Virtual Carton Simulation for Material Handling System Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Physical testing of material handling systems is labor-intensive, costly, and cannot be conducted until the complete system is installed, leading to potential customer dissatisfaction due to issues like jams and crashes.
Innovation Solution
Combine virtual testing with physical material handling systems by modeling virtual cartons to emulate their presence, allowing control logic to operate the system without actual cartons, thus reducing the need for physical testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical testing is conducted with actual cartons on the material handling system, then system functionality and potential issues (jams, crashes) can be detected, but labor intensity and testing costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtual cartons as digital copies of physical cartons to simulate material handling operations. These virtual objects replicate the physical cartons' dimensions, weights, and movement characteristics, allowing comprehensive system testing without requiring actual physical cartons. The virtual cartons are processed through the same control logic and hardware systems, providing accurate functionality verification while eliminating the labor-intensive aspects of physical testing.
2Reliability
If physical testing is performed after complete system installation, then actual system performance can be evaluated, but customer dissatisfaction may occur due to observed jams and crashes during testing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces virtual cartons as an intermediary medium between the physical material handling system and the testing objectives. These virtual objects serve as a mediator that allows comprehensive system evaluation without the harmful side effects of physical cartons causing visible jams, crashes, or customer frustration. The virtual testing environment isolates the performance evaluation from customer observation, eliminating the negative impact while maintaining testing accuracy.
3Productivity
If virtual cartons are used to simulate physical cartons in the material handling system, then labor and costs are reduced, but the accuracy of testing may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual cartons are created as precise digital replicas of physical cartons, incorporating accurate dimensional data, weight properties, and movement characteristics. This copying approach ensures that the virtual objects faithfully represent the physical counterparts, maintaining testing accuracy while providing the efficiency benefits of virtual simulation. The control logic processes virtual cartons identical to how it would process physical cartons, ensuring measurement precision is preserved.
Data Source
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AI summary
Virtual material handling systems can be used to drive the operation of real material handling systems for purposes such as testing and validation of the components of the real material handling systems. The real material handling system, in turn, can provide data regarding system operation which may be fed back to the virtual material handling system to control its function.