02 Aug 2018 News
Sofidel, in the context of the ROP (Regional Operational Program) ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) 2014-2020, takes part in the IREAD4.0 project which aims at developing an integrated HW/SW system (Cyber Physical System), for the monitoring and automatic management of pallets and forklifts, in large warehouses characterized by high rotation index products.
The proposed system will be optimized for warehouses larger than 10000m2 with an average goods handling of more than 1000 pallets/day. Such warehouse scenarios require for technological solutions that are reconfigurable, low-cost, flexible, as well as easily scalable with respect to warehouse size, goods variety and required spatial resolution for the pallet localization. Above requirements can be satisfied by exploiting the (passive) RFID technology at UHF band.
An HW/SW platform will be implemented in each forklift, and it includes an RFID reader, reconfigurable antennas, an IMU device (inertial measurement unit), speed and proximity sensors, a local processing unit, a radio-based safety system, a human interface device. Any commercial forklift will be transformed in a “Smart Forklift” that will allow for the effective implementation of a number of functionalities. Among them, it is worth mentioning: