WO2025141673A1 - Control device, control method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

This control device comprises an acquisition unit, a first determination unit, a second determination unit, and a control unit. The acquisition unit acquires shelf information, which relates to the size and the number of inventory items placed on a shelf or to the size of an empty region on the shelf, in a warehouse in which articles are placed on shelves. The first determination unit determines, on the basis of the shelf information, the size and the number of empty regions to be created. The second determination unit determines the position of a movement target article that is to be moved, and the position of a movement destination to which the movement target article is to be moved, in accordance with the size and the number of empty regions to be created. The control unit controls a robot to move the movement target article to the determined position.

Description

Control device, control method, and recording medium

This disclosure relates to a control device, a control method, and a recording medium.

In warehouses where goods are stored, there are technologies for managing goods, such as managing the placement of goods within the warehouse and managing the incoming and outgoing shipments of goods. With such technologies, there are cases where the shelf on which an item is placed within the warehouse, i.e., the location of the item within the warehouse, is managed.

In addition, in warehouses, items placed on shelves can become disorganized as items arrive and are shipped, which can result in wasted space on the shelves. As a result, there is a need to eliminate such wasted space in warehouse management.

Patent Document 1 describes a method for managing incoming and outgoing goods by controlling a transfer device to fill empty space by rearranging goods forward when the goods are removed from the warehouse.

JP 2005-138955 A

However, as with the method described in Patent Document 1, organizing items by packing them forward at one opening in a shelf to reduce free space may not be efficient for the entire warehouse.

One example of the objective of this disclosure is to provide technology for efficiently organizing shelves.

The control device in one aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition means for acquiring shelf information, which is information regarding the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information regarding the size of free space on the shelves; a first determination means for determining the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information; a second determination means for determining the items to be moved, which are the objects to be moved, and the positions to which the items to be moved are to be moved, depending on the size and number of free spaces to be created; and a control means for controlling the robot to move the items to be moved to the determined positions.

The control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure acquires shelf information, which is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information about the size of free space on the shelves, determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information, determines the items to be moved and the destination positions to which the items to be moved are to be moved according to the size and number of free spaces to be created, and controls the robot to move the items to the determined positions.

A program in one aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute a process of acquiring shelf information, which is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information about the size of free space on the shelves, determining the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information, determining the items to be moved and the destination positions to which the items to be moved based on the size and number of free spaces to be created, and controlling a robot to move the items to be moved to the determined positions.

Each program may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

One example of the effect of this disclosure is that it can provide technology for efficiently organizing shelves.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system including a control device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an empty space in a shelf. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control device. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device. 13 is a block diagram showing another example of the functional configuration of the control device. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration for implementing a control device in the present disclosure using a computer and its peripheral devices.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment]
1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration including a control device 100. The control system includes the control device 100 and a robot. The control system causes the robot to move items placed on shelves in a warehouse. The control system thereby organizes the shelves.

In FIG. 1, the control device 100 is a device that controls a robot to organize shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves. The control device 100 is realized by, for example, a server, but is not limited to this example.

The control device 100 is connected to the robot so that it can communicate with it. The control device 100 also acquires shelf information in order to determine how to control the robot. The shelf information will be described later.

In FIG. 1, the robot is a robot that moves items placed on a shelf under the control of the control device 100. The robot is, for example, a robot arm, but the robot is not limited to this as long as it is a robot that can move items. Also, for example, the robot may be equipped with a camera for controlling its operation.

Next, the shelves in the warehouse and the free space on the shelves will be explained with reference to Figure 2.

Shelves are equipment for placing items. Multiple shelves are installed in a warehouse. With reference to FIG. 2, shelf 1 has shelf levels 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3. Shelf 2 is similar. Each shelf level is a space for placing items. Note that the specific aspects such as the number and height of the shelves are not limited to the example in FIG. 2.

The items are items stored in a warehouse. For example, the items are merchandise stored in a logistics warehouse. The items may be, for example, multiple items packed in a single package, or individual items that have been opened from a package.

In this disclosure, it is assumed that items may be placed at any position on a shelf. Placing items at any position on a shelf in this manner is sometimes referred to as free location. On a shelf, multiple items of the same type are placed together, lined up in at least one of the following directions: the width of the shelf, the depth of the shelf, or the height of the shelf. Also, on a shelf, items of different types may be placed with gaps between them to make them easier to remove and to distinguish between different items. Also, on a shelf, items of different types may be separated by L-shaped or other partitions not shown.

A shelf level has spaces where items are placed and spaces where items are not placed. Here, the space where no items are placed is called free space. In a shelf level where items can be placed at any position, the shape and size of the free space changes when items are placed on the shelf level for incoming shipments, or when some or all of multiple items of the same type that were placed together are removed from the shelf level for shipping. In a shelf level, free space that is not large enough to receive items becomes wasted space.

In this disclosure, the control device 100 performs a process for organizing the items placed on the shelves to create free space, i.e., a process for organizing the shelves, in order to use the shelf space efficiently.

Next, the functional configuration of the control device 100 in this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device 100. Referring to FIG. 3, the control device 100 includes an acquisition unit 101, a first decision unit 102, a second decision unit 103, and a control unit 104.

The acquisition unit 101 is an example of an acquisition means for acquiring shelf information, which is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information about the amount of free space on the shelves. Here, inventory items are items that are placed on the shelves before the shelves are organized.

The shelf information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 may be shelf information for the entire warehouse, or shelf information for a portion of the warehouse. The acquisition unit 101 only needs to acquire shelf information for shelves included in the range that is the target of shelf organization.

The range subject to shelf organization may be, for example, a specified area of a warehouse, a single shelf, or a single shelf level, but is not limited to this example. The specified area of a warehouse may be a storage area predefined for each category of item, an area divided by temperature ranges such as room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen, an area divided by whether or not humans are working there, an area classified according to shelf height, or an area classified by shelf type. If it is specified that items are to be managed in a specified area, it is assumed that the items to be moved will be moved within the specified area when moving items as described below.

Shelf information is information that indicates the availability of a shelf at a certain point in time. Shelf information may be information about the size of the available space on the shelf itself, or information about the size and number of items placed on the shelf. Since available space on a shelf is the area excluding the area in which items are placed, information about the size and number of items placed on the shelf is information that indicates the availability of a shelf at a certain point in time. If the shelf information is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on the shelf, the shelf information may also include location information that indicates the location on the shelf where the inventory items are placed.

The size of each of the stock items or free space may be expressed, for example, by volume, or by the respective width, height, and depth. In addition, depending on the operation of the warehouse, it is assumed that two or more different types of items are not stacked in the height direction and are not lined up in the depth direction on a shelf. In this case, only the width may be used as the size of the stock items or free space. However, in this embodiment, the width and height may be used as the size, or the width and depth may be used, or the width, height, and depth may be used. The information used as the size may be appropriately determined depending on the placement status of the items on the shelf.
In the following description, a block of free space that is not blocked by inventory items or the like is counted as one free space. In other words, the number of free spaces is the number of blocks of free space.

The information on the size and number of stock items may be, for example, information itself indicating the size and number of stock items. In this case, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire the information indicating the size and number of stock items from, for example, a database that manages information on stock items. The database that manages information on stock items includes information indicating the size of each stock item, the number of stock items, and the shelf on which the stock items are placed. The information on stock items may be managed for each lot number of the stock items. That is, in this case, the stock items may be managed for each lot number. Furthermore, the database that manages information on stock items may include other information such as identification information of the stock items. Furthermore, the database that manages information on stock items may be divided into multiple databases.

The size and number of inventory items may also be determined from an image of a warehouse shelf by known image recognition technology. The image may be, for example, an image used for inventory. In the following description, an image of a shelf is referred to as a shelf image. In this case, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire the size and number of inventory items by performing image recognition on the shelf image.

The information regarding the size of the free space on the shelf may be, for example, information indicating the size of each pre-recorded free space, or information indicating the total size of the free space on each shelf level. In this case, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire the size of the free space on the shelf from a database that manages information regarding the free space on the shelf.

In addition, the information regarding the size of the free space on the shelf may include the location of the free space. The location of the free space may be represented, for example, by a specific location on the shelf where the free space is located, or by the shelf where the free space is located.

The size of the free space on the shelf may also be found from the shelf image using known image recognition technology. In this case, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire the size of the free space by performing image recognition on the shelf image. In this case, the position of the free space may also be acquired using the shelf image.

The size of the area in which the stock items are placed or the size of the free space may be classified into any number of levels. In this case, the shelf information may include information indicating the classification of the size of the area in which the stock items are placed or the classification of the free space. The classification levels and the size of each level may be determined as appropriate, for example, they may be classified into three levels: small size, medium size, and large size. However, examples of classification are not limited to this. When the size of the area in which the stock items are placed or the free space is expressed by these classifications, the size of the area in which the stock items are placed is classified so that it belongs to a classification level in which the stock items can be stored, i.e., larger than the size of the stock items.

The first determination unit 102 is an example of a first determination means that determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on shelf information. The free spaces to be created are free spaces that are created by controlling the robot to move inventory items, i.e., by organizing the shelves.

The second determination unit 103 is an example of a second determination means that determines the items to be moved and the destination positions of the items to be moved, depending on the size and number of free spaces to be created.

The processing by the first decision unit 102 and the second decision unit 103 is processing for determining how the robot should organize the shelves. Before describing the details of the first decision unit 102 and the second decision unit 103, a specific example of shelf organization in this disclosure, i.e., creating free space, will be described with reference again to FIG. 2.

In the following explanation, for simplicity, the size of inventory items and free space will be explained in terms of the width that can be placed on a shelf.

On shelf level 1-2, from left to right, there is an area where an item has been placed, an empty area, an area where an item has been placed, and an empty area. For example, let us say that the empty area on the right side of shelf level 1-2 is too small to place a new item on it. In this case, the empty area on the right side of shelf level 1-2 may end up being wasted space. In contrast, let us say that the empty area on the left side of shelf level 1-2 is an empty area where a new item can be placed.

In this case, for example, by moving at least one of the two inventory items on shelf 1-2, it is possible to create an empty space the size of which is the combined size of the empty space on the left and right sides. This makes it possible to eliminate the small empty space required to place a new item. Furthermore, in this case, the amount of work required by the robot to move the inventory items can be reduced by shifting the inventory item on the right side of shelf 1-2 to the left rather than shifting the two inventory items on shelf 1-2 to the right. Also, in this case, the amount of work required by the robot to move the inventory items can be reduced by shifting the inventory item on the right side of shelf 1-2 to the right rather than shifting the inventory item on the right side of shelf 1-2 to the left.

In this case, the amount of new items that can be placed in the combined free space of the left and right sides may not change when compared to the original free space on the left side. In such a case, it may be possible not to create free space that does not change the amount of new items that can be placed even if inventory items are moved, i.e., not to organize the shelves.

Also, on shelf level 1-2, the inventory items placed on the right side may be shifted to the left side so that the two free spaces become the same size. If the size of the two free spaces created by moving inventory items in this way is large enough to accommodate the new items to be placed on the shelf, then less items will need to be moved than if a free space the size of the combined two free spaces on shelf level 1-2 were to be created.

Although the shelf arrangement on shelves 1-2 has been described, the shelf arrangement method is not limited to these examples. Items may also be moved between shelves or between shelves.

For example, of two inventory items placed on shelf 1-1, the inventory item placed on the right side may be moved to the left side of shelf 2-1, where no inventory items are placed. In this example, the distance the inventory item is moved can be made shorter than when, for example, the inventory item placed on the right side of shelf 1-1 is moved to the right side of shelf 2-1, where no inventory items are placed, or to shelf 2-3, where no inventory items are placed. Also, in this example, a relatively large amount of free space can be secured on both shelf 1-1 and shelf 2-1, rather than increasing the free space on shelf 1-1 by moving the inventory item placed on the right side of shelf 1-1 toward the inventory item on the left side. Note that when moving inventory items within shelf 1-1, the robot may be able to move the item by pushing it, but since there is a wall between shelf 1-1 and shelf 2-1, the robot must lift the item. In such cases, the difficulty of the work to be performed by the robot and the time required to complete the work will vary, so it is advisable to appropriately select the amount of free space to be created depending on, for example, the robot's performance and the time limit within which the robot can perform the work.

As shown on shelf 2-2 in FIG. 2, inventory items may be placed with gaps between them. These gaps may be provided to make it easier to distinguish between different types of inventory items next to each other, or to make it easier to remove inventory items. The first determination unit 102 may perform processing taking these gaps into account. For example, the first determination unit 102 may perform processing to leave gaps between items that are 1 cm wide or less instead of leaving them as free space. Also, for example, the size of the area in which inventory items are placed may be managed as a size obtained by adding a predetermined gap size to the size of the inventory items. Also, for example, even when the size of the area in which inventory items are placed is classified by size, the inventory items may be classified by a size obtained by adding a predetermined gap size to the size of the inventory items. Examples of processing taking gaps into account are not limited to this example.

In this way, the first decision unit 102 and the second decision unit 103 perform their respective processes to organize shelves efficiently from multiple perspectives, such as eliminating wasted free space, creating free space of a more desirable size, and reducing the amount of inventory movement by the robot.

Referring back to Figure 3, we return to the explanation of each component of the control device 100.

The first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information. For example, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created from the size of the current free space based on the shelf information. The first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the current size of the free space, so as to create as large a free space as possible. Also, for example, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the current size of the free space, so as to reduce as much free space below a predetermined size as possible. The predetermined size may be determined appropriately depending on the operation of the warehouse. The predetermined size may be, for example, the size of an area in which incoming goods can be stored, but is not limited to this example. Also, for example, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the current size of the free space, so that the size of the free space is either an area in which inventory items are placed or each size used to classify the size of the free space.

Here, the number of free spaces in the processing of the first determination unit 102 is the number of free spaces of a specified size. For example, referring to FIG. 2, assume that the width of each shelf is 100 cm. Shelf 2-1 has no inventory items placed on it, so it can be expressed as one free space of 100 cm width, but if the specified size is 50 cm, it is two free spaces, and if the specified size is 30 cm, it is three free spaces.

The number of free spaces may also be the number of free spaces for each of the size categories mentioned above.

Furthermore, for example, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created according to the demand for free spaces. The demand for free spaces is the size and number of free spaces required in the warehouse. For example, the demand for free spaces may be the size and number of free spaces required to store incoming goods scheduled to arrive at the warehouse. For example, the demand for free spaces may be the size and number of free spaces that are set in advance as necessary by a warehouse manager or the like. By determining the size and number of free spaces to be created according to demand, the first determination unit 102 can streamline the amount of work and work time required for creating free spaces by the robot.

An example of the processing of the first determination unit 102 will be described. For example, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so that the free space required for storing incoming items, which are items that are newly received and stored in the warehouse, can be secured. For example, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created based on shelf information and a list of incoming items.

Here, the list of incoming items includes identification information for identifying the incoming items, the size of the incoming items, and the number of incoming items. The list of incoming items may also include other information such as the names of the incoming items. Here, incoming items may arrive in a state where multiple items are packed together. Therefore, the size and number of incoming items included in the list of incoming items may be the size and number of package units in which they are packed. This information is acquired, for example, by the acquisition unit 101. For example, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the list of incoming items. If the size of the incoming items is not included in the list of incoming items, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the size of the item corresponding to the identification information of the incoming items from a database that manages item information.

The first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so that the incoming items can be stored based on the size and number of the incoming items included in the list of incoming items. For example, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so that the free spaces are larger and more than the size and number of free spaces required to store each of the incoming items. Note that when the size and number of the incoming items correspond to the size and number of package units, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so that the packages can be stored.

Furthermore, when classification by size of items or size of free space is used, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created using the size used for the classification as a unit. In other words, the size of the area for storing incoming items and the size of the free space to be created may be expressed by the size of each predetermined classification.

Other examples of the determination of the size and number of free spaces by the first determination unit 102 will be described. For example, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so that the space on the shelves of the warehouse can be used efficiently in the operation of the warehouse.

For example, the first determination unit 102 may determine the number of each size of free space to be created so that at least one of the size and number of free spaces is suitable for a predetermined demand. It is assumed that there is a regularity in the arrival or shipment of goods in a warehouse. For example, it is assumed that there is a regularity in the arrival of goods depending on the day of the week or date. In such a case, it is considered desirable to secure free space based on the regularity even at a stage where the goods to be received cannot be specifically identified. Also, in operating a warehouse, there are cases where it is desirable to operate while securing a certain amount of free space. Therefore, the first determination unit 102 may determine the size and number of free spaces to be created so as to meet a standard determined based on the operation of the warehouse.

The predetermined demand is, for example, the demand for the size of free space. The demand for the size of free space may be expressed as a lower limit or upper limit value of the size of free space. The lower limit value of the size of free space may be, for example, the minimum size of free space in which newly arrived items can be placed, and by using the lower limit value as a standard, it is possible to reduce wasted free space.

The predetermined demand may be, for example, the demand for the number of free spaces. The demand for the number of free spaces may be expressed, for example, as a lower limit value of the number of free spaces of a size included in a predetermined size range. Also, for example, when classification by free space size is used, the demand for the number of free spaces may be expressed as a lower limit value of the number for each size of free space, or a lower limit value and an upper limit value. Also, the demand for the number of free spaces may be expressed as an acceptable range of the ratio of the number for each size of free space.

The determination by the first determination unit 102 of the size and number of free spaces to be created may be formulated by an optimization problem. In this case, the constraint conditions include, for example, at least one of the above-mentioned criteria, that the total size of the current free spaces is smaller than the total size of the free spaces to be created, and that the size and number of free spaces to be created are feasible based on the size of the shelves and the size and number of inventory items. In addition, the objective function is, for example, minimizing excess space. The first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created by solving the optimization problem formulated in this way.

Furthermore, in the example of the processing by the first determination unit 102, further other conditions may be set. For example, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free areas to be created for a predetermined target range. The target range may be, for example, the entire warehouse, a specific area in the warehouse, an aisle consisting of multiple shelves, multiple shelves of the same type, one shelf, one shelf level, shelves of the same height, etc. The specific area in the warehouse may be an area set for each category of items, an area divided by temperature range such as room temperature, refrigeration, and freezing, an area divided by whether or not humans are working there, etc. The target range may be determined in advance, or may be specified by, for example, the warehouse manager. Furthermore, the target range is not limited to these examples. In this case, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free areas to be created in the target range based on the shelf information in the target range.

The second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the destination positions of the items to be moved to, depending on the size and number of free spaces to be created. In other words, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the destination positions of the items to be moved to, so that free spaces of the size and number determined by the first determination unit 102 are created.

　The items to be moved are moved, for example, by a robot. To make the moving work more efficient, it is desirable to move the items to be moved to create free space as little as possible. Therefore, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the positions of the destinations so as to minimize the amount of movement of the items to be moved. The amount of movement of the inventory items may be expressed as the straight-line distance between the original position of the inventory items and the destination position, or may be expressed as the distance of the movement path that is considered when the robot actually moves the inventory items. Therefore, in this case, the second determination unit 103 may determine the items to be moved and the positions of the destinations so as to minimize the sum of the amounts of movement of all the items to be moved, or may determine the items to be moved and the positions of the destinations so as to minimize the amount of movement of the items to be moved that move the longest distance. In this case, the amount of movement considered by the second determination unit 103 is not limited to the above example, and may be determined as appropriate.

When a robot moves an object to be moved, the amount of work performed by the robot varies depending on the relationship between the original position of the object to be moved and the position to which it is to be moved. The amount of work performed by the robot also varies depending on the number of objects to be moved and the performance of the robot. For example, the work of a robot moving an object to be moved may involve shifting the object to be moved to the side on a shelf without lifting it, or lifting the object to be moved and placing it in a position different from the original position. The position different from the original position may be on the same shelf, a different shelf, or a different shelf. In this case, the amount of work performed by the robot may differ between the work of shifting the object to be moved to the side and the work of lifting the object to be moved and placing it in a different position. In addition, if the original position where the object to be moved was originally placed and the different position where it is to be placed again are far apart, it is expected that the robot will need to move. Furthermore, if the object to be moved is a plurality of unpackaged objects or a plurality of packaged objects, the operation of moving the object to be moved may need to be performed multiple times depending on the mechanism and number of hands used by the robot to lift the objects. Even in this case, if there is a partition on at least one side of the item to be moved, the action of shifting the item to the side on the shelf may be such that multiple items to be moved or multiple packaging packages can be moved in one action by pushing the partition.

The second determination unit 103 may therefore determine the items to be moved and the destination of the items to be moved so as to minimize the amount of work performed by the robot based on the relationship between the original and destination positions of the inventory items. In this case, the second determination unit 103 may further determine the items to be moved and the destination of the items to be moved so as to minimize the amount of work performed by the robot based on the number of inventory items and the performance of the robot performing the work.

The amount of work done by a robot may be expressed, for example, by the amount of movement of the robot's movement mechanism and each mechanism such as the arm and hand, or by power consumption.

In addition, the amount of work performed by a robot is correlated with the robot's working time. However, the working time of a robot may differ depending on the robot's performance even for the same amount of work. The working time of a robot also differs depending on the number of robots performing the work. Therefore, when the objective function is the robot's working time, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the destination of the items to be moved so as to minimize the robot's working time according to the robot's working amount and the robot's performance. In this case, the performance of the robot is represented by the operating speed, and the mechanism and number of hands.

In this way, when the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and their destinations so as to minimize the amount of work done by the robots or the time the robots are to be worked on, the second determination unit 103 may use information indicating the number of robots performing the work and information indicating the performance of each robot. In this case, the information indicating the number of robots performing the work and information indicating the performance of each robot are obtained, for example, by the obtaining unit 101 from a database that manages information related to robots.

In addition, in a warehouse, restrictions may be imposed on the placement of items for the sake of inventory management. For example, a restriction may be imposed in a warehouse such that certain items are not placed next to each other. In this case, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the destination so that the certain items are not placed next to each other.
Here, the predetermined item is, for example, an item that is likely to be mistakenly picked as the item to be moved during a picking operation. For example, an item that is likely to be mistakenly picked as the item to be moved is an item of the same type as the item to be moved, but with a different manufacturing lot number from the item to be moved. In this case, the second determination unit 103 determines the item to be moved and its destination so that the item to be moved is not adjacent to an item of the same type but with a different manufacturing lot number. Examples of the predetermined item are not limited to this.

In addition, in a warehouse, the area in which an item is placed may be specified depending on the attributes of the item. For example, the area in which an item is placed may be specified in advance for each item category. As another example, when temperature control of an item is required, the area in which an item is placed may be specified for each temperature zone. As another example, there may be restrictions on the shelf or height on which an item can be placed depending on the weight of the item. In this case, the second determination unit 103 determines the item to be moved and the destination so that the destination of the item to be moved is placed in the area where the item to be moved is to be placed.

In addition, it is expected that the work of moving the items to be moved by the robot will be performed at a time different from the time when items are normally brought in and taken out of the warehouse. In this case, the time limit during which the robot can work may be limited to the time when no humans are working in the warehouse, for example. Therefore, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and their destinations so that the size and number of free spaces to be created will enable the robot to complete the movement of the items to be moved within the time limit.

The second determination unit 103 may determine the item to be moved and the location of the destination to which the item to be moved, for example, by solving an optimization problem. In this case, the objective function is, for example, minimizing the amount of inventory items moved, or minimizing the amount of work or the working time of the robot. The constraint condition is creating free space of the size and number determined by the first determination unit 102. The constraint condition may also include, for example, not placing the item to be moved next to a specified item at the destination, the destination of the item to be moved being within the area where the item to be moved is to be placed, completing the work within the time limit available to the robot, and so on. Note that the constraint conditions are not limited to these examples.

Note that if the free space determined by the first determination unit 102 cannot be created because the robot control content does not satisfy the constraints even though there is no shortage of free space, the processing of the first determination unit 102 may be performed again. A case where free space cannot be created means that the free space determined by the first determination unit 102 cannot be created when the second determination unit 103 takes into account the movement of items. A case where the free space determined by the first determination unit 102 cannot be created is, for example, a case where the work cannot be completed within the time limit. In this case, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created to be smaller than those in the previous determination processing. When the processing of the first determination unit 102 is performed again, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and their destinations according to the newly determined size and number of free spaces to be created. The processing of the first determination unit 102 and the second determination unit 103 may be repeated until the second determination unit 103 can determine the items to be moved and their destinations according to the size and number of free spaces to be created determined by the first determination unit 102.

Furthermore, the processing of the first determination unit 102 and the processing of the second determination unit 103 may be executed as an integrated process. That is, the size and number of free spaces to be created and the positions of items when the free spaces are created may be determined together. The positions of items when the free spaces are created indicate the items to be moved and the positions to which the items to be moved will be moved. For example, in this case, the processing of the first determination unit 102 and the second determination unit 103 can be performed together by optimizing the arrangement of the shelves.

The control unit 104 is an example of a control means that controls the robot to move the item to be moved to a determined position. The control unit 104 controls the robot based on the determination result of the second determination unit 103. The control unit 104 may control the robot by instructing the robot to perform each of its actions. The control unit 104 may control the robot by instructing the item to be moved and its destination to a robot that is capable of autonomously determining its actions. The specific method of control may be any known method, and is not limited to these examples.

So far, the basic configuration of the control device 100 has been described, but the control device 100 may further include at least one of the following configurations.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of the control device 100A. In FIG. 4, the control device 100A includes an output unit 105 and an identification unit 106 in addition to the configuration of the control device 100.

The output unit 105 is an example of an output means that outputs the size, location, and number of free spaces that have been created. The output unit 105 may output the size, location, and number of free spaces that have been created based on the determination result of the first determination unit 102 or the determination result of the second determination unit 103. Alternatively, the output unit 105 may output the size, location, and number of free spaces that have actually been created, as identified by the identification unit 106 described below.

In this case, the output destination of the output unit 105 is, for example, a database that manages information regarding free space in the warehouse. Also, for example, the output destination of the output unit 105 may be a terminal device such as a personal computer or tablet used by a warehouse manager or warehouse worker.

The output unit 105 may output the newly created free space in a recognizable manner. For example, the output unit 105 may highlight the newly created free space. Also, for example, the output unit 105 may output the newly created free space in association with the creation date and time.

Furthermore, the output unit 105 may output the positions of inventory items that have been moved due to the creation of free space, i.e., shelf rearrangement. The positions of the moved inventory items may be information indicating the placement of the inventory items after shelf rearrangement. In this case as well, the output unit 105 may perform output based on the decision result of the second decision unit 103, or may perform output based on the result of the identification unit 106, which will be described later.

In this case, the output destination of the output unit 105 is, for example, a database that manages information about inventory items in the warehouse. Also, for example, the output destination of the output unit 105 may be a terminal device such as a personal computer or tablet used by a warehouse manager or warehouse worker.

The output unit 105 may output the moved inventory items so that they can be recognized. For example, the output unit 105 may highlight the moved inventory items. Also, for example, the output unit 105 may output the moved inventory items in association with the date and time of the move.

Next, the identification unit 106 is an example of an identification means that identifies the size, position, and number of free spaces that have actually been created based on a shelf image in which the created free spaces are photographed. The shelf image in which the created free spaces are photographed may be an image taken by a camera provided on the robot that performed the work, or an image taken by another camera. The identification unit 106 may identify the size, position, and number of free spaces from the shelf image using a known method.

The identification unit 106 may also identify the position of the inventory item after free space has been created based on the shelf image after the robot has performed the work. The shelf image after the robot has performed the work may be an image taken by the robot that performed the work using a camera provided on the robot, or an image taken by another camera. The identification unit 106 may identify the position of the inventory item from the shelf image using a known method.

The shelf image used for processing by the identification unit 106 may be acquired by, for example, the acquisition unit 101.

The output unit 105 may also perform output according to the identification result by the identification unit 106. First, as described above, the output unit 105 may output the size, position, and number of free spaces actually created, and the position of the inventory items after they have actually been moved. The output unit 105 may also output the difference between the size and number of free spaces to be created determined by the first determination unit 102, or the movement of inventory items determined by the second determination unit 103, and the identification result by the identification unit 106. The difference between the determination results of the first determination unit 102 and the second determination unit 103 and the identification result by the identification unit 106 indicates the work that the robot could not complete. The output unit 105 may output instructions to have a human or a robot perform the work that the robot could not complete, or may output information for analyzing the cause of the robot's failure to complete the work.

The operation of the control device 100 configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 5.

First, the acquisition unit 101 acquires shelf information, which is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information about the amount of free space on the shelves (step S101).

Next, the first determination unit 102 determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information acquired in step S101 (step S102).

Next, the second determination unit 103 determines the items to be moved and the positions to which the items to be moved are to be moved, based on the size and number of free spaces to be created, determined in step S102 (step S103).

Next, the control unit 104 controls the robot to move the item to be moved to the determined position (step S104).

The control device 100 then completes the series of operations.

The control device in the present embodiment described above includes an acquisition unit, a first determination unit, a second determination unit, and a control unit. The acquisition unit acquires shelf information, which is information about the size and number of inventory items placed on shelves in a warehouse where items are stored on shelves, or information about the size of free space on the shelves. The first determination unit determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the shelf information. The second determination unit determines the items to be moved, which are the items to be moved, and the destination positions to which the items to be moved, depending on the size and number of free spaces to be created. The control unit controls the robot to move the items to be moved to the determined positions.

As a result, the control device in this embodiment can provide a technique for efficiently organizing shelves. For example, the control device in this embodiment can increase the efficiency of the workload or work time of a robot organizing shelves while reducing the amount of wasted free space on the shelves.

[Hardware configuration]
Some or all of the components of each device or system in each embodiment of the present disclosure described above are realized by any combination of an information processing device 1000 and a program as shown in Fig. 6. The information processing device 1000 includes, as an example, the following configuration.

・CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1001
・ROM (Read Only Memory) 1002
・RAM (Random Access Memory) 1003
Program 1004 loaded into RAM 1003
A storage device 1005 for storing the program 1004
A drive device 1007 that reads and writes data from and to the recording medium 1006
A communication I/F 1008 that connects to a communication network 1009
Input/output I/F 1010 for inputting and outputting data
A bus 1011 that connects each component
It should be noted that I/F is an abbreviation for Interface.

In each embodiment, each component of each device or system is realized by the CPU 1001 acquiring and executing a program that realizes these functions. The programs that realize the functions of each component of each device are stored in advance in the storage device 1005 or RAM 1003, for example, and are read by the CPU 1001 as needed. The program 1004 may be supplied to the CPU 1001 via a communications network, or may be stored in advance on the recording medium 1006, and the drive device 1007 may read the program and supply it to the CPU 1001.

There are various variations in the way each device is realized. For example, each device or system may be realized by any combination of a separate information processing device 1000 and a program for each component. Also, multiple components that each device has may be realized by any combination of a single information processing device 1000 and a program.

Furthermore, some or all of the components of each device or system may be realized by general-purpose or dedicated circuits (circuitry) including a processor, etc., or a combination of these. The circuits may be, for example, a CPU, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or an LSI (Large Scale Integration) for AI (Artificial Intelligence) processing. These may be configured by a single chip, or may be configured by multiple chips connected via a bus. Some or all of the components of each device may be realized by a combination of the above-mentioned circuits, etc., and a program.

When some or all of the components of each device or system are realized by multiple information processing devices, circuits, etc., the multiple information processing devices, circuits, etc. may be centrally located or distributed. For example, the information processing devices, circuits, etc. may be realized as a client-server system, cloud computing system, etc., in which each is connected via a communication network.

The present disclosure has been described above with reference to each embodiment, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by a person skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, although the multiple operations are described in sequence in the form of a flowchart, the order of description does not limit the order in which the multiple operations are performed. Therefore, when implementing each embodiment, the order of the multiple operations may be changed to the extent that does not interfere with the content.

Some or all of the above embodiments can be described as follows, but are not limited to the following:

[Appendix 1]
An acquisition means for acquiring shelf information, which is information regarding the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information regarding the size of free space on the shelf;
a first determination means for determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
a second determination means for determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
a control means for controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position;
A control device comprising:

[Appendix 2]
the first determination means determines the size and number of free areas to be created so as to satisfy the demand for free areas based on the shelf information;
2. The control device of claim 1.

[Appendix 3]
The demand is a demand for free space for storing newly incoming goods to be stored in the warehouse.
3. The control device of claim 2.

[Appendix 4]
The first determination means determines the size and number of free areas to be created so that the incoming items can be stored, based on the shelf information and the size and number of the incoming items included in the list of incoming items to be newly stored in the warehouse.
4. The control device according to claim 3.

[Appendix 5]
The first determination means determines the size and number of free areas to be created based on the number of each size of the current free areas classified by size and the number of each size of the incoming goods at the time of storage classified based on the size of the incoming goods at the time of storage.
5. The control device according to claim 3 or 4.

[Appendix 6]
The demand is the size and number of free areas that are predetermined based on the operation of the warehouse.
6. The control device according to any one of claims 2 to 5.

[Appendix 7]
the first determination means determines the number of each size of free space to be created based on the number of each size of free space currently classified by size, so that the number of each size of free space conforms to a criterion;
7. The control device according to claim 6.

[Appendix 8]
The criteria include at least one of a lower limit and an upper limit of the number of free spaces for each size.
8. The control device according to claim 6 or 7.

[Appendix 9]
The criterion is an allowable range of the ratio of the number of free space sizes classified into each size.
9. The control device according to any one of claims 6 to 8.

[Appendix 10]
the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination of the object to be moved, further using a working time of the robot, according to a size and a number of free spaces to be created, so that the robot can complete the movement of the object to be moved within the working time.
10. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

[Appendix 11]
the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination so as to minimize a movement amount between an original position and a destination position of the object to be moved according to a size of the free space to be created;
11. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

[Appendix 12]
the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination so as to minimize the workload or the working time of the robot for moving the object to be moved according to the size and number of free spaces to be created;
12. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

[Appendix 13]
The amount of work of the robot is calculated based on at least one of a relationship between an original position and a destination position of the object to be moved, the number of the objects to be moved, and a performance of the robot.
13. The control device of claim 12.

[Appendix 14]
the shelf information includes information regarding the size and number of inventory items placed on the shelf;
the first determination means determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the size and number of current free spaces estimated based on the size and number of inventory items placed on the shelf;
14. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

[Appendix 15]
The shelf information is a shelf image of the shelf,
The first determination means determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the size and number of current free spaces estimated based on the shelf image.
15. The control device of any one of claims 1 to 14.

[Appendix 16]
further comprising an output means for outputting the size, location and number of the created free areas;
16. The control device of any one of claims 1 to 15.

[Appendix 17]
The acquiring means further acquires a shelf image in which the created free space is photographed,
and a specifying means for specifying the size, position and number of the created free space areas based on an image of the created free space areas.
17. The control device of claim 16.

[Appendix 18]
The output means further outputs information indicating the task that the robot was unable to complete based on the determination result of the first determination means and the identification result of the identification means.
18. The control device of any one of appendix 17.

[Appendix 19]
Acquire shelf information, which is information on the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information on the size of free space on the shelf;
determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
Controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position;
Control methods.

[Appendix 20]
Acquire shelf information, which is information on the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information on the size of free space on the shelf;
determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
Controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position;
A recording medium for recording a program that causes a computer to execute a process.

Furthermore, some or all of the configurations described in Supplementary Notes 2 to 18 that are subordinate to Supplementary Note 1 (control device) described above may also be subordinate to Supplementary Note 19 (control method) and Supplementary Note 20 (program) in a similar subordinate relationship to Supplementary Note 2 to Supplementary Note 19. Furthermore, not limited to Supplementary Note 1, Supplementary Note 19, and Supplementary Note 20, some or all of the configurations described as supplementary notes may also be subordinated to various hardware, software, various recording means for recording software, or systems, to the extent that does not deviate from each of the above-mentioned embodiments.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Control device 101 Acquisition unit 102 First decision unit 103 Second decision unit 104 Control unit 100A Control device 105 Output unit 106 Identification unit 1000 Information processing device 1001 CPU
1002 ROM
1003 RAM
1004 Program 1005 Storage device 1006 Recording medium 1007 Drive device 1008 Communication I/F
1009 Communication network 1010 Input/output I/F
1011 Bus

Claims (20)

An acquisition means for acquiring shelf information, which is information regarding the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information regarding the size of free space on the shelf;
a first determination means for determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
a second determination means for determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
a control means for controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position;
A control device comprising: the first determination means determines the size and number of free areas to be created so that the size of the free areas to be created is either the size of the free areas or each size used to classify the size of the areas in which the inventory items are placed;
The control device according to claim 1 . The first determination means determines the size and number of free spaces to be created so as to meet the demand for free spaces required in the warehouse based on the shelf information.
The control device according to claim 1 or 2. The demand is a demand for free space for storing newly incoming goods to be stored in the warehouse.
The control device according to claim 3. The first determination means determines the size and number of free areas to be created in which the incoming goods can be stored, based on the shelf information and the size and number of the incoming goods included in the list of incoming goods to be newly stored in the warehouse.
The control device according to claim 4. The demand is the size and number of free areas that are predetermined based on the operation of the warehouse.
The control device according to any one of claims 3 to 5. The demand is a number per size used to classify the size of free space or the size of the area in which the inventory items are placed.
The control device according to claim 6. The demand is represented by at least one of a size of free space or a lower limit and an upper limit of the number of spaces per size used to classify the space in which the inventory items are placed;
The control device according to claim 6 or 7. The demand is expressed by a tolerance range of a ratio of numbers per size used to classify the size of free space or the size of the area in which the inventory items are placed.
A control device according to any one of claims 6 to 8. the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination of the object to be moved, further using a working time of the robot, according to a size and a number of free spaces to be created, so that the robot can complete the movement of the object to be moved within the working time.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination so as to minimize a movement amount between an original position and a destination position of the object to be moved according to a size of the free space to be created;
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. the second determination means determines the object to be moved and the destination so as to minimize the workload or the working time of the robot for moving the object to be moved according to the size and number of free spaces to be created;
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. The amount of work of the robot is calculated based on at least one of a relationship between an original position and a destination position of the object to be moved, the number of the objects to be moved, and a performance of the robot.
The control device according to claim 12. the shelf information includes information regarding the size and number of inventory items placed on the shelf;
the first determination means determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the size and number of current free spaces estimated based on the size and number of inventory items placed on the shelf;
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 13. The shelf information is a shelf image of the shelf,
The first determination means determines the size and number of free spaces to be created based on the size and number of current free spaces estimated based on the shelf image.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 14. further comprising an output means for outputting the size, location and number of the created free areas;
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 15. The acquiring means further acquires a shelf image in which the created free space is photographed,
and a specifying means for specifying the size, position and number of the created free space areas based on an image of the created free space areas.
The control device according to claim 16. The output means further outputs information indicating the task that the robot was unable to complete based on the determination result of the first determination means and the identification result of the identification means.
18. A control device according to any one of claims 17 to 17. Acquire shelf information, which is information on the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information on the size of free space on the shelf;
determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
Controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position.
Control methods. Acquire shelf information, which is information on the size and number of inventory items placed on a shelf in a warehouse where items are stored on the shelf, or information on the size of free space on the shelf;
determining the size and number of free areas to be created based on the shelf information;
determining an object to be moved and a destination position to which the object to be moved is to be moved according to the size and number of the free areas to be created;
Controlling the robot to move the object to be moved to the determined position.
A recording medium for recording a program that causes a computer to execute a process.

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