CASE STUDY---VisionNav Robotics Helps Well-known Automobile Enterprise Build Smart Automated Logistics

As is known, the logistics system of automobile manufacturing plants is very complex although the volume of automobile logistics is enormous. Based on different purpose, the logistics system can also be divided into complete vehicle logistics and parts logistics, in addition, the parts logistics can be classified into even more detailed categories. Therefore, It is necessary to gradually optimize from full aspects and continuously improve to realize the intelligent plan of automobile manufacturing plants.

Project Profile

This enterprise is a well-known automobile manufacturer, and it has a manufacturing base covering an area of about 2,000 acres in the southwest region of China. In this project, it hopes to build smart automated logistics and gradually improve the intelligent plan of factory logistics by deploying the flexible logistics solutions from VisionNav Robotics.

Difficult Points

• Factory production workshop requires 24 hours of operation, and workers are rotated in three shifts. The working hours are very long and the labor intensity is extremely high, resulting in large personnel turnover, difficulty in recruitment, and high personnel operation and maintenance costs.
• In order to improve the utilization rate of warehousing storage, the multi-layer stacking method of pallets has been adopted, but the manual handling and stacking efficiency is low and there exists safety risks.
• The four pillars of the cage are artificially inserted and supported, and the pillars are unstable and uneven in height, so the end perception control accuracy of the unmanned forklift is highly required when stacking.

• There are many kinds of parts accessories, the goods information and logistics information are difficult to synchronize timely to meet with various data systems, resulting in asymmetric information, and difficult to track goods.

Solution of VisionNav

According to requirements from the client, we finally decide to realize automatic material handling in the production workshop, transfer them between the workshop handover area, storage area, and waiting area, then we complete the 2-6 layers of materials stacking. We have prepared 2 VNP15 counterbalanced stacker unmanned forklifts to achieve 24 hour/day operations.

The VisionNav Robotics VNP15 counterbalanced unmanned forklift has high-precision visual servo control technology, combined with image recognition and calculation, to perform information extraction and pose calculation on the characteristics of the pallet feet, and then accurately fork the goods. The horizontal position deviation between the pallet feet and cups can be adjusted to control the unmanned forklift to complete the six-layer precise stacking and reduce the safety risk and cargo damage rate caused by manual stacking.

Aiming at the different heights of the cage pillars, the unmanned forklift automatically turns on the self-adaptation of the height, and analyzes the horizontal deviation between the foot pier and the pallet foot cup by raising the fork while testing it at the same time, and outputs the detection data, so as to detect the difference between the foot pier and the pallet foot cup. The movements of the human forklift are controlled and adjusted to complete precise 6 layers stacking.

Operation Workflow

The operation process of the unmanned forklift is divided into inbound and outbound.

Inbound workflow: After receiving the operation instruction, the unmanned forklift transports the materials by two pallets per stack from the handover area to the storage area, and pile up them into 6 pallets per stack, then synchronize the inventory status of WMS.

Outbound workflow: After sending the operation instruction from WMS, the automated forklift will receive the task from the robot control system and split the 6 pallets per stack into 2 pallets per stack, and transfer them to the waiting area, then update the inventory status.

Work Rhythm

27 pallets per hour for inbound, 10 pallets per hour for outbound, 3 shifts of workers can be saved. It not only solves the problem of recruitment, but also effectively reduces the cost of labor operation and maintenance.

Project Result

 The establishment of an intelligent automated logistics improves the production efficiency of workshop logistics by 3 times, effectively reduces the cost of manual operation and maintenance, and solves the problem of recruitment.

The connection between the robot control scheduling system and the client's WMS, the real-time synchronization of goods information, inventory status, and logistics information, makes the inbound and outbound of goods more intelligent and more convenient.