Image-Based Tool Drawer Tracking for Accurate Return Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current inventory control systems for tools in manufacturing and aerospace environments face challenges in accurately tracking tool presence, type, and location, especially when tools are returned, and lack efficient integration with advanced electronic capabilities and network compatibility.
Innovation Solution
An automated tool control system utilizing image sensing devices to capture and process images of storage locations, apply visual contrast elements, and integrate with web services for network communication, enabling efficient tracking, calibration, and inspection status monitoring, as well as multi-factor authentication and user authorization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If contact sensors, magnetic sensors or infrared sensors are disposed in or next to each tool storage location to detect tool presence, then the toolbox can determine whether any tools are missing, but the system cannot verify whether the right kind of tool is placed back and the large number of sensors is costly and prone to damages or malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sensing function from individual sensors at each storage location and consolidates it into a single image sensing device that captures images of the entire toolbox or drawer. This eliminates the need for numerous contact sensors, magnetic sensors, or infrared sensors, thereby reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining or improving inventory accuracy through visual verification of tool identity and placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses image sensing to create visual copies (images) of the tools and their storage locations. These images are then processed to determine tool presence, identity, and proper placement. This copying approach replaces physical sensors with optical information, allowing verification of the right tool type without requiring complex sensor arrays at each location.
2Productivity
If automated tool control systems use image sensing devices to capture and process images of storage locations, then inventory checking efficiency is improved, but integration with web services and network communication capabilities is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into the tool control system, including image sensing, image processing, web service integration, and network communication. The system can perform inventory checks, communicate with remote databases, and interface with other systems through standardized web services, making it versatile and adaptable to different operational environments while maintaining high productivity.
3Ease of operation
If a tool storage device contains multiple occurrences of the same tool and each identical tool is issued to a different user, then tool availability is improved, but users returning tools cannot identify which storage location to return the issued tool to
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies visual indicators (such as colored overlays or highlighted regions in the displayed images) to indicate the correct storage location for returning a specific tool. When a user returns a tool, the system displays an image of the storage device with the appropriate storage location visually distinguished, enabling the user to quickly identify where to place the tool without confusion, even when multiple identical tools are stored in different locations.
Data Source
AI summary
An inventory control system is described that includes a tool storage device including a drawer or a tray providing a pallet, wherein the pallet includes storage locations for objects; a sensing device configured to form an image of the storage locations; and a data processor configured to determine presence or absence of the pallet and presence or absence of objects within the storage locations of the pallet using the information from the image.