The STILLPalletShuttle is the latest generation of satellite vehicles provided by STILL. The system is a completely new development based on the experience gathered in the past with the predecessor satellite vehicle system. The result is an innovative warehouse solution, providing a combination of functions unique within the market place. The Pallet Shuttle is an extremely safe and user friendly device which was developed in cooperation with the health and safety workplace authorities; if necessary, it can also perform an inventory.
The application
The STILLPalletShuttle is a semi-automatic storage and retrieval system consisting of a shuttle and a multi-level storage rack with channels each equipped with rails for the shuttle to travel on. The principle function of the STILLPalletShuttle is as simple as it is efficient. At the entry of the channel, the shuttle picks up a pallet and moves it automatically down the channel to the end or to the next free pallet space. There it carefully sets the pallet onto the rack and moves back to the entry of the channel to pick up the next pallet. “Truck and shuttle work together hand in hand which saves time and money,” explains Gèrard Lacher, Director of the Intralogistics Department at STILL. To communicate with the shuttle, the truck driver uses a compact remote control. This way the operator always has full control over all storage and retrieval movements. In addition, the shuttle can be integrated into the STILL warehouse management system MMS (Material flow Management System) which will control the shuttle. However, it is also possible to operate the shuttle automatically. In this type of application, automated STILL vehicles are operated by an automated interface. Of course the shuttle is also equipped with an additional interface to connect the STILL diagnostic system.
The system
Dynamic acceleration and braking, precise stops at the desired position, state-of-the-art control technology, an innovative lithium-iron-phosphate battery as well as a low-maintenance and dependable motor that drives all four wheels of the shuttle; what more could you want? The STILLPalletShuttle can automatically retrieve any given number of pallets. This substantially facilitates work, for example when providing pallets for tour despatch. Besides this, major parameters of the shuttle can be set to meet specific requirements: idle parking position, duration of standby times, speeds, distance between pallets etc. can be individually configured to meet individual customer requirements. “This guarantees optimum processes, independent of the requirements the customers may have” explains Lacher.
Besides storage and retrieval the STILLPalletShuttle can also accomplish other tasks as well. It can perform an inventory. With this function, the shuttle automatically counts the number of pallets inside a given channel of the rack system. “Especially in very long channels that are difficult to look down, this feature can save a considerable amount of time” says Gèrard Lacher.
The safety concept
Together with the health and safety workplace authorities, STILL has developed an innovative safety concept for the STILLPalletShuttle. Lacher describes one of the fundamental safety aspects: “One of the goals was to detect a person inside the aisle without authorisation and automatically stop the shuttle in this case. This was achieved with the help of reliable technology.” However, the actual innovation is that the shuttle can distinguish different types of obstacles. This is made possible by combining a SICK laser scanner with an emergency stop bar. Gèrard Lacher is especially proud of this progressive solution, because “it allows us to fully meet the safety requirements imposed by the health and safety authorities without impairing the overall performance of the system.” Here is how the safety mechanisms work: If the laser scanner detects an obstacle, the speed of the shuttle is progressively reduced down to a speed of 0.1 m/s. If the emergency stop bar then hits an obstacle, it triggers the emergency stop. This only happens if the obstacle actually obstructs the path of the shuttle and does not move away. “The great advantage of this system is that it will not stop in front of obstacles that move away, such as parts of packaging film hanging down inside the channel, for example. Instead the shuttle will slowly pass underneath the obstacle without stopping each time the scanner detects an obstacle.” This avoids a full standstill of the complete system.
Altogether STILL offers its customers a well-thought out, innovative and leading warehouse solution in terms of function and safety with its new STILLPalletShuttle satellite vehicles.
The new STILLPalletShuttle
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