A Step Toward the Physical Internet: Simulating and Programming a - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A Step Toward the Physical Internet: Simulating and Programming a Smart Reconfigurable Conveyor Belt Simulator in a 3D Virtual World

Joshua Lewis, Computer Science Vincent SenClair, Computer Science Mentor: Dr. Craig Thompson, Computer Science

5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 4/20/2013

Problem

• Currently, conveyor belt systems are custom

made for each customer

– This method is expensive and time consuming. – It also limits the reconfigurability of the system, limiting expansion

• If conveyor belts can be made more

standardized and “smarter,” then they will be able to easily integrate with other transport systems

• This is a step toward a “Physical Internet”

5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 2 Lewis and SenClair

Objective

• To use a virtual world to

simulate a reconfigurable conveyor belt system

• This includes

standardized parts, a unified programming language, and an easy system to configure the parts

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 3 Basic building block, including menus for adjustment

Background: Pervasive Computing

• Connect everything with computers. Every
• bject can “talk” to every other object
• On a smaller scale, every piece of a conveyor

system to “talk” to every other piece and

• ther systems
• Everything is Alive – Link real world to virtual

worlds

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 4

Background: Virtual Worlds

• Can be used to simulate the real world
• Much cheaper than building test models
• Offer more redesign capability than test

models

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 5

Background: RFID

• RFID tags can be used to read what is in a

package and find information on it

• Passive RFID tags can be used to control the

flow of packages in conveyor systems

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 6

Background: U. of Karlsruhe

• A team at the University of Karlsruhe in

Germany has designed the Flexconveyor, a reconfigurable conveyor system that uses RFID

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 7

Objectives

• 1. Create the individual parts of a conveyor belt

system

• 2. Design a method of controlling the parts and

how they interact

• 3. Put the pieces together to create an easy,

reconfigurable conveyor belt system

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 8

Object Pieces

Created several virtual conveyor belt building blocks including:

• Basic transport pieces
• Shunter segments
• Delaying segments
• Sensor “tower” to

detect stats of objects

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 9 Basic transport pieces showing color-coded directions

Using Sensor Functions to Determine Paths

• Sensor functions allow objects within a certain

radius to be detected

• Positions, orientations, and purposes of pieces

can be determined

• This data can be fed into third-party systems

to help build a path for materials

• Similar to RFID technology

12/15/2015 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 10

Virtual Waypoint System

Current design allows for a waypoint system to

• Detect configuration of conveyor belt system
• Accept coordinate values and orientations of

pieces as data

• Guide a virtual box or package along the

conveyor belt

12/15/2015 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 11

Conclusions

• Current system offers a glimpse into the

possibilities of “smart” conveyor belts

• The virtual aspect provides a cheap, efficient

building block for future projects

12/15/2015 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 12

Future Work

• Future projects can use this system as a

stepping stone to build more complex conveyor belts

• “Smarter” systems can be made using robotics

to aid in simulating a real-world conveyor belt

12/15/2015 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 13

References

• “Shared Transportation System Would Increase Profits, Reduce Carbon Emissions,

Study Finds,“ (2012) University of Arkansas Newswire, October 16, 2012, see http://newswire.uark.edu/article.aspx?id=19422

• Saha, D. and A. Mukherjee (2003). “Pervasive Computing: A Paradigm for the 21st

Century,” IEEE Computer Society.

• Becker, M., P. Salvatore, F. Zirpoli (2005). “The impact of virtual simulation tools on

problem-solving and new product development organization,” Research Policy, Vol. 34, Issue 9, pp 1305-1321.

• Thompson, C. (2004). “Everything is Alive,” IEEE Internet Computing.
• Want, R. (2006). “An Introduction to RFID Technology,” IEEE CS and IEEE ComSoc.
• Mayer, S. (2009). Development of a completely decentralized control system for

modular continuous conveyors, Ph.D. thesis at the University of Karlsruhe.

Lewis and SenClair 5th Annual FEP Honors Research Symposium 14