Knapp is in the final development stages of its optically guided picking system, which was previewed at CeMAT last year and is expected to be ready for installation early in 2010.
KiSoft Vision has an integrated navigation system to guide pickers to each required pick location using software that superimposes virtual information, such as arrow symbols, directly in the visual field of the operator via a head-mounted display.
The software is known as augmented reality.
At the pick location, the goods to be picked are optically highlighted for the picker and an integrated camera reads barcodes, lot numbers and serial numbers to confirm the pick without any further human intervention.
Craig Rollason, head of sales and marketing for Knapp, said: “The automatic visual recognition means that accuracy is higher than with voice systems.”
KiSoft Vision also allows new employees to be trained quickly and to work flexibly.
As with voice-directed picking, the system enables operators to keep both hands free for order picking.
The components of KiSoft VISION are controlled via a warehouse software suite called KiSoft Flexible Picking.
KNAPP has been working in partnership with Austrian and German universities, as well as the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz to optimise the comfort and ergonomics of the system.