Use the Routing tab when you want Zira to decide where a pallet should go after inspection.

Routing is built around fixed stages. The stages run in order so the most important decisions, such as hard defects and unreliable measurements, are checked before model-specific specs or business policies.

Open the Routing tab

1. Open a pallet vision data source.
2. Click the Routing tab.

The Routing tab is available for pallet devices that support pallet routing.

How routing works

Routing checks each pallet in this order:

1. Defects
2. Measurement validity
3. Model selection
4. Spec validation
5. Business routing
6. Default fallback

Rules inside a stage are checked from top to bottom. Put the highest-priority rule at the top of the stage.

When a rule matches, its output can set the pallet lane, disposition, and sometimes the selected model. If no rule matches in the earlier stages, the Default fallback output is used.

Start with the lane catalog

Use Lane Catalog to define the lane names that rules can use.

1. In Lane Catalog, click Add lane.
2. Enter the lane name.
3. Press Enter or click the check button.
4. Repeat until the list matches the physical or logical routes you need.

Common lane examples include:

• good-lane
• repair-lane
• scrap-lane
• odd-size-lane
• measurement-invalid-lane

Keep lane names clear and stable. The rule editor and AI Routing Assistant both use this list.

Configure defect rules

Use Defects for hard failures such as broken boards, missing boards, missing stringers, damaged blocks, major cracks, or other structural problems.

1. Open Defects.
2. Click Add Rule.
3. Enter a clear Name.
4. Choose the output Lane.
5. Enter a Disposition such as Fail, Repair, or Scrap.
6. Add the defect Conditions.
7. Leave Enabled on.
8. Turn Snapshot on when you want evidence saved for that decision.
9. Click Create.

Defect rules should usually come before sizing and policy rules. This keeps a broken pallet from being routed as only an odd-size pallet.

Configure measurement validity

Use Measurement validity when the inspection result is not reliable enough for spec decisions.

Examples include:

• partial view
• invalid geometry
• low-confidence measurement
• blocked or missing measurement data

Route these cases to a lane such as measurement-invalid-lane so spec rules do not create misleading failures.

Configure model selection

Use Model selection when one line can process more than one pallet model.

Model selection rules identify the pallet type by stable attributes such as:

• pallet size
• board count
• lead board count
• gap pattern
• catalog code

In this stage, set a Model ID such as MODEL_A, 4840_7_TOP, or BLOCK_4840. Lane and disposition are optional here because the model is usually used by later stages.

After a model is selected, later rules can check Model in their conditions to apply model-specific specs or policies.

Configure spec validation

Use Spec validation for dimensional and structural checks that decide whether a pallet meets its expected model specification.

Spec rules often check values such as:

• pallet length or width
• diagonal length
• board count
• lead board width
• board gaps
• stringer or block counts

For range checks, use BETWEEN or NOT BETWEEN and enter the range as two values, such as 47.5,48.5.

When specs differ by model, add a Model condition first, then add the measurement condition.

Configure business routing

Use Business routing for customer or site policies that are not pure defects or spec failures.

Examples include:

• blue pallets go to a blue pallet lane
• iGPS pallets go to a dedicated lane
• odd-size pallets go to repair or scrap
• a customer-specific pallet type takes a special route

Keep business rules after defect, measurement, model, and spec rules so policy decisions do not hide quality problems.

Set the default fallback

Use Default fallback for pallets that do not match any earlier rule.

1. Open Default fallback.
2. Choose the fallback Lane.
3. Enter the fallback Disposition.
4. Click Save.

Most sites use a good lane and a passing disposition as the default fallback.

Add conditions

Each rule needs at least one condition.

1. Choose the field you want to check.
2. Choose an operator.
3. Enter the comparison value.
4. Add another condition with AND or OR when needed.
5. Use brackets when part of the condition should be grouped.

Use AND when every condition must be true. Use OR when any one condition can make the rule match.

Make a rule do something

A rule does not have to stop at choosing a lane. Any rule can also carry actions — things the camera does the moment that rule matches. This is how a decision on the screen becomes something that happens on the floor.

There are two kinds, and a rule can use either or both.

Actuators — switch something on the machine

An actuator is hardware wired to the camera's relay outputs. Because a relay is just a dry contact, anything that takes a contact closure can be driven from a routing rule:

• An andon light — turn the red lamp on when a severe defect is routed, and off again when the line clears.
• A machine PLC — stop or start the line, or fire an eject, by closing the contact the PLC is already watching.
• Anything else on a relay: a horn, a diverter, a gate.

To add one:

1. Open the rule and tick Actuator.
2. Pick the actuator and the relay it should drive.
3. Choose what to do — on, off, or pulse. A pulse also takes a duration, which is what you want for an eject or a momentary stop signal.
4. Save the rule.

Some actuators publish named functions of their own as well as plain relays. When the one you pick has them, a Function option appears beside Relay, and the fields below it are whatever that function asks for.

Only actuators the camera currently reports as online can be chosen. If a rule refers to one that has gone away, it stays on the rule and is flagged as a warning rather than being silently pointed at something else — so you can see what needs attention instead of discovering a rule now drives the wrong relay.

Webhooks — tell another system

A webhook sends an HTTP request when the rule matches, for notifying an MES, a scheduler, or any service that should know. Tick Webhook on the rule, then set the URL, the method, any headers, and the body. A rule can call more than one.

Where actions belong

Put actions on the rule that matches — that is what the camera executes. The default fallback is a lane-and-disposition safety net; it is not the place for an action.

If you need something to happen for pallets that no earlier rule caught, add a rule in the Default stage and set it to always match. It behaves like any other rule, so it can carry actuator and webhook actions.

Is the camera actually using this?

Saving routing sends it to the camera, but a save is not proof the camera applied it — so the toolbar tells you where each one has got to:

• Awaiting sync — saved, not yet confirmed by the device.
• Syncing — the camera has the change and is applying it.
• Up to date — the camera has confirmed it is running exactly what you saved.

When more than one camera is paired to the data source, each gets its own tag with its name, because one finishing does not mean the others have. Hover a tag for the detail and the time it last synced.

The tags appear once the camera is connected and has reported in. Cameras reconcile on reconnect and periodically, so one that was off when you saved will pick the change up on its own.

Save routing changes

Some actions save as soon as you confirm them, such as adding a lane or saving the default fallback.

Use the Save all button in the top toolbar after reviewing the full routing setup. Use Copy JSON when you need to share the current routing setup for review or support.

Use Reset to empty only when you want to clear the routing rules and return to a blank routing setup.

Routing and grading

Routing and grading are separate settings that can work together.

Grading controls the defect weights used to calculate the pallet score. Routing decides what lane and disposition to use. If your routing rules use Pallet Score or Grade, tune grading first, then configure the routing rules that reference those values.

Tips

• Add lanes before creating rules.
• Put severe defect rules at the top of Defects.
• Use Measurement validity to catch unreliable data before spec checks.
• Use Model selection before model-specific spec validation.
• Keep Business routing for policy decisions, not defect explanations.
• Turn Snapshot on for decisions where saved evidence helps review or troubleshooting.
• Keep the default fallback simple and easy to recognize.

Read next

• Grading - Tune defect weights used by pallet score and grade-based routing.
• AI Routing Assistant - Draft or refine routing rules from a plain-language request.
• Overview - Return to the AI Vision workspace overview.