Claims:WE CLAIM

1. A method for facilitating transportation of articles in a warehouse, the method comprising:

extracting, by a warehouse management device, employee information associated with a plurality of employees, vehicle information associated with a plurality of vehicles used in the warehouse, and a warehouse layout map;
analyzing, by the warehouse management device, camera feeds captured using a plurality of cameras installed within the warehouse to determine: current activity status of each of the plurality of employees, interaction of each of the plurality of employees with at least one of the plurality of vehicles, and current location of: the plurality of employees, the plurality of vehicles, and articles within the warehouse; and
computing, by the warehouse management device, a task completion plan for transporting an article from an originating point to a destination point within the warehouse based on: the employee information, the vehicle information, the warehouse layout map, and analysis of the camera feeds, wherein the task completion plan comprises combination of at least one employee of the plurality of employees at least one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles or a path within the warehouse for transporting the article and priority associated with transporting the article.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the camera feeds comprises determining areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow, wherein modification in traffic flow comprises at least one of creation of traffic congestion or clearing of traffic congestion in the areas.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising generating alerts indicating the areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow.
4. The method of claim 2 further comprising modifying the task completion plan in response to determining the areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein computing the task completion plan comprises:
identifying a plurality of paths for transporting the article from the originating point to the destination point using the warehouse layout map and the analysis performed on the camera feeds; and
computing actual distance for each of the plurality of paths by converting pixel data associated with the plurality of paths captured from the camera feeds.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein computing the task completion plan comprises:
identifying employees and types of vehicles for transporting the article;
computing costs associated with each of a plurality of volume combinations of the number of employees, a type of vehicle, total number of the type of vehicle, and time required for operating the type of vehicle by an employee; and
identifying a volume combination from the plurality of volume combinations requiring the least cost.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein computing the task completion plan comprises:
computing time required to transport the article from the originating point to the destination point for each of the plurality of paths based on: the actual distance computed for each of the plurality of paths, the areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow, and the volume combination identified.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein computing the task completion plan comprises:
computing fuel consumption associated with each of the plurality of paths based on: the actual distance computed for each of the plurality of paths, time required to transport the article on each of the plurality of paths, and the vehicle combination identified; and
identifying the path from the plurality of paths requiring least fuel consumption to transport the article from the originating point to the destination point.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein computing the task completion plan comprises: calculating the cost of transporting the article from the originating point to the destination point based on the cost computed for the volume combination identified, cost of fuel required to transport the article using the path, the employee information, and the vehicle information.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising transforming the employee information, the vehicle information, the warehouse layout map, and the camera feeds into a predefined format.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the camera feeds comprises uniquely identifying an employee, a vehicle, and an article present within the warehouse using image training data and pixel data captured from the camera feeds.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the employee information comprises bibliographic, and historical information associated with the plurality of employees, vehicle information comprises vehicle performance and statistical information associated with the plurality of vehicles, and the warehouse layout map comprises information associated with available and unavailable space within the warehouse, location of immovable and movable assets, and destination points for article storage in the warehouse.
13. A warehouse management device comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores processor executable instructions, which, on execution, causes the one or more processors to:
extract employee information associated with a plurality of employees, vehicle information associated with a plurality of vehicles used in the warehouse, and a warehouse layout map;
analyze camera feeds captured using a plurality of cameras installed within the warehouse to determine: current activity status of each of the plurality of employees, interaction of each of the plurality of employees with at least one of the plurality of vehicles, and current location of: the plurality of employees, the plurality of vehicles, and articles within the warehouse; and
compute a task completion plan for transporting an article from an originating point to a destination point within the warehouse based on: the employee information, the vehicle information, the warehouse layout map, and analysis of the camera feeds, wherein the task completion plan comprises combination of at least one employee of the plurality of employees, at least one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, or a path within the warehouse for transporting the article, and priority associated with transporting the article.
14. The warehouse management device of claim 13, wherein the operation of analyzing the camera feeds comprises operation of determining areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow, wherein modification in traffic flow comprises at least one of creation of traffic congestion or clearing of traffic congestion in the areas.
15. The warehouse management device of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise modifying the task completion plan in response to determining the areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow.
16. The warehouse management device of claim 13, wherein the operation of computing the task completion plan comprises operations of:
identifying a plurality of paths for transporting the article from the originating point to the destination point using the warehouse layout map and the analysis performed on the camera feeds; and
computing actual distance for each of the plurality of paths by converting pixel data associated with the plurality of paths captured from the camera feeds.
17. The warehouse management device of claim 16, wherein the operation of computing the task completion plan comprises operations of:
identifying employees and types of vehicles for transporting the article;
computing costs associated with each of a plurality of volume combinations of the number of employees, a type of suitable vehicle, total number of the type of vehicle, and time required for operating the type of vehicle by an employee; and
identifying a volume combination from the plurality of volume combinations requiring the least cost.
18. The warehouse management device of claim 17, wherein the operation of computing the task completion plan comprises operation of: computing time required to transport the article from the originating point to the destination point for each of the plurality of paths based on: the actual distance computed for each of the plurality of paths, the areas within the warehouse experiencing modification in traffic flow, and the volume combination identified.
19. The warehouse management device of claim 18, wherein the operation of computing the task completion plan comprises operations of:
computing fuel consumption associated with each of the plurality of paths based on: the actual distance computed for each of the plurality of paths, time required to transport the article on each of the plurality of paths, and the vehicle combination identified; and
identifying the path from the plurality of paths requiring least fuel consumption to transport the article from the originating point to the destination point.
20. The warehouse management device of claim 19, wherein the operation of computing the task completion plan comprises operation of calculating the cost of transporting the article from the originating point to the destination point based on the cost computed for the volume combination identified, cost of fuel required to transport the article using the path, the employee information, and the vehicle information.
21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon, a set of computer-executable instructions for facilitating transportation of articles within a warehouse, causing a computer comprising one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
extracting employee information associated with a plurality of employees, vehicle information associated with a plurality of vehicles used in the warehouse, and a warehouse layout map;
analyzing camera feeds captured using a plurality of cameras installed within the warehouse to determine: current activity status of each of the plurality of employees, interaction of each of the plurality of employees with at least one of the plurality of vehicles, and current location of: the plurality of employees, the plurality of vehicles, and articles within the warehouse; and

computing a task completion plan for transporting an article from an originating point to a destination point within the warehouse based on: the employee information, the vehicle information, the warehouse layout map, and analysis of the camera feeds, wherein the task completion plan comprises combination of at least one employee of the plurality of employees, at least one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, or a path within the warehouse for transporting the article, and priority associated with transporting the article.

Dated this 16th day of November, 2016

Swetha SN
Of K&S Partners
Agent for the Applicant , Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This disclosure relates generally to warehouse management and more particularly to methods and systems for facilitating transportation of articles in warehouses using video analytics.