Dynamic Path Planning For Multi-handling Robot In Warehousing Operations

In recent years,with the rapid development of e-commerce,the logistics business of e-commerce enterprises presents the characteristics of multiple categories,high frequency and small batch.With the surge of the number of orders and the location of goods in the warehouse,it is necessary to make the operation of each link of the warehouse faster and more intelligent.Even handling robots have already put into use in logistic giants like China's JD and US's Amazon to improve picking efficiency and reduce picking cost.However,how to plan the path planning for multiple handling robots and achieve efficient operation coordination is an urgent problem to be solved.Some scholars did the research but they mainly studied the path plan of handling robot under static condition in the warehouse.Their achievements focus on single robot path planning,thus the field of path finding of multiple handling robots,dynamic obstacle avoidance is worth to focus.This paper starts with analysis of the existing researches,it shows the operation model and existing problems in current robots,and forecasts the solution of dynamic path plan for logistic robots.The research is mainly in two parts.The former part is on global path planning of the handling robots in offline status.The latter is to schedule the local path planning of the robot in offline status.The main work of this paper includes:(1)Carry out map modeling for the warehouse operation environment where the handling robot is located,and specify the driving path mode and driving direction of the handling robot;A path planning model for multi-handling robot with the shortest total running time is established by transforming the constraints in actual operation into constraints.(2)A two-stage multi-handling robot dynamic path planning algorithm was designed.Dijkstra algorithm with path heat value was combined with time window to plan the robot's path,and online coordination was conducted by adjusting priority.In addition,it provides corresponding solutions to conflicts that may exist during the operation of the handling robots.Solution based on the priority of the robot,combines the waiting strategy and methods of secondary path planning strategy,effectively save the handling robot waiting time of conflict.(3)The simulation experiment of handling robots path planning was completed by MATLAB.Through the comparison and analysis of the simulation data,the experimental results show that the improved path has significantly shortened the total running time of the handling robot,reaching the goal of optimization.The path planning method proposed in this paper increases the flexibility of multi-handling robot system.It also provides a theoretical basis for the popularization and application of multi-handling robot in warehousing operations.This paper has 51 figures,21 tables,71 references.