Method and system for controlling the operation of container handling vehicles and drones serving an automated storage and retrieval system

A system comprising:

• a plurality of container handling vehicles;
• a plurality of remotely operated specialized container handling vehicles;
• and
• an operational controller, the operational controller being configured to:
• determine which container handling vehicle of the plurality of container handling vehicles shall be assigned to transfer a specified storage container from a storage column and a corresponding grid cell to a specialized container handling vehicle;
• transmit instructions to a first controller in a selected container handling vehicle instructing the selected container handling vehicle to pick up the specified storage container from the grid cell and to lower the specified storage container to a selected port;
• assign a specific specialized container handling vehicle of the plurality of remotely operated specialized container handling vehicles to retrieve the specified storage container from the selected port;
• and
• transmit instructions to a second controller in the specific specialized container handling vehicle to retrieve the specified storage container at the selected port;
• wherein the specific specialized container handling vehicle is selected based on minimizing a total elapsed time for transferring the specified storage container between the selected container handling vehicle and the specific specialized container handling vehicle.

A computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising functionality for:

• determining, by an operational controller, which container handling vehicle of a plurality of container handling vehicles shall be assigned to transfer a specified storage container from a storage column and a corresponding grid cell to a specialized container handling vehicle;
• sending instructions to a first controller in a selected container handling vehicle instructing the selected container handling vehicle to pick up the specified storage container from the grid cell and to lower the specified storage container to a selected port;
• assigning a specific specialized container handling vehicle of a plurality of remotely operated specialized container handling vehicles to retrieve the specified storage container from the selected port;
• and
• transmitting instructions from the operational controller to a second controller in the specific specialized container handling vehicle to retrieve the specified storage container at the selected port;
• wherein the specific specialized container handling vehicle is selected based on minimizing a total elapsed time for transferring the specified storage container between the selected container handling vehicle and the specific specialized container handling vehicle.