The FAST Sort system offers:

• Graphical interface for ease of use
• High-speed sortation control
• Small item sortation
• Tilt tray, pop-up and other sorters
• Complete scan, track, sort confirm, report and statistics features

Accu-Sort® Systems has expanded its suite of Flexible Automation Solution Tools (FAST) with the introduction of FAST Sort, a comprehensive solution for automated sortation control, including configurable software for I/O and device controls, sortation tracking and acknowledgement and performance diagnostics.

FAST Sort provides high-speed sortation control, including scan, track, sort, confirm, report and statistics features. It resides seamlessly on new or existing conveyor systems, and software can be customized to meet specific requirements. FAST Sort also integrates with Accu-Sort's small-item sortation system, a fully automated, small-footprint sorting machine for use in entertainment, pharmaceutical, photo processing, printing/publishing and other industries.

FAST Sort supports up to 27 tachometers, 800 input devices, 800 output devices and multiple induct scanners and controls all divert methods, including tilt tray, shoe, pop-up, swing-arm, pusher and others. Alarm thresholds for consecutive no-reads, no-match or induct errors and advanced diagnostics are user-configurable.

FAST Sort can configure and support multiple sortation methods, lane assignment logins, and lane divert methods. Specific objects can be assigned to specific lanes and individual full-lane quantities set. Full-lane thresholds can be set by item count.

FAST Sort is easy to configure, running on Windows® NT/Windows® 2000 for seamless enterprise integration. Drag-and-drop setup provides for intuitive I/O assignments, and device group setup allows for quick configuration of larger tracking areas that may contain many tracking eye/divert blocks. Actual I/O control status is displayed for each attached device, and all system I/O hardware and communications devices are monitored. Simple-learn mode speeds real-time tracking setup and confirmation.

FAST Sort also features an easy-to-use graphical interface. The I/O interface is modeled after actual hardware, providing graphical representation of I/O control modules including active LEDs to display individual bit status. Active I/O states are represented on screen in real time with statistical analysis of successful diverts, alarms, divert failures and other system events.

FAST Sort can provide dimensional measurements using Accu-Sort's new AccuRanger range finder. Automated object measurement is available as an option.