AUTOMATED PARKING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from German Patent Application 10 2024 121 342.6, filed Jul. 26, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automated parking system having a plurality of pallets movable in the longitudinal and transverse directions within a parking deck for vehicles to be stored thereon, and having a plurality of transport modules permanently installed on a parking deck for picking up the pallets, which are at least partially arranged adjoining one another in rows and columns, and are designed for optionally transporting the pallets in the longitudinal and transverse directions and transferring them to the respective transport module that is adjacent in the transport direction, and a method for the operation thereof.

BACKGROUND

A parking system of the type mentioned at the outset is known from European patent EP 3 924 576 B1 of the applicant. The transport modules provided in the parking system are largely provided with free or occupied pallets. The retrieval of a vehicle takes place in that the pallet occupied by the vehicle is moved in the manner of a slider puzzle to a transfer space, at which the vehicle can be taken over by its driver. For this purpose, adjoining transport modules are each freed up by corresponding displacement movements of pallets in the system, so that the pallet having the vehicle to be retrieved can be transported piece by piece in the direction of the transfer space. The parking system does permit a maximum number of vehicles to be stored, but the retrieval requires relatively many displacement movements of pallets depending on the current location of the relevant pallet and accordingly takes a long time.

SUMMARY

One object of the invention is to optimize such a parking system with regard to the retrieval time and the achievable maximum utilization and to specify a correspondingly improved method for the operation thereof.

The object is achieved with respect to the parking system having one or more of the features disclosed herein and with respect to the method also including one or more of the features disclosed herein. Advantageous embodiments can be found in the description and claims that follow.

One essential aspect of the present invention is a pallet pickup device (a so-called picker), which is designed and controlled to collect individual unoccupied pallets from the transport modules or provide additional pallets to adapt the parking system to its utilization. In this way, the number of the pallets movable in the parking system can be flexibly adapted to the respective or expected utilization. Fewer pallets in the system in this case means that more transport modules are free of pallets and are available to transport a pallet to be removed and to maneuver pallets, which block the path along a trajectory of the pallet to be retrieved to the transfer space. Therefore, with fewer pallets in the system, the retrieval time is shortened significantly. At the same time, upon increased utilization, pallets can be released in the system again, so that the improvement in the retrieval time is not at the cost of the capacity of the parking system.

In one particularly advantageous embodiment, the pallet pickup device is designed as a stacking device. This is used to collect or pick up unused pallets and group them into pallet stacks. The pallet stacks remain movable on the transport modules in the longitudinal and transverse directions like pallets occupied with vehicles in the normal manner. In addition, the stacking device is used to provide additional pallets on the transport modules in that it breaks up existing pallet stacks and therefore isolates the stacked pallets again to be used or occupied with vehicles to be parked.

The stacking device can in particular be installed above one of the transport modules on a ceiling of the parking system. It therefore does not use any space in the parking system and can be implemented as a simple lift device, for example, by means of a hydraulically operated scissor mechanism.

The stacking device can in particular have a vertically movable gripping or coupling device for the pallets, which is used and designed to pick up pallets for stacking or unstacking, lift them, and lower them onto another pallet or an existing pallet stack or an unoccupied transport module.

The parking system expediently has a controller for controlling the transport modules, which is configured by programming, for storing a vehicle, to move a pallet having the vehicle parked thereon from a transfer space to a free transport module in that at least transport modules located on a first trajectory between the transfer space and the free transport module are controlled to transport the pallet, and for retrieving a vehicle, to move the pallet loaded with the vehicle from its transport module to the transfer space, in that at least transport modules located on a second trajectory between the relevant transport module and the transfer space are controlled to transport the pallet. The transport modules located along the respective storage or retrieval trajectory (which can also be identical) are thus controlled in succession to transport the pallet loaded with the vehicle along the trajectory to its destination, thus either a transport module used as the storage location or the transfer space.

Transport modules occupied with pallets along the trajectory possibly first have to be freed up, in that the respective pallets are repositioned or temporarily stored on other transport modules. In this case, the trajectory is expediently selected so that as few displacement movements as possible have to be carried out.

To ensure the fastest possible storage and, above all, retrieval, the controller can be configured by programming so that it ascertains the first and/or second trajectory for each pallet and for each of the storage and retrieval strategies beforehand and calls it for the case of a storage or retrieval request. It is thus already established before a retrieval request on which path a pallet has to be retrieved and which pallets possibly have to be maneuvered for this purpose, so that the retrieval can be started and carried out very rapidly.

The controller can in particular be configured by programming so that it ascertains the first and/or second trajectory according to one of two or more storage and retrieval strategies, which is selected depending on the current occupancy status of the parking system or the number of pallets movable in the parking system. The storage and retrieval strategy thus depends on the occupancy status and therefore on the number of pallets movable in the system. If fewer pallets in the system, thus more free transport modules are available, a more direct path can thus be selected, in which fewer displacement movements are required, than in the case of a stronger occupancy and therefore more available pallets or fewer free transport modules.

The controller can preferably be configured by programming so that to change a currently used storage and retrieval strategy, it controls the pallet pickup device in order to adapt the number of the pallets that can be occupied in the parking system to the new storage and retrieval strategy by collecting unoccupied pallets or providing additional pallets. The storage and retrieval strategies are thus each optimized and adapted for a specific number or a number range of available pallets and the matching storage and retrieval strategy for this purpose is selected depending on the utilization and therefore available number of pallets.

In a parking system having a number of transport modules, which are arranged in X columns and Y rows, it can be provided according to a first storage and retrieval strategy that the pallets movable in the parking system are made less by at least the number of X(Y/2−1) than the number of the transport modules and in this case the pallets are arranged in a waiting status or standard position so that transport modules in one row and in half a column do not carry pallets. This enables very rapid storage and retrieval with nonetheless significant pallet capacity.

A second storage and retrieval strategy can provide making the pallets movable in the parking system less by at least the number of X than the number of the transport modules and arranging the pallets in a waiting status so that transport modules in an entire row do not carry pallets. In this case, comparatively few maneuvering movements are still necessary to store and retrieve pallets, although the number of the pallets was increased.

In a third storage and retrieval strategy, it can be provided that the pallets movable in the parking system are made less by at least the number of X/2 than the number of the transport modules and in this case the pallets are arranged in a waiting status so that transport modules in half a row do not carry pallets. The number of the pallets can thus be further increased; nonetheless, the number of the maneuvering movements remains in a scope which still ensures an acceptable retrieval time.

Instead of defining the storage and retrieval trajectories for each pallet beforehand, of course, it can also be provided that the controller, upon a storage or retrieval request, dynamically ascertains the first and/or second trajectory of a pallet to be stored or retrieved using a rule-based optimization algorithm as the trajectory in which the fewest displacement procedures have to be carried out. In particular a self-learning or trained AI algorithm can be used in this case.

In a method for operating an automated parking system of the type mentioned at the outset, it is provided according to the invention that the number of the pallets movable in the parking system is adapted to the utilization of the parking system in that, using a pallet pickup device, pallets are collected from the transport modules or additional pallets are provided, in particular in that unused pallets are grouped into pallet stacks using a stacking device, which pallet stacks remain movable on the transport modules in the longitudinal and transverse directions, and pallet stacks present on the transport modules are broken up to provide additional pallets.

To store a vehicle, a pallet having the vehicle parked thereon can be moved from a transfer space to a free transport module in that at least transport modules located on a first trajectory between the transfer space and the free transport module are controlled to transport the pallet, and to retrieve a vehicle, the pallet loaded with the vehicle can accordingly be moved from its transport module to the transfer space, in that at least transport modules located on a second trajectory between the relevant transport module and the transfer space are controlled to transport the pallet. It can be provided in this case in particular that the first and/or second trajectory is ascertained according to one of two or more storage and retrieval strategies, which is selected depending on the current occupancy status of the parking system or the number of pallets movable in the parking system. Further preferably, the first and/or second trajectory can be ascertained and stored beforehand for each pallet and for each of the storage and retrieval strategies and called for the case of a retrieval request.

To change a currently used storage and retrieval strategy, the pallet pickup device can preferably be controlled in order to adapt the number of the pallets that can be occupied in the parking system to the new storage and retrieval strategy by collecting unoccupied pallets or providing additional pallets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and embodiments result from the following description of exemplary embodiments on the basis of the figures. In the figures:

FIG. 1 shows a simplified exemplary embodiment of a parking system having 3×3 transport modules, pallets arranged thereon for vehicles, and a ceiling-mounted stacking device in the form of a vertically movable coupling device to form pallet stacks;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the stacking device for picking up the pallet located underneath

FIG. 3 shows a detail view of a gripping hook provided on the stacking device,

FIG. 4 shows a first detail on the pallet having a receptacle to engage the gripping hook from FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 shows a second detail on the pallet having a reinforcing bar to lock in the gripping hook from FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 shows a pallet stack movable on the transport modules,

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a detail view of a centering device provided at the pallets,

FIG. 9A shows an occupancy plan of a parking system having transport modules arranged in 12 columns and 11 rows on the basis of a first storage and retrieval strategy,

FIG. 9B shows a corresponding occupancy plan of the parking system from FIG. 9a on the basis of a second storage and retrieval strategy, and

FIG. 9C shows a corresponding occupancy plan of the parking system from FIG. 9A on the basis of a third storage and retrieval strategy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A first exemplary embodiment of a parking system 1 of the type mentioned at the outset is shown in FIG. 1. For this purpose, nine transport modules 10, which are identical per se, are permanently installed on a parking deck, for example, the floor of a warehouse story or the like, in a grid of 3×3 modules. The transport modules form the fundamental building block in this case to construct a parking system and are designed to alternately transport pallets 11 in the longitudinal direction (x) and transverse direction (y) and to transfer the pallets to the respective transport module adjacent in the transport direction. Transport modules usable in the scope of the invention are described in European patent EP 3 924 576 B1 of the applicant.

The transport modules 10 are designed so that they can each carry and transport a pallet 11 having a vehicle. For this purpose, the modules are arranged aligned and adjacent to one another in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction, wherein spacer frames can possibly be interconnected.

In order that each pallet 11 can be moved to a desired parking space on the parking deck, the transport modules 10 are equipped with multiple rollers protruding upward having horizontal axis of rotation, which permit the transport of a pallet alternately in the longitudinal direction and transverse direction. The rollers are pivotable around a vertical axis for this purpose, so that their transport direction can alternately be set in the longitudinal direction or in the transverse direction.

Additionally, where this is reasonable due to the space conditions, transport modules having rollers permanently oriented in the longitudinal direction can also be used, which enable a transport only in the longitudinal direction.

At least a part of the rollers are driven, for example, via an electric motor or a hydraulic motor in each case. In addition to the driven rollers, further non-driven support rollers can also be present in order to distribute the load of the pallets better.

In order that the pallets can be moved without tilting from one transport module to the adjacent transport module, each module has four rollers close to the corner area of a pallet carried thereby. A fifth driven transport roller can be provided in the center of the transport module. All rollers are oriented in the same direction with respect to their running direction and can be driven synchronously so that they can transfer a supported pallet to the adjacent transport module.

As explained, the rollers are pivotable around their vertical axis by 90° to change the transport direction. A pivot drive, for example, in the form of an electric motor or a hydraulic cylinder, is provided to pivot the rollers. The force introduction and synchronization of the pivot movement can take place, for example, via a lever linkage or a circulating chain. More details in this regard can be inferred, as mentioned, from EP 3 924 576 B1, to the entirety of which reference is made here to avoid unnecessary repetitions.

The controller 20 controls the transport modules such that a vehicle to be parked is assigned a free parking space and its pallet is transported from a transfer space automatically to this parking space, or that a vehicle to be retrieved is transported back to the transfer space.

The parking system 1 shown is selected as roughly simplified for better illustration-real parking systems can have arbitrarily many transport modules, which can be installed adjoining one another in a nearly arbitrary arrangement in each case in the x and y direction. To apply the storage and retrieval strategies described hereinafter, subregions having rectangular grid, so-called fields, can then each be considered here. A complex parking deck can thus be divided into rectangular fields, there can be multiple fields depending on the layout of the parking deck. A multistory parking system having multiple parking levels can also be implemented, wherein the parking levels are connected to one another by one or more elevators in the vertical direction, in which pallets loaded with vehicles can be moved between the levels or from their respective level to a transfer space.

The transfer of vehicles during the storage or retrieval preferably takes place in a video-monitored transfer cabin. The users each park their vehicles on a pallet in the transfer cabin. When driving in, a sensor-based system preferably helps the drivers to position their vehicles precisely in the center of the pallet. To improve the efficiency and shorten the waiting times, multiple transfer cabins can be provided. In a multistory parking system, the transfer cabin can also be integrated in an elevator.

After leaving the transfer cabin or the elevator, the pallet reaches the actual storage area. This area is organized as a grid made up of transport modules 10. To enable efficient pallet movement, more transport modules 10 than pallets 11 are always provided on each storage level.

A further building block of the parking system 1 according to the invention is a pallet pickup device, which is designed and controlled to collect individual unoccupied pallets from the transport modules or to provide additional pallets to adapt the parking system to its utilization. In principle, the pallet pickup device can be embodied in any way, for example, by a stacker fork, using which a pallet can be lifted and brought to a storage location.

According to a special aspect of the invention, the pallet pickup device, as shown in FIG. 1, is implemented by a stacking device 15, using which individual pallets 11 can be picked up, lifted, and lowered again on another pallet. The basic concept behind this is to group unused pallets into pallet stacks to collect them, which pallet stacks remain movable in the longitudinal and transverse directions on the transport modules 10. A pallet stack 12 made up of four pallets 11 stacked one on top of another can be seen in FIG. 1. To provide additional pallets on the transport modules 10 if needed, existing pallet stacks can be broken up again.

The freely movable pallet stacks 12 offer flexible storage of excess pallets 11 depending on the active storage and retrieval strategy. These stacks 12 are formed by stacking up to five pallets 11 one on top of another. The pallet stacks 12 move on the transport modules 10 through the parking system. The decisive advantage of the freely movable pallet stacks 12 is their double function. When they are not used as stacks 12, they are used as additional parking spaces 11. Depending on the layout or size of a parking deck, multiple pallet stacks 12 can be located in the storage area.

The stacking device 15 is mounted above one of the transport modules 10 on the ceiling 16 of the hall in which the parking system is located. FIG. 2 shows the stacking device 15 in more detail. It has a scissors-type frame 18 controlled by a hydraulic cylinder 17, which carries four electrically lockable or unlockable gripping hooks 19 at its lower end. One such gripping hook 19 can be seen in FIG. 3 in a detail 19a from FIG. 2. By lowering the scissors-type frame 18, the gripping hooks engage in receptacles provided for this purpose of a pallet 11, which is located on the transport module 10 located below the stacking device 15. Two alternatives of such receptacles for the gripping hooks 19 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, the gripping hook 19 engages through an opening 21 in the upper side of the pallet 11 into a cutout 23 of a quadrilateral profile 22. In FIG. 5, the gripping hook 19 engages through an opening 21 in the upper side of the pallet 11 behind a reinforcing bar 24.

The pallet 11 coupled on by means of the gripping hooks 19 can then be lifted, as can be seen in FIG. 1. A further pallet 11 or the pallet stack 12 can then be moved onto the transport module 10 located below the stacking device 15 by corresponding control of the transport modules 10, after which the lifted pallet 11 can be lowered thereon. The gripping hooks 19 are then unlocked and the stacking device 15 is raised.

The pallet stack 12 can also be moved under the stacking device 15 and the stacking device 15 can be lowered until the gripping hooks lock on the uppermost pallet 11. This can then be lifted and the remaining pallet stack 12 can be moved away, after which the lifted pallet 11 can be placed on the then empty transport module 10.

The pallet stack 12 consisting of four pallets 11 is shown in more detail in FIG. 6. In the detail 25 shown enlarged in FIG. 7, a reinforced recess 26 for a conical tip 27 of a base 28 used as a centering device can be seen, which base is located on the pallet lower side of the pallet 11 stacked above it (see FIG. 8). The pallets 11 are aligned during the stacking and secured against slipping via the recess 26 and the tip 27.

The pallet stacking device 15 enables the creation and management of freely floating pallet stacks 12 by stacking up to five pallets 11 or the provision of pallets 11 from the stack 12 as needed in order to adapt the number of pallets to changing occupancies and the active storage and retrieval strategy.

The pallet stacking device 15 constructed as an overhead lifting system is installed on the ceiling 16 of each parking level, preferably adjacent to a transfer cabin or an elevator. The pallet stacking device 15 moves down from the ceiling in order to grasp a pallet 11, either from a pallet stack 12 or directly from a transport module 10. It can take down pallets from a stack 12 and make them available as additional pallets 11 in the system or it can take free pallets 11 out of the system to enable a faster and more efficient storage and retrieval strategy.

The storage and retrieval strategy determines the movements which each transport module has to carry out in order to create free delivery paths. The storage and retrieval strategy depends on the occupancy of the parking deck, thus on the number of the empty transport modules in each field.

The control of the parking system, thus of the transport modules 10 and the stacking device 15, takes place via the controller 20, on which a corresponding control program runs.

One object of the controller 20 is to create unobstructed delivery paths (trajectories) for pallets 11, which are to be stored or retrieved. These trajectories result consistently from a standard pallet configuration, in which empty transport modules 10 are arranged both in the x direction and in the y direction. The trajectories of an individual pallet are specified for each possible storage and retrieval strategy for each conveyor belt. These trajectories originate here from a standard position of the system, to which it returns automatically after each storage or retrieval. This approach enables the pre-definition and storage of all possible delivery paths for various scenarios in a comprehensive database.

The control program adapts the storage and retrieval strategy dynamically to the degree of occupancy in the parking system, which relates to the number of the available pallets 11. If the degree of occupancy is, for example, less than a first value, a first storage and retrieval strategy is applied, with a degree of occupancy between the first and a second value, a second storage and retrieval strategy is applied, and with a degree of occupancy greater than the second value, a third one. This adaptive approach ensures that the best suitable storage and retrieval strategy is selected on the basis of the current degree of occupancy of pallets 11 in the system.

In the parking system according to the invention, an optimum utilization of the space is of greatest importance. In general, the system is installed within predefined architectonic restrictions with respect to footprint and maximum height. Each parking space provided requires the assignment of a single pallet 11. An array of storage and retrieval strategies is defined and numerically identified for project-specific requirements. The first strategy is consistently preferred due to the rapid pallet delivery, although at the cost of a lower availability of parking spaces. This strategy generally enables a utilization of 70-75%, which is typical in most operating times. The further strategies enable a larger parking capacity, but at the cost of the retrieval times. Three storage and retrieval strategies are typically sufficient in one application in order to satisfy different occupancy scenarios.

One special aspect of the control program is the dynamic adaptation of the storage and retrieval strategies on the basis of specified degrees of occupancy. A separate delivery path, which corresponds to the respective predefined storage and retrieval strategy, is assigned to each transport module 10 within the system. In a system having 100 transport modules and three storage and retrieval strategies, for example, a total of 300 trajectories are generated and stored in a database. The control program selects the matching trajectory depending on the active storage and retrieval strategy.

In conjunction with the transition between storage and retrieval strategies, a trigger mechanism is activated on the basis of the required number of free transport modules 10 in the storage area. Upon exceeding or falling below specified occupancy thresholds, which make a strategic adaptation necessary, the control program initiates the transition process. This transition requires the engagement of the stacking device 15, which is controlled accordingly by the control program or the controller 20.

The stacking device 15 can be controlled to introduce pallets 11 from a pallet stack 12 into the system. The available parking spaces are thus increased, although at the cost of a lower retrieval speed. In the reverse case, the stacking device 15 is controlled to pick up pallets 11 from the transport modules 10 and reposition them onto pallet stacks 12. This procedure decreases the available parking spaces and at the same time increases the retrieval speed in the case of a retrieval request for a stored vehicle.

FIGS. 9A to 9C show the standard positions of the pallets for three different storage and retrieval strategies. In this case, the parking deck has a field having 13 columns A-M (x direction) and 11 rows (y direction). The individual field positions are accordingly numbered continuously with A1-M11. An x/y-capable transport module 10 is located at each of these field positions. The transfer space 30 is located in the middle of the first column A, for example, in the form of a transfer cabin as described above. The field positions shaded gray are occupied with pallets 11, which are carried by the respective transport module 10 located at this field position. The pallets can be unoccupied, loaded with a stored vehicle, or carry a pallet stack 12. The transport modules 10 at the light field positions are unoccupied and can be used to transport pallets 11 for the purpose of storage or retrieval and to maneuver pallets 11 in order to make a trajectory free for storing or retrieving a vehicle. The pallets 11 can be moved individually or synchronously in multiples by controlling the relevant transport modules 10.

In the storage and retrieval strategy shown in FIG. 9A, the complete sixth row 6 and the upper half of the ninth column I are free of pallets 11. This is the standard position, into which the pallets 11 are brought after each storage or retrieval of a vehicle in the scope of this storage and retrieval strategy. Each pallet 11 can be transported very quickly to the transfer space from this position. If the pallet on the field position D9 is to be retrieved, for example, initially the pallets on the positions I7-I11 are maneuvered synchronously to the positions I1-I5. The positions I7-I11 are now free. The entire block of the columns E-H in the rows 7 to 11 can then be displaced by one column in the x direction. The positions E7 to E11 are now free, so that there is an obstacle-free path for the pallet D9 to be retrieved via the positions E9-E6-B6 to the transfer space 30.

In the second storage and retrieval strategy shown in FIG. 9B, in the standard position, the field positions I1-I5 are additionally occupied with pallets 11, so that only the sixth row remains free. Accordingly, more displacement actions can be required to transport an arbitrary pallet 11 to the transfer space 30, so that the retrieval time increases. To retrieve the pallet on the field position D9, for example, the pallets on the positions D7 and D8 can be moved in succession in the y direction to the sixth row and then in the x direction to the field positions F6 and E5. An obstacle-free path for the pallet D9 to be retrieved is now again available via the positions E9-E6-B6 to the transfer space 30.

The retrieval of a pallet from a more remote column is somewhat more protracted, for example, the pallet of the position M10. This can take place, for example, in that the pallets of the seventh to tenth row in the columns B to L are moved synchronously by one position in the Y direction. The positions B10 to L10 are now free. The pallet M10 can now be moved in the x direction to the position D10. The entire block of the sixth to ninth row in the columns C to L can now again be moved back synchronously by one position in the Y direction, so that the sixth row is free again from the column C. Subsequently, the pallets on the positions B6 to B9 can be maneuvered into the positions C6 to F6, so that an obstacle-free path for the pallet to be retrieved, which has been maneuvered to B10, results from the original position M10 via the positions B9-B6 to the transfer space 30.

The standard setup of a third storage and retrieval strategy can be seen in FIG. 9C. In this case, the field positions I6-IM6 in the sixth row are additionally also occupied with pallets 11, so that only half of the sixth row remains free. A suitable trajectory for the retrieval can also be found here again for each pallet by regrouping the pallets, wherein possibly more displacement actions are necessary than in the second storage and retrieval strategy, so that the average retrieval time increases.

As explained above, for each of the three storage and retrieval strategies and for each pallet or pallet position, the trajectories for storage and retrieval are determined beforehand and stored in a database of the controller 20, so that they can be easily called and executed accordingly upon a retrieval request.

The first storage and retrieval strategy, in which (minus the positions required by the transfer space) X(Y/2−1) positions are free, is carried out up to an occupancy of the parking system of approximately 70%, the second storage and retrieval strategy up to an occupancy of the parking system of approximately 70% to at most 85%, and the third storage and retrieval strategy, depending on the size of the parking system, approximately from an occupancy of approximately 80-85%.

In the exemplary embodiment, due to the freely movable pallet stacks 12 and the ceiling-mounted stacking device 15, combined with storage and retrieval strategies, which predetermine the delivery path for each transport module 10 on the basis of the respective storage and retrieval strategy, and a control program which dynamically adapts the storage and retrieval strategy as a reaction to the varying degree of occupancy within the automatic parking system, the delivery times are therefore optimized depending on the degree of occupancy without reducing the capacity of the parking system in this case.

Instead of defining the storage and retrieval trajectories for each pallet beforehand, of course, it can also be provided that upon a storage or retrieval request, the controller ascertains the first and/or second trajectory of a pallet to be stored or retrieved, with application of a rule-based optimization algorithm, as the trajectory in which the fewest displacement procedures have to be carried out. A self-learning or trained AI algorithm can be used in particular for this purpose. In this case, it is also not necessary to bring the pallets back into a standard position after carrying out a storage or retrieval procedure, but rather the controller simply “notes” which pallet is located at which field position.