The RFID technology participates in production of refrigerators at the LG plant in Moscow area

On September 6, 2018 the Aytiproyekt company announced that the RFID solution based on the ITProject RFID Server platform controls process of creation of a thermoinsulating layer of refrigerating appliances on the assembly line of the LG plant.

One of the most important build processes of refrigerators is creation of a thermoinsulating layer between the internal camera and the metal body. The thermoinsulating layer forms automatic filling of a free space between the internal camera and the body with special thermoinsulating material. For September, 2018 at the LG plant about 30 models of the refrigerators having different characteristics, forms and the sizes are issued. For each model there is the regulation of filling with thermoinsulating material. Earlier management of this process it was performed using optical pickups which at the time of passing of a pallet with the refrigerator laid on it through a point of installation of these sensors, read out the code of model of the refrigerator coded using the sequence of the closed or open openings on a pallet. This technology was imperfect for such production. Sensors periodically got littered that affected the accuracy of determination of the code of model of the refrigerator and led to a line stop. Other technology which would provide 100% of accuracy in the conditions of the industrial production which is followed by selection of dust and oily substances was required. And the technology of radio frequency identification (RFID) could be such alternative, according to technical specialists of LG.

After studying of potentialities of RFID technology and offers of different integrators, LG made the choice for benefit of Aytiproyekt company and the solution ITProject RFID Server.

The Aytiproyekt company needed not just to propose the solution which would include the RFID equipment and the software. It was necessary to integrate this solution with the production equipment which is set up for work with optical pickups so that for this equipment nothing changed that information which is read out by the RFID antenna was perceived by it as information obtained from sensors.

In Aytiproyekt company developed for the solution of this task, collected and programmed the additional microcontroller which became a link between a RFID system and the controller of control of sensors. According to the results of implementation process of determination of the code of model of the refrigerator which needs to be filled with thermoinsulating material looks as follows. The code of model of the refrigerator installed on a pallet registers in the RFID tag attached to this pallet. At the time of passing of a pallet through a RFID antenna coverage, the code of model it is read out and via the microcontroller it is transferred to the server. The software set on the server processes the acquired information and returns in the microcontroller of data on the program which needs to be started for correct filling of the refrigerator with thermoinsulating material. After in the controller this information is transformed to the signal clear to a management system for optical pickups, it is given to control block by sensors which, in turn, transmits a signal to a production equipment.

For marking of pallets UHF of a RFID tag of Confidex Ironside MICRO were used, on a production line the RFID reader ImpinjSpeedWay Revolution 420 complete with MTI antennas is installed.

On implementation of a RFID system one and a half months left.

"Implementation of RFID technology allowed us to solve the problem connected with the accuracy of operation of optical pickups. Need for a stop of a production line for their service disappeared". Mikhail Grigoriev, engineer of production of LG company