imaging and machine vision europe june/july 2010
www.imveurope.com
news 5
Image sensors optimise transport space for parcel carrier
Interlink Express, a UK parcel carrier, has installed image sensors at its Smethwick distribution centre to optimise transport space in vehicles. The site processes 27,000
parcels per hour and operates more than 1,200 vehicles. The Vipac D2 volume-measuring units from Vitronic allow Interlink Express to plan delivery routes
efficiently, keeping costs and CO2 emissions to a minimum. At the 28-acre site, operators unload parcels using telescopic boom conveyors. Items flow to one of five sorters, which divert them down specific destination chutes ready for delivery in the morning. A Vipac D2 system operates above each of Interlink Express Smethwick’s five sorters, which run at 2.2m/s. Every unit has two sensor heads, which emit fan-shaped laser beams. Parcels travelling underneath reflect these beams back to the sensors. The time taken for the laser to return to the sensor and the beam displacement are measured to build 3D images of parcels travelling through the system. It uses these images to determine a parcel’s height, width and length, before calculating its volume and the smallest enclosing box. The acquired data enables Interlink Express to optimise transit space in vehicles. Mark Wilkes, director of technical
services at Interlink Express, said: ‘Vipac D2 measures the volume of cuboid and non-cuboid objects. This is essential because we deliver a wide range of goods. The system is fast, accurate and reliable. It cuts manual handling requirements and helps our hub perform efficiently. This means we can maintain the speedy delivery and first-class customer service for which Interlink Express is renowned.’
In BrIef
l Individuals can now attain certification as a machine vision professional (basic level) through a new programme launched by the Automated Imaging Association (AIA).
l Applied Vision has received a Leading EDGE Award presented by the Entrepreneurs EDGE, an organisation dedicated to growth and development in Northeast Ohio.
l Almost exactly six years after the launch of its uEye industrial camera series, machine vision specialist IDs Imaging Development systems has recently sold its 100,000th camera.
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