(openPR) Wiesbaden, January 20, 2012
At LogiMAT 2012 in Stuttgart, VITRONIC presents VIPAC D2, a laser-based volume measurement system which simultaneously captures carton surfaces in a reliable way and recognizes deformations – as the basis for trouble-free storage processes in distribution centers.
A countless number of goods in cartons with different measurements are delivered every day to distribution centers operated by retailers, mail order companies, logistics and industrial companies. Because the storage of such cartons in high rack warehouses generally is done automatically, damaged cartons, for example those with bulges and dents, are ideally identified and sorted out using an automated contour inspection as soon as they arrive as incoming goods. If this is not the case, malfunctions of the automatic warehouse technology can result and the goods throughput declines.
In addition, deformed cartons can be an indication of damaged goods. With the help of this system, they can be inspected and dealt with if necessary prior to putting into storage.
Another use for deformation detection is in the field of automated palletizing. It is essential that cartons for automatic palletizing are in good shape i.e. not having bulging sides or parts protruding out of the carton. Any of these faults can create significant problems to the palletizing robots.
VITRONIC VIPAC D2: reliable automated storage processes using laser-based volume measurement and contour inspection
The volume measurement system VIPAC D2 from VITRONIC allows the automatic contour inspection of cartons thus providing an optimum basis for the trouble-free operation of warehouse technology and high throughput in distribution centers.
Inline and with throughput speeds of up to 3m/s the system captures the measurement and contours of the transported items up to a package size of 2500 mm x 1000 mm x 1000 mm (L x W x H).
In doing so, the system captures and measures cuboid and irregularly shaped objects in any rotational position along the conveyor sections.
VIPAC D2 uses lasers to set several hundred measuring points per object (point cloud) and uses these points to calculate length, width and height as well as the volume of each carton.
Along with determining the volume, an additional software function for the contour inspection makes it possible to capture deviations from the ideal carton shape such as bulges and dents.
To achieve this, the smallest enclosing cube is calculated for the carton and used as a basis for recognizing deformations.
The captured data is passed on to the existing warehouse management systems via an interface and can be used for additional automated processes, such as invoicing, loading optimization and delivery route planning for vehicle fleets as well as for statistical purposes and analysis to optimize the internal flow of goods.
VITRONIC at LogiMAT 2012
March 13 - 15, 2012, Neue Messe Stuttgart
Hall 3, Booth 410
