A Look at A3’s AMR & Logistics Show Next Week in Boston

The Association for Advancing Automation will host its annual AMR & Logistics Week in Boston next week at the Hynes Convention Center. The two-day event will feature exhibits, in-person demos, and conference sessions.

“As e-commerce continues to boom and companies across nearly every segment struggle to find workers to fill the dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs, the autonomous mobile robot market has skyrocketed as a way to move materials around warehouses, manufacturing facilities and even hospitals, schools, and airports,” said Jeff Burnstein, A3 president.

“AMR & Logistics Week is an ideal forum for companies that want to learn firsthand how to get the most out of these tools to increase efficiencies and stay competitive,” he added. “We look forward to another great show!”

Mikell Taylor, principal technical program manager at Amazon Robotics, will present the conference’s opening session, “Building Collaborative Robotic Systems at Scale.”

Kevin Blankespoor, senior vice president and general manager of warehouse robotics at Boston Dynamics, will deliver a keynote focused on “mobility, perception, and manipulation of robots.”

The full agenda of conference sessions can be found online, but here are a few highlights, according to A3.

Roundtables featuring vendors and users include:

• From the Warehouse to the Factory Floor and Beyond: Trends in Mobile Robotics and Automation with speakers from DHL, Procter & Gamble, Arendai, and Cascadia Capital.
• Productization and Scaling for Next Generation Automation (Cambridge Consultants; Dexterity; 3M; Kuka)
• Standardization Efforts for Mobile Robot Interoperability (MassRobotics, Vecna Robotics, Locus Robotics, InOrbit)

Other sessions include:

• The Best of Both Worlds: The Future of AGVs and AMRs (David Northup, OTTO Motors)
• Smart Automation: How to Prevent a Single Point of Failure in Managing AMR Fleets (Andreas Boedenauer, Agilox)
• Mobile Cobots Unlock Greater Flexibility and Agility (Tim DeRosett, Brooks Automation)
• Assumption in AMR Behaviors: How Human Expectations Have Impacted How Robots Plan (Russell Toris, Zebra Technologies)
• Using Warehouse Robotics Business Intelligence to Optimize Productivity (Jason Walker, Locus Robotics)
• Wireless charging: Safe and Robust Power Supply for Large AMR Fleets (Matthieu Ebert, Wiferion North America)
• Industrial Mobile Robot Safety: A Look at the R15.08 Safety Standard and Risk Assessment (Melonee Wise, Zebra Technologies)
• Going Commercial: Functional safety for AMRs in Commercial Spaces (Pablo Molina, Avidbots)
• The ABCs about AMRs: What You Need to Know Before the Big Deployment (Mark Joppru, Mobile Industrial Robots)

Experience AMRs in Action on the demo floor

In addition to exhibitor booths and conference sessions, attendees can see the AMRs in action at the AMR Demo area of the show floor.

Participating companies include Mobile Industrial Robots, Locus Robotics, MUL Technologies, Mass Robotics, InOrbit, OTTO Motors, and Bosch Rexroth Corp.

The AMR and Logistics Week will be co-located with The Vision Show. The events run from Monday, Oct. 10, through Friday, Oct. 14.

A3 said it is North America's largest automation trade association. Its members include nearly 1,100 robotics makers, component suppliers, systems integrators, end users, academic institutions, research groups, and consulting firms.

See Robotics 24/7's special coverage page, and we will be reporting from A3's events next week.