Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that navigate through warehouses or production halls are data collectors. However, often the data collected is immediately deleted. The international research project ARIBIC seeks methods to use valuable information in a cost-effective way for warehouses.
ARIBIC project runs until the end of 2023 and is an initiative of STILL, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the University of Toronto and Canadian sensor manufacturer LeddarTech.
Live digital twin
Starting point of the project is to use data collected from sensors and cameras in the cloud to create continuously updated 3D maps of warehouses or production facilities. "Through the real-time sensor data, we create a live digital twin of the environment and can virtually display and share relevant information in real time," explains Bengt Abel, project manager at STILL.
Unlike the current method - where a rigid 3D image of the environment is created based on a snapshot - the images generated by the ARIBIC platform (3D map creation engine) remain dynamic and always up-to-date. While driving, sensor technology on the truck or AGV detects even the smallest changes and transmits them to the ARIBIC platform. The changes, such as a newly placed pallet, or a moved rack, are immediately taken into account in the artificial intelligence-based interior mapping and fed back to the system.
Optimise warehouse or factory planning
STILL says the approach offers huge user benefits. For example, users always know where vehicles are located. That information can then be used to optimise warehouse or factory planning. For example, where there is high or low traffic or which aisles are most often blocked. Based on the knowledge gathered, racking can (initially) be relocated virtually, or production areas rearranged. Abel: "The continuous and real-time recording of the working environment, brings optimal space layout and utilisation. For the first time, the user gets a detailed insight into what actually happens in the warehouse or on the production floor. And that's just the beginning."
