Laser-based system captures crushed cartons

Engineers at Vitronic (Wiesbaden, Germany) have developed a laser-based volume measurement system which captures the images of the surfaces of cartons and recognizes deformations.

A countless number of goods in a variety of sizes are delivered every day to distribution centers operated by retailers, mail order companies, logistics and industrial companies.

Because the storage of such cartons in high rack warehouses is generally performed automatically, damaged cartons, for example those with bulges and dents, should ideally be identified and sorted out using an automated contour inspection as soon as they arrive as incoming goods. If this is not the case, the automatic warehouse system can malfunction and the throughput of goods in the warehouse will decline.

The VIPAC D2 volume measurement system aims to resolve this issue by inspecting cartons automatically at throughput speeds of up to 3m/s. To do so, it captures the length, width and height as well as the volume of each of them up to a package size of 2500mm x 1000mm x 1000mm.

Along with determining the volume, system software can also determine how the dimensions of the carton have deviated from an ideal carton shape.

The captured data is then passed on to an existing warehouse management system and can be used for additional automated processes, such as invoicing, loading optimization and delivery route planning for vehicle fleets, as well as for statistical purposes.

-- by Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design