An Integrated Tool Suite for Simulation and Programming of Palletizing Units

Inhalt:
In this paper, we describe an integrated software tool suite for simulation, programming and monitoring of palletizing machines. All the tools belonging to the suite share a common machine model in order to allow software reuse according to sound software design principles. The simulator emulates the machine behavior and, while abstracting unnecessary physical details, can be used to accurately assess machine throughput and correctness of control parameters. The programming tool assists non-expert human operators in visual programming of the palletizing task, including layers disposition, number of layers, and fractional pallets. Based on the user’s high-level specification of the pallet format, the system generates optimal pallet layers together with the machine control parameters that meet the given specification. Finally, the monitoring tool supports diagnostic activities and allows efficient recovery when failure occurs.