Device, according to the InformationWeek website, would be used to scan volumes and other three-dimensional structures – something essential for logistics companies.
São Paulo – The multinational logistics company DHL discovered an interesting solution for analyzing big data in Microsoft's Kinect movement sensor.
The device, according to the InformationWeek website, would be used to scan volumes and other three-dimensional structures – something essential for logistics companies, which need to manage the use of space in warehouses, paths, ships and planes in the best possible way.
Its use for these functions was described in a late 2013 paper by the company's director of research and development, Dr. Marcus Kückelhaus.
According to him, the sensor, launched by MS in 2010, was the first device of its kind capable of analyzing bodies in three dimensions that reached the final consumer.
And precisely because of this aspect, its price ends up being much lower than other solutions previously used by the company for the same purposes.
The first experiments done by DHL with a Kinect were done in a distribution center, and the device was placed on a forklift.
Each box or structure passing through the vehicle's “arms” was analyzed by the device, which, connected to the company's network, could help find the best places to place the volume. That is, it would speed up the process and even better organize the space.
A second test already placed two Kinects at the entrance of a warehouse, and each object that arrived had the size automatically measured by the devices.
According to InformationWeek, the solution was much more affordable than one that would involve laser scanning – and even proved to be more agile in the analysis, cutting the previously spent time in half, from 30 to 15 seconds.
It is to be imagined that other experiments are yet to be done before a definitive adoption of the Microsoft sensor by DHL.
But the first good results, in the words of the executive of the logistics company, have already shown that the device “is not just something to play with, but a solution that could represent a significant change in the industry”.
By Exam Info
Gustavo Gusmao
