Autonomous condensing of pallets of items in a warehouse

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9965730-B2
Application number	US-201615244845-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 23, 2016
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

Examples described may enable consolidating pallets of items in a warehouse. An example method includes receiving real-time item information including pallet locations in a warehouse and inventory of items arranged on the pallets; based on the real-time item information, identifying a set of pallets of which at least one pallet includes less than a threshold quantity of a type of item; receiving real-time robotics information and determining, based on the real-time item and robotics information, an amount of time to condense the items on the set of pallets into a single pallet and a quantity of pallets that will become empty as a result of condensing the items; and, based on the amount of time being less than a threshold time and the quantity of pallets exceeding a threshold quantity of pallets, causing robotic devices to condense the items into the single pallet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a warehouse control system (WCS), real-time item information including real-time locations of pallets positioned in a warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the pallets, wherein the real-time inventory of the items includes a content of each pallet;
based on the real-time item information, identifying a set of two or more pallets of which at least one pallet includes less than a threshold quantity of a type of item;
receiving, at the WCS, real-time robotics information relating to a plurality of robotic devices positioned in the warehouse;
based on the real-time item information and the real-time robotics information, determining an amount of time to condense the items on the set of pallets into a single pallet by the plurality of robotic devices;
based on the real-time item information and the real-time robotics information, determining a quantity of pallets that will become empty as a result of condensing the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet; and
causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet based on the amount of time being less than a threshold amount of time and further based on the quantity of pallets that will become empty being greater than a threshold quantity of pallets.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on at least one of receiving records and order fulfillment and shipping records, determining an item shipment expectation including a new item expected to be received at the warehouse at a future date and an item present at the warehouse marked for delivery at the future date; and
based on the item shipment expectation, determining a quantity of the type of item expected to be shipped,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the quantity of the type of item expected to be shipped being greater than a threshold shipment quantity.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on at least one of receiving records and order fulfillment and shipping records, determining an item shipment expectation including a new item expected to be received at the warehouse at a future date and an item present at the warehouse marked for delivery at the future dates; and
based on the item shipment expectation, determining an amount of storage capacity required for items expected to be received at the warehouse,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the amount of storage capacity required for items expected to be received at the warehouse being greater than a threshold storage capacity.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on at least one of receiving records and order fulfillment and shipping records, making a determination that an upcoming shipment requires a predetermined quantity of the type of item on the single pallet,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the determination that the upcoming shipment requires the predetermined quantity of the type of item on a single pallet.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on the real-time item information, determining an amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the set of pallets,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the amount of space taken up in the warehouse by the set of pallets being greater than a threshold amount of space.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold amount of time is a first threshold amount of time, the method further comprising:
estimating an amount of time until the set of pallets become empty as a result of warehouse activities other than condensing the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the estimated amount of time until the set of pallets become empty being greater than a second threshold amount of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the set of pallets being within a threshold distance from a shipping dock in the warehouse.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
estimating an amount of time until the set of pallets become empty as a result of warehouse activities other than condensing the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet is further based on the amount of time being less than the estimated amount of time until the set of pallets become empty.

9. A system comprising:
a plurality of robotic devices in a warehouse;
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 pallets positioned in the warehouse and real-time inventory of items arranged on the pallets, wherein the real-time inventory of the items includes a content of each pallet;
based on the real-time item information, identifying a set of two or more pallets of which at least one pallet includes less than a threshold quantity of a type of item;
receiving real-time robotics information relating to the plurality of robotic devices;
based on the real-time item information and the real-time robotics information, determining an amount of time to condense the items on the set of pallets into a single pallet by the plurality of robotic devices;
based on the real-time item information and the real-time robotics information, determining a quantity of pallets that will become empty as a result of condensing the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet; and
causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet based on the amount of time being less than a threshold amount of time and further based on the quantity of pallets that will become empty being greater than a threshold quantity of pallets.

10. The system of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, by the WCS, a predetermined condensing station location in the warehouse; and
selecting, from the plurality of robotic devices, one or more robotic devices to relocate the set of pallets to the predetermined condensing station location based on the selected one or more robotic devices being within a threshold distance from the predetermined condensing station,
wherein causing one or more of the plurality of robotic devices to condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet comprises instructing the selected one or more robotic devices of the plurality to relocate the set of pallets to the predetermined condensing station location and condense the items on the set of pallets into the single pallet at the predetermined condensing station location.

11. The system of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
based on the real-time item information and the real-time robotics information, determining an optimal condensing station location in the warehouse at which to condense th

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Hance Christopher
• Shaffer Daniel

Classifications

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/043 Primary

  Optimisation of two dimensional placement, e.g. cutting of clothes or wood · CPC title

• B65G1/1378

  the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• B65G61/00

  Use of pick-up or transfer devices or of manipulators for stacking or de-stacking articles not otherwise provided for · CPC title