Logistics is a prominent and ever-growing industry that is the backbone of any organization. Logistics is required by organizations for storing items in their inventory and delivering it to their customers in the most cost-effective, swift, and safe manner.
Currently, this work is done primarily by humans but there has been a shift to robotics for logistics due to their increased speed, accuracy, and work time. The initial investment of a logistic robot purchase is rapidly recovered within several months. It is an ideal solution for both small and large businesses. At the moment, indoor logistics are much more advanced than outdoor logistics due to the controlled environment; however, outdoor logistics is quickly catching up to indoor logistics due to advancements in both the hardware and software of the robots.
For indoor logistics there are quite few options available such as MIR. These robots are well-established and efficient in their controlled environment, however, these robots are inadequate when it comes to storage and logistic solutions outside the warehouse. An important distinction and clarification should be made that when we talk about outdoor logistics, we do not mean logistics that include trucks or large vehicles that transport goods over large distances rather we mean outdoor logistics in the sense of short range ( 12km ) transportation.
For outdoor logistics, there has been relatively less deployment of robots in comparison to indoor logistics in the past mainly due to lack of viable and cost-effective robots. Also, indoor logistic robots required heavy augmentation to work in the outdoor environment. At present, there are some robots like the ROVO2 that are cost-effective and viable enough to perform outdoor logistics with ease.
Expanding slightly more in outdoor logistics, we take an example, say there is an owner who owns a warehouse and has recently expanded his warehouse. His new warehouse is across a road and currently, the owner has hired a person with the sole purpose to carry large pallets from his old warehouse to the new warehouse. The owner is looking for a more efficient solution to speeding up this process. Indoor robots are unviable for him. The reason being is although they have high payload capacity, they do not have height clearance and are unable to traverse the pavements between the road. This issue expands to almost all the current available indoor logistic robots. Though as priorly mentioned, new robotic solutions like the ROVO2 can meet the demand of the owner to solve this issue. How? the ROVO2 is equipped with a hook that is able to tow trolleys and carriages. It would directly tow the carriages of the pallets across the road and is able to perform this task at high speed.
Other robots like MOOSE, WARTHOG, and HUSKY are available that are capable of a possible outdoor logistic solution but they are primarily designed with the intent of research and require a bit of augmentation to make it work. The following table are viable options that may be utilized for logistics.
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In terms of top-pick for outdoor-based robotic logistics, the ROVO2 would be our top pick based on the technical specification and cost-effectiveness as it is designed to take large amounts of payload while being extremely versatile. Moreover, it is easy to modify, flexible, autonomous, and adaptable to different terrains combining both the benefits of wheeled robots as well as legged robots. Speaking in terms of pricing, it costs less than the Moose, Warthog and is in the mid-range based on the comparison survey above. More information on ROVO2 can be found in the hyperlink given in the table as well as in the newly updated software documentation ROVO2 Software Manual.
Note:
Please email at support[at]mybotshop.de in case you find any incorrect statements, facts, typos, or if you think some additional information should be added.
