Sensor-powered aisle entry assistant
Safe and secure handling along narrow aisles preventing damage to racks and goods

Initial situation in the narrow-aisle warehouse

Although the narrow aisles in a warehouse of the same name allow the available storage space to be exploited to the full, this kind of storage also places high demands on the operator and their electric multidirectional sideloader. Track guidance systems help the driver to put goods into storage and take them out again quickly, safely and damage-free even in the tightest spaces.

Three guidance systems are generally used for this purpose: Whereas in the case of inductive and optical track guidance, the vehicle is put into position before entering the aisle, the most commonly used option – rack guidance – uses guide rollers and guide rails to guide the forklift truck into the aisle with the help of entry funnels. Both inductive and optical track guidance require a significant amount of installation and maintenance work on the warehouse floor. The alternative is to use a mechanical guidance system with guide rollers and guide rails. This form of track guidance makes entering narrow aisles difficult, especially when transporting long and bulky loads because the driver cannot see the edges of the aisles. The entrance points to the aisles are therefore usually equipped with funnel-shaped guide rails that are exposed to significant mechanical loads in this area, including horizontal forces of up to 25 kN. This can cause damage to either the guide rails themselves or the guide rollers and their brackets. Damage of this kind can put the forklift out of action because it can no longer be guaranteed that it will be guided correctly. Thus repairs are needed, meaning downtime and costs. 

Support with the critical manoeuvre of entering narrow aisles

The system uses raw data from a laser scanner that determines the distance and orientation of the vehicle relative to the centre line of the narrow aisle. The assistance system uses this information to centre the forklift in front of and parallel with the aisle. The forklift can thus enter the aisle with no risk of collision. The greatest benefit is that, if an operator protection system has already been fitted to the vehicle, the same sensors can be used for the aisle entry assistant. The presence of existing hardware makes the sensor-powered aisle entry assistant very cheap to install.
The system prevents damage to the warehouse and to the vehicle’s mechanical guide aids as well as protecting the driver from injury. This is because they will not need to leave their vehicle if their view is obscured in order to get a better look at the aisle.

Potential vehicles