INDUSTRY REPORT
SELF STARTERS
As the world readies itself for the rise of the robot, the Editor
brings details of a comprehensive survey on the subject.
ID TechEx has just published Mobile Robots, Autonomous Vehicles
and Drones in Logistics, Warehousing, and Delivery 2020-2040, an
in-depth review of what is fast becoming an area of interest to the
freight sector.
This document provides a comprehensive analysis of all the key
players, technologies and markets, and the study covers automated
as well as autonomous carts and robots, automated goods-to-person
robots, autonomous and collaborative robots, delivery robots, mobile
picking robots, autonomous material handling vehicles (such as
tuggers and forklifts), autonomous trucks, vans and last mile delivery
robots and drones. In short, if it’s self-powered and designed for
logistical use, it is likely to be covered within the report.
The realm of robotics has grown, slowly but surely, over the
last few years. Early ventures, such as the passenger pods in use at
Heathrow airport that shuttle passengers to and from a carpark (a
system that was unveiled in 2011), were a pointer towards the future;
and since that time the technology has progressed in leaps and
bounds. An autonomous shuttle bus was an obvious corollary and
such has been pioneered by several companies. Interest in those has
subsequently spilled over on to the ramp proper, and at least four
equipment companies are now involved in ground-breaking work
that will see self-driving baggage tractors (initially) operate airside.
Creating a buzz
However, whilst autonomous airside GSE is being built with the
operator fi rmly in mind (current designs make provision for a driver),
elsewhere vehicles are being designed with autonomous operation
very much to the fore. Most of these robots (for want of a better
word) are battery-powered and electric-driven. This is for various
reasons, some of which are generally known, some not. Electronic
drive gives better control of motion, especially when each wheel
can be independently controlled. Moreover, the interface between
the electronic control system and the electric drive train is simpler,
thus eliminating the need for complex “by wire” systems found in
autonomous internal combustion-engined vehicles. Finally, their
production process involves the handling of vastly fewer parts,
which, as such, means that construction could be taken on by
smaller manufacturers.
Many of these robots are
designed to travel on pavements,
while the van-looking pods and
vehicles are often designed to
be road going. The choice of
where to travel has determining
consequences for the design,
technology choice, target
markets and, ultimately, the
business model itself.
Walking the walk
Whilst it is not possible to
encompass the report’s content
in the space available here, it
is possible to take a closer look
at one example: the pavement
robot. These, as some readers
will know, have been trialled in
the US (Amazon’s Scout made
the headlines early in 2019, for
example); bizarre though the
concept may seem in the context
of today’s busy city, clearly some
developers see a future for this
kind of delivery facility.
Pavement robots, says the
report, make for an interesting
proposition. They are often
designed to travel slowly,
typically at under six kilometres
an hour. The reason for this is to
increase safety levels and to give
robots more thinking time; this
also allows remote teleoperators
the chance to intervene, and
to enable the categorising of
the robot as a personal device
(compared to a vehicle), thus
easing any legislative challenges.
Such robots also come with
various hardware choices: wheel
confi guration can vary while
some will have built in a single,
small payload compartment;
others may be designed to
carry larger, multiple storage
compartments. For the logistics
operator focused on last
mile delivery, these devices
would seem to have much to
commend them.
Sensing the future
Key to the success of this future
wave of automation is the
sensor. Almost all the models
have HD cameras around the
robot to give teleoperators
the ability to intervene if, and
when, required. All also have
IMUs (inertial measurement
units) and GPS, whilst most
have fi tted ultrasound sensors
for near-fi eld sensing. The main
choice becomes that of whether
to use lidar only, stereo vision
only or hybrid.
Such robots are also energy
constrained. As such, the
number of on-board processors
and GPUs has to be kept to a
minimum, while heavy-duty
computational tasks (such
as 3D map making and edge
extraction) should be carried
off-line in powerful services. This
almost always happens when
14 February 2020 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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