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SSI SCHAEFER WEASEL LITE User Manual

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Summary of Contents for SSI SCHAEFER WEASEL LITE

  • Page 1 ® WEASEL LITE User Manual...
  • Page 2 SSI SCHAEFER. Disclosed matters and/or concepts of the present documentation are or will be protected by intellectual property rights.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual Contents Let’s get started ..........................4 1.1 Further information ........................ 4 About the travel path ........................5 2.1 Material flow planning ......................5 2.2 Planning your travel path ...................... 6 2.3 Tracks ............................9 2.4 Markers..........................12 2.5 Stations ..........................

  • Page 4: Let's Get Started

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 1 Let’s get started ® Congratulations on the purchase of your Weasel Lite system. As an Automated Guided Vehicle system, ® Weasel Lite will enable you to automate your transport tasks without having to think about IT, such as servers and WLAN.

  • Page 5: About The Travel Path

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 2 About the travel path The travel path defines the course of your Weasel, the location of goods loading/unloading stations and the rules the Weasels have to follow on their way. You can customize the travel path to meet your specific requirements.

  • Page 6: Planning Your Travel Path

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 2.2 Planning your travel path Each Weasel ® Lite travel path is composed of a circuit track, also referred to as the Main Loop, where the Weasels circulate in the defined direction. You can add any number of stations branching off the main loop.
  • Page 7 Weasel ® Lite User Manual ensures that your Weasels have sufficient space to pass without blockings. Distance between stations: Exit and entrance lanes of stations should never overlap, i.e. a station exit is followed by a station re-entrance into the main loop, before another station exit appears downstream.
  • Page 8 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Field of view in curves: The distance rules mentioned above are simple and can be verified easily. These rules will be sufficient in many cases. However, if there are bottlenecks in the area of bends, these rules may not be precise enough.

  • Page 9: Tracks

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 2.3 Tracks Your Weasels follow an optical track, i.e. a black line against a light background. In this way, you can define, understand, and change the travel path easily. The optical track is composed of track elements which can simply be affixed on the floor.
  • Page 10 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Curves: Bend sections are supplied as 45° curve elements. For 90° curves and U-turns you will need two and four of these elements, respectively. The curve radius is 600 mm. This element can be used both for turns in the main loop and for station entrances/exits.
  • Page 11 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Fig. 3 | Affixing long track elements ® Weasel Lite User Manual 11/33...

  • Page 12: Markers

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 2.4 Markers Markers form the heart of your Weasel ® Lite system. They define how the Weasels will move along the travel path. They identify stop, waiting and turning points for stations. Markers are RFID transponders affixed on the track.
  • Page 13 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Request: With this marker, you can instruct free Weasels to check if there is a request from a station (Station 1 in illustration). A Weasel circulating without destination will stop at this marker and check if there is an app call within its range. If such a call exists, the Weasel will accept the requesting station as its new destination and move on.
  • Page 14 Weasel ® Lite User Manual and secondary loops will be detailed in section 2.6. This marker should be placed approx. 10 cm upstream of the switch element. Request (Station Group): This marker serve the same purpose as the Request marker. However, it is not linked to a specific station but a group of stations (Station Group 0 in illustration).

  • Page 15: Stations

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual reactivated by the corresponding marker. Note that all areas where the safety level is reduced by partly/fully disabled sensors must be protected by optical means or additional warning facilities (optical or acoustic). Follow the instructions provided in the operating manual.
  • Page 16 Weasel ® Lite User Manual path: Station Bays and Station Harps. The charging stations are an exception. On the following pages, we will present these patterns. Fig. 5 | Completely installed station bay ® Weasel Lite User Manual 16/33...
  • Page 17 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Station Bays Bays are the simplest, most flexible, and most frequent station pattern. Typically, a bay is assigned to a workstation and vice versa. Bays comprise a switch to exit the main track and a switch for re-entering the main track.
  • Page 18 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Station Harps Harps are used instead of bays where many stations are to be arranged in small areas where they can be served by one workstation. In order to save space, the stations in a harp are arranged diagonally or perpendicular to the main loop and use a common re-entrance back into the main loop.
  • Page 19 Weasel ® Lite User Manual The Charging Station A charging station may be useful depending on the daily operating time of your Weasels. Two batteries are included in the Weasel standard scope of supply.  If your Weasel ® Lite system is only used in one-shift operation and one single charge is enough for one day, you don’t have to install a charging station.

  • Page 20: Station Groups

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 2.6 Station groups As described in the previous sections, Weasel ® Lite systems always have a main loop with a variety of stations (typically bays) branching off to the left or right. In some cases, there may also be secondary loops within the main loop each of which may have various stations.

  • Page 21: About The App

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 3 About the app ® The Weasel Lite app is an android application which enables communicating with your Weasels, especially while they are waiting for new instructions at a station. Communication is established via Bluetooth Low Energy. You don’t have to worry about how to set up or configure Bluetooth Low Energy. Your Weasels and the app were already configured in the factory.

  • Page 22: Configuration

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 3.3 Configuration For each station, you will normally need a device running the Weasel ® Lite app. You may install the device permanently at one location or use it as a mobile device. You may also want to use our optional tablet holders.

  • Page 23: Triggering Actions

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual This action is typically used in combination with transfer stations for loading: Press the corresponding button once you have placed the goods on the transfer station. Once you have done this, you can take care of other tasks. When a Weasel reaches the station, it will pick up the goods and know instantly to which destination it is to go next.

  • Page 24: About The Vehicle

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 4 About the vehicle Your Weasel is a user-friendly automated guided vehicle with easy-to-learn functions and features. These vehicles don’t need complicated configuration. There is just one switch at the whole machine: the on/off switch on the back of the vehicle. In the following, we will present an overview of the individual components and show you how your Weasel works.

  • Page 25: Conditions Of Use

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual detection (distance sensors), scanning markers (RFID reader) and communication with the app (Bluetooth module). The LEDs (3) indicate the state of the vehicle. The vehicle is powered by a rechargeable battery (5). Weasels are equipped with 4 distance sensors for obstacle detection. They are attached to the pivoted drive unit (7).

  • Page 26: Battery

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 4.5 Battery Each Weasel is powered by a maintenance-free battery. Only use the designated batteries supplied with your Weasels. The daily runtime of the battery, as well as its lifetime, strongly depends on the individual use and battery age. You can expect about 8 hours of driving time and about 8 hours of charging time.

  • Page 27: Commissioning

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual Flashing rapidly (8 Hz) Weasel has detected an obstacle and is stopped for this reason. It will move on once the obstacle has been removed. Note that your Weasel has a viewing range of both 50 cm to the front and approx.

  • Page 28: Operation

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual Fig. 12 | Insertion of electrical fuses 4.9 Operation Turning On/Off The Weasel can be turned on/off easily by means of the on/off switch on the back. If you have forgotten where your Weasel is moving or what it is waiting for (e.g. after manual intervention), simply turn it off and on again so that it returns to a comprehensible state.

  • Page 29: Troubleshooting

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual Removing If Weasels are not needed over extended periods (e.g. you want to decommission it for maintenance or repair), you will have to remove it. To do this, stop the Weasel on the travel path, then turn it off and transport it away from the travel path.
  • Page 30 Weasel ® Lite User Manual Problem: Vehicle does not communicate with the App. • Check the configured station number of the app • Check the station number of the markers • Reduce the distance between app and markers • Recharge/replace the battery •...

  • Page 31: About Transfer Stations

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 5 About transfer stations Transfer stations are optional devices for easier and more efficient loading and unloading of Weasel vehicles. They are pure mechanical solutions without electrical equipment. The transport goods are exchanged automatically while the Weasel is passing under the transfer station. ...

  • Page 32: Markers

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual Fig. 13 | Patterns for loading and unloading stations 5.2 Markers The Station marker is placed upstream of the transfer station. In this way, your Weasel will wait in front of the transfer station for your confirmation (via the app) and you can, for example, check if the unloading station is really empty.

  • Page 33: About Extensions

    Weasel ® Lite User Manual 6 About extensions ® ® You can purchase additional equipment for your Weasel Lite system at any time. Our Weasel Lite Starter Kit is a good starting point. To upgrade your system, you can order additional vehicles, batteries and chargers, transfer stations, track elements or markers as required.

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