General interest press release
Fast Package Sorting in a Very Compact Area
Siemens has developed a logistics center sorting system that takes up far less space than comparable products. Known as the Visicon Singulator, the system is unique in that it registers and individually transports every item. To do so, the facility operates an intelligent camera system in combination with a conveyor belt that can proceed at various speeds along part of its length. Siemens Mobility recently unveiled the Visicon Singulator at the LogiMat trade fair in Stuttgart.
Siemens has developed a logistics center sorting system thattakes up far less space than comparable products. Known as theVisicon Singulator, the system is unique in that it registers andindividually transports every item. To do so, the facility operatesan intelligent camera system in combination with a conveyor beltthat can proceed at various speeds along part of its length. SiemensMobility recently unveiled the Visicon Singulator at theLogiMat trade fair in Stuttgart.
Parcel delivery companies have to handle enormous numbersof packages. UPS alone, for instance, transports almost 16 millionitems worldwide every day. The packages are normally sorted inmachines with a complex series of conveyor belts running atdifferent speeds and using different slopes. As a result, packagesthat at first are randomly positioned in every imaginable way areeventually lined up in an orderly row, with fixed distances betweeneach item. Only when this has been completed can theaddress labels or barcodes on the packages be automatically read.Until now it has been necessary for many packages to be recirculatedinto the system and to go through several loops.
The Visicon Singulator, on the other hand, adjusts the speed ofthe conveyor belt system to each individual package, allowing itto sort 9,000 packages per hour in one step, without having torecirculate any items. This enables the facility to be much morecompact, even though it handles the packages very carefully. Atthe heart of the system is a stretch of conveyor belt that consistsof a matrix of narrow belts, each which can be operated individually.
The matrix is controlled by an intelligent camera system thatmonitors the size and position of every incoming package andsubsequently calculates the speed at which each belt has to run.Each package is either slowed down or accelerated to keep it atthe correct distance to other items. Unlike purely mechanicalsingling facilities, the Visicon Singulator adapts itself dynamicallyto throughput, and important singling parameters such as distance,orientation, and output direction can be flexibly selected.
Photo: http://www.siemens.com/ct-pictures/in20090306