Robots Bringing a Human Touch to Warehouses

Posted on by
June 14, 2023
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“Humanoid robots are on their way to warehouses as companies start to move beyond the disembodied arms, moving trays and other machines aimed at speeding up logistics operations,” writes The Wall Street Journal (June 13, 2023).

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Agility’s Digit robot has ‘eyes’ that show people where it’s going

Agility Robotics, Figure AI and Boston Dynamics are among companies designing robots more closely modeled on human beings for use in distribution centers. The new machines are being engineered with the ability to walk around warehouses, reach items high on shelves, crouch to put things down and pick up and move boxes, defying some of the prior physical limits on automation. The devices are intended to help warehouse operators mitigate labor shortfalls and eliminate the need to redesign warehouses to match the capabilities of machines.

Logistics operators have been adding automation to their warehouses for years to speed up the stacking and retrieving of goods and to take some of the most burdensome, repetitive tasks off workers. Many of the devices are designed to work in concert with employees by taking on tasks such as hauling heavy goods or bringing totes of items directly to workers. Humanoid robots take that automation a step further, seeking to stand in place of a human employee.

Agility Robotics, which has received funding from Amazon, has made a human-shaped robot called Digit that is teal, silver and black with white animated eyes. (Click here for an 11 second video).The device stands 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 141 pounds and can carry up to 35 pounds. Its humanlike shape gives Digit the ability to just walk into existing infrastructure and existing workflows and start to do tasks. The robot is designed to take on jobs warehouse operators have trouble hiring people to do, including repetitive roles like loading and unloading storage containers.

Some companies, seeking to address labor shortages and rising labor costs, have moved toward building warehouses that are entirely automated, known as dark warehouses. That level of automation can cost tens of millions of dollars.

The humanoid robots do need breaks, even if not for the same reasons as humans.  Digit can operate for 2 hours with a 1-hour charge. That is well short of an 8-hour shift, but the machine is meant to work as part of a fleet, where two robots work while one charges.

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.

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