Can FlexSim/OptQuest could do what 3DBinPacking does?

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Jorge Toucet asked Jan 17, '17 Chris Smith commented Jan 19, '17

Can FlexSim/OptQuest could do what 3DBinPacking does?

Hello, a current FlexSim user called me asking if I know about a packing simulator that given the amount and dimensions of the pieces will propose and optimized carton box dimension.

Looking on the internet a found a website that allow you to do that (with a nice short video on the main page):

https://www.3dbinpacking.com/

Do you know if we can do the same with FlexSim?

Thanks!

Software Version:

Choose One

packing options packing design

3dbinpacking.png (183.9 KiB)

Answer 1 · 2017-01-18T17:00:22Z

Mischa Spelt answered Jan 18, '17 Chris Smith commented Jan 19, '17

I'm not sure one would call that a simulator - they seem to be deterministic algorithms that describe which items to pack in which container in which order, given the containers and order items. If your question is, does FlexSim have these algorithms built-in, you probably already know the answer.

If you happen to find the details of such an algorithm, you can implement it yourself as Matt suggests, but they are probably commercially owned.

The alternative option is to use their service and integrate it with FlexSim. Their product seems to be a webservice that you can call from any environment (as long as it speaks JSON and knows about HTTP) so if you need their particular algorithms it would be fairly straightforward to write a C++ module to do the communication for you. Actually FlexSim does some of this itself (e.g. with the experimenter and webserver) so I'm sure the guys could provide some demo code if this is the way you want to go.

· 2

Phil BoBo ♦♦ commented · Jan 19, 2017 at 12:47 AM

You can communicate with an HTTP server through FlexScript:

Web Communication Within FlexSim

You can also easily parse JSON with FlexScript:

How to read or write json data in Flexsim

1 ·

Chris Smith commented · Jan 19, 2017 at 06:25 PM

If you want some additional information about some of the algorithms that are used in this space, then this is a a useful Wikipedia link: Bin Packing Problem

1 ·

Answer 2 · 2017-01-17T21:21:54Z

Matt Long answered Jan 17, '17

Sure. You can write a command algorithm that would calculate all of these options. You can even create a packing method that could show you what it would look like.

Answer 3 · 2017-01-18T18:06:38Z

Jorge Toucet answered Jan 18, '17

Thanks Matt and Mischa for your answers!

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