Pallet Transport Obstacle Monitoring for Dense Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomously moving transport systems for pallets and pallet cages often leave empty space unused due to the need to maintain an escape route, which reduces storage efficiency and can lead to collisions by triggering safety reactions.
Innovation Solution
An autonomously moving transport system equipped with a control apparatus and obstacle recognition device that limits or deactivates the monitored field during placement, allowing closer packing of pallets and preventing collisions by ensuring the area is clear before placement and continuously adapting the monitored field based on travel distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the monitored field is continuously active during placement to detect obstacles, then safety is improved, but storage space utilization deteriorates due to empty space being left for escape routes
Solution Approach 1:
The monitored field is dynamically adjusted based on the operational phase. During approach and placement operations, the monitored field is limited to the free placement area only, while during other operations it maintains full coverage. This dynamic adaptation allows safe operation while maximizing storage space utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The obstacle detection system applies different monitoring characteristics to different spatial zones. The monitored field is concentrated on the free placement area during critical operations, providing intensive local monitoring where needed rather than uniform monitoring throughout the entire workspace, thereby improving both safety and space efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If the monitored field is limited to the free placement area during travel, then storage space utilization is improved, but obstacle detection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary obstacle detection of the free placement area before the transport system enters it. This advance detection ensures the area is clear of obstacles before placement operations begin, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring during travel and enabling closer pallet spacing while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The obstacle detection function continues to operate effectively through continuous monitoring of the free placement area during the critical placement phase, while being temporarily reduced during non-critical travel phases. This continuous useful action ensures safety is maintained throughout the operation without unnecessarily restricting storage space.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomously moving transport system comprises a drive unit and a control apparatus. The control apparatus comprises a data processing unit and an obstacle recognition device having a first sensor unit. The first sensor unit is configured to generate a monitored field in order to examine a free placement area for obstacles. The control apparatus is configured such that the transport system, in the absence of an obstacle, adopts a placement operating mode and moves the pallet and/or the pallet cage into the free placement area. The obstacle recognition device is configured to limit the monitored field to the free placement area or to deactivate the monitored field or not to output an obstacle recognition signal during the travel over the free placement area. Alternatively, the data processing unit is configured to ignore an obstacle recognition signal of the obstacle recognition device during the travel over the free placement area.