Demonstration system will be shown for the first time at “Logis-Tech Tokyo 2024”.
Toshiba Infrastructure Systems and Solutions Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Toshiba”) and AIOI Systems Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “AIOI”) started a technology alliance on November 14, 2022 in the development of Microwave Remote Power Transfer System*1 for light modules for Pick to Light System, and have now produced a test system. This test equipment will be exhibited as a demonstration facility for Microwave Remote Power Transfer System at Logis-Tech Tokyo 2024, where the TOPPAN Group, including AIOI, will exhibit.
Exhibit at Logis-Tech Tokyo 2024
At “Logis-Tech Tokyo 2024,” where TOPPAN Edge Inc., TOPPAN Digital Inc., and AIOI will jointly exhibit and introduce the solutions of each company related to logistics and the efforts across the TOPPAN Group.
Exhibition: Logis-Tech Tokyo 2024
Dates: Tuesday, September 10 through Friday, September 13, 2024
Venue: Tokyo Big Sight East Halls 1-8
(TOPPAN Group Booth: East 7 Hall 7-301)
The number of sensors and IoT devices for industrial equipment continues to increase with the spread of automation and labor-saving systems in response to the labor shortage in the digitalized society, and there are issues such as increased maintenance costs for recharging and replacing batteries for driving these devices and downtime due to power failure. In logistics warehouses, “Pick to Light System*2” are being introduced to save labor, and the downtime and man-hours required to replace the batteries of the many indicators installed as core equipment in these systems are a concern for logistics warehouses that operate 24 hours a day.
Microwave Remote Power Transfer System is a technology that “wirelessly supplies power to remote devices” and is a spatial transmission wireless power transfer technology suitable for supplying power from a single transmitter to a large number of devices several meters away. This technology is approved for use in three (3) frequency bands in Japan from May 2022. Toshiba and AIOI have applied microwave power transmission using the 5.7GHz band, which is the frequency band that can supply the most power, to Pick to Light System to reduce downtime due to light modules running out of charge and to reduce battery replacement time. This new system will reduce downtime caused by running out of battery charge for light modules and reduce battery replacement time (maintenance time).
Under this technology alliance, AIOI will manufacture wireless light modules equipped with a microwave power receiving function for AIOI’s “Pick to Light System,” which uses a large number of light modules, and Toshiba’s high-gain antenna mechanically controlled power supply unit will make it possible to construct the system at a low cost. In addition, AIOI’s technology can apply an optimal power supply algorithm to multiple light modules based on the remaining battery level and available power supply information. The effectiveness of these technologies was verified in August 2023, when we conducted a power supply demonstration using a power transmitter and 35 units of light module (receivers) and confirmed that power was transmitted from the transmitter to all light modules.
By combining Toshiba’s power transmission technology and AIOI’s Light Modules, AIOI will realize a microwave-powered Pick to Light System, which will reduce downtime by eliminating maintenance (battery replacement) of light modules, and thereby free up the layout of digital picking systems.
Furthermore, in the future, we will cooperate with TOPPAN Digital Inc., which is a member of the TOPPAN Group, and combine power transmitters that make full use of Toshiba’s unique coexistence functions with other wireless devices in a manned environment, power receivers manufactured by AIOI, Hikari Alphax Inc.*3 , a technology trading company handling industrial equipment and electronic components, and TOPPAN Digital’s RF technology and power transmission/reception management system and we will apply Microwave Remote Power Transfer technology to various devices in factories, plants, buildings, commercial facilities, hospitals, etc., and continue to challenge the unknown possibilities of “Electric Power = Wireless” and contribute to a new future lifestyle.
*1Microwave Remote Power Transfer: A wireless power transmission technology that uses radio waves called microwaves to transmit electricity over long distances. Microwave Remote Power Transfer System converts electric current into electromagnetic waves for power transmission, which are then converted into direct current in a rectifier circuit at the receiving end. 920 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.7 GHz, and other very high frequencies are commonly used.
*2 Pick to Light System: Pick to Light System is a picking support system that uses light modules. Operators at a factory or distribution center step to the location where the light modules lights and take out the indicated number of items. This picking process, which is carried out according to the instructions on the light module, ensures accurate and speedy picking operations.
*3 Hikari Alphax Inc.: As a business partner of Toshiba and a technology trading company considering the application of Toshiba’s Microwave Remote Power Transfer System to the industrial field, Hikari Alphax Inc. acted as an intermediary for the technical tie-up with AIOI.