Warehouse Safety Zoning for Selective Shuttle Halt Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated warehouses with robotic shuttles pose safety risks for personnel during interventions, as existing safety measures may not guarantee collision avoidance and can impact warehouse performance.
Innovation Solution
A safety zoning system that establishes secured access for personnel by messaging automated material handling systems to halt operations in designated safety zones, using access control modules to monitor entry events and communicate with a zoning safety module.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional safety measures (collision avoidance systems, speed limiting, emergency stop buttons) are implemented, then personnel safety is improved, but warehouse system performance deteriorates due to operational disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The warehouse is divided into multiple safety zones, each monitored by dedicated access control modules. This segmentation allows personnel to access specific zones without halting entire warehouse operations, thus maintaining productivity while ensuring safety in controlled areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Safety measures are applied locally to specific safety zones rather than globally across the entire warehouse. When personnel enter a safety zone, only automated material handling systems within that specific zone are halted, not the entire warehouse system, thereby minimizing operational disruption.
2Productivity
If automated material handling systems continue operating at high speeds, then warehouse productivity is improved, but collision risk with personnel increases
Solution Approach 1:
A zoning safety module acts as an intermediary between access control modules and automated material handling systems. It receives entry event data, determines the specific safety zone entered, and selectively halts only the relevant automated systems in that zone, maintaining overall warehouse productivity while eliminating collision risk in the specific area.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety system dynamically responds to personnel entry events by selectively adjusting the operational state of automated material handling systems based on the specific safety zone entered, rather than applying a static stop-all-operations approach throughout the warehouse.
Data Source
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AI summary
A safety zoning system and method for establishing a secured access for personnel entering a primary safety zone of multiple safety zones of an automated warehouse by messaging at least one automated material handling system to halt automated operation in the at least primary safety zone and in adjacent safety zones to said primary safety zone in which said automated material handling system may pose a risk to said personnel in case of continued operation.