CN115231188A

CN115231188A - Picking control method, management equipment and picking system

Info

Publication number: CN115231188A
Application number: CN202211061200.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林翰
Original assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hai Robotics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-31
Filing date: 2022-08-31
Publication date: 2022-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 2042-08-31
Also published as: CN115231188B

Abstract

The application relates to a picking control method, a management device and a picking system. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps of generating a first container carrying queue and a second container carrying queue according to picking tasks, scheduling a first robot to convey first containers to a first supply area of a picking station according to a first container in-station queue, scheduling a second robot to convey second containers to a second supply area of the picking station according to a second container in-station queue, controlling a first operation position where the current first containers are supplied to the first supply area, and controlling a second operation position where the current second containers are supplied to the second supply area, so that objects to be picked in the current first containers are picked into the current second containers at the picking positions. According to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, the area of the warehousing system can be saved, and the system efficiency is improved.

Description

Picking control method, management equipment and picking system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of intelligent logistics, in particular to a sorting control method, a management device and a sorting system.

Background

With the development of artificial intelligence and logistics automation, the intelligent warehousing technology as an important part thereof is also more mature. For intelligent warehousing, intelligent warehousing service can be provided, and operation efficiency of each link in warehouse management and real-time and accurate mastering of warehousing data are guaranteed. In the warehousing process, when the goods are warehoused, sorted, taken out of the warehouse and the like to realize intelligent warehousing, particularly when the goods are selected, generally, after the goods are selected by an operator, the needed selected goods are placed on the seeding wall, and then the sorted goods are conveyed to the corresponding goods positions from the seeding wall by using the robot. The method has the advantages that the occupied area for realizing the intelligent storage is large, and the system efficiency is low.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve or partially solve the problems in the related art, the application provides a sorting control method, a management device and a sorting system, which can save the area of a storage system and improve the efficiency of the system.

A first aspect of the present application provides a sorting control method applied to a management device, including:

s1) generating a container arrival queue according to a picking task, and scheduling a robot according to the container arrival queue; wherein the container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of containers to be inbound and a supply order of the plurality of containers; the method specifically comprises the following steps:

generating a first container in-station queue and a second container in-station queue according to the picking tasks, scheduling a first robot to convey first containers to a first supply area of the picking station according to the first container in-station queue, and scheduling a second robot to convey second containers to a second supply area of the picking station according to the second container in-station queue; the first container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of first containers to be accessed into the first supply area and a supply sequence of the plurality of first containers, and the second container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of second containers to be accessed into the second supply area and a supply sequence of the plurality of second containers; wherein the first supply area is provided with a first operating level for supplying first containers to a picking level of the picking station and the second supply area is provided with a second operating level for supplying second containers to the picking level;

s2) controlling a current first container to be supplied to the first operation position and controlling a current second container to be supplied to the second operation position so that the objects to be picked in the current first container are picked into the current second container at the picking position; the current first container is a first container which is required to be supplied to the first operation position currently in the first container inbound queue, and the current second container is a second container which is required to be supplied to the second operation position currently in the second container inbound queue.

A second aspect of the present application provides a management device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having executable code stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any of the above.

A third aspect of the present application provides a picking system comprising:

a picking station having a picking position, a first supply area provided with a first operative position for supplying first containers to the picking position, and a second supply area provided with a second operative position for supplying second containers to the picking position;

a first robot for transporting a first container to the first supply area;

a second robot for transporting a second container to the second supply area; and (c) a second step of,

the device is managed as described above.

The technical scheme provided by the application can comprise the following beneficial effects:

in the embodiment of the application, the first robot is dispatched to deliver the first container for delivering the object to be picked to the first supply area of the picking station through the management equipment, the second robot is dispatched to deliver the second container for delivering the object to be picked to the second supply area of the picking station, and the first container and the second container are respectively supplied to the first operation position and the second operation position, so that the butt joint is realized at the picking position of the picking station. On the other hand, need not select the goods earlier to the seeding wall, transport the second container from the seeding wall again, through saving middle step, reduced the complexity of flow, can promote system efficiency.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the application.

Drawings

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the application will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the application as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts throughout the application.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a picking system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a picking system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a picking system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Description of reference numerals:

a sorting station 100; a picking position 110; a display screen 112; a first supply area 120; a first operation bit 122; a first conveyor belt 124; a feeder 126; a unloader 128; a second supply area 130; a second operation bit 132; a second conveyor belt 134; a first container 170; a second container 180;

a first robot 200; a second robot 300; a management device 400;

a first storage area 510; a first shelf 512; a second warehousing area 520; a fifth conveyor belt 522; a binning region 530; a third conveyor 532; a third robot 540; an ex-warehouse area 550; the fourth conveyor belt 552.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While embodiments of the present application are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present application may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

The application provides a system of selecting, and this system of selecting can be applied to the field that needs to select the goods such as commodity circulation, storage, and does not do the specific limitation here. The following description will be made in detail by taking an example of a picking system which applies the picking system to the field of smart warehousing and can pick goods according to orders.

Referring to fig. 1, a picking system of an embodiment of the present application includes a picking station 100, a first robot 200, a second robot 300, and a management device 400.

The picking station 100 has a picking position, a first supply area provided with a first operating position for supplying first containers 170 to the picking position, and a second supply area provided with a second operating position for supplying second containers 180 to the picking position.

The first robot 200 is used to transport the first container 170 to the first supply area.

The second robot 300 is used to transport the second container 180 to the second supply area.

The management device 400 is used for scheduling the first robot 200 and the second robot 300, the management device 400 is configured to:

s1) generating a container arrival queue according to the picking task, and scheduling a robot according to the container arrival queue; the container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of containers to be inbound and supply orders of the containers; the method specifically comprises the following steps:

generating a first container in-station queue and a second container in-station queue according to the picking tasks, scheduling the first robot to convey the first containers to a first supply area of the picking station according to the first container in-station queue, and scheduling the second robot to convey the second containers to a second supply area of the picking station according to the second container in-station queue; the first container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of first containers to be entered into the first supply area and a supply order of the plurality of first containers, and the second container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of second containers to be entered into the second supply area and a supply order of the plurality of second containers; wherein the first supply area is provided with a first operating position for supplying first containers to a picking position of the picking station, and the second supply area is provided with a second operating position for supplying second containers to the picking position;

s2) controlling the current first container to be supplied to the first operation position and controlling the current second container to be supplied to the second operation position, so that the objects to be picked in the current first container are picked into the current second container at the picking position; the current first container is a first container which is required to be supplied to the first operation position currently in the first container inbound queue, and the current second container is a second container which is required to be supplied to the second operation position currently in the second container inbound queue.

In some embodiments, the first robot 200 and the second robot 300 are respectively connected to the management device 400 through a network, and the network may be a wired network or a wireless network, and is not limited in this respect.

It is understood that the first robot 200 and the second robot 300 configured in the stocker system may be the same type of robot or different types of robots. In the present application, a distinction is made in respect of each of the picking tasks corresponding to a first supply area and a second supply area, for example, the same robot may act as a first robot in one picking task and as a second robot in another picking task.

It is understood that the management device 400 may include one or more management terminals, and/or one or more management servers.

In some embodiments, the first container 170 is used for placing objects to be picked, and the first container 170 may be, for example, an inventory box on a shelf for placing goods to be picked; the first robot 200 may transport the objects to be picked in the shelved inventory bins to the first supply area 120 or may directly transport the shelved inventory bins to the first supply area 120. It will be appreciated that the objects to be picked may be, for example, a package of SKUs containing the same or different items. The second receptacle 180 is used to place the picked objects, and the second receptacle 180 may be, for example, an order box.

Taking the second container as an example, when adopting the seeding wall to select among the related art, when the picker selects, need seek the target goods check from a plurality of goods check of seeding wall earlier, just can carry out the input of being picked afterwards, therefore the operation flow is heavy and complicated, and the error rate is high to, picker need incessantly remove to different goods check in the picking work, tired easily.

Compared with the sorting scheme adopting the sowing wall, in the embodiment of the application, the picker only needs to face one inventory box on the first operation position and one order box on the second operation position, and the process of searching for the target order box is reduced, so that the operation process can be simplified, the error rate and the fatigue are reduced, and the working efficiency of the picker is improved.

In some embodiments of the application, the arrival sequence of the first container and the arrival sequence of the second container are sequenced through the first container arrival queue and the second container arrival queue, and the first container and the second container which are needed at the same time are controlled to be supplied to corresponding operation positions within a preset time difference range, so that the waiting time of a picker can be reduced, and the efficiency of the whole system is improved.

In some embodiments of the application, the arrival sequence of the first container and the second container is sequenced through the first container arrival queue and the second container arrival queue, and the first robot and the second robot are controlled to supply the first container and the second container which are needed at the same time to the picking station within a preset time difference range, so that the waiting time of a picker can be reduced, and the efficiency of the whole system is improved.

Taking the first container 170 as an inventory box and the second container 180 as an order box, in some embodiments, the management apparatus 400 may determine the type and quantity of the goods to be picked according to the type and quantity of the goods required by the orders involved in the order picking task, and generate a first container inbound queue according to the inventory information, the first container inbound queue including the identifications of the first containers 170 to be supplied to the first supply area and the supply order information of the first containers 170; the management apparatus 400 may further generate a second container inbound queue according to the supply order of the plurality of first containers 170, the kind and the quantity of the goods required for each of the plurality of orders; the second container inbound queue includes identifications of a plurality of second containers 180 to be supplied to the second supply area and supply order information of the plurality of second containers 180.

The management apparatus 400 schedules the one or more first robots 200 to transport the plurality of first containers 170 to the first supply area according to the first container inbound queue, controls the plurality of first containers 170 to be supplied to the first operation place in the corresponding supply order; the management apparatus 400 schedules the one or more second robots 300 to transport the plurality of second containers 180 to the second supply area according to the second container inbound queue, and controls the plurality of second containers 180 to be supplied to the second operation site in the corresponding supply order.

In some embodiments, the management device 400 generates a container serving correspondence that includes a one-to-one correspondence between the second container at each level in the second container inbound queue and the first container at each level in the first container inbound queue. The management apparatus 400 may determine a current first container and a current second container according to the container supply correspondence, and control a first supply time at which the current first container is supplied to the first operation position and a second supply time at which the current second container is supplied to the second operation position such that a time difference between the first supply time and the second supply time is within a preset range.

It will be appreciated that in the first container inbound queue, the same first container may appear multiple times at different orders, i.e. the first container may be repeatedly supplied to the first operating station; similarly, in a second container inbound queue, the same second container may appear multiple times at different bits, i.e., the second container may be repeatedly supplied to the second operation bit.

In some embodiments, the management apparatus 400 determines a first robot 200 to be scheduled based on the storage location information of the plurality of inventory boxes of the first container inbound queue and the current state information of the plurality of first machines that are currently schedulable, and generates a first scheduling instruction corresponding to the determined first robot 200; the first scheduling instruction includes pick-up location information, target delivery location information, and delivery time information for one or more inventory boxes to be delivered by the first robot 200. In some embodiments, the first dispatching instruction further includes delivery path information, and the delivery path may include a pickup path and a delivery path after pickup. The current status information of the first robot 200 includes, for example, the current location of the first robot 200, whether it is currently idle, etc. The pickup location information for an inventory bin may include, for example, the location information of the inventory bin in the shelf; the target delivery location information of the inventory bins may be first target location information of the first supply area 120 of the target picking station 100, which may be, for example, an entrance location of a first conveyor belt within the first supply area, or may be a location of a first operator station, or may be an entrance location of a first robotic queue at the first supply area; the delivery time information for the inventory bin includes, for example, pickup time information for picking to the pickup location and/or arrival time information for delivery to the first destination location.

On the other hand, the management apparatus 400 determines the second robot 300 to be scheduled based on the storage position information of the order boxes of the plurality of orders involved in the one order picking task and the current state information of the plurality of second robots currently schedulable, and generates a second scheduling instruction corresponding to the determined second robot 300; the second scheduling command includes pickup position information, target delivery position information, and delivery time information of one or more order boxes to be delivered by the second robot 300. In some embodiments, the second dispatching instruction further includes delivery path information, and the delivery path may include a pickup path and a delivery path after pickup. The current state information of the second robot 300 includes, for example, the current position of the second robot 300, whether it is currently idle, and the like. The pickup position information of the order box may be, for example, the position information of the order box in the shelf, or may be the exit position information of a conveyor belt for conveying the order box of the empty order box area; the target delivery location information for the order box may be second target location information for a second supply area 130 of the target picking station 100, which may be, for example, an entrance location of a second conveyor belt within the second supply area, or may be a location of a second operator station 132, or may be an entrance location of a second robotic queue at the second supply area; the delivery time information of the order box includes, for example, pickup time information for picking up the item to the pickup position and/or arrival time information for delivery to the second destination position. The management apparatus 400 records the correspondence of the scheduled first robot and the first container transported by it, and the correspondence of the scheduled second robot and the second container transported by it.

It is to be understood that the first scheduling instruction and the second scheduling instruction are not limited to a single instruction, but may be a combination of a plurality of instructions.

In some embodiments, the first robot moves to autonomously pick the first container at the cargo space in the rack. In some embodiments, the first robot 200 moves to a location where the first container is in the shelf, and the first container is loaded to the first robot 200 by another loading mechanism. It is to be understood that the moving of the first robot 200 to the cargo space in the present application is to be understood in a broad sense not only to the cargo space itself, but also to any position within a loading range where the loading mechanism can load the first container from the cargo space to the first robot 200, for example, a ground position corresponding to the cargo space located at a high level, in some cases where the loading mechanism is loaded by other loading mechanisms, for example. The second robot may also acquire the second container for similar understanding, and the details are not repeated.

In some embodiments, scheduling the robot according to the container inbound queue comprises: and scheduling the at least one multi-container transfer robot according to the container inbound queue according to a first scheduling mode, so that each multi-container transfer robot transfers at least two containers in the plurality of containers of the container inbound queue.

In one specific implementation, the management apparatus 400 determines one or more multi-container delivery robots to be scheduled and at least two containers to be delivered by each multi-container delivery robot, based on the storage location information of the plurality of containers in the container inbound queue and the current status information of the currently schedulable multi-container delivery robots, and generates scheduling instructions corresponding to the determined multi-container delivery robots; the scheduling command includes pickup position information, target delivery position information, and delivery time information of at least two containers to be delivered by the multi-container delivery robot. The current state information of the multi-container delivery robot includes, for example, the current position of the robot, whether it is currently idle, the number of deliverable containers, and the like. The management apparatus 400 records the correspondence relationship of the scheduled multi-container transfer robot and at least two containers transferred by the multi-container transfer robot, and also records the position information of the at least two containers in the multi-container transfer robot.

It is understood that, after the multi-container transfer robot transfers at least two containers to the target delivery location, it is controlled to supply the at least two containers to the corresponding operation locations in the supply order of the at least two containers based on the location information of the at least two containers in the multi-container transfer robot.

It is understood that in the case of scheduling a plurality of multi-container transfer robots, the management apparatus 400 controls the arrival order of each multi-container moving robot according to the supply order information of a plurality of containers in the container arrival queue and the correspondence of the multi-container robot and at least two containers transferred by the multi-container robot.

In some embodiments, scheduling the robot according to the container inbound queue comprises: and according to a second scheduling mode, scheduling at least two single container conveying robots to convey at least two containers in the plurality of containers in the container arrival queue in a one-to-one correspondence mode according to the container arrival queue.

In one specific implementation, the management apparatus 400 determines at least two single-container transfer robots to be scheduled and a single container to be transferred by each single-container transfer robot, based on the storage location information of the plurality of containers in the container inbound queue and the current status information of the currently schedulable single-container transfer robots, and generates a scheduling instruction corresponding to the determined single-container transfer robots; the scheduling command includes the pickup position information, the target delivery position information, and the delivery time information of the individual container to be delivered by the single-container delivery robot. The management apparatus 400 records the correspondence of each scheduled single container transporting robot and the container transported thereby.

It is understood that the management apparatus 400 controls the order of arrival of the at least two single container moving robots according to the supply order information of the plurality of containers in the container arrival queue and the correspondence of each single container robot to the container it transports.

It will be appreciated that the two ways of scheduling robots according to the container inbound queue described above may be used for scheduling the first robot 200 according to the first container inbound queue, and may also be used for scheduling the second robot 300 according to the second container inbound queue.

For example, a first robot may be scheduled according to a first container inbound queue in a first scheduling manner, and a second robot may be scheduled according to a second container inbound queue in the first scheduling manner, i.e., both the scheduled first and second robots are multi-container transfer robots.

Alternatively, the first robot may be scheduled according to the first container arrival queue in the second scheduling manner, and the second robot may be scheduled according to the second container arrival queue in the second scheduling manner, that is, both the scheduled first robot and the scheduled second robot are single-container transfer robots.

Alternatively, the first robot may be scheduled according to a first scheduling manner based on the first container arrival queue, and the second robot may be scheduled according to a second scheduling manner based on the second container arrival queue, i.e., the scheduled first robot is a multi-container transfer robot and the second robot is a single-container transfer robot.

Or the second robot can be dispatched according to the second container arrival queue according to the first dispatching mode, and the first robot is dispatched according to the first container arrival queue according to the second dispatching mode, namely the dispatched first robot is a single-container conveying robot, and the second robot is a multi-container conveying robot.

In some embodiments, the first supply area of the sorting station is provided with a first conveyor belt. In some embodiments the second supply area of the picking station is provided with a second conveyor belt. The conveyor belt may be, for example, a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, a fluent strip, or the like.

The first supply area is provided with a first conveyor belt as an example. According to actual needs, the second conveyor belt of the second supply area can be similarly set and controlled, and details are not repeated.

The first conveyor belt is provided with an entrance and an exit between which a plurality of first containers 170 can be transferred simultaneously, and a first operating position is provided between the entrance and the exit.

The management apparatus 400 controls the plurality of first containers transported by the scheduled one or more first robots 200 to be sequentially unloaded onto the first conveyor at the entrance of the first conveyor according to the supply order information of the plurality of first containers in the first container inbound queue, thereby being sequentially supplied to the first operating place according to the supply order.

In one specific implementation, at least a portion of the first robots 200 being dispatched are multi-container transfer robots configured with a plurality of storage levels and a handling device that can be raised and lowered, the at least two first containers 170 being transferred by the multi-container robots being positioned at different storage levels. After the multi-container transfer robot reaches the entrance of the first conveyor, the first containers 170 placed in different storage levels are sequentially carried out from the corresponding storage levels and placed on the first conveyor by controlling the lifting and lowering of the carrying device in accordance with the supply order of the at least two first containers 170 being transferred.

In some embodiments, the second supply area is free of a second conveyor belt, and the one or more second robots 300 supply the plurality of second containers 180 to the second station in sequence. Similarly, in some embodiments, the first supply area is also provided with a first conveyor belt, and the one or more first robots 200 sequentially supply the plurality of first containers 170 to the first operation station.

The second supplying section 130 is not provided with the second conveyor, and the second robot 300 sequentially supplies the plurality of second containers 180 to the second station. According to actual needs, the first supply area can be similarly set and controlled, and details are not repeated.

In some embodiments, the management apparatus 400 schedules the at least two second robots 300 of the single-container transport type to transport at least two second containers 180 of the plurality of second containers of the second container inbound queue in a one-to-one correspondence, controls the at least two second robots 300 to sequentially move to the second picking positions of the second supply area in accordance with the supply order of the at least two second containers 180, and positions the transported second containers 180 at the second operation level when the second robots 300 move to the second picking positions, so that the objects to be picked in the first containers 170 at the first operation level can be directly picked into the second containers 180 at the second operation level.

In some embodiments, the management apparatus 400 schedules at least one second robot 300 of the multi-container shipping type, the second robot 300 shipping at least two second containers 180 of the plurality of second containers of the second container inbound queue. After the second robot 300 moves to the second picking position at the second supply area, the at least two second receptacles 180 are sequentially supplied to the second operation position in the order of supply of the at least two second receptacles 180, so that the objects to be picked in the first receptacles 170 at the first operation position can be directly picked into the second receptacles 180 at the second operation position.

In one implementation, at least some of the second robots 300 to be dispatched are multi-container transfer robots configured with a plurality of storage levels and a handling device that can be raised and lowered, and at least two second containers 180 transferred by the multi-container robots are placed at different storage levels. After the multi-container transfer robot reaches the second picking position, the second containers 180 placed in different storage levels are sequentially carried out from the corresponding storage levels and supplied to the second operating position by controlling the lifting and lowering of the transfer device in accordance with the supply order of the transferred at least two second containers 180, so that the objects to be picked in the first containers 170 at the first operating position can be directly picked into the second containers 180 at the second operating position.

In some embodiments, the managing device 400 scheduling robots according to the container inbound queue includes: the method includes determining a target robot for transporting at least one target container of a plurality of containers into a station train, determining a pickup time and/or an arrival time of the target robot, and scheduling the target robot to pick up the at least one target container according to the pickup time and/or the arrival time.

In some embodiments, the management apparatus 400 determines a target first robot 200 for transporting a target first container 170 of the plurality of first containers of the first container inbound queue, determines a pickup time and/or an arrival time for the target first robot 200, and schedules the target first robot 200 to pick up the target first container 170 according to the pickup time and/or the arrival time. On the other hand, the management apparatus 400 further determines a target second robot 300 for transporting a target second container 180 corresponding to the target first container 170 among the plurality of second containers of the second container inbound queue, determines a pickup time and/or an arrival time of the target second robot 300, and schedules the target second robot 300 to pick up the target second container 180 according to the pickup time and/or the arrival time.

In some embodiments, the managing device 400 scheduling robots according to container inbound queues includes:

a1, determining a first pick time when the target first robot 200 acquires the target first container 170 in the first container inbound queue, and a second pick time when the target second robot 300 acquires the target second container 180 corresponding to the target first container 170 in the second container inbound queue, wherein the first pick time and the second pick time are such that a time difference between a first arrival time when the target first robot 200 arrives at a first target position of the target picking station 100 and a second arrival time when the target second robot 300 arrives at a second target position of the target picking station 100 is within a preset range;

and A2, controlling the target first robot 200 to acquire the target first container 170 according to the first pickup time and then to transport the container to the first target position, and controlling the target second robot 300 to acquire the target second container 180 according to the second pickup time and then to transport the container to the second target position.

In some embodiments, the first pickup time and the second pickup time are determined by:

and determining the first goods picking time when the target first robot acquires the target first container and the second goods picking time when the target second robot acquires the target second container according to the current position information of the target first robot, the current position information of the target second robot, the goods picking position information of the target first container, the goods picking position information of the target second container corresponding to the target first container, the position information of the first target position of the target sorting station and the position information of the second target position of the target sorting station.

b1, determining a first goods taking duration of a target first robot according to current position information of the target first robot and goods taking position information of a target first container, and determining a second goods taking duration of a target second robot according to current position information of a target second robot and goods taking position information of a target second container;

b2, determining a first delivery time length of the target first robot according to the picking position information of the target first container and the position information of the first target position of the target picking station, and determining a second delivery time length of the target second robot according to the picking position information of the target second container and the position information of the second target position of the target picking station;

and B3, determining the first goods taking time of the target first robot and the second goods taking time of the target second robot according to the first goods taking time and the first goods sending time of the target first robot and the second goods taking time and the second goods sending time of the target second robot.

It will be appreciated that the delivery and pickup durations of the robot are related to the speed of movement of the robot.

It can be understood that the pickup time of the robot may be the time required by the robot from the current position to the pickup position of the target container, or the time required by the robot from the current position to the pickup position of the target container and acquiring the target container; the delivery duration of the robot may be a duration required for the robot to move from the pickup position of the target container to the corresponding target position of the target picking station, or may be a duration required for the robot to move from the pickup position of the target container to the corresponding target position of the target picking station and unload the target container.

For example, in some embodiments, the first pickup duration is a duration required for the target first robot to move from the current location to the pickup location of the target first container, and the second pickup duration is a duration required for the target second robot to move from the current location to the pickup location of the target second container; the first delivery duration is a duration required for the target first robot to move from the pickup location of the target first container to the first target location of the target picking station, and the second delivery duration is a duration required for the target second robot to move from the pickup location of the target second container to the second target location of the target picking station.

For example, in other embodiments, the first pickup duration is a duration required for the target first robot to move from the current position to the pickup position of the target first container and acquire the target first container, and the second pickup duration is a duration required for the target second robot to move from the current position to the pickup position of the target second container and acquire the target second container; the first delivery duration is a duration required for the target first robot to move from the pickup location of the target first container to the first target location of the target picking station and unload the target first container, and the second delivery duration is a duration required for the target second robot to move from the pickup location of the target second container to the second target location of the target picking station and unload the target second container.

It is assumed that the moving speed of the target first robot 200 and the moving speed of the target second robot 300 are the same. In one embodiment, the distance of the delivery path of the target first robot between the pickup location of the target first receptacle 170 and the first destination location of the target picking station is greater than the distance of the delivery path of the target second robot between the pickup location of the target second receptacle 180 and the second destination location of the target picking station, the first delivery duration of the target first robot is greater than the second delivery duration of the target second robot, the management device 400 may control the target first robot to pick before the target second robot, the first pickup duration of the target first robot and the second pickup duration of the target first robot may target a time difference between the first pickup duration and the second pickup duration of the target first robot that is less than a predetermined value, and the first pickup duration and the second delivery duration of the target first robot are determined according to the first pickup duration and the first delivery duration of the target first robot and the second pickup duration and the second delivery duration of the target second robot.

In some embodiments, the first pickup duration is further determined based on a pickup path of the target first robot, and/or a pickup avoidance priority.

In some embodiments, the first delivery duration is further determined based on a delivery path of the target first robot, and/or a delivery back-off priority.

In some embodiments, the second pickup duration is further determined according to a pickup path of the target second robot and/or a pickup avoidance priority.

In some embodiments, the second delivery duration is further determined based on a delivery path of the target second robot, and/or a delivery avoidance priority.

It will be appreciated that the shorter the pick/delivery path of the target first robot, the shorter the first pick/delivery duration; when the goods taking path/delivery of the target first robot is congested, the higher the taking/delivery avoidance priority of the target first robot is, the shorter the first goods taking/delivery time is. The second pick time and the second delivery time of the target second robot are similar to this, and are not described in detail.

In some embodiments, determining the first pickup time and the second pickup time further comprises: adjusting at least one of the first pickup time and the second pickup time according to at least one of the real-time congestion information of the pickup path of the target first robot and the real-time congestion information of the pickup path of the target second robot; therefore, under the condition of adjusting the first goods taking time, the target first robot can be controlled to obtain the target first container according to the adjusted first goods taking time, and under the condition of adjusting the second goods taking time, the target second robot can be controlled to obtain the target second container according to the adjusted second goods taking time. When the picking path of the first robot and/or the second robot is jammed in real time, the time difference between the first arrival time of the target first robot and the second arrival time of the target second robot is changed, for example, the time difference may exceed a preset range; by adjusting the first pickup time and/or the second pickup time, the first arrival time of the target first robot and/or the second arrival time of the target second robot can be adjusted accordingly, so that the time difference between the first arrival time and the second arrival time can be controlled within a preset range. It is to be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the first arrival time and the second arrival time are expected arrival times, not actual arrival times.

In some embodiments, determining the first pickup time and the second pickup time further comprises:

adjusting at least one of a goods taking path and a goods taking avoidance priority of the target first robot according to the real-time congestion information of the goods taking path of the target first robot; and/or adjusting at least one of the goods taking path and the goods taking avoidance priority of the target second robot according to the real-time congestion information of the goods taking path of the target second robot; and

and adjusting at least one of the first goods taking time and the second goods taking time according to at least one of the adjusted goods taking path and the adjusted goods taking avoidance priority of the target first robot and/or at least one of the adjusted goods taking path and the adjusted goods taking avoidance priority of the target second robot.

It is understood that, in some embodiments, for example, in the case where the first robot 200 is a multi-container transfer robot and the second robot 300 is a single-container transfer robot, the number of the first robots that are simultaneously operated is small, the number of the second robots that are simultaneously operated is large, the picking path and the picking avoidance priority of the target first robot may not be adjusted, but only the picking path and/or the picking avoidance priority of the target second robot may be adjusted, and the first picking time of the target first robot and/or the second picking time of the target second robot may be adjusted according to the adjusted picking path and/or picking avoidance priority of the second robot.

In some embodiments, controlling the target first robot to acquire the target first container at the first pickup time and controlling the target second robot to acquire the target second container at the second pickup time comprises:

c1, re-estimating a first arrival time according to the real-time position of the target first robot, and/or re-estimating a second arrival time according to the real-time position of the target second robot;

c2, obtaining an updated value of the time difference between the first arrival time and the second arrival time based on the re-estimated first arrival time and/or second arrival time;

c3, if the updated value of the time difference exceeds a preset range, controlling the robot which arrives at the target sorting station earlier in the target first robot and the target second robot to wait at a preset waiting position of a corresponding supply area of the target sorting station; it will be appreciated that the preset waiting positions may be non-blocking positions provided within or outside the respective supply zones, to avoid the robot at the waiting position from blocking the other robots from moving towards the respective target positions;

and C3, if the robot which arrives at the target sorting station later in the target first robot and the target second robot arrives within the preset distance range of the corresponding target position of the target sorting station, controlling the robot which arrives earlier to continue to move to the corresponding target position from the preset waiting position.

It can be understood that a first waiting position can be preset outside or inside the first supply area for the first robot to stop waiting; a second waiting position can be preset outside the second supply area or inside the second supply area so that the second robot can stop waiting.

re-estimating a first arrival time according to the real-time position of the target first robot, and/or re-estimating a second arrival time according to the real-time position of the target second robot;

obtaining an updated value of the time difference between the first arrival time and the second arrival time based on the re-estimated first arrival time and/or second arrival time;

if the updated value of the time difference exceeds the preset range, the moving speed of at least one of the target first robot and the target second robot is adjusted to reduce the arrival time difference of the target first robot and the target second robot.

In one example, after the target first robot 200 acquires the target first container according to the first pick-up time, the first delivery time of the target first robot 200 is increased due to congestion or other reasons on the delivery path, the first arrival time is delayed, and the second arrival time of the target second robot 300 is not changed, so that the arrival time difference between the two robots is increased. The management apparatus 400 may, for example, in a case where it is determined that the second delivery duration of the target first robot will increase, re-estimate the first arrival time in accordance with the real-time location of the target first robot, and obtain an updated value of the time difference between the first arrival time and the second arrival time based on the re-estimated first arrival time; if the updated value of the time difference exceeds the preset range, controlling the target second robot to wait at a second waiting position of the target picking station; the management device 400 may control the target second robot to continue moving from the second waiting position to the second target position while the target first robot may continue moving without stopping when the target first robot moves to the first waiting position of the target picking station; in this way, the two robots still reach the respective target positions with a small time difference.

In another example, if the management apparatus 400 determines that the update value of the time difference between the first arrival time of the target first robot and the second arrival time of the target second robot is beyond the preset range, the moving speed of the target second robot may be decreased, so that the second delivery duration of the target second robot is increased accordingly, and the second arrival time of the target second robot is delayed; in this way, the two robots still reach the respective target positions with a small time difference.

Fig. 2 shows a picking system suitable for the picking control method according to an embodiment of the present application. The picking system of the present embodiment includes a picking station 100, a first robot 200, a second robot 300, a management device (not shown), a first warehousing area 510, and a second warehousing area 520.

The first storage area 510 is provided with at least one first shelf 512, and the first container is stored on the first shelf 512; the second storage area 520 is provided with at least one second shelf, and the second containers are stored on the second shelf.

It is understood that in other embodiments, the first shelf and the second shelf may be the same shelf or different shelves located in the same storage area.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the shelf may be a large shelf, having a plurality of storage columns, each storage column having a plurality of storage tiers; in some embodiments, the shelf may be a small rack that can hold single or multiple containers.

The picking station 100 has a picking position 110, a first supply area 120, and a second supply area 130, the first supply area 120 being provided with a first operating position 122 for supplying first containers 170 to the picking position 110, and the second supply area being provided with a second operating position 132 for supplying second containers (not shown in the figures) to the picking position.

The first robot 200 is adapted to receive a first scheduling instruction of the management device, to retrieve a first container from the first storage area 510 according to the first scheduling instruction and to transport the first container to the first supply area 120 of the target picking station 100.

The second robot 300 is adapted to receive a second scheduling instruction of the management device, to retrieve a second container from the second storage area 520 according to the second scheduling instruction and to deliver the second container to the second supply area 130 of the target picking station 100.

The first supply area 120 is provided with a first conveyor belt 124, the first station 122 is provided on the first conveyor belt 124, the first robot 200 transports the first container to the entrance of the first conveyor belt 124, the feeder 126 takes the first container out of the first robot 200 onto the first conveyor belt 124, the first container is transported to the exit of the first conveyor belt 124 after the sorting is completed, and the unloader 128 takes the first container out of the first conveyor belt 124 and places it onto another or the same first robot, which removes the first container from the first supply area 120. It is understood that in other embodiments, the loading machine and/or the unloading machine may not be provided, and the loading and unloading are directly carried out by the conveying robot.

The second supply area 130 is not provided with a conveyor belt and the second robot 300 directly transports the second container to the second operation site 132.

In this embodiment, the first robot 200 and the second robot 300 are multi-container transfer robots, and are provided with a plurality of storage levels and a transfer device that can be raised and lowered, and a plurality of first containers transferred by the robots are placed in different storage levels. After the first robot reaches the entrance of the first conveyor belt 124, the first containers placed in different storage levels are sequentially moved out of the corresponding storage levels and onto the first conveyor belt 124 by controlling the lifting and lowering of the carrying device according to the supply sequence of the conveyed plurality of first containers in the first container inbound queue. The plurality of second robots form a second robot queue at the second supply area 130, which in turn supplies the second containers to the second operation station 132. The management apparatus controls the second robot queue to sequentially move to the second picking position in accordance with the supply order of the transported second containers in the second container arrival queue, and at the second picking position, the second robot sequentially carries out the second containers placed in different storage levels from the corresponding storage levels and supplies the second containers to the second operation station 132 by controlling the elevation of the carrying device in accordance with the supply order of the transported plurality of second containers.

In this embodiment, the first supply area 120 and the second supply area 130 are disposed at both sides of the picking position 110. When a picker stands at the picking station 110, the first container 170 on one side can be picked and the goods can be picked directly from the first container 170 to the second container on the other side.

In some embodiments, the system may also be configured for automated picking, the system including at least one picking mechanism that may take the place of a picker, and the management device may control the picking mechanism to pick the goods directly from the first receptacle 170 to the second receptacle.

In some embodiments, the picking system further provides a warehousing area 530, the third conveyor 532 conveys the first container to be warehoused to the warehousing area to the exit, the first container is moved to the first robot 200 through the loader, the first robot 200 transports the first container to the first shelf 512 of the first warehousing area 510, and the management device records the goods position information of the first container 170 in the warehousing information.

In some embodiments, the picking system is further provided with a delivery area 550, and the management device is further configured to send a delivery instruction to the second robot 300 after all the items required by the order boxes conveyed by the second robot 300 are picked into the order boxes, and the second robot 300 conveys the order boxes to the delivery area 550 to be packaged and delivered according to the delivery instruction. In one specific implementation, the delivery area 550 is provided with a fourth conveyor 552, the second robot 300 delivers the order boxes to the inlet of the fourth conveyor 552, the unloader takes the order boxes out of the second robot 300 and places the order boxes on the fourth conveyor 552, and the fourth conveyor 552 delivers the order boxes to the packing position for packing and delivery.

In some embodiments, the second stocker area 520 is provided with a fifth conveyor belt 522, and the empty order boxes in the empty order box area are conveyed to the exit by the fifth conveyor belt 522 and placed to the second robot 300 by the loader.

In this embodiment, the first robot and the second robot can both transport a plurality of containers, and the second robot is used as a buffer in the second supply area. The management equipment can solve through an operational research algorithm and a machine learning algorithm to obtain a first container arrival queue and a second container arrival queue so as to obtain a carrying sequence of the first container and the second container with overall optimal system efficiency, and the arrival rhythm and sequence of the second robot can be scheduled to match the arrival rhythm of the first container.

Fig. 3 shows a picking system suitable for use in the above-described picking control method according to another embodiment of the present application. The picking system of the present embodiment is different from the picking system of the embodiment shown in fig. 2 in that in the present embodiment, the second supply area 130 is provided with the second conveyor belt 134, the second operation position 132 is provided on the second conveyor belt 134, the second robot 300 transports the second container 180 to the entrance of the second conveyor belt 134, the feeding machine takes out the second container 180 from the second robot 300 and puts it on the second conveyor belt 134, and after the picking is completed, the second container 180 is transported to the exit of the second conveyor belt 134 and is removed from the second supply area 130. In this embodiment, the first container arriving at the station may be buffered on the first conveyor line of the first supply area, the second container arriving at the station may be buffered on the second conveyor line of the second supply area, which makes it easier for the system to find the optimal solution, the arrival times of the first container and the second container are more easily matched, and the second robot does not need to wait for the picking by the picker, thus enabling to transport more second containers, making the system more efficient.

A picking system according to another embodiment of the present application, which is adapted to the above-described picking control method, is similar to the picking system of the embodiment of fig. 2, except that in this embodiment, the second robot 300 is a single-container transfer robot, and a plurality of single-container transfer robots form a second robot queue at the second supply area 130, and sequentially supply second containers to the second station 132. The management apparatus controls the plurality of single-container transfer robots to sequentially enter the robot queues in the supply order of the transferred plurality of second containers in the second container inbound queue, thereby supplying the plurality of second containers to the second operation station 132 in the supply order. In this embodiment, the single-container transfer robot is used to transfer the second containers, and each second container is decoupled as an independent freely movable individual, so that the optimal solution is easier to obtain for the system, and the arrival times of the first container and the second container are easier to match, so that the system efficiency is higher.

The present application also provides a management device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing executable code which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a picking control method as described above. It will be appreciated that the management device may include one or more management terminals, and/or one or more management servers.

The Processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory may include various types of storage units, such as system memory, read Only Memory (ROM), and permanent storage. Wherein the ROM may store static data or instructions for the processor or other modules of the computer. The persistent storage device may be a read-write storage device. The persistent storage may be a non-volatile storage device that does not lose stored instructions and data even after the computer is powered down. In some embodiments, the persistent storage device employs a mass storage device (e.g., magnetic or optical disk, flash memory) as the persistent storage device. In other embodiments, the permanent storage may be a removable storage device (e.g., floppy disk, optical drive). The system memory may be a read-write memory device or a volatile read-write memory device, such as a dynamic random access memory. The system memory may store instructions and data that some or all of the processors require at runtime. Further, the memory may comprise any combination of computer-readable storage media, including various types of semiconductor memory chips (DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, flash memory, programmable read-only memory), magnetic and/or optical disks, may also be employed. In some embodiments, the memory may include a removable storage device that is readable and/or writable, such as a Compact Disc (CD), a digital versatile disc read only (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual layer DVD-ROM), a Blu-ray disc read only, an ultra-dense disc, a flash memory card (e.g., SD, min SD, micro-SD, etc.), a magnetic floppy disk, and the like. Computer-readable storage media do not contain carrier waves or transitory electronic signals transmitted by wireless or wired means.

The memory has stored thereon executable code which, when processed by the processor, causes the processor to perform some or all of the methods described above.

Furthermore, the method according to the present application may also be implemented as a computer program or computer program product comprising computer program code instructions for performing some or all of the steps of the above-described method of the present application.

Alternatively, the present application may also be embodied as a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (or computer-readable storage medium, or machine-readable storage medium) having stored thereon executable code (or a computer program, or computer instruction code) that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device (or electronic device, server, etc.), causes the processor to perform some or all of the steps of the above-described methods according to the present application.

Having described embodiments of the present application, the foregoing description is intended to be exemplary, not exhaustive, and not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or improvements to the technology in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A sorting control method is applied to management equipment and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

generating a first container in-station queue and a second container in-station queue according to the picking tasks, scheduling a first robot to convey first containers to a first supply area of the picking station according to the first container in-station queue, and scheduling a second robot to convey second containers to a second supply area of the picking station according to the second container in-station queue; the first container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of first containers to be accessed into the first supply area and a supply sequence of the plurality of first containers, and the second container inbound queue comprises identifications of a plurality of second containers to be accessed into the second supply area and a supply sequence of the plurality of second containers; wherein the first supply area is provided with a first operating position for supplying first containers to a picking position of the picking station and the second supply area is provided with a second operating position for supplying second containers to the picking position;

2. The pick control method as claimed in claim 1, wherein scheduling a robot according to the container inbound queue includes:

scheduling at least one multi-container transfer robot according to the container inbound queue according to a first scheduling mode, so that the multi-container transfer robot transfers at least two containers in the plurality of containers of the container inbound queue; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and according to a second scheduling mode, scheduling at least two single container conveying robots to convey at least two containers in the plurality of containers in the container arrival queue in a one-to-one correspondence mode according to the container arrival queue.

3. The pick control method as claimed in claim 2, wherein scheduling a robot according to the container inbound queue includes:

scheduling a first robot according to the first container inbound queue according to a first scheduling mode, and scheduling a second robot according to the second container inbound queue according to the first scheduling mode; or the like, or a combination thereof,

scheduling the first robot according to the first container arrival queue according to a second scheduling mode, and scheduling the second robot according to the second container arrival queue according to the second scheduling mode; or the like, or a combination thereof,

dispatching the first robot according to the first container arrival queue according to a first dispatching mode, and dispatching the second robot according to the second container arrival queue according to a second dispatching mode; or

And scheduling the second robot according to the second container inbound queue according to the first scheduling mode, and scheduling the first robot according to the first container inbound queue according to the second scheduling mode.

4. The pick control method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controlling that a current first container is supplied at the first operating position and controlling that a current second container is supplied at the second operating position comprises:

determining a current first container and a current second container according to the container supply corresponding relation;

controlling a first supply time at which the current first container is supplied to the first operating position and a second supply time at which the current second container is supplied to the second operating position such that a time difference between the first supply time and the second supply time is within a preset range;

wherein the container supply correspondence includes a one-to-one correspondence between a second container of each level in the second container inbound queue and a first container of each level in the first container inbound queue.

5. The pick control method as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said controlling that a current first container is supplied in the first operating position comprises: controlling a first robot or a first conveyor belt arranged in a first supply area to supply a current first container to the first operation position; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the controlling that the current second container is supplied in the second operating position comprises: and controlling a second robot or a second conveying belt arranged in a second supply area to supply the current second container to the second operation position.

6. A pick control method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein scheduling a robot in accordance with the container inbound queue comprises:

determining a target robot for transporting at least one target container of the plurality of containers of the container inbound queue;

determining a pickup time and/or arrival time of the target robot;

and scheduling the target robot to take and transport the at least one target container according to the goods taking time and/or the arrival time.

7. A pick control method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein scheduling a robot in accordance with the container inbound queue comprises:

determining a first pick time when a target first robot acquires a target first container in the first container inbound queue and a second pick time when a target second robot acquires a target second container corresponding to the target first container in the second container inbound queue, wherein the first pick time and the second pick time are such that a time difference between a first arrival time when the target first robot arrives at a first target position of a target picking station and a second arrival time when the target second robot arrives at a second target position of the target picking station is within a preset range; and

and controlling the target first robot to obtain the target first container according to the first goods taking time and then transport the target first container to the first target position, and controlling the target second robot to obtain the target second container according to the second goods taking time and then transport the target second container to the second target position.

8. The pick control method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first pickup time and the second pickup time are determined by:

and determining that the target first robot acquires the first goods taking time of the target first container and the target second robot acquires the second goods taking time of the target second container according to the current position information of the target first robot, the current position information of the target second robot, the goods taking position information of the target first container, the goods taking position information of the target second container, the position information of the first target position and the position information of the second target position.

9. The pick control method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first pickup time and the second pickup time are determined by:

determining a first goods taking time of the target first robot according to the current position information of the target first robot and the goods taking position information of the target first container, and determining a second goods taking time of the target second robot according to the current position information of the target second robot and the goods taking position information of the target second container;

determining a first delivery duration of the target first robot according to the goods taking position information of the target first container and the position information of the first target position, and determining a second delivery duration of the target second robot according to the goods taking position information of the target second container and the position information of the second target position; and the number of the first and second groups,

and determining the first goods taking time and the second goods taking time according to the first goods taking time, the first goods sending time, the second goods taking time and the second goods sending time.

10. The pick control method as claimed in claim 9,

the first goods taking duration is further determined according to the goods taking path of the target first robot and/or the goods taking avoidance priority; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the first delivery duration is also determined according to the delivery path of the target first robot and/or the delivery avoidance priority; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the second goods taking duration is determined according to the goods taking path of the target second robot and/or the goods taking avoidance priority; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and the second delivery duration is also determined according to the delivery path of the target second robot and/or the delivery avoidance priority.

11. The pick control method as claimed in claim 8, wherein determining the first pickup time and the second pickup time further comprises:

and adjusting at least one of the first pickup time and the second pickup time according to at least one of the real-time congestion information of a first pickup path of the target first robot and the real-time congestion information of a second pickup path of the target second robot.

12. The pick control method as claimed in claim 8, wherein determining the first pickup time and the second pickup time further comprises:

13. The pick control method as claimed in claim 7, wherein controlling the target first robot to acquire the target first container at a first pick time and controlling the target second robot to acquire the target second container at a second pick time comprises:

if the updated value of the time difference exceeds a preset range, controlling the robot which arrives at the target sorting station earlier in the target first robot and the target second robot to wait at a preset waiting position of a corresponding supply area of the target sorting station;

and if the robot which arrives at the target sorting station later in the target first robot and the target second robot arrives within a preset distance range of the corresponding target position of the target sorting station, controlling the robot which arrives earlier to continue to move to the corresponding target position from the preset waiting position.

14. The pick control method as claimed in claim 7, wherein controlling the target first robot to acquire the target first container at a first pick time and controlling the target second robot to acquire the target second container at a second pick time comprises:

and if the updated value of the time difference exceeds a preset range, adjusting the moving speed of at least one of the target first robot and the target second robot.

15. A management device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having executable code stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

16. A sorting system, comprising:

a picking station having a picking position, a first supply area provided with a first operating position for supplying first containers to the picking position, and a second supply area provided with a second operating position for supplying second containers to the picking position;

a first robot for transporting a first container to the first supply area;

a second robot for transporting a second container to the second supply area; and the number of the first and second groups,

the management device of claim 15.