Virtual Workspace Representation for Inventory System Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern inventory systems face challenges in efficiently managing and adapting to changes in capacity and complexity, leading to inefficiencies in resource utilization, increased response times, and high costs associated with modifying infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
An inventory system that employs a virtual representation of the workspace to control robotic elements, allowing for rapid deployment of updated map information and decentralized control, enabling efficient management and expansion of resources without requiring significant physical changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If inventory systems expand in capacity and complexity, then system throughput and capabilities improve, but the cost and difficulty of adapting the system to modifications increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy (digital twin) of the physical inventory system workspace that can be modified independently and rapidly deployed. This virtual representation allows system adaptations to be tested and implemented in the virtual model before physical changes, reducing adaptation difficulty while maintaining system throughput capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically updates the virtual workspace representation to reflect real-time physical changes and allows rapid reconfiguration of the virtual model to test different layout scenarios. This dynamic capability enables quick adaptation to modifications without the inertia of fixed physical infrastructure.
2Productivity
If inventory systems expand in capacity and complexity, then system throughput and capabilities improve, but the cost of incremental changes to capacity or functionality becomes prohibitively expensive
Solution Approach 1:
By maintaining a virtual copy of the workspace, the system allows incremental capacity expansions to be first implemented in the virtual model at minimal cost. These virtual prototypes can be validated before physical implementation, reducing the risk and cost of incremental changes while still achieving throughput improvements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary testing and validation of capacity expansions in the virtual workspace before committing to physical changes. This preliminary action in the virtual model reduces the cost and risk associated with incremental physical modifications by identifying issues before they require expensive physical rework.
3Adaptability or versatility
If physical infrastructure changes are made to expand or reduce system size, then system capabilities are modified, but significant physical changes are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a virtual copy of the workspace to represent and manage physical infrastructure. This allows capability modifications to be implemented by updating the virtual model rather than making direct physical changes, significantly reducing the complexity of infrastructure modifications while maintaining system adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the need for direct mechanical/physical modifications with virtual model updates. By substituting physical infrastructure changes with virtual representation changes, the system achieves capability modifications without the complexity of physical construction and demolition.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods described herein pertain to maintaining a virtual representation of a workspace in a material handling system and updating the virtual representation. Methods described include maintaining the virtual representation of a material handling grid, maintaining one or more clients operable to direct movement of the plurality of drive units in the workspace; receiving an instruction to update the virtual representation of the drive-unit navigable grid including an updated virtual representation of the workspace; and querying a subset of the one or more clients to determine whether the update to the virtual representation would cause one conflicts within the workspace. Potential conflicts include, but are not limited to, “stranded” resources which are no longer positioned on the material handling grid, and/or workstations that have not yet been suspended prior to the update. Methods further include, upon determining that the updated virtual representation would not cause a conflict, deploying the updated virtual representation to replace an existing virtual representation of the workspace.