Q & A

Q?

What does GPIO mean?

A.

GPIO is an abbreviation from electronics. It stands for "general purpose input/output" and refers to a general contact pin on an integrated circuit whose behavior, independent of whether as input or output contact, can be freely determined by logical programming. There is no purpose for GPIO contacts, so they are blank by default.

Q?

Which opportunities come from the colored LEDs

A.

Our I/O units have 5 LEDs in the 3 colors red, green and blue, which can be individually controlled. By default, these are used to signal the quantities 1 to 5. But also on the basis of the color combination the quantity can be recognized.

Q?

Does the solution support multi-order-picking?

A.

Due to the LED in 3 colors, 3 orders can be signaled instead of the quantity. This way, a worker can process 3 orders in one go in parallel - saving even more time. In this case, the maximum of 3 quantities must be displayed via the graphic display.

Q?

What happens, when the shelf layout changes (e.g. box sizes)?

A.

The I/O units are sticked into the ALU strips using Tesa poster strips. The strips can be easily removed afterwards. When the distance of the boxes in the shelves change, remove the network cable between the I/O units, move the units in the bar, stick them back and connect them with a cable of suitable length. You can assemble the cables by yourself using the supplied tools.

Q?

How many I/O units can be managed by one controller in one chain?

A.

Our control units each have 2 bus connections. Each connection can be connected to a maximum of 60 I/O units in a chain.

Q?

Which distances can be covered?

A.

The maximum length tested so far was 50m. For longer lengths, we plan signal amplifiers between the I/O units. Our configurator calculates this automatically.

Q?

What is the minimal distance between two I/O units?

A.

5 cm. This distance is required to connect to the network cable.

Q?

What are the limits for the graphical display?

A.

The currently installed model has 128 x 64 pixels. The software automatically scales the text to be displayed and wraps it if necessary. Our experience shows that sufficient readability is still given for 2 lines of 10 characters each.

Q?

I do not need a display for put-to-light, are there smaller units available?

A.

Yes, we also have units without display and even with only one LED in the program. These mini units are only 7 inches in width.

Q?

How much electrical power needs the system?

A.

A workstation with a full equipped configuration consisting of a control unit, 120 I/O units with 5 LEDs and graphical display each require about 5 W for the untypical case that all LEDs are switched on.

Q?

Can the system be operated on mobile carriages too?

A.

Yes, due to the low power consumption, a battery based operation is easily possible. The power supply needs only 5V DC, which enables safe operation over a full shift with a commercial power bank, as it is used for mobile phones.

Q?

What are the requirements to connect the system to a SAP system?

A.

The control unit must be integrated with its network connection in the company network. The SAP system must be able to reach the ECU via http. The SAP application must know the access ID for the ECU.