Optimized task generation and scheduling of automated guided carts using overhead sensor systems
Systems and methods to generate and schedule tasks for automated guided carts (AGCs) may include an overhead sensor system, a warehouse management system, an order management system, and a traffic controller. The overhead sensor system may detect trolleys and totes positioned at various trolley locations within a material handling facility. Based on the sensor data and data associated with states of portions of the material handling facility, the order management system may generate logically feasible tasks to transport trolleys and totes within the facility, and may also sequence the tasks in a temporally feasible order. Then, the traffic controller may instruct execution of the sequence of tasks by AGCs to facilitate various material handling processes within the facility.
1. An automated guided cart (AGC) task generation and scheduling system, comprising:
a warehouse management system configured to detect respective states of an inbound area, a plurality of processing stations, and a buffer area;
a ceiling sensor system configured to detect respective states of a plurality of trolley locations, the plurality of trolley locations associated with respective ones of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, and the buffer area, wherein the ceiling sensor system comprises a plurality of laser sensors associated with respective ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein a first overhead sensor apparatus of the ceiling sensor system associated with a first trolley location of at least one of the inbound area or the plurality of processing stations comprises a first plurality of laser sensors, individual ones of the first plurality of laser sensors configured to detect respective portions of a trolley positioned at the first trolley location; and
wherein a second overhead sensor apparatus of the ceiling sensor system associated with a second trolley location of the buffer area comprises a single laser sensor, the single laser sensor configured to detect a portion of a trolley positioned at the second trolley location;
at least one AGC;
an order management system configured to at least:
receive, from the warehouse management system, respective states of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, and the buffer area;
receive, from the ceiling sensor system, respective states of the plurality of trolley locations;
determine a plurality of candidate tasks associated with movement of one or more trolleys between one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by the at least one AGC, based on the respective states of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, and the buffer area, and based on the respective states of the plurality of trolley locations;
receive at least one constraint related to at least one of space or time associated with movement of the one or more trolleys between the one or more of the plurality of trolley locations; and
determine, from the plurality of candidate tasks, a sequence of tasks based on the at least one constraint; and
a traffic controller configured to receive the sequence of tasks, and to instruct the at least one AGC to execute the sequence of tasks;
wherein the at least one AGC executes the sequence of tasks.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the respective states of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, and the buffer area comprise at least one of a type of operation, an operational status, or a rate of processing.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein individual ones of the plurality of laser sensors are configured to detect at least one of a trolley, at least one empty tote, or at least one full tote.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the order management system comprises an optimized AGC task scheduler that is further configured to at least:
receive, from the ceiling sensor system, sensor data associated with the respective states of the plurality of trolley locations;
receive configuration data associated with individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
process, based on the configuration data, the sensor data to detect at least one of a trolley, at least one empty tote, or at least one full tote at the individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations; and
determine the plurality of candidate tasks associated with movement of one or more trolleys between one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by at least one AGC based on the processed sensor data.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the order management system comprises an optimized AGC task scheduler that is configured to determine the plurality of candidate tasks and to determine the sequence of tasks using a linear optimization model.
6. A system to schedule automated guided carts (AGCs), comprising:
an overhead sensor system configured to detect respective states of a plurality of trolley locations, wherein the overhead sensor system comprises a plurality of ranging sensors associated with respective ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein a first overhead sensor apparatus of the overhead sensor system associated with a first trolley location of at least one of an inbound area or a plurality of processing stations comprises a first plurality of ranging sensors, individual ones of the first plurality of ranging sensors configured to detect respective portions of a trolley positioned at the first trolley location; and
wherein a second overhead sensor apparatus of the overhead sensor system associated with a second trolley location of a buffer area comprises a single ranging sensor, the single ranging sensor configured to detect a portion of a trolley positioned at the second trolley location;
at least one AGC;
an order management system configured to at least:
receive, from the overhead sensor system, sensor data associated with the plurality of trolley locations;
determine, based on the sensor data, a plurality of candidate tasks associated with movement of at least one trolley between one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by the at least one AGC; and
determine, from the plurality of candidate tasks, a sequence of tasks based on at least one constraint related to at least one of space or time; and
a traffic controller configured to receive the sequence of tasks, and to instruct the at least one AGC to execute the sequence of tasks;
wherein the at least one AGC executes the sequence of tasks.
7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
a warehouse management system configured to detect respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area;
wherein the order management system is further configured to at least:
receive, from the warehouse management system, respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area comprise at least one of a type of operation, an operational status, or a rate of processing.
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of trolley locations are associated with respective ones of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area.
10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of ranging sensors are configured to detect distances to at least one of surfaces of respective trolley locations, trolleys positioned at the respective trolley locations, or at least one tote carried by the trolleys positioned at the respective trolley locations.
11. The system of claim 6 , wherein the order management system is further configured to at least:
receive configuration data associated with individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations; and
process, based on the configuration data, the sensor data to detect at least one of a trolley, at least one empty tote, or at least one full tote at the individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the processed sensor data.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein processing, based on the configuration data, the sensor data further comprises:
determining, at the individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations, at least one of a presence or absence of a trolley, a number of empty totes carried by a trolley, or a number of full totes carried by a trolley.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein processing, based on the configuration data, the sensor data further comprises:
comparing at least one of the number of empty totes carried by a trolley or the number of full totes carried by a trolley with at least one threshold;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the comparison of at least one of the number of empty totes carried by a trolley or the number of full totes carried by a trolley with at least one threshold.
14. The system of claim 6 , wherein the order management system is further configured to at least:
receive the at least one constraint related to at least one of space or time associated with movement of the at least one trolley between the one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by the at least one AGC;
wherein the at least one constraint related to at least one of space or time is based on at least one of a rate of processing at a trolley location, a waiting time at a trolley location, a delay time associated with a trolley location, or a travel time of the at least one AGC.
15. A method to schedule automated guided carts (AGCs), comprising:
receiving, by an order management system from an overhead sensor system, sensor data associated with a plurality of trolley locations, wherein the overhead sensor system comprises a plurality of ranging sensors associated with respective ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein a first overhead sensor apparatus of the overhead sensor system associated with a first trolley location of at least one of an inbound area or a plurality of processing stations comprises a first plurality of ranging sensors, individual ones of the first plurality of ranging sensors configured to detect respective portions of a trolley positioned at the first trolley location; and
wherein a second overhead sensor apparatus of the overhead sensor system associated with a second trolley location of a buffer area comprises a single ranging sensor, the single ranging sensor configured to detect a portion of a trolley positioned at the second trolley location;
determining, by the order management system based on the sensor data, a plurality of candidate tasks associated with movement of at least one trolley between one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by at least one AGC;
determining, by the order management system from the plurality of candidate tasks, a sequence of tasks based on at least one space or time constraint;
transmitting, by the order management system to a traffic controller, the sequence of tasks to instruct the at least one AGC to execute the sequence of tasks; and
causing execution, by the at least one AGC, of the sequence of tasks.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the order management system from a warehouse management system, respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area associated with respective ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the respective states of at least one of the inbound area, the plurality of processing stations, or the buffer area.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the order management system, configuration data associated with individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations; and
processing, by the order management system based on the configuration data, the sensor data to detect at least one of a trolley, at least one empty tote, or at least one full tote at the individual ones of the plurality of trolley locations;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the processed sensor data.
18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the order management system, at least one logic constraint associated with movement of the at least one trolley between the one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by the at least one AGC;
wherein the plurality of candidate tasks are further determined based on the at least one logic constraint; and
receiving, by the order management system, the at least one space or time constraint associated with movement of the at least one trolley between the one or more of the plurality of trolley locations by the at least one AGC.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the order management system comprises an optimized AGC task scheduler that is configured to determine the plurality of candidate tasks and to determine the sequence of tasks using a linear optimization model.