Spatial Address Workpiece Tracking for Quality-Aware Smart Factories

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for tracking and managing products in a production process fail to effectively integrate spatial addresses with quality management, making it difficult to reflect environmental and process-related factors that affect product quality.

Innovation Solution

A spatial address-based management system and workpiece tracking system that incorporates spatial address data including position, workpiece, and attribute information, allowing for real-time tracking and management of workpieces, with features for process interruption and quality control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If GIS-based position tracking methods are used to identify product positions, then position identification is achieved, but quality management cannot be performed because environmental and process factors affecting quality are not reflected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveposition identification accuracyVSAvoidquality management capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges GIS-based position tracking with quality management by integrating environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, illumination) and process data into the spatial address system. This combination allows the system to simultaneously track product positions and monitor quality-affecting factors at each location, resolving the contradiction between position identification and quality management capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The spatial address system is designed to serve multiple functions: position identification, environmental monitoring, process tracking, and quality management. By making the system universal and multi-functional, it can simultaneously perform position tracking while capturing quality-relevant data, thus eliminating the limitation of single-function GIS systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Productivity

If automatic logistics systems are introduced in smart factories, then productivity increases, but integration with spatial address and GIS for quality reflection remains insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduction efficiencyVSAvoidquality-related environmental data

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements feedback mechanisms where environmental sensors continuously monitor quality-affecting factors at each spatial address and feed this information back to the central system. This feedback loop ensures that productivity-enhancing automation does not result in loss of quality-related information, as the system actively collects and processes environmental data alongside production data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing spatial addresses with associated environmental monitoring capabilities before production begins. This allows quality-related environmental data to be captured from the outset, preventing information loss that would occur if monitoring were added after automation was already in place.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If spatial address is assigned to outdoor spaces for fixed products, then position marking is achieved, but the system cannot be applied to automatic logistics systems for moving workpieces

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespatial address assignment accuracyVSAvoidapplicability to moving workpieces

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transforms the static spatial address system into a dynamic one by associating moving workpieces with spatial addresses through tracking devices. As workpieces move through the factory, their positions are continuously updated in the GIS system, maintaining accurate spatial address associations despite movement. This dynamic adaptation allows the originally static system to effectively track moving objects.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system adds a temporal dimension to the spatial address framework by continuously updating position data over time. This transformation from a purely spatial system to a spatio-temporal system enables the tracking of moving workpieces while maintaining the precision of spatial address assignment, thus expanding the system's versatility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP4202813B1Lot number-based management system and workpiece tracking system using lot number

Publication Date: 2025.10.01 LG ENERGY SOLUTION LTD

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A

AI summary

The present technology relates to a spatial address-based management system, and the management system includes a spatial address-related information reception part configured to receive spatial address-related data assigned to each of segments generated by dividing a workspace into a plurality of rows and columns, a controller configured to process the spatial address-related data received from the spatial address-related information reception part and transmit the processed data to a spatial address-related data storage part, and the spatial address-related data storage part configured to store the spatial address-related data transmitted from the controller as spatial address data, wherein the spatial address data includes information on a unique position of the spatial address, information on a workpiece that is placed at the spatial address, and information on attributes or properties of the spatial address.