Autonomous Transport Vehicles for Goods-to-Man Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current retail distribution systems rely heavily on manual and labor-intensive processes for case and item picking, with limited automation, leading to inefficiencies and high labor costs, especially in high-volume retail channels and e-commerce environments.
Innovation Solution
An automated materials-handling system utilizing autonomous wheeled transport vehicles that navigate through a network of guideways, allowing for the efficient transfer and storage of cases and items across multiple levels, enabling a 'goods-to-man' picking model that reduces labor dependency and increases throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual case-picking processes are used with human operators traveling through aisles, then flexibility in handling different products is maintained, but labor costs and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional man-to-goods model by implementing a goods-to-man model where automated vehicles bring cases to stationary picking locations. This inversion eliminates the need for human operators to travel through aisles, directly addressing the time loss problem while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs autonomous vehicles that self-navigate through the distribution center using guideway infrastructure. These vehicles independently transport cases from storage locations to picking stations without human intervention, reducing labor dependency and increasing operational efficiency.
2Productivity
If automated vehicles with transfer mechanisms are used, then productivity and storage density improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous vehicle is divided into distinct functional modules: navigation system for guideway following, transfer mechanism for case handling, and propulsion system for movement. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies maintenance while maintaining overall system productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous vehicles are designed as multi-functional units that can perform both transport operations (moving cases between locations) and transfer operations (loading/unloading cases at picking stations). This universality reduces the need for separate specialized equipment, thereby managing device complexity while improving productivity.
3Extent of automation
If autonomous vehicles navigate through guideways, then labor dependency is reduced, but system infrastructure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guideway network serves as an intermediary infrastructure that enables autonomous vehicle navigation without requiring complex real-time control systems. The physical guideway structure provides passive guidance, simplifying the automation system while still achieving high extent of automation in the picking process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic navigation and steering systems with a mechanical guideway infrastructure. Vehicles follow predetermined physical paths through the distribution center, which simplifies the control systems needed for automation while maintaining high levels of autonomous operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for selecting and combining packages in an outbound container by employing autonomous transfer and transport vehicles which move on a network of roadways to carry a plurality of individual cases each containing the same kind of product from a loading station and to a destination station where individual packages are combined in the outbound container. The travel of each vehicle through the roadway network is computer controlled, and each vehicle includes means for automatically loading and unloading packages from predetermined locations on the network.