MATERIALS HANDLING & CONVEYING FEATURE


THE EVOLVING WAREHOUSE: ROBOTS IN LOGISTICS


T


he world of robotics is one of the fastest moving industries out


there, with robots becoming more and more intelligent each day. Sensors and computer chips are becoming cheaper and providing better performance, new programming languages are being established and evolving, but most importantly, the actions of robots are no longer predetermined at the time of programming and building them. The robots of the new generation are perception driven; they are reacting on behalf of what they sense from their environment, which is particularly interesting when it comes to warehouse robotics as it means that humans and robots are able to work together in a much more succinct and productive fashion. The warehouse is changing. The speed


at which the technology behind warehouse robotics is evolving means they’re becoming more impactful on a company’s bottom line than ever. Advancements in automation, computer vision and intelligent programming means robots are offering a machine solution to a task previously only handled by humans. This makes the process more streamlined, profitable and efficient for the organisation. Current warehouse picking systems


operate under either ‘man-to-goods’ or ‘goods-to-man’ models. The former requires workers to walk to shelving areas and manually pick goods, which has a high dependence on the staff hired, with high salary and processing costs. ‘Goods-to- man’ systems address some of these issues by mechanically bringing shelving units to the front of warehouses for goods to be picked, but they’re typically inflexible in design, difficult to scale beyond initial specifications, and represent a high upfront investment for owners. These systems use standardised carriers


and complete recurring tasks set within very precise parameters. They are highly structured, and operate in static environments with absolutely minimised uncertainty in regard to how items are stacked and where they need to be placed. The obvious downside of such systems is their inflexibility to changing needs, as well as the high upfront cost for owners. Additionally, as the processes for picking in these systems are highly prescribed and predetermined, should there be any failure of any one step then


the whole chain is broken and picking stops. Humans are also unable to directly work alongside these systems, as they would create too many variables for the highly structured environments needed, which in the worst cases can lead to industrial accidents.


PICK-BY-ROBOT That’s why Magazino is pioneering a third, ‘pick-by-robot’, solution. Online shopping is is taking over from the high street and warehouse owners - particularly in e-commerce - are having to consider the next step for their picking strategies as item-specific picking becomes more commonplace. When people buy shoes, for example, they don’t buy a pallet full, they’ll usually just buy one box. Magazino’s perception-controlled, item


specific picking robot, TORU, is designed to navigate freely between shelves designed for humans, complementing the regular workforce, picking a range of objects, and operating in environments with high levels of uncertainty using its cameras and laser scanners. TORU’s inherent flexibility allows it to adapt to novel objects, tasks and the warehouse in which it is placed. Its self contained nature makes it easily scalable, from one unit to as many as are required. With an inbuilt task editor, database connectivity, and incorporation of cloud infrastructure makes it easy to adapt to new environments and changing needs as required. With new intelligent programming languages and platforms like the Robot Operating System (ROS) perception driven robots becoming reality. Of course each solution will have its


place in different warehouses, and in certain circumstances may complement each other by working together as part of


/AUTOMATION


Magazino develops and builds perception- controlled, mobile robots for intralogistics. With Magazino’s technology individual objects can be identified on the shelf and localized via 2D and 3D cameras, securely grasped and finally placed precisely at their destination


the warehouse ecosystem. The most important factor for any decision-maker looking to incorporate robots into the warehouse is the cost-per-pick. Looking at the German market, for example, €1.5bn is spent each year on manual picking; that’s huge. If one human picker costs approximately €33,000 per year and a robot which can do the same job costs €100,000, you can pay the cost of the machine off within three years. It obviously doesn’t need to take holidays or lunch breaks and can work double- shifts; basically the more it works, the quicker it will pay for itself. The robot doesn’t necessarily need to pick quicker than the human to make it cost-worthy - although in the not-too-distant future, robots will match and surpass the speed of the human. Even those robots that pick at half the speed of a human can make up the cost in the fact that they can work twice as much in a day.


With item-specific handling Magazino allows Pick-by-Robot, hence ‘bin picking’, and closes one of the key gaps in the automation of logistics processes


FASTER AND SMARTER The role of the human is far from obsolete, however. TORU’s purpose, for example, is to supplement human workforces, not to replace them. It’s designed to be as flexible as a human by operating in and around workers, acting as a colleague. It’ll take the difficult and uncomfortable tasks like retrieving items from the high - or very lowest - shelves, and the human can get on with other important tasks. We are at a point in time where


revolutionary solutions are being designed in a market crying out for disruption; and with Kiva leaving a space to be filled - following its acquisition from Amazon - the opportunities are incredible. This spells a hugely exciting time for warehouse logistics as the evolution of robotics worldwide continues to see a number of unique robots perform more and more complex tasks. The evolution of technology is allowing the warehouse to achieve things faster and smarter - it’s a radical new era.


Magazino GmbH www.magazino.eu AUTOMATION | SEPTEMBER 2016 45


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