Material Flow Data Alignment for Cross-Stage Manufacturing Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to effectively track the transformation of materials throughout manufacturing processes, particularly from raw materials to intermediate products, as they lack serial numbers and sensors, making it difficult to identify quality and quantity issues in final products.
Innovation Solution
A data alignment system that uses sensors at various processing devices to detect material attributes and conveyor speed, calculating an offset time to align records across different positions, enabling the tracking of material flow and identifying quality control issues through machine learning models.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are installed on all processing devices to track material attributes, then measurement precision and tracking capability improve, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces conveyor speed as an intermediary parameter to bridge the gap between discrete sensor measurements at different positions. By calculating material position based on conveyor speed and time, the system achieves continuous tracking without requiring sensors at every possible location, thus improving measurement precision while controlling system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual model of material flow by copying and aligning sensor records from different positions using calculated offset times. This virtual representation enables comprehensive tracking and analysis without physically installing sensors on every processing device, resolving the contradiction between tracking precision and system complexity
2Loss of information
If data from multiple positions is collected and aligned to track material transformation, then information completeness improves, but data processing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates offset times between different sensor positions based on conveyor speed and distance measurements. This preliminary action allows data from multiple positions to be automatically aligned in the correct temporal sequence during normal operation, ensuring information completeness while minimizing real-time data processing time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous data collection and alignment processes that operate throughout material transport. By continuously updating material position based on conveyor speed and aligning sensor records in real-time, the system maintains complete information tracking without significant time delays, enabling both complete information capture and efficient processing
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method are disclosed for aligning process data to a flow of material in a manufacturing process. That is, the disclosed embodiments enable tracking of material as that material travels (e.g., via a transportation mechanism such as a conveyor belt) between various processing devices in the manufacturing process. Each processing device may include one or more sensors. For example, the disclosed system and method enable tracking the same material over different manufacturing steps.