US-12617611-B2 - Inventory management method and system

Abstract

An inventory management method includes: scheduling, according to task information, a first autonomous mobile robot and a second autonomous mobile robot to travel to a same target workstation to perform tasks; controlling the first autonomous mobile robot to take one or more inventory containers from an inventory area and transport same to a first work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; and controlling the second autonomous mobile robot to take one or more inventory containers from the inventory area and transport same to a second work point in the target workstation according to an instruction.

Inventors

• Kai Liu

Assignees

• BEIJING GEEKPLUS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20210518

Priority Date

20200529

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An inventory management system, comprising one or more inventory areas, multiple autonomous mobile robots, one or more workstations, and one or more control systems, each of the one or more workstations comprising at least two work points, and the multiple autonomous mobile robots at least comprising a first autonomous mobile robot and a second autonomous mobile robot, wherein: each of the one or more control systems is configured to schedule the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot to travel to a target workstation to perform tasks according to task information; the first autonomous mobile robot is configured to take one or more first inventory containers from the one or more inventory areas and transport the one or more first inventory containers to a first work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; and the second autonomous mobile robot is configured to take one or more second inventory containers from the one or more inventory areas and transport the one or more second inventory containers to a second work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; wherein the first work point and the second work point are two adjacent work points in the target workstation.
2. 2 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to, determine a target height based at least in part on a workstation where any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots is located, and schedule the any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to take out a target inventory container transported thereby and adjust the target inventory container to the target height to wait for subsequent operation.
3. 3 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to, in a case that it is determined that there is an empty inventory container transported by any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots, issue a prompt message for taking out the empty inventory container.
4. 4 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to schedule any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to take a target inventory container containing unpackaged items from the one or more inventory areas and transport the target inventory container to the one or more workstations for replenishment of the unpackaged items, and after the replenishment is completed, transport the target inventory container to a designated inventory area and place the target inventory container in a designated storage location.
5. 5 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to, in a case that it is determined that the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot are performing tasks in the target workstation, alternately schedule one of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot to take out in advance an inventory container transported thereby to wait for subsequent operation when an operation on an inventory container transported by another robot of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot is performed.
6. 6 . The inventory management system of claim 5 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to alternately schedule one of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot to take out in advance the inventory container transported thereby and adjust the inventory container to a specified height to wait for subsequent operation when the operation on the inventory container transported by another robot of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot is performed.
7. 7 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to schedule any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to take over packaged items at the one or more workstations, transport the packaged items to a designated inventory area and place the packaged items into a designated storage location.
8. 8 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to schedule any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to travel to a first end of a buffer roller line, and take over the packaged items at the first end of the buffer roller line, wherein the packaged items are loaded onto the buffer roller line at a second end of the buffer roller line and transferred to the first end of the buffer roller line.
9. 9 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to schedule any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to take over a target inventory container containing unpackaged items at the one or more workstations, transport the target inventory container to a designated inventory area and place the inventory container into a designated storage location.
10. 10 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more control systems is further configured to schedule any one of the multiple autonomous mobile robots to travel to a first end of a buffer roller line, and take over a target inventory container containing the unpackaged items at the first end of the buffer roller line, wherein the target inventory container containing the unpackaged items is loaded onto the buffer roller line at a second end of the buffer roller line and transferred to the first end of the buffer roller line.
11. 11 . An inventory management method, applied in a control system of an inventory management system, the inventory management system comprising one or more inventory areas, a plurality of autonomous mobile robots and one or more workstations, and the plurality of autonomous mobile robots at least comprising a first autonomous mobile robot and a second autonomous mobile robot, the method comprising: scheduling the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot to travel to a target workstation to perform tasks according to task information; controlling the first autonomous mobile robot to take one or more first inventory containers from the one or more inventory areas and transport the one or more inventory first containers to a first work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; and controlling the second autonomous mobile robot to take one or more second inventory containers from the one or more inventory areas and transport the one or more second inventory containers to a second work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; wherein the first work point and the second work point are two adjacent work points in the target workstation.
12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: determining a target height based at least in part on a workstation where any one of the autonomous mobile robots is located, and scheduling the any one of the autonomous mobile robots to take out a target inventory container transported thereby and adjust the target inventory container to the target height to wait for subsequent operation.
13. 13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: in a case that it is determined that there is an empty inventory container transported by any one of the autonomous mobile robots, issuing a prompt message for taking out the empty inventory container.
14. 14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising scheduling any one of the autonomous mobile robots to take a target inventory container containing unpackaged items from the one or more inventory areas and transport the target inventory container to the one or more workstations for replenishment of the unpackaged items, and after the replenishment is completed, transport the target inventory container to a designated inventory area and place the target inventory container in a designated storage location.
15. 15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: in a case that it is determined that the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot are performing tasks at the target workstation, alternately scheduling one of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot to take out in advance an inventory container transported thereby to wait for subsequent operation when an operation on an inventory container transported by another robot of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot is performed.
16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising alternately scheduling one of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot to take out in advance the inventory container transported thereby and adjust the inventory container to a specified height to wait for subsequent operation when the operation on the inventory container transported by another robot of the first autonomous mobile robot or the second autonomous mobile robot is performed.
17. 17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising scheduling any one of the autonomous mobile robots to take over packaged items at the one or more workstations, transport the packaged items to a designated inventory area and place the packaged items into a designated storage location.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising scheduling any one of the autonomous mobile robots to travel to a first end of a buffer roller line, and take over the packaged items at the first end of the buffer roller line, wherein the packaged items are loaded onto the buffer roller line at a second end of the buffer roller line and transferred to the first end of the buffer roller line.
19. 19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising scheduling any one of the autonomous mobile robots to take over a target inventory container containing unpackaged items at the one or more workstations, transport the target inventory container to a designated inventory area and place the target inventory container into a designated storage location.
20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising scheduling any one of the autonomous mobile robots to travel to a first end of a buffer roller line, and take over a target inventory container containing the unpackaged items at the first end of the buffer roller line, wherein the target inventory container containing the unpackaged items is loaded onto the buffer roller line at a second end of the buffer roller line and transferred to the first end of the buffer roller line.

Description

This application is a U.S. national phase application of International Application No. PCT/CN2021/094416, filed on May 18, 2021, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010477658.7, filed on May 29, 2020, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the technical field of warehousing and logistics, and in particular, to an inventory management method and system. BACKGROUND With the explosive growth of e-commerce, the workload of inventory management in warehousing and logistics has also increased significantly. How to maximize the efficiency of inventory management is currently one of the main concerns of staff in this field. In the related art, many e-commerce warehouses use multiple autonomous mobile robots to automatically transport inventory containers with stored items to a workstation, so as to facilitate workers at the workstation to perform warehousing and sorting. However, when switching between multiple autonomous mobile robots, time is often wasted because the next autonomous mobile robot does not arrive at the workstation in time. Therefore, it is far from being able to achieve the goal of high efficiency pursued in the field of warehousing and logistics today. SUMMARY According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present specification, an inventory management system is provided. The inventory management system includes one or more inventory areas, multiple autonomous mobile robots, one or more workstations, and one or more control systems. One workstation includes at least two work points, and the multiple autonomous mobile robots at least include a first autonomous mobile robot and a second autonomous mobile robot. The control system is configured to schedule the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot to travel to a same target workstation to perform tasks according to task information; The first autonomous mobile robot is configured to take one or more inventory containers from the inventory area and transport the one or more inventory containers to a first work point in the target workstation according to an instruction; The second autonomous mobile robot is configured to take one or more inventory containers from the inventory area and transport the one or more inventory containers to a second work point in the target workstation according to an instruction. According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present specification, an inventory management method is provided, including: scheduling the first autonomous mobile robot and the second autonomous mobile robot to travel to a same target workstation to perform tasks according to task information;controlling the first autonomous mobile robot to take one or more inventory containers from the inventory area and transport the one or more inventory containers to a first work point in the target workstation;controlling the second autonomous mobile robot to take one or more inventory containers from the inventory area and transport the one or more inventory containers to a second work point in the target workstation according to an instruction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other features, objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent upon reading the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings. The drawings are for purposes of illustrating preferred implementations only and are not to be considered limiting of the disclosure. Also, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings. In the attached drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inventory management system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of layout and handling in a storage area provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of a robot provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of a robot provided by another embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an inventory management method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an inventory management system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar promotions without departing from the connotation of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited by the specific implementation disclosed below. The terminology used in one or more embodiments of this specification is for the purpose of describing particular e