An autonomous system for linear and angular measurements in big surfaces

Abstract

At present, warehouse construction industry makes large vertical stores over small areas causing vertical designs of vehicles and structures. In this situation, the floor must have constant levelness and high flatness in order to achieve the nominal performance of the very narrow aisle lift trucks. With this in mind, in this paper we present a novel system for levelness and flatness measurement based on big surfaces shape measurement. The system has linear and angular optical measurement devices on a mobile robot with automatic drive based on an embedded microcontroller. Readings from the robot are sent to a host computer by means of a radio frequency link for future analysis of level and flatness in agreement with the E1155-87 ASM standard. In addition, this work presents a PC program that receives data from the robot and then sends the data dynamically to a spreadsheet. The complete travel of the vehicle over the measurement area can be made with high degree of automation, reporting remarkable advantages compared to those of a manual process.

How can logistics real estate support third-party logistics providers?

“…In our sample, 52% of the warehouses have a building mesh in a range between 22 m and 25 m, which is suited to traditional pallet racking and handling equipment. On the other hand, a flat floor allows for avoiding vehicle staggering and collisions with internal structures (Valera et al, 2004). According to the data analysed, only 11% of the warehouses assessed have checked the flatness and levelness of their floor in the last 5 years.…”