Robohub.org
 

Flexible, intelligent robotics debuted in materials handling marketplace


by
07 June 2012



share this:

Symbotic, formerly CasePick Systems, is providing mobile robots that grab closed boxes of goods and brings them to a pallet-loading robot. Different from Kiva Systems, recently acquired by Amazon, which moves racks of open boxes to an order-picker who removes items and packs them into shipping boxes.
Vetex and Yaskawa Motoman will soon be offering a combined mobility platform and robot arm for location to location material handling.
… Underneath them all are the sophisticated software packages that direct the navigation, safely and efficiently move the arms and grippers of the robots, and sense and recognize the materials being handled. Case in point: Universal Robotics (not to be confused with Danish Universal Robots) and their new Neocortex control software for 3D sensing of random objects. It integrates random 3D data, processes it and determines what it is and how it is to be handled, and then integrates that information into user systems, for example, into Yaskawa’s Motoman 2-armed robots, or to robots loading or unloading pallets or to other software providing load sequencing or similar applications.
… I wrote about material handling systems at MODEX 2012 earlier this year but many new products are changing the dynamic.
… BOTTOM LINE: businesses are beginning to make long-put-off capital purchases to automate their warehouses and material handling and new sensing, software and robotic companies are emerging in the process, particularly those that can make sense of and use sensor data.



tags:


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 118 – Soft robotics and electronic skin, with Miranda Lowther

  25 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Miranda Lowther from the University of Bristol about soft, sensitive electronic skin for prosthetic limbs.

Robot Talk Episode 117 – Robots in orbit, with Jeremy Hadall

  11 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Jeremy Hadall from the Satellite Applications Catapult about robotic systems for in-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing.

Robot Talk Episode 116 – Evolved behaviour for robot teams, with Tanja Kaiser

  04 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Tanja Katharina Kaiser from the University of Technology Nuremberg about how applying evolutionary principles can help robot teams make better decisions.

Robot Talk Episode 115 – Robot dogs working in industry, with Benjamin Mottis

  28 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Benjamin Mottis from ANYbotics about deploying their four-legged ANYmal robot in a variety of industries.

Robot Talk Episode 114 – Reducing waste with robotics, with Josie Gotz

  21 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Josie Gotz from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about robotics for material recovery, reuse and recycling.

Robot Talk Episode 113 – Soft robotic hands, with Kaspar Althoefer

  14 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary University of London about soft robotic manipulators for healthcare and manufacturing.

Robot Talk Episode 112 – Getting creative with robotics, with Vali Lalioti

  07 Mar 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Vali Lalioti from the University of the Arts London about how art, culture and robotics interact.

Robot Talk Episode 111 – Robots for climate action, with Patrick Meier

  28 Feb 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Patrick Meier from the Climate Robotics Network about how robots can help scale action on climate change.





Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2024 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2021 - ROBOTS Association