Warehouse Sorting Layout for Mixed Object Handling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The efficiency of sorting work in automatic warehouse systems is hindered when objects that can and cannot be picked up by robots are mixed in containers, leading to potential delays and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A physical distribution system with a sorting apparatus that includes a creation unit for optimizing object layout, a notification unit for alerting personnel to non-graspable objects, and a pickup control unit to manage object retrieval, ensuring that ungraspable objects are stored separately and personnel are notified to remove them, thereby preventing delays and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If objects that can and cannot be picked up by the robot are mixed in the container, then the container can be fully utilized for storage, but the sorting efficiency decreases due to repeated pickup attempts and manual intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The storage container is divided into multiple regions: a first storage area for objects that can be picked up by the robot and a second storage area for objects that cannot be picked up. This segmentation allows the robot to efficiently sort graspable objects while non-graspable objects are isolated and handled separately, resolving the contradiction between full storage utilization and sorting efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
Objects are pre-categorized and placed in appropriate storage areas before the sorting process begins. The creation unit determines in advance which objects belong in the first storage area and which belong in the second storage area, eliminating the need for the robot to attempt pickup failures and manual intervention during the sorting process
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the robot attempts to pick up all objects regardless of graspability, then the sorting process is continuous, but time is wasted on failed pickup attempts
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary classification of objects into graspable and non-graspable categories before the sorting process. Objects are placed in the first or second storage area accordingly, so the robot only attempts to pick up objects from the first storage area, eliminating wasted time on failed pickup attempts while maintaining sorting continuity
Solution Approach 2:
Non-graspable objects are extracted from the mix and placed in a separate second storage area before sorting begins. This extraction prevents the robot from attempting to pick up these objects, thereby eliminating time loss from failed pickup attempts while the sorting process continues efficiently for graspable objects
Data Source
AI summary
A physical distribution system includes: a creation unit configured to create a layout for storage of objects to be sorted in a storage container; an output unit configured to output the created layout; a notification unit configured to transmit, when there is, in the storage container, an object that cannot be picked up, a notice for requesting a person to take out that object to a terminal apparatus; and a pickup control unit configured to control the pickup unit so that it picks up an object that has been put in the storage container, and move the object to a sorting destination in accordance with the object, in which the creation unit creates the layout in which that only objects that are registered in advance as those that cannot be picked up are collectively stored in a predetermined storage area.