Technology, moving goods autonomously: smart forklifts are coming

Forking a pallet at a height of 17 meters in a large distribution center is a very delicate operation: even a mistake of just a few centimeters is enough and the forks, instead of taking the load, risk pushing it, causing it to fall, with disastrous consequences both for the safety of the warehouse and for the goods contained therein. Robosense , a company located in the Business Innovation Center of Trentino Sviluppo in Pergine Valsugana (Trento), has solved the problem with the SmartFinder patent, a technology with which forklifts can operate with absolute precision : thanks to a camera positioned at the height of the forks and some computer vision algorithms, the forklift is able to find the precise point where to fork the pallet pockets by itself, making corrections resulting from anomalies in the floor and also automatically recognizing the dimensions of the pallet, which vary based on the model (EU, UK, USA).

“Smart Finder is essential in the logistics sector where the movement of goods is increasingly carried out using robotic forklifts,” explains Mattia Tavernini, CEO of Robosense, “i.e. the so-called AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) and AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), designed to move autonomously within warehouses and distribution centers. This is because it guarantees the safety of the pallet grip even at high heights and allows the operation to be performed quickly and without human intervention.” The secret, of course, lies in the software patented by Robosense, capable of exploiting the characteristics of the 3D TOF industrial camera, equipped with a technology that allows the distance between the camera itself and the objects in the frame to be estimated in real time. “This solution elevates the capabilities of mobile robots, ensuring levels of automation and intelligence never achieved before,” explains Mariolino De Cecco , professor of Industrial Engineering and director of the MiRo Lab, the laboratory of Mechanical and Thermal Measurements at the University of Trento, one of the founders of the first startup from which today's company flourished. However, innovation at Robosense does not stop there. The company has recently patented two other tools that promise to make logistics centers more efficient: SmartGate is a system that, thanks to the use of 3 3D TOF cameras and software, is able, as the pallet passes on a conveyor belt, to measure the load to estimate the shipping volume and verify that it does not come out of the base of the pallet, an eventuality that could reveal errors that occurred, for example, during packaging or that could subsequently cause accidents during handling, thus requiring human intervention; finally, the company also offers ATL, an automated truck loading system: starting from a LiDAR instrument, which uses laser beams to measure the distance from an object or surface and create the relative mapping of the three-dimensional space, Robosense has created a solution capable of precisely identifying where the walls of the truck are located, what its alignment is with respect to the loading bay and of identifying any objects inside it that could obstruct the forklift, making pallet loading simpler, safer and faster.