Facility Setup
Slamcore Aware is designed to be installed seamlessly by integrating marker detection algorithms to locate vehicles on top of custom floor plans of the deployment environment.
Prepare a Floor Plan
Ahead of the Slamcore Aware installation session, prepare a floor plan based on a facility survey. This floor plan will serve as a visual reference for the vehicles' travel paths in the facility.
Accepted floor plan formats:
- Single image (SVG, PNG) < 20 MB
We recommend printing a physical copy of the floor plan for annotation purposes.
Marker Boards Installation
Slamcore Aware requires a set of vertically mounted marker boards. The marker boards will be provided directly by Slamcore or should be printed following Slamcore guidelines. All marker boards used within a facility must have unique IDs. We recommend a minimum of 6 markers per facility. Below are guidelines on the marker quantity based on the size of the operational area.
Slamcore Aware marker density guidelines
| Area (m2) | Area (ft2) | Number of marker boards |
|---|---|---|
| <20,000 | <215,000 | 6 |
| <50,000 | <540,000 | 8 |
| <80,000 | <860,000 | 10 |
| <120,000 | <1,300,000 | 12 |
| <160,000 | <1,700,000 | 14 |
| >160,000 | >1,700,000 | 16 |
The markers can be remounted at different locations if necessary. However, a new base Slamcore map has to be generated every time the markers location is changed (see Mapping).
Marker Board Mount Height
Generally, the markers should be mounted at the height level above ground that is as close to the sensor unit's mount level as possible. This helps ensure the full marker board is visible in the sensor unit's field of view, and the markers being in-line with the sensor unit helps with higher quality detection of the visual markers.
As there are a large variety of vehicles operating in the operational facilities, the sensor units on each vehicle type may be mounted at different height levels (refer to Device Mounting Guide). As such, we recommend surveying the type of vehicles that you plan to install the Slamcore Aware device on to gain an understanding of the mount heights across the fleet.
We suggest mounting at the average height level of the fleets' mount points. If you are unsure of the fleet requirements, 2 meters above ground level is a good starting point.
Marker Board Mount Locations
First, identify the area of interest within the facility within which the Slamcore Aware devices will be running. This can be the whole facility or selected zones.
Check the floor plan and/or survey the area of interest for flat, unobstructed surfaces normal to the ground place upon which the markers can be mounted. Generally the mount locations should be:
- Flat surfaces perpendicular to the floor, to ensure the markers are mounted upright.
- Spaced out in the area of interest of the facility where Slamcore Aware devices will be operating.
- Mounted on fixed structures of the facility that are fixed and immobile, such as fixed walls, columns etc.
- Areas frequently visited by the vehicles with the Slamcore Aware device installed.
- Locations that will not be visually obstructed by future installations of equipment and/or assets, nor partially obstructed by nearby columns when the sensor unit is pointed towards it at an angle.
- Locations where vehicles often approach within a 3 meters proximity during operation (the closer the better) with the sensor units directly facing the marker boards head-on.
- Locations which are well lit and that are not directly facing strong light sources such as strong artificial lights, to avoid glare on the marker
As each marker board is being mounted on chosen locations, annotate the locations on the printed floor plan, which will be a useful reference for aligning the maps in the Slamcore Aware web interface in a later step. For example, this floor plan has been marked with the marker locations and IDs in red.
Slamcore recommends using 3 marker boards to mark three distinctive corners of the facility that will be mapped and used with Slamcore Aware. This will help with adjusting the scale of the Slamcore map to that of the floor plan. For example, mount each marker on a protruding column near to the top left corner, bottom left corner and top right corner of the floor plan. The floor plan should equally show a protruding square edge along the wall indicating the location of each pillar, making it an easy visual reference to work with.
Slamcore recommends installing the remaining 3 marker boards at locations that meet the criteria listed above, spaced out to cover other frequented areas which will enable consistent tracking of the vehicles across the facility.
Examples of good mounting locations for the remaining boards:
- Charging/parking stations for the vehicles.
- The wall next to a shutter door.
- Areas that are have high traffic and are frequently visited by the vehicles.
How to Mount the Marker Boards
Proceed to mount the marker boards using the mounting holes or strong adhesives.
Mounting requirements:
- Each marker board is mounted on a flat surface, with no known bending of the board.
- Each marker board's front image does not have visible scratches.
- Each marker board's front image is not obstructed with writing, drawings or tapes. Maintain the white border of the front image.
- Each marker board is not obstructed by nearby fixtures.