Patent Application
20230415996
The present invention relates to a warehouse work control system and a warehouse work control method.
Internet of Things (IoT) technology for connecting all devices to the Internet and providing various services is becoming widespread. During a rapid increase in the number of devices connected to the Internet, attention is paid to use of robots in various fields against a background of a progress of robot technology and a lack of labor associated with declining birthrate and a growing proportion of elderly people.
Various robots such as a robot that performs a shelf transport work, a conveyor that transports a package, and a picking robot that performs a picking work are introduced also in a distribution work in a distribution warehouse. The robots are mainly robots that each perform a single work, and an effort is made to automate works in warehouses by combining the robots.
Warehouse works are roughly divided into arrival works and shipment works, which are performed in different work regions depending on an arrival source, a shipment destination, a storage place, or the like. Therefore, it is considered to execute the warehouse works by setting robots and operators that perform a series of works necessary for arrival or shipment as one group and assigning the works to each of a plurality of groups.
PTL 1 discloses a work planning system including a processor and a storage unit connected to the processor. The storage unit stores a plurality of shipment orders, work network information related to a process of a work required for shipment, and resource information related to a plurality of resources available for the work. The processor classifies works corresponding to the plurality of shipment orders into a plurality of tasks based on a predetermined condition and the work network information, generates a process plan including assignment of the resource to the process for each of the tasks based on the resource information, and outputs the generated process plan.
PTL 1: JP2021-33873A (Japanese Patent No. 6876108)
By using the technique described in PTL 1, it is possible to average the works with respect to the groups that perform the series of works in the warehouse by equally distributing the works to the groups.
However, in the logistics industry, the number of arrivals and the number of shipment are largely changed due to external factors such as an event of sale, season, and the like, weather, and road condition. The work time in the groups also changes depending on work path, failure, skill level of worker, and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to change arrangement between groups in accordance with the work as a bottleneck portion or loads of the robots for each group.
In PTL 1, it is not considered to eliminate the load on a portion as the bottleneck portion between the work processes.
An object of the invention is to eliminate a load on a portion as a bottleneck portion between work processes in a warehouse work control system.
A warehouse work control system according to an aspect of the invention is a warehouse work control system including: a plurality of information processing devices configured to move autonomously and, in a warehouse having a plurality of work processes, each perform a work for each of the work processes; a processing time calculation unit configured to calculate a processing time of the work assigned to the work processes; a movement path calculation unit configured to calculate a movement path through which each of the information processing devices moves between the work processes; and a movement determination unit configured to determine, by using the processing time and the movement path, movement of the information processing device between the work processes based on an operation situation and a movement direction of the information processing device for each work process.
According to an aspect of the invention, it is possible to eliminate a load on a portion as a bottleneck portion between work processes in a warehouse work control system.
Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The following embodiment is divided into a plurality of sections or embodiments and described when necessary for convenience of description. Unless otherwise specified, the sections or embodiments are not irrelative to each other, and one is a modification, details, or supplementary description of a part or all of the others.
In the following example, when referring to the number of elements and the like (including numbers, numerical values, amounts, ranges, and the like), the number is not limited to a specific number and may be more than or equal to, or less than or equal to the specific number unless otherwise specifically indicated or principally apparent that the number is limited to the specific number.
In the following example, it is needless to say that elements (including element steps and the like) are not essential unless otherwise specifically indicated or principally apparent that the elements are essential.
The operation management server 10 and the distribution base 80 are connected by a network 60. The inside of the distribution base is connected by a local area network (LAN) 70. A connection method of the LAN is, for example, a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or a short-range wireless connection, and a plurality of connection methods may be used in combination.
An input and output interface (I/O) 103 is a user interface through which a user inputs an instruction to the operation management server 10 and an execution result of the program or the like is presented to the user. An input and output device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a display, a printer) is connected to the I/O 103. The I/O 103 may be connected to a user interface provided by a management terminal connected via a network.
The CPU 102 is a processor that executes a program stored in the memory 101. The memory 101 includes a read only memory (ROM) that is a nonvolatile storage element and a random-access memory (RAM) that is a volatile storage element. The ROM stores an unchanged program (for example, a basic input output system (BIOS)). The RAM is a high-speed and volatile storage element such as a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and temporarily stores a program stored in the auxiliary storage device 104 and data used when the program is executed.
Specifically, the memory 101 stores a warehouse work control program 111, a work delay detection program 112, a group configuration change program 113, a shift determination program 114, and an on-movement-path work determination program 115.
The warehouse work control program 111 is a program for executing warehouse work control (see
The warehouse work control program 111, the work delay detection program 112, the group configuration change program 113, the shift determination program 114, and the on-movement-path work determination program 115 respectively constitute a warehouse work control unit, a work delay detection unit, a group configuration change unit, a shift determination unit, and an on-movement-path work determination unit by executing the programs by the CPU 102.
The memory 101 stores group information DB 121 (see
The auxiliary storage device 104 is, for example, a large-capacity and non-volatile storage device such as a magnetic storage device (a hard disk drive (HDD)) or a flash memory (a solid-state drive (SSD)). In addition, the auxiliary storage device 104 stores the program executed by the CPU 102 and the data used when the program is executed. That is, the program is read from the auxiliary storage device 104, loaded into the memory 101, and executed by the CPU 102.
The operation management server 10 is a computer system physically configured on one computer or configured on a plurality of logical or physical computers. The programs stored in the memory 101 may operate on a separate thread on the same computer, or may operate on a virtual computer constructed on a plurality of physical computing resources. The operation management server 10 and other devices may be accommodated in one physical or logical computer. All or a part of processing implemented by executing the programs may be performed by hardware (for example, a field-programmable gate array).
The warehouse work control program 111 is a process performed by the operation management server 10 periodically or by acquiring input information on data to the operation management server 10.
The warehouse work control program 111 first executes the work delay detection program 112 (step 1111), and determines whether hindersome (step 1112). In a case not determined as hindersome, the process is ended. In a case determined as hindersome, the group configuration change program 113 is executed (step 1113), and it is determined whether any robot 20 whose group is to be changed is present (step 1114).
In a case where no robot 20 whose group is to be changed is present, the process is ended. In a case determined that a robot 20 whose group is to be changed is present, the shift determination program 114 is executed (step 1115). Finally, the on-movement-path work determination program 115 is executed (step 1116), and the process is ended.
In the work delay detection, first, work result information is acquired from the work result information DB 122 (step 1121). An intra-group work line indicating the flow with which the work is performed in the work group is calculated based on the acquired information (step 1122), and the intra-group work line information DB 123 is generated or updated.
Next, information is acquired from the worker information DB 126 (step 1123), and an operable intra-group work line is extracted based on position information and work states of workers, except for workers who cannot count as a worker of the intra-group work line (step 1124).
Then, an order still remaining as a work in orders assigned to a work group in the past is acquired from the buffer information DB 124, order information assigned to the work group currently or from now is acquired from the order information DB 125. A processing time of a work included in buffer information and the order information is estimated based on a work time of a past intra-group work line (step 1125).
Next, the estimated processing time is compared with a time until the work group receives an order next time (step 1126), determined as hindersome (Step 1127) or as not hindersome (Step 1128), and the processing is ended.
In the group configuration change program 113, first, information of the work result information DB 122 and the worker information DB 126 is acquired, and a worker corresponding to a work in which a delay occurs with respect to a standard work time is specified (step 1131).
Next, information of the group information DB 121, the intra-group line information DB 123, the buffer information DB 124, and the order information DB 125 is acquired, and a processing time of a buffer and an order is estimated for each work group (step 1132).
Next, in order to extract a work group having a margin, the processing time is compared with a predetermined threshold 1 (step 1133). In a case in which the processing time is larger than the threshold 1, the process is ended. In a case in which the processing time is smaller than the threshold 1, it is determined whether the number of workers in the work group specified as having a long work time in step 1131 is larger than a predetermined threshold 2 (step 1134).
In a case in which the number of workers in the work group is smaller than the threshold 2, the process is ended. In a case in which the number of workers in the work group is larger than the threshold 2, it is determined to assign workers to the delayed work group (step 1135), and the process is ended.
In the shift determination program 114, first, the information of the group information DB 121 and the worker information DB 126 is acquired, a movement path to a group that is a movement destination from a current location or a work end location of the worker whose assignment is to be changed is calculated (step 1141), and work groups on the movement path is specified (step 1142).
Then, along the movement path, for each work group on the movement path, a worker who is in a standby state or a worker whose direction of a work completion location is within a range of a next on-path work group is specified (step 1143). Here, the direction of the work completion location means, for example, a traveling direction of the robot 20.
Next, a movement time of the worker of the work group whose assignment is to be changed is compared with a scheduled work completion time of the worker of the on-path work group and a movement time until reaching a next work group on the movement path (step 1144).
When the movement time of the robot 20 whose assignment is to be changed is small, the process is ended. When the movement time of the robot 20 whose assignment is to be changed is large, the robot 20 of the on-path work group is selected as a robot to be moved to the next on-path work group and the process is ended (step 1145).
In the on-movement-path work determination program 115, first, the information of the buffer information DB 124 and the order information DB 125 is acquired (step 1151).
Next, it is determined whether a work in the buffer and the order on the movement path of the robot 20 moving between the work groups is present (step 1152). When no work in the buffer and the order on the movement path of the robot 20 moving between the work groups is present, the processing is ended. When the work in the buffer and the order on the movement path of the robot 20 moving between the work groups is present, the work is assigned to the moving robot 20 as a work to be performed during the movement (step 1153), and the process is ended.
Accordingly, in the warehouse work control system according to Embodiment 1, the work groups each including a plurality of work subjects are assigned to the plurality of work regions in the warehouse respectively, and the work is executed for each work group.
The warehouse work control system includes a work delay detection unit (the work delay detection program 112) that detects a work delay of the robot 20 that is the work subject, a group configuration change unit (the group configuration change program 113) that changes a configuration of a work group when it is determined that the work delay is hindersome to execution of a work, a shift determination unit (the shift determination program 114) that, when it is determined that a work subject whose work group is to be changed is present, determines a shift of the work subject, and an on-movement-path work determination unit (the on-movement-path work determination program 115) that determines the work to be performed on a movement path by the work subject.
The work delay detection unit determines that the work delay is hindersome to the execution of the work based on a processing time of the work. The group configuration change unit specifies a delayed work group in which the work is delayed based on the processing time of the work. The shift determination unit obtains the movement path from the work group at a current location to the delayed work group that is a movement destination, and determines the shift of the work subject.
The shift determination unit determines the shift of the work subject based on a traveling direction of the work subject. When the work subject moves on the movement path, the on-movement-path work determination unit causes the work subject to move while selecting a work that can be executed on the movement path and executing the work.
Here, the work subject includes an information processing device capable of autonomously moving in the warehouse.
Examples of the work subject include a robot that performs a shelf transport work, a conveyor that transports a package, a picking robot that performs a picking work, and the like.
The group information DB 121 is a database that manages information related to the work group, and includes a work group identifier indicating an identifier of a work group, a type of a worker included in the work group, a worker ID identifying the worker, a place in charge indicating a work under charge of the worker, a standard work time indicating a time taken for the worker to work, a range indicating coordinate information of the work group in the warehouse, and a gateway indicating coordinates of the gateway in the work group.
Here, the worker may include, in addition to a robot or an operator such as a person, any member necessary for performing the work, such as a tool or a movement path used for a warehouse work. For example, the worker includes an operator, an AGV, a conveyor, a forklift, and a picking robot.
The work result information DB 122 includes a work ID that is an identifier of a handled work in the work group, attribute information indicating content of the work, a work type indicating a type of the warehouse work, a worker type indicating a type of the worker who has performed the work, a worker ID for uniquely specifying the worker, and a work time indicating a time taken for the worker to work. The attribute information represents, for example, a size of a package.
The intra-group line information DB 123 includes a group ID that is an identifier of a work group, a line ID that is an identifier of a line in which continuity of the worker was specified based on a result of the work performed in the work line, an attribute that indicates an attribute of the work performed by the line in which the continuity of the worker was specified, a worker ID that is an identifier of the worker who performed the work in the line in which the continuity of the worker was specified, and the standard work time that indicates a time of the work performed by the line in which the continuity of the worker was specified. The attribute represents, for example, a size of a package.
The buffer information DB 124 is a database indicating accumulated information of works before and after the work group or the work included in the work group, and includes a buffer name indicating a place where works are accumulated, a work type indicating a type of the work, an ID that is an identifier of the work, and a work parameter such as a delivery destination of a package. The work type is distinguished into large and medium according to, for example, a size of the handled package.
The order information DB 125 includes an order name that is a name of a work input to a work group, a work type that indicates a type of the work, an ID that is an identifier of the work, a work parameter such as a delivery destination of a package, and time information such as a shipment time of the package. The work type is distinguished into large and medium according to, for example, a size of the handled package.
The worker information DB 126 includes a worker ID that is an identifier of a worker who performs a warehouse work, worker parameters that are a feature and a capability of the worker, a state that indicates a current work situation of the worker, a current position that indicates coordinate information of the worker in a warehouse, a work completion location that is coordinate information of a place where the work performed by the worker is completed, and a work end time that is a time at which the work performed by the worker is ended.
In addition, it is also possible to share a part of works such as the shelf transport work between the work groups. In the example shown in
However, it is considered that a plurality of work groups are present in the movement path between the work groups. Further, the worker cannot perform the work during the movement time in the warehouse, and thus the worker whose assignment is to be changed does not directly move between the work groups. Instead, if there is a worker having the same ability, movement of the worker is determined sequentially from a work group closest to the work group of the movement destination, and the assignment of the worker is changed in a billiard manner.
The warehouse work control system according to the above embodiment is a warehouse work control system including a plurality of autonomously movable information processing devices that, in a warehouse having a plurality of work processes, each perform a work for each of the work processes.
The warehouse work control system according to the described embodiment includes: a processing time calculation unit configured to calculate a processing time of the work assigned to the work processes; a movement path calculation unit configured to calculate a movement path through which each of the information processing devices moves between the work processes; and a movement determination unit configured to determine, by using the processing time and the movement path, movement of the information processing device between the work processes based on an operation situation and a movement direction of the information processing device for each work process.
According to the above embodiment, when a plurality of series of work processes are present in the distribution warehouse, the arrangement of the robots is changed according to a load and a situation between the work processes. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate a load on a portion serving as a bottleneck portion between the work processes and further improve an operation rate of the entire warehouse by determining a movement method between the work processes.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-101456 | Jun 2022 | JP | national |
