a processor. A computer program product, comprising computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are executed by a processor to perform the task allocation method described in any one of request items 1 to 10.

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