Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets

Anonymous Lumber Co. (ALC) has decided to implement a new automated warehouse to feed its Continuous Drying System (CDS). The new warehouse’s job is to autonomously move pallets, also known as “units,” of stacked green lumber through the warehouse and onto the dry kilns. However, avoiding large gaps...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando
Other Authors: Anthony, Brian
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2023
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147558
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author Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando
author2 Anthony, Brian
author_facet Anthony, Brian
Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando
author_sort Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando
collection MIT
description Anonymous Lumber Co. (ALC) has decided to implement a new automated warehouse to feed its Continuous Drying System (CDS). The new warehouse’s job is to autonomously move pallets, also known as “units,” of stacked green lumber through the warehouse and onto the dry kilns. However, avoiding large gaps after placing the units on the drying kiln’s carts has proven to be more difficult than anticipated. This work dives into the current system implemented by ALC, the problems faced, several proposed solutions, and a detailed exploration into a proposal using LIDAR to measure irregularities in the units to control their precise positioning. The project’s main goal was to develop a solution which would improve ALC’s productivity while being quick and easy to implement. In the end, restricted access and time constraints postponed the implementation of this solution at ALC’s facility. However, a small-scale proof-of-concept was constructed to gather data and extrapolate what the expected performance of the chosen solution could be.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1475582023-01-20T03:39:49Z Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando Anthony, Brian Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Anonymous Lumber Co. (ALC) has decided to implement a new automated warehouse to feed its Continuous Drying System (CDS). The new warehouse’s job is to autonomously move pallets, also known as “units,” of stacked green lumber through the warehouse and onto the dry kilns. However, avoiding large gaps after placing the units on the drying kiln’s carts has proven to be more difficult than anticipated. This work dives into the current system implemented by ALC, the problems faced, several proposed solutions, and a detailed exploration into a proposal using LIDAR to measure irregularities in the units to control their precise positioning. The project’s main goal was to develop a solution which would improve ALC’s productivity while being quick and easy to implement. In the end, restricted access and time constraints postponed the implementation of this solution at ALC’s facility. However, a small-scale proof-of-concept was constructed to gather data and extrapolate what the expected performance of the chosen solution could be. M.Eng. 2023-01-19T19:58:29Z 2023-01-19T19:58:29Z 2022-09 2022-10-05T13:44:28.823Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147558 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright MIT http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Rodriguez Cabrera, Luis Fernando
Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title_full Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title_fullStr Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title_full_unstemmed Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title_short Warehouse Automation: Improvements for the Precise Placement of Irregular Pallets
title_sort warehouse automation improvements for the precise placement of irregular pallets
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147558
work_keys_str_mv AT rodriguezcabreraluisfernando warehouseautomationimprovementsforthepreciseplacementofirregularpallets