Autonomous shuffling of pallets of items in a warehouse
Examples described may enable rearrangement of pallets of items in a warehouse to an optimal layout. An example method includes receiving real-time item information including pallet locations in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the pallets; determining a likelihood of demand for future access to the pallets based on a pallet relocation history and item receiving/shipment expectations; based on the real-time item information and the likelihood of demand, determining an optimal controlled-access dense grid layout in which distances of the pallets from a center of the layout are related to the likelihood of demand; receiving real-time robotics information and using the real-time robotics information to determine an amount of time to rearrange the pallets to the optimal layout; and, based on the amount of time to rearrange the pallets being less than a threshold, causing the robotic devices to rearrange the pallets to the optimal layout.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a warehouse control system (WCS), real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving, at the WCS, scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information, the WCS performs:
determining an amount of time for the at least one robotic device to rearrange the plurality of pallets to the dense storage layout, and
controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of time is less than a threshold amount of time.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dense storage layout is a grid layout where distances of the pallets from a center of the grid layout are related to a likelihood of demand for future robot access to each pallet of the plurality of pallets.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dense storage layout is a lanes layout including groups of pallets arranged in a plurality of lanes separated by space for a robotic device to travel along consecutive lanes in the lanes layout.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information comprises real-time locations of the at least one robotic device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information comprises time measurements for the at least one robotic device to complete tasks that are in progress.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information comprises time measurements for the at least one robotic device to complete future tasks that are scheduled to be completed.
7. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a warehouse control system (WCS), real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving, at the WCS, scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets;
determining that an amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds a threshold amount of space; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information, the WCS performs controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds the threshold amount of space.
8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that when executed by a computing system that includes at least one processor cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information:
determining an amount of time for the at least one robotic device to rearrange the plurality of pallets to the dense storage layout, and
controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of time is less than a threshold amount of time.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the dense storage layout is a grid layout where distances of the pallets from a center of the grid layout are related to a likelihood of demand for future robot access to each pallet of the plurality of pallets.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the dense storage layout is a lanes layout including groups of pallets arranged in a plurality of lanes separated by space for a robotic device to travel along consecutive lanes in the lanes layout.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the scheduling information comprises real-time locations of the at least one robotic device.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the scheduling information comprises time measurements for the at least one robotic device to complete tasks that are in progress.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the scheduling information comprises time measurements for the at least one robotic device to complete future tasks that are scheduled to be completed.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that when executed by a computing system that includes at least one processor cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets;
determining that an amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds a threshold amount of space; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds the threshold amount of space.
15. A system comprising:
at least one robotic device;
at least one processor; and
data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information:
determining an amount of time for the at least one robotic device to rearrange the plurality of pallets to the dense storage layout, and
controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of time is less than a threshold amount of time.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the dense storage layout is a grid layout where distances of the pallets from a center of the grid layout are related to a likelihood of demand for future robot access to each pallet of the plurality of pallets.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the dense storage layout is a lanes layout including groups of pallets arranged in a plurality of lanes separated by space for a robotic device to travel along consecutive lanes in the lanes layout.
18. A system comprising:
at least one robotic device;
at least one processor; and
data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving real-time item information including real-time locations of a plurality of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the plurality of pallets, wherein each pallet is configured to be accessed and manipulated by a robotic device;
receiving scheduling information for each of a plurality of robotic devices to access the plurality of pallets;
determining that an amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds a threshold amount of space; and
based on the real-time item information and the scheduling information, controlling at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in a dense storage layout that facilitates robot access to each of the plurality of pallets,
wherein controlling the at least one robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices to arrange the plurality of pallets in the dense storage layout is performed in response to determining that the amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the plurality of pallets exceeds the threshold amount of space.