Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.73
…electric passenger and utility vehicles, and a line of yard trucks for logistics, said the companies. “Perrone aims to deploy its kit at fleet-scale for shuttles, low-speed electric vehicles, cargo vans, and large logistics trucks for municipal, governmental, and commercial customers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia,” said Paul Perrone, CEO of Perrone Robotics. “We needed a lidar partner that could meet demand as we scale production models with our TONY AV retrofit kit. Ouster stood out for its performance characteristics, top-notch support team, and the ability to scale for fleet-level AV deployments.” “We’re excited to partner with Ouster to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.69
In addition to autonomous trucks on highways, self-driving cars for urban ride-hailing, and robotic delivery services, autonomous vehicle technology is emerging for yard operations. Unikie is developing and testing a logistics system at Valmet Automotive's automotive factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The Automated Factory Parking technology is designed to provide valet parking for cars that do not have autonomous features. “Valmet Automotive is interested in new technologies as a way to gain competitive advantage through improved efficiency and safety for our processes, and it has been interesting to see how the system can manage a production environment,” said Sami Kunvik, manager…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.87
…focused (e.g. real-time route optimization, uberization of freight, autonomous trucks) but interesting concepts in warehousing and technology-driven productivity initiatives have emerged. Traditional warehousing operations are evolving dramatically with the help of technology innovators and logistics leaders must stay on top of these developments. Technology Innovators Shaping Warehousing Design and Productivity On-Demand Warehousing: Flow Space | Flexe | STORD | Ware2Go | Micro-Fulfillment Centers: Commonsense Robotics | Takeoff | Autonomous Mobile Robots: Opex | Fetch Robotics | Clearpath Robotics | Box Packaging Automation: Rockwell Automation | ProShip | WestRock | Collaborative Robots (Cobots): Locus| NextShift Robotics | inVia Robotics | Fetch…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.45
…Meanwhile, progress is continuing, slowly but surely, in autonomous trucks and robotic deliveries. From factories, warehouses, and truck yards to loading docks and last-mile logistics, automation efficiency is welcome at each link in the supply chain. Inflation, the aforementioned supply chain challenges, and a return to brick-and-mortar retail may slow investment in robotics. However, attendance at this year's trade shows and the move from pilots to full-fledged deployments suggest that more robots than ever will be in use during his year's holiday shopping season. MIT develops smarter robots to find things Walk into a physical store, and the product you…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.70
…in technologies such as SBRA's Whiz and ASI's automated yard vehicles? “We solved indoor automation with Whiz, and we saw similar challenges in terms of technologies and driving sustainable scale,” said Watkins. “Indoor and outdoor systems are very different, but they both work around people, require orchestration, and have willing marketplaces.” “We like [ASI's] industry-agnostic approach—it's not focused on a single vertical but is instead building on years of experience accelerating automation in an outdoor format,” he said. “We're constantly searching for products and partners that do those things.” However, while the cost of cameras and lidar sensors has dropped…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.03
…companies are now starting to incorporate some automation in truck loading and unloading. Truck unloading robotics: To unload products, some companies are beginning to use industrial robots on mobile platforms that are attached to extendable conveyors. Featuring 3D vision, the robots autonomously move to trailers and either locate, grip or move products from the trailers to the extendable conveyors. “For unloading, the automation needs to know or find where products are within the trailer,” says Tim Criswell, senior vice president of innovation and technology development for Wynright, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daifuku North America Holding Co. “This requires the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.96
…pallets on dunnage. “It's like moving around an industrial yard with heavy lift capacity,” Gordon told Robotics 24/7. “But there are mobility issues—rough terrain is different from most commercial spaces. The APL will bring supplies or equipment to outdoor servicing environments.” The APL prototype builds on Stratom's previous work with the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the U.S. Army on the eXpeditionary Robotic-Platform (XR-P) and eXepditionary Robotic-Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply (XR-FAAR) vehicles. “The XR-P was the first program to show the potential of autonomous loading in and out of aircraft,” said Gordon. “The APL will have similar capabilities in a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.63
…mission control and took shortcuts. Instead of localization for trucks on screen, they put bells at intersections.” “The mobile robot makers don't always sell their own software, so there's the fear that the installers aren't doing it to the vendor's standard,” he claimed. “The robot manufacturers say, 'We want to sell more robots,' so they see us as a complementary solution.” “Business processes are unique to an organization, so if you define jobs to be done in someone else's software, you're locked in,” said Rocos' Inggs. “By abstracting a mission or a job, we can call a Boston Dynamics robot…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.46
…North America, comprising 50 million square feet Assets: 3,000 trucks and 12,500 trailers, including more than 750 temperature-controlled trailers Employees: 13,100+ “Questions about innovation are in every bid we do now,” notes Darin Richards, regional vice president of operations for privately held NFI, a New Jersey-based 3PL operating 50 million square feet of warehouse space in 350 locations around the country, along with a dedicated fleet of more than 3,000 trucks and 12,500 trailers. “For the last two to three years, it’s come up in every quarterly business review with a customer. Everyone is pushing the envelope and asking what…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.39
…companies use racks and shelving; 92% rely on lift trucks; 83% use dock equipment; and 74% rely on palletizers, pallets/totes, bins and containers. According to Modern’s survey, companies plan to upgrade existing or implement new lift trucks (58%); racks and shelving (47%); and dock equipment (47%) over the next 24 months. Right now, 63% of companies are using conveyor and sortation systems to automate their facilities, while 55% rely on weighing, cubing and dimensioning equipment. Thirty-three percent use goods-to-person picking solutions (i.e., donor totes delivered to workstations); 22% use automated storage (mini-loads, automated storage and retrieval systems, carousels and vertical…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.81
…technology used for tracking inventory in equipment and storage yards. Apart this, the DroneScan system provides two revolutionary solutions to scanning products and pallets in warehouses. Either the Hadeda system consisting of a Drone and Dronescan payload which reaches the high shelves and methodically moves down the aisles scanning pallet barcodes. The micro-fulfillment shift Micro-fulfillment brings a distribution center closer to the end-customer which allows businesses to operate via an online delivery model and reduce costs of last-mile delivery for retailers. Micro-fulfillment centers are small warehouses that utilize high-end automated systems, AI and analytics to deliver goods rapidly. Companies such…