March 9, 2020 - Prime Robotics launched their new Auto Shelf, autonomous mobile robot today at the MODEX 2020 show.
What makes the Auto Shelf different from other goods to person shelf moving systems is that each shelf has its own built in robot. Prime Robotics has patented this idea of a built in robot design. The result that the Auto Shelf has the fastest possible pick times as the shelf doesn't need to be queued while it waits for an AMR to move into position to acquire the target shelf.
“The Auto Shelf turns the warehouse robotics paradigm on its head by making every shelf a robot that has intelligence.” says Eric Rongley, CEO and founder of Prime Robotics. “Since every shelf can move and interact directly with workers, there’s never any wasted time waiting for the next shelf.”
This design is an iteration and optimization of the original Kiva Robotics design which was purchased by Amazon.
A New Generation of Goods-To-Person Design
The Auto Shelf system eliminates the time that traditional goods-to-person systems spend queuing, dequeuing and moving shelves to the human pack-out station. With Auto Shelf, the shelving units move instantaneously, and in unison as they queue up shelves with product.
“While the first version of the Auto Shelf will be highly productive, the revolutionary design provides a platform that can be extended and take on capabilities no other warehouse robotics system can accomplish,” adds Rongley. Each Auto Shelf features lights directly integrated into shelf slots to provide pick-to-light functionality. The Auto Shelf Dispatch System adds another layer of intelligence by optimizing item/shelf locations, reducing the movements the robots need to perform and shortening the distance on the fastest moving items.
“The Auto Shelf will change how inventory is handled,” says Rongley. “Prime Robotics has created a new robotics platform and patented all aspects of warehouse and other use cases. Large customers can deploy the system with confidence that not only do they have the most efficient warehouse robot system, but that the intellectual property of the robot is clean.”
You can see the Auto Shelf at the MODEX trade show on March 9th, in the Prime Robotics Booth #9836.
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