Clearpath launches smaller
self-driving vehicle for
e-commerce warehouses
Canadian robot manufacturer Clearpath Robotics Inc.
has rolled out a miniaturized model of its self-driving
vehicle used in factories and warehouses, another step
in its strategy to provide fulfillment equipment that can
keep up with the rising demands of e-commerce.
While Clearpath’s original product, the Otto 1500,
is built to carry fully loaded pallets of goods, the new
Otto 100 is designed to carry smaller cases, totes, and
“each” loads, company CEO Matt Rendall said in a
phone interview.
Working together in collaborative fleets, the two types
of autonomous transporters could function alongside
human pickers in congested industrial environments
such as distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, and manufacturing, he said.
Named for its maximum payload in kilograms, the
Otto 100 can carry loads of
up to 220 pounds at speeds
of up to 4. 5 mph. The pal-let-shaped Otto is similar
in appearance to Amazon
Robotics’ Kiva robot but
follows a material handling
strategy of “robot plus person” as opposed to “goods
to person,” he said.
“Kiva Systems was way
ahead of its time and took
the fulfillment industry by
storm,” Rendall said. “They proved the technology was
not only ready, but could deliver [a return on invest-ment]. Then overnight, Amazon took them off the
market.”
FILLING A VOID
The Kitchener, Ont.-based Clearpath stepped into that
void to meet the latent demand for warehouse automation by offering a variation on Kiva’s approach.
Clearpath unveiled its first platform, the larger Otto
1500, in September 2015. With a top payload of 3,300
pounds and the same top speed as its little brother, that
vehicle is designed for heavy-load material transport and
is currently being used in a warehouse pilot program by
General Electric, Clearpath says.
In Clearpath’s view, a single DC might use both its
robot models in concert, deploying a fleet of Otto 1500s
to carry palletized goods from a receiving dock to a
depalletizer, then handing off cases and totes to a flock
of smaller Otto 100s.
In another approach, a warehouse could add only the
Otto 100s, using them to complement its traditional
automated systems. Rendall compares this strategy to a
city metro system with both a mass transit subway and
a taxicab fleet for personal trips. In the same fashion,
warehouses rely on their miles of fixed conveyor lines to
operate like a train network for bulk transportation, but
they also need employees—or robots—to move individual items to their final destinations.
Under the hood,
both robot models use
Collaboration is key to the Clearpath strategy, which
envisions warehouse employees working alongside the
Otto platforms, not being replaced by them. “Just as
the Google self-driving car needs to safely operate near
pedestrians, Otto needs to safely operate near laborers,
inside a warehouse aisle or a pick area,” Rendall said.
Robot fleets can deliver their highest return by taking
over repetitive tasks and leaving warehouse workers
to perform jobs at which humans excel, such as picking specific parts from a crowded box or shelf, which
requires a high level of dexterity, he said.
—B.A.
go figure …
18%
The average per-order cost borne by U.S. retailers to
manage and fulfill orders last Cyber Monday. Retailers
spent $540 million that day alone to get products into
customers’ hands.
SOURCE: APTOS AND EKN RESEARCH
