ASRS Access Zone Control with Remote Rover Shutdown
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) face challenges in integrating secure and controlled personnel access zones without disrupting system efficiencies, particularly in high-speed, dynamically allocated storage environments with dense storage levels and roaming autonomous vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The integration of secure access zones with controlled openings and closures, utilizing a rover accountant system to ensure rovers are evacuated and secured before allowing personnel access, and employing a secure access zone PLC to manage access permissions and rover shutdowns via a remote communication system, adhering to SIL-3 category criteria for safety and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high rover speeds and dynamic distribution are implemented to increase storage throughput efficiency, then productivity is improved, but the ability to safely grant personnel access into the storage array deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by commanding all rovers to evacuate the access zone before personnel entry is permitted. The controller monitors rover locations in real-time and initiates evacuation commands to ensure the zone is clear before opening access, thereby preventing safety hazards while maintaining high productivity operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback through real-time monitoring of rover locations and access zone status. The controller receives location data from rovers and automatically determines whether the access zone is clear, enabling dynamic control of access permissions based on current system state, thus ensuring safety without compromising throughput efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If dedicated personnel platforms within the storage array are provided to enable human interaction, then ease of operation is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The access zone closure structure serves multiple functions: it acts as a physical barrier for safety, a signal for rover evacuation, and a control point for personnel access management. By making this single structure multi-functional, the system avoids adding separate dedicated platforms while still enabling safe personnel access and maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the personnel access control function with the existing storage array structure by integrating access zones within the existing framework. Rather than adding separate dedicated platforms, the access zones utilize and enhance the existing structural elements, thereby reducing overall system complexity while improving ease of personnel operation.
3Volume of moving object
If closed packed density with more storage levels is implemented to improve storage efficiency, then volume utilization is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring rover positions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces mechanical position detection methods with optical or electromagnetic sensing technologies. Sensors mounted on the storage structure or rovers use light or electromagnetic fields to detect and communicate rover positions, enabling accurate measurement even in densely packed multi-level configurations where mechanical sensors would be insufficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from two-dimensional planar detection to three-dimensional spatial detection by implementing vertical level identification capabilities. Sensors and communication systems are configured to detect rover positions across multiple vertical levels, using height or level information as an additional dimension to precisely locate rovers in densely packed storage configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A transportation system having a transportation space including destinations distributed in the transportation space, multiple independent automated vehicles configured for free roving through the transportation space to and between the destinations so that the vehicles are dynamically distributed through the transportation space, a control system communicably connected via a remote communication link to each of the vehicles and having a system controller that addresses each vehicle to different destinations, and the control system having a vehicle accountant controller separate and distinct from the system controller and configured to independently register a dynamic location of at least one of the vehicles, selected from the multiple vehicles in the transportation space, and command shutdown, via the remote communication link, to only the selected at least one vehicle at the registered location if the registered location corresponds to a predetermined location.