Business Scenario
BYD's lithium ore storage base uses a rectangular pit-type warehouse structure: approximately 160.4m (E-W) by 42m (N-S), with a 6m pit depth and about 20m of headroom. The warehouse is mainly used for spodumene concentrate storage and contains material conveying equipment, which creates some occlusion. To address the large space, complex and changing stockpile shapes, and low efficiency of traditional manual inventory, this project uses 3D LiDAR technology to scan stockpiles non-contact, build 3D models, and achieve automated volume measurement and digital inventory management.
As mine production scale and the need for refined inventory management grew, traditional manual counting could no longer meet the demand for fast, accurate material inventory management in continuous production. To improve spodumene concentrate inventory efficiency and enable automated volume measurement with digital management, Shanwei Technology designed a 3D-LiDAR-based smart stockpile inventory solution for BYD's lithium ore warehouse.
Customer Challenge
1. High dust affects measurement stability: heavy dust from belt conveying and stacking operations requires long-term stable measurement equipment.
2. Dynamic occlusion by stacker-reclaimer: moving equipment and material changes create scan blind spots that need algorithmic mitigation.
3. Multi-batch independent management: multiple batches of spodumene concentrate must be identified and measured independently to avoid data confusion between adjacent stockpiles.
4. High-precision inventory: measurement error within 1%, upgrading from point measurement to full 3D-model-based volume measurement.
Solutions
An automated 3D stockpile inventory solution for BYD's large-scale ore warehouse, based on Vilidar imaging 3D scanning LiDAR and a smart stockpile software platform. Three LiDAR units are evenly deployed along the warehouse (overhead downward view, 15–18m above ground, ~15% scan overlap), combining point cloud fusion, dynamic target filtering and intelligent modeling algorithms for automated volume measurement and digital inventory management in high-dust environments; supports ERP/MES integration.
1. 3D LiDAR scanning unit: for the 160m-span warehouse, 3 Vilidar imaging 3D scanning LiDAR units are evenly deployed along the warehouse body. They support 360° horizontal and 180° vertical scanning with ±2cm ranging accuracy, capturing 3D point clouds from multiple angles.
2. Multi-device management unit: supports centralized access of multiple LiDARs for large-warehouse coverage and system expansion.
3. Edge computing & intelligent analysis platform: performs point cloud fusion, noise filtering, 3D modeling, volume calculation and data visualization for automated inventory statistics.
4. Intelligent occlusion handling: uses equipment model recognition, dynamic point cloud filtering and historical data compensation to improve measurement completeness under stacker-reclaimer occlusion.
The system is installed in an overhead downward-view position, 15–18m above ground, using the roof truss structure for optimal scan coverage. The three LiDARs keep about 15% overlap; multi-view fusion reduces occlusion impact, meeting full-coverage measurement of the 160.4m × 42m × 6m warehouse.
The system provides 3D warehouse visualization, inventory statistics and reporting through its own management platform, and supports integration with ERP/MES systems to share measurement data across business processes.
Case Value
1. Non-contact automated measurement improves inventory safety: no personnel need to enter the warehouse, avoiding manual measurement in high-dust, high-risk environments.
2. Multi-LiDAR fused scanning achieves full coverage of large warehouses: multi-view point cloud fusion and data compensation improve model completeness and reduce occlusion.
3. Intelligent point cloud processing filters on-site interference: ground fitting, noise filtering and dynamic target recognition automatically remove dust, equipment and other non-material points.
4. High-accuracy volume calculation enables automated inventory: TIN-based 3D modeling computes stockpile volume automatically and supports weight conversion.
5. Digital management platform provides visualization and automatic reports: 3D model display, area material management, historical queries, auto reports and ERP/MES integration.
1. Inventory efficiency greatly improved: the system replaces manual measurement with automated scanning and volume calculation, reducing a single measurement to within 15 minutes.
2. More accurate and stable stockpile measurement: multi-LiDAR coordinated scanning, point cloud fusion and 3D modeling achieve automated volume calculation with accuracy above 98%.
3. Lower on-site risk: non-contact remote measurement eliminates the need to enter the warehouse, reducing manual work in high-dust environments.
4. Digital material management upgrade: manual inventory data is transformed into real-time 3D data supporting visualization, historical queries and inventory change analysis.
Quantifiable Results
Customer Concerns
1. Interference from dynamic equipment and on-site environment
2. Long-term stable measurement in high-dust environments
3. Large-warehouse coverage and measurement accuracy requirements
4. Data interconnection and digital management needs