Jungheinrich presented its new networked digital fork camera for reach trucks at its annual trade press conference in Hamburg last week. The solution is the latest feature of the optical assistance system family addedVIEW.
With the help of the digital fork camera for intelligent scanning of goods, barcodes on the storage compartments and goods can be read. By networking the assistance system with the customer’s own goods management system via the Jungheinrich Logistics Interface, an actual comparison of the barcode contents with the specifications of the goods management system is possible.
The code content on the goods and the shelf compartment is compared with the specifications of the merchandise management system and highlighted visually. If the read-out shelf compartment corresponds to the target compartment or the read-out goods correspond to the goods to be picked up, the driver can comfortably confirm on the assistance display by touch. This increases the process reliability and speed of storage and retrieval operations. Using this system, classical insertion errors, where goods are stored in the wrong compartment but are scanned as correctly stored, can no longer occur. During retrieval, the networked digital fork camera prevents the picking of wrong pallets in the rack.
Dr. Felix Riesenhuber, head of product management assistance systems and modules at Jungheinrich, explained: “When barcode lists are scanned manually at the shelf compartments or on order papers, which has been common practice up to now, errors occur time and again because the place of storage is not directly checked. The digital scan using the new fork-arm camera now effectively helps to prevent storage and retrieval errors and the associated search times and missed trips”.
Even under difficult lighting conditions, the digital fork camera can guarantee high image quality by dynamically adjusting the exposure parameters. By digitally sharpening the contrasts, the high-resolution camera makes it possible to reliably detect the QR codes even on the upper shelf levels.
addedVIEW is a group of assistance systems based on the use of digital cameras. Another function of this group, the addedVIEW 360° camera system, provides counterbalance forklift trucks with a panoramic view around the vehicle including a bird’s eye view, which is generated by combining and converting the images of the different digital cameras mounted on the vehicle.
With this all-round view, the driver can navigate safely and quickly even in tight, confusing situations. Like the digital fork camera, this system can be combined with the Jungheinrich assistance system zoneCONTROL, viewed on the same assistance display and used as a further module of the assistance system platform parallel to the others.
