Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Brian Heater
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:Brian Heater
Cloud Computing
Commerce Department
Crypto
Image Credits:Brian Heater
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Image Credits:Brian Heater
fundraise
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
security measures
Social
outer space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
One undeniable trend from this year ’s Modex conference : of a sudden everyone is into hand truck unloading . The past couple of years have gone from a few select companies to on the face of it everyone in and around warehouse robotics looking to undertake the job . Most solutions are some sport on a canonic subject : a robotic arm bind to a mobile base that can be be active in and out of crate .
And then there’sTruckBot . When I first saw the system , which made its show debut last twelvemonth , it accept me a minute to understand what I was front at . As we peered down from the vantage peak of the Mujin booth ’s mezzanine meeting room , my eye was pull immediately to the big industrial robot weapon in the foreground — this , after all , is what most of these system depend like .
Instead , TruckBot sat atop a conveyer belt . In fact , TruckBot is in reality part conveyer bash . The organisation can move up and down vertically ( up to 10 base ) , side to side and has a 52 - foot reach that lets it get into containers without leaving its daub on the belt . Interestingly , the company refers to the system using the speech communication of a machinelike arm , include the wrist joint articulation and the “ gripper ” at the end , which is really a series of pneumatic suction cup that impound to the side of the box .
Truck unloading is a particularly physically taxing vista of storage warehouse work , which is a bounteous part of the reason Pickle Robotics , Boston Dynamics and others have been so focussed on the task . Not only is it repetitive , back - bring out labor , the container are built to stick outside of storage warehouse , meaning they can get dangerously hot or cold , season dependent .
The organization looks unwieldy — certainly it lacks the lightness of Boston Dynamics ’ Stretch . But it ’s a apt result that incorporates the picking straight into the conveyer belt scheme . The system is capable of handle a range of sizes , weigh up to 50 pounds a piece . Mujin says it can work up to 1,000 box an hr . check it in action bring to mind a hulking , metal herbivorous dinosaur .
“ TruckBot is a game - changer for warehouses looking to streamline their operation and reduce costs , ” the company notes . ” The dock room access is the large bottleneck in our supply range and unloading trailer is back - break up work . TruckBot will ameliorate safe and effectiveness for warehouse across the globe while unlocking the possibility for genuine to the full autonomous procedure . ”
The automaton is the latest improver to the Mujin ecosystem , which also let in robot for palletizing , depalletizing and patch picking . TruckBot ’s next john will be count on out how to stretch trucks , though that may require some pinch to the “ gripper ” scheme .
