RFID Trolley Parts Supply Tracking for Unloading Progress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article transport systems in automobile manufacturing plants lack the ability to accurately determine the progress status of parts supply to respective unloading places, leading to potential mis-supply or delays, which are not efficiently addressed by existing methods.
Innovation Solution
An article transport system that employs RFID tags on articles and a tag reading device on transport vehicles to identify articles and generate progress status information, allowing for real-time monitoring and control of unloading operations, including display of necessary unloading information to workers and automatic control of vehicle travel based on read data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If RFID tags and reader-writers are used to recognize articles on trolleys, then article recognition capability is improved, but the ability to determine progress status of parts supply to each unloading place deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the monitoring function into two parts: reader-writers mounted on individual trolleys to read RFID tags and determine article presence, and a central management server that aggregates this data to determine progress status. This segmentation allows each component to focus on its specific function while the system as a whole achieves both article recognition and progress tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The management server receives information from reader-writers about which articles remain on each trolley and compares this with the scheduled unloading plan. This feedback mechanism enables the system to automatically determine progress status and identify deviations such as wrong supply or delays without additional manual monitoring.
2Device complexity
If manual monitoring of parts supply progress is performed, then system complexity is reduced, but productivity and ability to detect supply errors deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic self-monitoring of parts supply progress by having trolleys autonomously report their article inventory status through RFID tags and reader-writers. The management server automatically processes this data to determine progress status, eliminating the need for manual counting and monitoring while significantly improving detection efficiency for supply errors.
3Measurement precision
If reader-writers are mounted on both sides of the transport route as in prior art, then article recognition is improved, but the ability to track unloading progress at specific places deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of mounting reader-writers on fixed structures along the route, the system inverts the approach by mounting reader-writers on the moving trolleys themselves. This allows the reading function to travel with the articles, continuously monitoring which articles remain on each trolley as it moves to different unloading places, thereby enabling progress tracking at each specific location.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate recognition of mis-supply or delays, facilitating rapid countermeasures and improving operational efficiency by ensuring correct and timely unloading of articles at designated places.
Implementation Method 1
RFID tags are applied respectively to a plurality of articles transported by a trolley so that a reader-writer reads information of each RFID tag applied to the corresponding article
Data Source
AI summary
With a parts supply system in which a plurality of parts boxes is transported by a trolley while the parts boxes are unloaded from the trolley at respectively corresponding part-supply places provided on a parts transport route, progress status of supply of the parts boxes to respective unloading places is determined. Information of RFID tags T1 to T10 respectively applied to a plurality of parts boxes B1 to B10 is read by ID tag reading devices 4A, 4B and 4C respectively mounted on trolleys 21, 22 and 23. Thus, the respective parts boxes B1 to B10 that exist on the trolleys 21, 22 and 23 are identified, and information is generated on the progress status of supply of the respective parts boxes B1 to B10 to the part-supply places. Thus, the progress status of the supply of the parts boxes B1 to B10 to the part-supply places is recognized.