METHOD FOR MAINTAINING SYSTEMS, IN PARTICULAR MACHINES IN WAREHOUSES

Abstract

A method for maintaining, commissioning and checking systems in warehouses, where a service technician has a view of the respective system and makes wireless contact with the controller of the system via a mobile computer in order to take over control thereof, where the taking over of control by the mobile computer is permitted by a central controller only if the service technician can have visual contact with the corresponding system, for which purpose the determination of the position and/or the orientation of the mobile computer of the service technician with respect to the respective system is effected via optical and/or acoustic recognition of a fingerprint of the system.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining, commissioning and checking systems in warehouses, wherein a service technician has a view of a respective system and makes wireless contact with a controller of the respective system via a mobile computer in order to take over control thereof, said method comprising: taking over of control of the respective system by the mobile computer is permitted by a central controller only if the service technician can have visual contact with the corresponding system, for which purpose the determination of the position and/or the orientation of the mobile computer of the service technician with respect to the respective system is effected via optical and/or acoustic recognition of a fingerprint of the system.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the acoustic recognition is effected by means of a microphone of the mobile computer which enables the central controller to compare an acoustic fingerprint stored in the central controller with instantaneous acoustic recordings of the noises of the respective system.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the acoustic recognition by means of a microphone monitors both the frequency and the volume of the instantaneous noises of the system.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the noises are artificially generated noises.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the noises are artificially generated noises.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical recognition is effected by means of a camera of the mobile computer which enables the central controller to compare an optical fingerprint stored in the central controller with instantaneous optical recordings of patterns of the respective system.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the optical patterns consists of the system itself, applied markings on the system, markings applied to the ground in front of the system or light patterns on the system or a combination of the aforementioned.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identification of the service technician is also effected by means of optical and/or acoustic recognition.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the systems in question come from the field of conveying technology, storage technology, picking technology and/or sorting technology.

10. A method for maintaining, commissioning and checking systems in warehouses, wherein a service technician has a view of a respective system and makes wireless contact with a controller of the respective system via a mobile computer in order to take over control thereof, said method comprising: determining the position and/or the orientation of the mobile computer of the service technician with respect to the respective system via optical and/or acoustic recognition of a characteristic of the respective system; and taking over of control of the respective system by the mobile computer is permitted by a central controller only if the service technician can have visual contact with the corresponding system based on said determining the position and/or orientation of the mobile computer.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising acoustically recognizing the characteristic of the respective system via a microphone of the mobile computer which enables the central controller to compare an acoustic fingerprint stored in the central controller with instantaneous acoustic recordings of noises of the respective system.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said acoustically recognizing via the microphone comprises monitoring both the frequency and the volume of the instantaneous noises of the respective system.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the noises are artificially generated noises.

14. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising optically recognizing the characteristic of the respective system via a camera of the mobile computer which enables the central controller to compare an optical fingerprint stored in the central controller with instantaneous optical recordings of patterns of the respective system.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the optical patterns consists of the system itself, applied markings on the system, markings applied to the ground in front of the system or light patterns on the system or a combination of the aforementioned.

16. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising identifying the service technician by means of optical and/or acoustic recognition.

17. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the systems in question come from the field of conveying technology, storage technology, picking technology and/or sorting technology.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a warehouse with a plurality of conveying technology machines and a maintenance technician.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a warehouse designated as a whole by 1. The warehouse 1 comprises a superordinate controller 2 and a plurality of conveying technology machines 3A, B which are connected thereto and are designed as picking robots. The central controller has a WLAN radio module 6 which enables communication with a service tablet 5 (mobile computer) which has a corresponding radio module 5a. The system or warehouse 1 has both an optical and an acoustic fingerprint 7, 8.

[0033] In the present case, the optical fingerprint 8 is a 2D code which is visibly applied in the immediate vicinity of the conveying technology and which can be recognised or read by the service tablet 5 equipped with a camera 5b. The 2D code contains e.g. the system part and its location. This is exchanged with the central controller 2 which then knows the location of the service tablet 5 and thus also of the technician 4.

[0034] In the present case, the acoustic fingerprint 7 is an acoustic signal 7 which the service tablet 5 equipped with a microphone 5c can receive. In the present case, the signal 7 is artificially generated by a sound generator 7A located in the immediate vicinity of the conveying technology. The sound is unique to the conveying technology or conveying technology machines 3A, B and thus allows the central controller to allocate or determine the location of the service tablet 5 and thus also of the technician 4 after appropriate communication.

[0035] Thus, as soon as the service technician 4 with the service tablet 5 is located within sight and/or hearing distance of the conveying technology machines 3A, B or the fingerprints 7, 8, access to the conveying technology can be enabled via the central controller 2. In the present case, access is enabled only if both the acoustic and optical evaluation indicate the immediate proximity to the conveying technology machine 3A to undergo maintenance.

[0036] For this purpose, the conveying technology must be located in the field of view of the camera 5b or within a radius, in which the audio signal 7 is still recorded with a defined strength or loudly by the microphone 5c. This provides the technician 4 with a more flexible workspace and still ensures visibility to the system. Consequently, he can move within the maintenance area but cannot leave it.

[0037] By means of the superordinate controller 2, access is enabled only if the acoustic signals of the microphone 5c and the evaluation thereof indicate the immediate proximity to the conveying technology. Similarly, access can also be enabled only if the evaluation of the images from the camera 5b and the evaluation thereof indicate the immediate proximity to the conveying technology.

[0038] The central controller 2 enables access only if the comparison of acoustic signal strength and specified signal strength or live image of the camera and stored images in the database indicates an immediate proximity. Also, access is only enabled or is not blocked if, as well as by constantly monitoring the amplitude of the signal 7 or scanning and recognising the codes 8, the location of the maintenance technician 4 or his tablet 5 does not move outside the maintenance area.

[0039] If the technician 4 thus wishes to obtain access to the conveying technology machine 3A or the controller thereof, he must not only authenticate his identity and request access but also be located in an area permitting visual contact with the conveying technology machine 3A. In the present case, this is only the case when he is in the immediate vicinity or environment in the maintenance area of the machine 3A.

[0040] This checking and subsequent granting is effected via the superordinate controller 2 by means of the position data of the tablet 5.

[0041] Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.