Self-guided vehicle and RFID tags: Yale Materials Handling
Corp. last month introduced two new products, one designed to
improve the way operators drive lift trucks and another that eliminates the operator altogether.
The Yale MPE080VG end rider “Driven by Balyo,” a self-guided
vehicle with a laser-based navigation system developed by Balyo
Corp., uses infrastructure-free navigation technology that relies on
existing structural features such as walls, racking, and columns to
self-locate and navigate. The self-guided truck can pick up, transport, and drop off pallets and is equipped with both manual and
automatic modes for operating alongside employees and manually
operated trucks. The built-in management system helps the truck
anticipate and react to its immediate environment. Its advanced
obstacle-detection feature controls truck speed in real time. The
Driven by Balyo can interface with a facility’s warehouse management system. However, for quick installation before the WMS integration is complete, operators can use the laser-scanning capability
to identify where loads are located and pick them up.
Yale also introduced Yale A-Ware, a location-based performance
control solution that uses radio-frequency
identification (RFID) tags to enforce travel
speed, acceleration, and lift restrictions
for very-narrow-aisle trucks. The system
works through RFID tags deployed in
warehouse storage aisles that are read by
a truck-mounted RFID sensor. When the
sensor reads a tag, it automatically triggers traction and lift settings, permitting
the truck to operate only at predefined
speeds, heights, and other operational
parameters. The RFID tags enable users to set parameters for
specific zones and locations. For example, the system could force
trucks to stop at intersections with pedestrian walkways or slow
down when entering an area with an uneven floor. (Yale Materials
Handling Corp., www.yale.com)
Turret truck: Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc., the
provider of Jungheinrich lift trucks and narrow-aisle products in the
United States, Canada, and Mexico, has added the new 3,000- to
3,500-pound capacity Jungheinrich EKX 514/516k/516 man-up
turret trucks to its North American product line.
The new turret trucks feature lift heights of up to 689 inches
and can efficiently run up to two shifts on a single battery charge,
eliminating the need for extra batteries.
Unique benefits of the EKX 514/516k/516 man-up turret trucks
include a motor that provides exceptional efficiency by converting
around 93 percent of the energy consumed into actual output;
advanced three-phase AC motor technology; intelligent systems
like the Jungheinrich warehouse navigation system that very-narrow-aisle warehouse customers can use to achieve up to a 25-per-
cent increase in throughput efficiency for added productivity; and
productivity-enhancing options that allow customers to choose
from a range of optional performance packages to customize the
EKX man-up turret truck to the application.
New Jungheinrich products are supported by a one-year,
2,000-hour warranty that includes parts and labor, as well as components and systems, and a two-year, 4,000-hour extended pow-ertrain warranty. (Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc., www.
jungheinrich-lift.com)
