Re:Boston Dynamics’ Stretch robot can move 800 heavy boxes p...
by Animats on Thursday December 30, 2021 @05:04PM
(#29742035)
That's routinely done by automatic palletizers. Here's a standalone robotic palletizer for mixed pallets.[1]
Here's an entire automated distribution center.[2] This is more traditional automation. Pallets come in, are broken apart, and items put into storage. Then items are assembled to fill orders, and stacked on pallets. They even call it "automated Tetris". They try to stack the items to match a retail store's planogram, so the people doing shelf restocking usually have what they need next on top. Objects are lifted from the bottom, or sometimes grabbed from two sides, so they don't rely on super-strong cardboard.
The forklifts that empty and fill trucks with pallets are still human-driven in that system.
Automated forklifts do exist.[3] They're still rare, though.
All this gear seems to come from more advanced countries that don't have an underclass for cheap labor. New Zealand, Germany, the Scandinavian countries.
Here's an entire automated distribution center.[2] This is more traditional automation. Pallets come in, are broken apart, and items put into storage. Then items are assembled to fill orders, and stacked on pallets. They even call it "automated Tetris". They try to stack the items to match a retail store's planogram, so the people doing shelf restocking usually have what they need next on top. Objects are lifted from the bottom, or sometimes grabbed from two sides, so they don't rely on super-strong cardboard.
The forklifts that empty and fill trucks with pallets are still human-driven in that system. Automated forklifts do exist.[3] They're still rare, though.
All this gear seems to come from more advanced countries that don't have an underclass for cheap labor. New Zealand, Germany, the Scandinavian countries.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMtH19n3CzE
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB9T-I7Fh7U
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxEEmukZ4R4