SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

MARCH 2022

Collaborative Robots
Bring Productivity
CONTENTS EDITOR’S NOTE

C
Cobots Flex Their Muscle in Manufacturing, Education ollaborative
Collaborative robots are becoming a bigger part of the manufacturing pie, robots are a
helping workers and educators. rapidly growing
segment of industrial
Collaborative Robots Raise the Bar for Productivity automation, thanks to
By bringing humans and machines closer together, cobots can play their ease of use, which
to the strengths of each while improving quality and throughput. promises to democratize
robots for small and midsize manu-
Universal Robots CEO Discusses Cobot Leader’s facturers. However, they have had
Outlook for 2022 to overcome limitations in payload,
Kim Povlsen, who became president and CEO of Universal Robots precision, and programming.
last year, talks about his perspective on growing collaborative Cobot arms and collaborative mobile
robotics applications.
robots are designed to operate safely
around people, and they offer flexibility
3 Machine Learning Use Cases for customization and varied applica-
That Transformed E-Commerce tions. But first, users and integrators
These examples show how AI and machine learning are enabling must evaluate the latest sensors,
robots to serve the ever-growing needs of online retailers. software, and end effectors.

AI Becoming an Essential Feature for Picking Robots In this Special Focus Issue, we look
Honeywell, Mujin, and RightHand Robotics have applied machine at how cobots are changing how tasks
learning to make picking more precise and efficient. such as machine tending, packaging,
and welding are done. From manu-
Restaurant Robots Should Start With Workflow, facturing to e-commerce, we examine
Says Wings CEO how different industries are using
cobots and AI to boost productivity.
From labor shortages to the changing consumer behavior, restaurants
of all sizes are under pressure to digitize their businesses. As demand for piece-picking auto-
mation continues to rise, innovations
OnRobot Debuts WebLytics Software for Collaborative in perception and manipulation are
Robotics Applications leading to more cobots in factories,
WebLytics brings remote monitoring, device diagnostics, and data warehouses, and even restaurants.
analytics capabilities to OnRobot’s line of application-focused hardware. We hope you find this issue
informative!
Nimble Robotics Says Its Picking Robots Have Picked
More Than 15M Objects
The startup says its AI-enabled robots have picked across 500,000 Eugene Demaitre, Editorial Director
unique products from several well-known brands. Comments? E-mail me at
[email protected]

EXECUTIVE CONTACTS SALES CLIENT SERVICES

Group Publisher/International Sales Western Regional Manager Director of Client Services Director Online Technology
Tom Cooney Len Pettek Mary Ann Scannell John Brillon
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
973-214-6798 805-493-8297 office 508-663-1560
805-231-9582 Mobile Webcast Project Manager
President and CEO, Peerless Media Director of Marketing Steve Paul
Brian Ceraolo Midwest/Eastern Regional Manager Karen Bligh [email protected]
[email protected] Michael Worley [email protected] 617-281-7125
508-663-1553 [email protected] 508-663-1550
508-663-1561 Production Director
Editorial Director Director Content Kelly Jones
Eugene Demaitre Management [email protected]
[email protected] George Kokoris 508-663-1554
508-380-5457 [email protected]
508-663-1555 Office Manager
Associate Editor Laurel Peddie
Cesareo Contreras [email protected]
[email protected] 508-663-1559
508-663-1558

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

Cobots

Flex Their Muscle Collaborative

robots are
becoming a

in Manufacturing bigger part of the

manufacturing

and Education
pie, helping
workers and
educators.

BY CESAREO CONTRERAS

A
s the manufacturing workforce complicated problems and allow facilities to
gets older, the complexity of tasks operate more efficiently.
on assembly lines increases, and the
labor shortage continues, more and Automaker relies on human-machine collaboration
more companies are turning to col- Stellantis, an auto manufacturer that was formed
laborative robots, or cobots, to help after the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and
fill in the gap. PSA Group, is taking advantage of 11 collaborative
Cobots can work alongside humans and are robots in one of its electric car factories in Italy.
easier for the end user to control. Their relatively From applying waterproof liners on vehicle doors to
small size and safety sensors allow them to fit in the mounting of hoods, the robots have become a
more places, and they can be easily programmed major part of the process.
to complete repetitive tasks. Ideally, they free The cobots were created by Odense, Denmark-
up time for human workers to tackle other more based Universal Robots A/S, the market leader in the

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

collaborative robot production,

other robotics manufacturers are
following suit, including some of
the big players in the industrial
automation space.
Cobots are increasingly
becoming a bigger part of the
manufacturing pie, according
to Joe Chudy, general manager
at ABB Robotics. The Zurich,
Switzerland-based robotics ven-
dor has four models of cobots,
including the dual-arm YuMi,
the single-arm YuMi, the GoFa
CRB 15000, and the SWIFTI
space with a 44% to 47% market electrically and is often used by CRB 1100.
share. Stellantis has been using metal fabricators. ABB’s GoFa and SWIFTI,
UR cobots since 2017, according “In our world, it’s three times which were released in February
to Universal Robots. bigger than it was a couple of 2021, offer higher payloads than
“For us, UR technology is years ago,” he told Robotics 24/7. both versions of the YuMi, with
a guarantee of a particularly “It’s actually a little over 6% of our payloads of 5 kg (11 lb.) and 4 kg
advanced man-machine inter- total volume. That’s new, and it’s (8 lb.), respectively.
face perfectly matched with the continuing to grow every month.” “The demand for collabora-
group’s quality requirements in Universal Robots recently tive robots is estimated to grow
terms of both production pro- reported a record annual revenue at a CAGR [compound annual
cesses and products,” said Ennio of over $311 million, up 41% growth rate] of 17% between
Meccia, head of manufacturing from 2020 and 23% from 2019. 2020 and 2025, while the value
chief engineers at Stellantis in a While Universal Robots of global cobot sales is expected
case study by Universal Robots. may be leading the charge in to increase from an estimated
The cobot market is estimat-
ed to reach $1.71 billion by the
end of 2022 and have a valuation
of $8.65 billion by 2029, accord-
ing to a recent study by Future
Market Insights. Cobot applica-
tions are expanding into painting,
quality testing, material handling,
and more.

Other manufacturers connect

with cobots
One of the biggest applications
of collaborative arms, as of late,
has been arc welding, said Joe
Campbell, senior manager of
strategic marketing and applica-
tion development at Universal
Robots. Arc welding involves Cobots such as the single-arm YuMi are designed to be easy to program.
connecting pieces of metal Source: ABB

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INDUSTRIAL
PAGE KICKERAUTOMATION

$700 million in 2019 to about tion outlet of innovative technol- integration, machine vision, in-
$1.4 billion by 2025,” Chudy told ogies for technicians, researchers, telligent sensing, smart materials,
Robotics 24/7. scholars, and experts who are and more.”
ABB’s cobots are used in working in the field of collaborative Over the past 18 months,
small and midsize assembly, robots,” said AUBO and F1000 in Universal Robots has also ex-
polishing, welding, machine a statement. panded its teaching efforts into
tending, packaging and kitting, 89 training centers around the
inspection, and laboratory auto- world, Campbell said. The com-
mation, according to Chudy. He pany has also created a teaching
claimed that no programming curriculum that is being used in
expertise or specialized training more than 40 schools in North
is needed to use the cobots. America, including universities,
vocational schools, high schools
Cobots enable research and middle schools.
and education
ARC Robotics, a certified sup- Cobot providers look
plier of FANUC robots in the to expand reach
Czech Republic, outfitted the Some of the biggest challenges
University of West Bohemia’s The FANUC CRX-10iA can be used for ahead include increasing the
mechanical engineering depart- applications including machine load- amount of weight collaborative
ing, inspection, and packing. Source:
ment with a robotics workspace FANUC robots can move and their range,
using a six-axis FANUC CR- said Campbell. He mentioned
7iA/L cobot. The company also Francis Huang, division direc- that the company recently
installed a camera and gripper. tor of AUBO Robotics, said the increased the payload of its No.
Japan-based FANUC Robots, company launched the platform 1 model, the UR10e, to 12.5 kg
widely considered one of the top because it felt an obligation to (27.5 lb.), a 25% increase.
industrial robot manufacturers provide a place for cobot re- “It’s difficult with a collab-
in the world, has two lines of search, given its prominence in orative robot because there are
cobots, the Collaborative Robot the cobot space in China. The speed and force limitations that
FANUC CR series and the CRX company also sees the platform you have to watch to make a
Collaborative Robot Series. as an opportunity to better reach cobot safe,” he said.
Noteworthy applications of the Western market. But Campbell said cobots will
FANUC’s cobot robots include “In a leading position among keep growing, expanding, and
worker training and research the industry, [we thought] there disrupting the manufacturing
into more uses for cobots in was something more we could do industry.
production. for this industry because many “We have many partners
In August, AUBO Intelligent people still don’t have a very who deliver total systems for
Science and Technology Co. clear concept about collaborative $85,000,” he said. “That’s about
created an open research pub- robots versus industrial robots,” a third of a cost of a traditional
lishing platform dedicated to the Huang told Robotics 24/7. “There system.” n
study of collaborative robots aptly are a lot of things cobots can do
named “Cobot.” that people don’t know about.” Cesareo Contreras is associate
The Beijing-based company AUBO and F1000 said topics editor at Robotics 24/7. Prior to
created the platform in partner- of research will include “scientif- working at Peerless Media,
ship with Taylor & Francis’ group ic and technical research topics he was an award-winning reporter
F1000 open research platform. in intelligent robots, artificial at the Metrowest Daily News
“The publishing platform intelligence, human-machine and Milford Daily News in
provides a research communica- collaboration, human-machine Massachusetts.

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

 PAGE KICKER
COBOTS AND PRODUCTIVITY

Collaborative
Robots

Raise the
Productivity
Source: OnRobot

Bar for

C
By bringing humans ollaborative robots, or cobots, fundamentally change the
nature of production by creating new synergies between
and machines closer humans and machines. By playing to the strengths of
together, cobots can people and automation, multiple industries can improve
productivity and product quality while reducing operat-
play to the strengths ing costs.
of each while Equipped with sensors for safe collaboration and accurate ma-
nipulation, ways of learning new tasks without programming exper-
improving quality tise, and a variety of end-of-arm tooling, cobots can bring flexibility
and throughput. to shops of all sizes.

Cobots promise to boost productivity

BY TOM KEVAN Collaborative robots can perform the dull, dirty, and dangerous
tasks once performed by humans. “This provides a double benefit,”
said Joe Campbell, senior manager of applications development
at cobot leader Universal Robots A/S. “Cobots take care of tasks
humans are unavailable or unable to perform efficiently and safely,

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COBOTS AND PRODUCTIVITY

providing a powerful tool for

companies struggling in the face
of the ongoing manufacturing
and warehousing labor crisis.”
“They also free humans to
work on higher-order tasks, ensur-
ing that companies get the best
from both their human and auto-
mation resources,” he said. “This
improves ergonomics and morale
for human workers, reducing
workplace strain and injury.”
In addition, this automation
technology can achieve higher
levels of repeatability and accu-
racy than humans performing At the same time, warehouse more, user-friendly software in-
the same tasks. In some cases, and logistics companies must terfaces have replaced the overly
this precision can be measured at cultivate infrastructures flexible complex interfaces associated
micron levels. This level of preci- enough to handle the explosive with traditional automation.”
sion also translates to a reduction growth of online purchases and
of raw material waste. the accompanying supply chain Collaborative robots start
“Cobots are more consistent demands. in manufacturing
than human workers at perform- Fortunately, cobots have Tomenson Machine Works Inc.
ing certain tasks, are flexible the functionality and flexibility is an example of a manufacturer
enough to be deployed in a wide required to meet these market working with collaborative ro-
range of applications, and are demands. bots. The Chicago-based compa-
easily transported and deployed,” “Collaborative automation ny looked for a machine-tending
said Campbell. “These qualities is ideally suited to high-mix, system to tend its pin stamper,
provide cobot users with addi- low-volume production runs due a very repetitive process in the
tional productivity boosts.” to its combination of usability production of precision hydraulic
Furthermore, cobots can and flexibility,” said Kristian manifolds.
operate 24/7, shortening cycle Hulgard, general manager for One of the chief challenges
times and supporting just-in-time the Americas at end-effector was that the pin stamper had to
manufacturing. provider OnRobot A/S. “Making be able to handle hundreds of
adjustments to an application, different part sizes. Therefore,
Automation helps users adapt to such as adjusting the settings on Tomenson needed a cobot with
market demands a gripper or camera, is straight- an adaptive gripper capable of
Another way cobots can help forward, even for those with no handling a wide range of units.
increase productivity is by automation experience.” The system’s collaborative
providing companies with the “With the right end-of-arm capability was also a critical
agility required to quickly adapt tooling and software, a cobot can element in the selection process
to changing market demands. be deployed on any number of because the unit had to be able
For example, today’s man- applications, from sanding to as- to safely function in a tight work-
ufacturers must be able to sembly to material handling and ing environment. In the end,
meet the growing demand for inspection,” he said. “This allows Tomenson selected Universal
customization and shorter, companies to respond quickly to Robot’s UR5 arm equipped with
more varied production runs. changing requirements. Further- OnRobot’s RG6 gripper.

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

COBOTS AND PRODUCTIVITY

According to Tomen- modular solution to inte-

son, the greatest benefit grate into our system and
of using the system was a workflow,” said Tu. “This,
40% reduction in mis- however, put the onus
loads, a failing resulting on us to program, install,
from engraving in the and connect the cobots
wrong direction or on the ourselves. This was a
wrong side of the part. relatively slow process
Profit margins also because there was a steep
improved as Tomenson learning curve.”
took on more high-vol- “It took approxi-
ume, small-part jobs be- mately 12 months of
cause it had confidence R&D to get the cobot
in the cobot’s ability to DCL Logistics chose the UR10e for its pick-and-pack process, production-ready,” he
perform the task consis- reducing its labor costs by 50%. Source: Universal Robots added. “We also had to
tently and more accu- train our staff to work
rately than a human. The auto- existing workflow, obviating the alongside the cobots, run them,
mation also reduced engineering need for large-scale system chang- and troubleshoot and optimize
hours and allowed the company es. Since it first deployed cobots, them. This remains true as we
to reallocate workers to focus DCL has seen major improve- deploy more cobots in more of
on bigger parts, with complex ments in its operations. our facilities.”
processes and longer cycles that “Cobots have allowed us to In addition to these deploy-
require more attention. increase the number of orders ment challenges, end users
we process more accurately should be aware of the inherent
Cobots find use in fulfillment and more quickly,” Tu said. limitations of cobot technology.
and logistics “Since our fall 2019 launch, we “By the nature of their design,
Another application demonstrating have seen a 200% increase in cobots often operate slower than
cobot capabilities can be seen throughput on our fulfillment full industrial robots, so through-
at DCL Logistics, a full-service, lines, a 60% decrease in direct put should always be considered
third-party provider of fulfillment labor, and 100% order accuracy. when placing a cobot into ser-
and logistics services. The We have also developed the abil- vice,” said Dean Elkins, segment
Fremont, Calif.-based company ity to run 24/7.” leader for handling at Yaskawa
has several years of hands-on Motoman. “Additionally, limited
experience with cobots that bear Cobots are not without challenges payload designs will always see
out the promise of increased Industry experts agree that the cobots placed in tasks that call
productivity and efficiency. key to broader robot adoption lies for less lift capacity.”
“Our cobots are robotic arms in making the systems as easy Such limitations are valid
that pick products from a stor- and safe to deploy and use as concerns, but cobots still offer
age shelf and place the products possible. In practice, this means value and ease of use. “It’s im-
into a box,” said Brian Tu, chief users should be able to program portant to note that the challeng-
revenue officer at DCL Logistics. and install their cobots straight es involved in deploying cobots
“This is the interim step between out of the box, without special- are orders of magnitude smaller
when an order is placed in our ized training. than the challenges involved with
system and when the box of Even though cobot develop- traditional industrial automa-
products is packaged to ship to ers are investing much time and tion,” said Campbell. n
the customer.” effort in this area, there is still
In addition, the modular nature room for improvement. Tom Kevan is a freelance writer/
of the system allowed the compa- “Cobots were a good fit editor specializing in engineering
ny to integrate the cobot into the because they provided us with a and communications technology.

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

It’s time to boost
productivity.
It’s time for Cobot
automation.

Facing the ongoing shortage of highly skilled labor, smart

manufacturers are turning to collaborative robots. Cobots by
Universal Robots can handle most dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs.
Freeing your skilled workers for more creative and critical work.
www.universal-robots.com
Boosting efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

Learn more at Universal-Robots.com

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS CEO

Universal Robots CEO

Discusses Cobot Leader’s
Outlook for 2022
One of the fastest growing areas of
robotics is collaborative robots or cobots,
which have sensors enabling them to work
alongside people and are designed to be
easier to program and use for a variety of
tasks. Universal Robots A/S is the global
market leader in cobots, and it has devel-
oped an ecosystem of accessory providers,
systems integrators, and training programs
to support its robot arms. Kim Povlsen, who
became president and CEO of the Odense,
Denmark-based company last year, has seen
cobot technology mature.
Robotics 24/7 spoke with Povlsen about his back-
ground, how Universal Robots has weathered the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the company's plans for
innovations in 2022.
Kim Povlsen, who became You came to Universal Robots from Schneider
president and CEO Electric—how familiar were you with robotics before
becoming CEO?
of Universal Robots last year, Povlsen: I grew up in Odense and went to the Uni-
shares his perspective versity of Southern Denmark, where the whole cobot
thing started. I'm a robotics engineer and studied at
on growing collaborative the same place as UR's three co-founders.
robotics applications. There wasn't that much of a robotics communi-
ty when I was studying, but a lot of our professors
were helping to launch startups.
BY EUGENE DEMAITRE When I was done with my studies, I went to
Schneider Electric, where I worked for 13 to 14 years
doing very different things. I moved from engineering

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UNIVERSAL ROBOTS CEO

to the “dark side” of business. I got to run the soft- How much does UR use simulation tools in education
ware business and strategy at an internal startup. I or setup?
moved more and more into management roles. Povlsen: We had to develop online trainings that
I lived in France and the U.S. but was always were very sophisticated. We had the technology in-
keeping an eye on Odense. I'm passionate about house, and with simulations, we could do training
robotics. online and see how something would look in reality.
Early last year, there was an opportunity when We also have significant traction with the online
[then-President] Jürgen von Hollen decided to version, which features full physics. With an acqui-
leave. I was in contact with Teradyne [the owner of sition, Universal Robots has software for making
Universal Robots and other robot companies], and advanced robots even smarter. The simulation capa-
it was a good match. bilities needed for real-time path planning can also
be used for training.
80+ sites around the world Speaking of setup, how important is UR's network?
The pandemic has dominated the news of the past Povlsen: I want to give credit to our partners and
two years—how has it affected an international distributors. They can do online prototyping, which
business like Universal Robots? is like a proof of concept in person, and they could
Povlsen: Borders closed during COVID, but I'm 3D-print an object to show a customer how things
proud to say that we successfully adapted and had would work.
a good year. The adaptation to digital was a lot of With more than 300 UR+ partners, there's a
work, but it worked out really well. multiplication of our engineering workforce.
We moved to Microsoft Teams,
and more importantly, we engaged
with our customers and support teams
and showed them the cool things we
do in automation. There's a desire to
understand how it would look in their
environments.
UR also had to move quickly to show
customers cool innovations as we did at
events. To that end, we now have [more
than] 80 sites around the world that do
training with our partners. We invited
customers in, and fortunately, they rated
it very highly.
The sites for training vary by country.
Sometimes, Universal Robots opens its
own UR Academy facility; other times,
we partner. The countries that are open UR has received endorsements for its products and curriculum from
are still very busy—there's still a catch- the Ohio Department of Education and the Advanced Robotics for
up effect. Manufacturing (ARM) Institute. Source: Universal Robots

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UNIVERSAL ROBOTS CEO

For the future, we're taking online as an ad- However, we can attribute our favorable finan-
ditional opportunity and turning it into a hybrid cial results from recent quarters to all our UR+
experience. Even if you're present at an event, we'll products, as software, grippers, dispensers, and
still have a virtual one. Our customers can get an more become increasingly sophisticated.
omnichannel experience. Cobots have shifted from pick-and-place opera-
tions and machine tending to also being process tools.
Products and applications With the e-Series precision and torque, plus
partner software for welding and screwdriving, our
How has the demand evolved for Universal Robots’ partners are driving a lot of innovation with us.
products?
Povlsen: Compared with a cou-
ple of years ago, when it was just
automotive manufacturing, cobots
are being used in a variety of solu-
tions. SMEs [small and midsize
enterprises] have really been get-
ting into the game of automation.
A few applications rise to the top.
One vertical that's really
moving fast is robotic welding.
A few years ago, a shop wouldn't
consider a cobot, but it's now our
fastest-growing vertical because
of the versatility of our robots.
Some partners are really being
innovative, and smart OEMs are
developing standardized solutions
and then helping customers with the last 10% of Cobot awareness grows
whatever they need to do. With open APIs [applica-
tion programming interfaces], it's easy to do some- Given the market potential, do SMEs have a greater
thing specific, like a welding deployment program in awareness of the potential benefits of using cobots?
the U.S. or Europe. Povlsen: Yes, absolutely. We do our market analy-
Another cobot application that's really getting sis, and we know that there are tens of millions of
traction is screwdriving. It sounds simple, but you tasks that people could do for more value-added
have to be very precise. Customers set certain work than the “3 Ds” [dull, dirty, and dangerous].
expectations. We're still just scratching the surface of what
robotics can do.
What has the reception been to the e-Series cobots, The automation wave was happending even
which are designed to be more precise than their before pandemic. As business slowed down, it
predecessors? opened people's eyes to the need to automate.
Povlsen: As we've seen across any tech sector, when Labor shortages around the world are caused by
products provide new features, they take some time a number of things—a lot of people are retiring,
to catch on. A platform product like ours can take a young people have different career choices, and a
while to find applications. lot of people who did these jobs before have simply

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UNIVERSAL ROBOTS CEO

decided that they don't want to

go back.
Small and big production
firms are really struggling for
workforce, accelerating the
desire for automation quite a
bit. Cobots are a good choice
for SMEs that need to retrofit
their operations for automation
because it's not a huge project
and is manageable.
When we get up in the
morning, we think about how
to remove friction for SMEs
in any part of their automation
journey. We spend a lot of time
thinking about what we can do about that. expected. We understand the automation journey
takes a leap of faith, so we want to make sure
Scaling up and 2022 plans they're satisfied and that we're there to help make
it work.
How does Universal Robots plan to stay on top in the With a holistic view, I'm obsessed with the idea
cobot market? of removing friction from the customer experience.
Povlsen: As Universal Robots gets to a larger size, Automating should be a breeze once you decide you
we're keeping the spirit of a startup. We can pivot need it.
fast, with no fear of change.
We're investing more in innovation and in our What are you looking forward to this year?
ecosystem of partners that create components and Povlsen: In 2022, we've got some cool new
software for customers. We've been spending a lot things coming out that people haven't seen
of time trying to understand customer challenges, before. We're making additional improvements
from design to deployment and after. If part of a to Universal Robots' manufacuturing facility, so
process changes, we're looking for how to make we can build three times as many robots in the
that smoother. same space.
We've learned that the customer is not looking Hopefully, the world will reopen. I'd like to trav-
for a cobot; it's looking for an application that el, and I can't wait to meet the company's teams.
solves a challenge. We're embracing that perspec- We have very big growth ambitions. We have a
tive and making technology available for any giv- lot of open positions and are adding a lot of people.
en problem. For some SMEs new to automation, It's challenging to find talent, but we're doing OK.
those customers are still challenged by picking This is an interesting industry, and it's fun to get
a gripper. We're looking at how to make their into robotics. n
choices easier.
UR is taking great strides in North America, Eugene Demaitre is editorial director of Robotics
following up with customers to ensure that their 24/7. He has participated in numerous robotics-re-
deployments were smooth, that they got what they lated webinars, podcasts, and events worldwide.

robotics247.com SPECIAL FOCUS ISSUE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / E-COMMERCE

Machine Learning Use Cases

That Transformed E-Commerce
These examples show how AI and machine learning
are enabling robots to serve the ever-growing needs
of online retailers.
BY ALEX HUSAR, ONILAB

Artificial intelligence, robotics, and related technologies have found a

place in online retail. In fact, e-commerce providers such as Amazon.com, Asos, and
Zalando have found AI and deep learning departments essential.
Why do they invest in machine learning (ML)? It can helps them better under-
stand their clients, customize offers for particular buyers, and automate manual tasks.
Machine learning allows online stores to be upgraded with smart on-site search,
personalized ads, and intelligent chatbots. That’s why you should integrate it into your
website, the Magento ”headless commerce” architecture or a headless platform on
another content management system (CMS), or even in brick-and-mortar store.
Here are three ways to use machine learning and robotics to assist e-commerce.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / E-COMMERCE

ML enables vision-guided
picking
Vision systems and
robotics have come
together for industrial
applications. Regular robots
that aren’t equipped with an
advanced perception system
require certain conditions. For
example, the work environment
must be fixed, and the robot
should always proceed to a pre-
determined position.
How can a robot move to
where it’s needed? Picking
systems require high-precision Advanced automation sys- provide? First, it helps avoid bot-
sensing to locate objects to ma- tems can help online stores keep tlenecks and downtime, ensuring
nipulate. up with product flow and ensure 24/7 AMR operation throughout
Today, vision-guided robots customer satisfaction. For exam- a facility.
(VGR) are rising in populari- ple, Paltac Corp., a major whole- For instance, Mobile Indus-
ty. They include the following saler of consumer packaged trial Robots' MiR Fleet software
capabilities: goods in Japan, has streamlined offers an intuitive Web interface
• Recognizing an object with its picking processes with the for programming and monitoring.
cameras or other sensors help of RightHand Robotics. How does it work?

• Determining the item's shape AI manages mobile 1. MiR Fleet assigns priorities
and position in space robot fleets to several robots and coordi-
• Picking and transferring the As manufacturers nates their actions.
item to a target point with and supply chains 2. The software allocates the
robotics hardware adopt automation, tasks among the mobile ro-
they need to control and manage bots to complete the job in
A seemingly simple task their growing fleets of autono- the least amount of time.
requires complex AI and ML mous mobile robots (AMRs).
3. It also guarantees that the
technologies. VGRs are com- Fleet management systems
mobile robots move to a
monly used to locate objects on (FMS) from the robot vendors
charging station and charge
a conveyor belt. How does this or third-party software providers
up between tasks, reducing
help e-commerce companies? can help.
downtime.
Most vision-guided picking oc- An FMS allows users or
curs in warehouses. operators to centrally supervise 4. The smart system allows
For example, the RightPick numerous mobile robots from users to have multiple levels
system from RightHand Robotics multiple devices via standard of access.
uses AI to autonomously handle communication protocols. They
thousands of SKUs from totes, can use devices incuding laptops, MiR Fleet is equipped with
bins, boxes, and cases. The tablets, or smartphones to access cameras to control robot traffic
hardware consists of an intelli- the robots from anywhere, not patterns. Coupled with advanced
gent gripper, a high-performance just the shop floor. learning algorithms, the system
industrial PC, and a robot arm. What benefits can an FMS analyzes anonymized data to de-

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / E-COMMERCE

Hand guiding: In this case, an

operator can control the robot’s
motion directly rather than using
a teach pendant. If the robot is
in automated mode, it responds
only to the operator’s direct
control input. It allows the robot
to reduce the operator’s repeti-
tive-stress injury risk.

Unlike other autonomous

systems, cobots and collaborative
AMRs are designed for constant
work alongside human workers.
One example is DHL, which
termine the objects in the area, upstream and downstream pro- keeps pace with e-commerce
such as people, forklifts, or other cesses. That’s where collaborative demands by using collaborative
mobile equipment. robots, or cobots, come into play. picking technology from Locus
MiR's AMRs receive this Collaborative robot arms and Robotics.
information from the cameras, AMRs are different from indus- The global logistics provider
which improves their awareness trial robots because they include uses more than 500 assisted
of their surroundings and allows sensors and programming to picking robots in its warehouses
them to change their behavior avoid dangerous interactions with in the U.S., Europe, and the
even before entering an area. humans. They are also poten- U.K., and it plans to increase
Thus, the robots use AI and ML tially easier to operate, reducing that number this year.
to avoid high-traffic areas, such the need for technical experts in AI, ML, and robotics are
as where goods are regularly production. Cobots include the already helping the e-commerce
transported and transferred by following features, depending on industry meet customer expecta-
fork truck or where large groups the application: tions for rapid and accurate order
of workers are present. Safety-monitored stop: Such fulfillment. Vision-guided pick-
MiR robots are already at safety systems disable a robot ing, fleet-management systems,
work at Toyota, Ford, and other when a human enters the work and collaborative robot arms and
companies in over 60 countries. envelope, or the robot's operating AMRs have matured and are help-
area. This is designed for applica- ing businesses be competitive.
AI enables robots to This is only the tip of the
tions that require little interaction
collaborate with iceberg, and we'll see how online
between the robot and personnel.
human workers retailers realize these technolo-
Speed and separation mon-
How can e-commerce gies' full potential. n
itoring: Such robots use more
businesses handle the
powerful vision systems than
ever-growing number of orders? Alex Husar is chief technolo-
safety-monitored stop to slow
Recruitment and retention of gy officer at Onilab, with more
down operations when a person
workers for repetitive tasks has than eight years of experience
approaches and stop when a
become more difficult during the in developing progressive Web
worker is too close to the robot.
COVID-19 pandemic. apps, Magento migration, and
As online shopping doesn’t Power and force limiting: Salesforce development. Husar’s
show any sign of slowing down, These cobots are designed with expertise includes both full-stack
more merchants are applying ro- rounded corners and several development skills and the ability
bots to order picking. At the same collision sensors. They have force to provide guidance to an entire
time, people are still needed for limits to avoid injury. project team.

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AI AND PICKING

AI Becoming an Essential Feature

for Picking Robots
Honeywell, Mujin, and RightHand Robotics have applied
machine learning to make picking more precise and efficient.
BY PHIL BRITT

F
rom path planning to object recogni- “Quantifying the impact and improve-
tion, artificial intelligence is essential ments can most easily be estimated by the
to improving robotic piece picking, efficiencies and increased scope of robotics
particularly in manufacturing and in autonomous pick-and-place tasks,” he
e-commerce. added. “The improvements most readily tied
“The number of AI applications and pro- to increasing the number of products and
viders using AI in robotic picking solutions SKU variations a robot system can visualize
continues to increase,” said Thomas Evans, and handle in warehouse and DC [distribu-
chief technology officer at Honeywell Robot- tion center] operations.”
ics. “In the past year, we’ve seen an increase In addition, Thomas explained, “im-
in the demand for automation, particularly provements are made when AI solutions are
around robots that use machine learning exposed to more operational data and the
[ML] and artificial intelligence.” developers can efficiently repurpose that

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data back into the AI and ML location of every case on the That approach relies on a
models.” pallet, while perception soft- combination of sensing the en-
The following systems ware automatically recognizes a vironment and then using it for
demonstrate recent innovations wide variety of packaging. This measurements, path planning,
for picking robots using AI: technology allows for seamless and execution. This enables a
handling of a continuous flow of picking robot to have a target and
Honeywell SmartFlex Depalletizer pallets in any sequence without a plan to reach the target before
Pittsburgh-based Honeywell requiring any pre-programming execute mode, Coats said. “We
Robotics has a strong focus on or operator intervention, accord- never give the robot a target that
machine learning innovation ing to Thomas. it can’t reach,” he explained.
and implementation, according With AI and machine learn- Rather than a neural net,
to Evans. “This isn’t just in the ing, the depalletizer is designed Tokyo-based Mujin's robot relies
perspective to enhance robot to optimize the movements of on a database of items to be
performance and increase oper- the robotic arm for maximum picked, enabling the task to be
ational efficiencies, but also how picking speed and efficiency. The completed without any training.
we continue to quickly integrate control logic senses the weight of While picking robots have
automation solutions while on a each item as the robot lifts it and been used in assembly-line op-
customer site,” he said. automatically updates its grip- erations for years, 3D vision sys-
“Having a strong understand- ping response to securely transfer tems have only recently advanced
ing to generalize ML and AI each product. to the point where the robots
models for multiple applications The depalletizer, which was have the necessary intelligence
as the starting point for customer introduced in September, is in for warehouse and logistics appli-
deployments and quickly refine pilot at one production facility cations, according to Coats.
the system to meet operational and is commercially available. A Japan-based company is
requirement is where we have “There is a lot of interest from already using 20 of the robots to
focused our AI development,” our customer base,” according to perform 100,000 picks daily per
Evans noted. “It is an advantage Thomas. unit. The success of the technol-
to have a strong understanding Some installations could ogy there could be the basis for
of how to deploy AI solutions come in early 2022 with even quick adoption around the world,
in order to provide end-to-end more advanced AI and machine Coats said.
automation.” learning capabilities, he said. “With everything we’re seeing,
The company has several a lot of Fortune 500 companies
products that use AI and artic- Mujin robot doesn't use are going to want to make their
ulated robot arms to pick and a neural net supply chains more redundant
place packages and products. Other companies using AI with and capable,” he said. “By this
Honeywell’s Smart Flexible De- picking robots rely heavily on time next year, you’re going to
palletizer is an autonomous sys- neural networks, but they are see some major names deploying
tem that uses machine learning very difficult to train, asserted these types of robotic systems.”
to identify items on a pallet, then Brandon Coats, director of sys- Coats said he doesn’t expect
reach and pick up individual or tem innovation at Mujin Inc. any major changes in the un-
multiple packages (the mode “No matter what you do, it derlying AI technology. Instead,
can be changed) to place on a will never be 100% accurate,” there will be continued evolution
conveyor belt. he said. “So we’re going in and and realization of the cost bene-
The latest computer vision using a model-based definition fits of such systems, he said.
technology identifies the exact approach.” “The same way that we saw

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AI AND PICKING

ate fulfillment centers, Martinelli

said. As the software has im-
proved, so too has the reliability
and performance of AMRs to
execute warehouse tasks such as
picking and materials handling.

RightPick 3 learns without models

RightHand Robotics incorporat-
ed AI into its RightPick 3 system,
which comes equipped with all
components to integrate with ful-
fillment systems. It also includes
the RightPick MCP application
programming interface (API) for
robots getting into automotive ing systems, Martinelli added. easy and safe integration.
manufacturing 20 and 30 years “Robotic arm costs have come The RightPick 3 uses the
ago, you're going to see the same down significantly over time, mak- RightPickAI software, which
thing over the next five to 10 ing the systems more attractive, the company said does not rely
years in warehousing and logis- and pressure on retailers from on models but instead learns
tics,” said Coats. on-demand e-commerce, labor over time.
challenges, and the global pan- Apologistics GmbH is one
AI advances benefit demic have piqued demand for user of RightHand's technology.
robotics users warehouse automation,” he said. The company, which claimed
“When it comes to AI and pick- AI software and processors, to be Europe's most advanced
ing robots, the companies com- cloud and data-centric technolo- online pharmacy, with 100,000
mercializing these systems are gies, and autonomous mobile ro- products, recently opened a
benefiting from broader technol- bots (AMRs) are each attracting 220,200-sq.-ft. (20,438 sq. m)
ogy trends,” said Vince Martinel- billions of dollars of investment warehouse in the Netherlands.
li, head of product and marketing globally, according to Martinelli. With a fleet of RightPick-en-
at RightHand Robotics Inc. “It’s “When we look at the com- abled picking robots and an
now possible to hail a ride in an mercial impact, we see the automated storage and retrieval
autonomous vehicle in some cit- number of production sites system (ASRS) from AutoStore,
ies, for example, and we already with picking robots increasing Apologistics handles more than
take for granted that we can since they were introduced by 25,000 parcels per day with 20
order lunch via a virtual assistant RightHand Robotics in 2017,” or fewer employees, according to
using AI-augmented speech and he added. “These robots are founder Michael H. Fritsch. n
voice recognition based on natu- working across retail verticals
ral language processing.” including general e-commerce, Phil Britt owns S&P Enterprises
This progress seems to be pharma and online drugstores, and is a technology writer who
accelerating, pushing the state grocery, and others.” lives in the greater Chicago area.
of the art in underlying tools, This growing experience base In addition to Robotics 24/7, he
methods, and sensors that are also has helped drive technology has written for financial ser-
critical for the machine vision and improvements in the past year, as vices and business publications,
motion planning systems that are has the demand for meaningful including magazines, newsletters,
at the heart of autonomous pick- data from the people who oper- conference dailies, and Web sites.

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RESTAURANT ROBOTICS

Restaurant Robots
Should Start with Workflow,
From labor shortages Says Wings CEO

A
to the changing s with other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic
consumer behavior, has accelerated demand for automation in the restau-
rant industry. However, small and midsize businesses,
restaurants of all sizes or SMBs, have tight profit margins and are under-
are under pressure standably reluctant to invest in new, complex tech-
nologies even as they struggle with turnover and labor shortag-
to digitize their es, according to Haitham Al-Beik, CEO of Wings.
businesses. Littleton, Mass.-based Letsbutterfly Inc., which does
business as Wings, is developing proprietary systems in its
BY EUGENE DEMAITRE HiveRobotics Lab for “autonomous sustainable retail” (ASR).
Al-Beik has spoken with several restaurant franchises about
the challenges they face and what they want from robotics
suppliers. He shared his findings with Robotics 24/7:

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What are some of the biggest

challenges facing small and
midsize food-service businesses?
Al-Beik: Across the board, the
challenges stem from logistics
highly dependent on human la-
bor. Even at capacity, the output
is limited — human workers
can’t compete with 80 digital
orders coming through in a single
hour. As a result, customers have
less of a burden when making an
order, but they take it on when
they wait to pick up their orders.
Today, with the labor shortage
alone, the logistics are over- on increasing customer satisfac- For example, the transition
whelmed, and the customer tion while retaining staffers who to digital orders has only been
experience inevitably plummets. continue to be overworked. recent. In contrast, over 40% of
Therefore, the biggest challenge The pandemic showed that restaurants do not have up-to-
is upgrading logistics to support a human labor had already ap- date websites. The path towards
much more streamlined input and proached peak performance. We autonomous retail is taken by
output retail system while retain- will have to automate operations addressing three aspects of a
ing the same quality of service. while bringing about more cre- labor-driven logistics framework:
It’s not about replacing labor ative work opportunities to break human work, workflow, and hu-
with robotics but addressing the that barrier. The industry needs man-to-human communication.
whole operation and business to transition to an economy Many retailers embarked on
model. Retailers need to start where more entrepreneurs and automation starting with digital
thinking about their business as innovations are locally driven. orders that address the cashier
a single system or robot, rather and delivery stations and the
than a box with independent and What are some examples of workflow that connects them.
heterogenous robots within it. automation intended to help with This eliminated the need for staff
internal and external logistics? to write down or input orders.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic For example, are we talking about It also eliminated the human
made pain points more acute or food-preparation robots, server workflow of taking orders from
created new ones? robots, or automated storage and the customer and sending it over
Al-Beik: The pandemic exposed retrieval systems (ASRS)? to the assembly station. In addi-
many existing vulnerabilities of Al-Beik: Before we jump into par- tion, human communication has
the services economy. In addi- ticular automation solutions and been eliminated, since all com-
tion, it is now more apparent that pick those with the most impact, munication is digitized to modify
the retailer has no control over we need to understand and plan and adjust orders on demand.
the external logistics—human out an autonomous strategy to be Transitioning to digital orders
customers— due to safety and implemented for years to come. and communication was a signifi-
security regulations. Transitioning to a standardized cant first step. It enables the end
The environmental changes adoption of automation takes customer to be more versatile in
forced retailers’ hands to work time. interacting with the retailer. The

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next step is to continue automat-

ing the rest of the internal logis-
tics by moving backward, carry-
ing the “end-in-mind” benefits.
The challenge is deciding
whether to automate a station,
a workflow between stations,
or both.
For example, an automated
assembly station fulfilling orders
at two or four times the speed
of a human being will find itself
bottlenecked when attempting to
transport said orders to a deliv-
ery station. Even if the delivery
station is automated, it cannot In this scenario, automated However, external fulfillment
benefit from the assembly sta- storage of orders ready to be is dynamic and time-sensitive.
tions’ speed because the highway picked up and a customer re- It is challenging to predict,
becomes the limiting factor. trieval system would reduce the especially considering each
need for a human to manage the customer’s unique preferences
What can be done about these workflow between the assembly regarding what, when, and where
workflow bottlenecks? and delivery stations. The chal- they want their orders — even
Al-Beik: The overarching guid- lenge is to develop such a system without considering their aller-
ance is to upgrade workflows to that can do the following: gies, sensitivities, or accessibility
handle the accelerated transfer • Increase customer versatility, requirements.
of work between stations, then regardless of space Technologies coming to the
upgrade its connected stations market need to understand the
accordingly. • Take minimal valuable custom- logistics and customer needs
While food preparation can er footprint fully — the more it can support
be seen as the first step to au- • Eliminate the need for assem- a versatile customer experience,
tomate, it does not address how blers to leave their stations the more sustainable it is.
the food prepared will be deliv- • Reduce work for the assembler
ered to customers in a timely What do restaurant operators and
and customer franchisees want or need?
fashion and at their intended
destination: dine-in, pick-up, or Al-Beik: The short-term needs
Why aren’t these sufficient—is
drive-through. Instead, auto- are to reduce costs and reliance
it technological limitations, or a
mating workflow between the on labor and retain their I/O
lack of understanding of the use
assembly and the delivery station bandwidth. A model that can
cases?
as a whole would provide the fulfill such a need would allow
most impact. Al-Beik: The tendency to auto- franchisees to scale their busi-
Today, a delivery station is mate stations first is a knee-jerk nesses and replicate them across
an analog shelving unit, atop or reaction to eliminate labor with- many locations.
behind the counter. It does not out understanding the use cases. The long-term need is to offer
address the workflow portion, as The most friction for retailers is customers a versatile experience
a human still manages it. How where internal and external lo- with a more sustainable model
often have we been experienced gistics connect. A retailer can set than in traditional retail. More-
an order that’s ready to pick up up and tune its internal logistics over, the automation must be
but is not yet on the shelf? however it wants. modular, scalable, and take as

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RESTAURANT ROBOTICS

little space as possible. Such sys- By standardizing and stream- tion should have the option and
tems would allow franchisees to lining the input, the mechanisms ability to scale such a system in
quickly deploy their products at can now focus on delivery. For a modular way to a big chain as
urban and non-urban locations. example, a drive-through be- they grow.
Retail will transition from comes a drive-pickup when only Big chains are looking at the
a management operation to a a single input channel is im- immediate short-term impact
more administrative operation. plemented for digital orders. In to reduce cost and labor while
At the same time, robotics will this case, a restaurant without a retaining the same input and out-
minimize people focusing on dine-in will behave similarly to a put while considering long-term
logistics, so they can do more dark kitchen. benefits from an ROI [return on
customer-facing, value-add work. investment] and sustainability.
How quickly are the market and In addition, many chains
What types of solutions are better technologies serving it evolving? are looking into their external
focused on these requirements? When can we expect widespread delivery services with unmanned
Al-Beik: The next step is to deployments? ground vehicles (UGVs) and un-
elevate the ordering technologies Al-Beik: As mentioned earlier, manned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
while addressing the assembly- this transition will take time,
to-delivery workflow and stations. since cutting-edge technologies What can restaurateurs expect in
It’s imperative that the solution will require numerous people to the coming year?
increases revenue by taking back test it day in, day out in the real Al-Beik: Restaurateurs will see
considerable time that has been world. Initially, major brands an adoption of next-generation
wasted from layers of friction. will drive and adopt such tech- robotics that does not occupy the
Wings’ systems address this nologies first before SMBs can same space as humans to give
workflow by retaining the cus- afford them. customers and staff members
tomer and kitchen footprint as Widespread adoption of au- more versatility.
much as possible while reducing tomated workflows and custom- Moreover, retailers will focus
stress on the staff and elevating er-facing systems will begin after on a single digital communi-
the customer experience. a year of “being in the wild,” as cation channel through their
people become more comfortable smartphones to best facilitate
What are the differences with it. their customer needs, allowing
in designing for so-called Soon after, stations will be in-the-moment and just-in-time
ghost kitchens versus regular automated, offering concurrent operations. In this case, the
restaurants? operations for a more seamless restaurant becomes a pickup
Al-Beik: The dark or ghost and streamlined path to aug- station or a dine-in experience
kitchens separated logistics mentation and higher-band- where the same type of robotics
concerns to address changes width retailers. system is doing the delivery.
in customer behavior and how We will also see the idea of
they want their products. In a While we’ve talked about SMBs, a waiter or server transitioning
more urban setting, customers how much are the big chains to a customers’ pocket with
expect more on-the-go, pick- pushing advances in food-service display and voice AI solutions.
up or delivery by third parties automation? Nonetheless, the restaurant will
— where dark kitchens excel. Al-Beik: The big chains will most have a concierge on staff who
Similarly, restaurants will have likely drive the adoption of food run operations and be its face
to do the same by restructuring automation, as they have the to customers. The future will
the kitchen-to-customer deliv- exact same needs as SMBs but bring more freedom for cus-
ery systems with a single input on a larger scale. In retrospect, tomers and retailers to be more
channel. SMBs with the right automa- versatile and scalable. n

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COLLABORATION SOFTWARE

OnRobot Debuts WebLytics Software

for Collaborative Robotics Applications

OnRobot A/S recently announced

WebLytics brings remote monitoring, the launch of its WebLytics software
device diagnostics, and data analytics for production monitoring, device
diagnostics, and data analytics. The
capabilities to OnRobot’s line Odense, Denmark-based company
of application-focused hardware. said WebLytics is designed to gath-
er data from multiple collaborative
BY ROBOTICS 24/7 STAFF robot applications simultaneously
and transform it into easy-to-under-
stand, visualized device and applica-
tion-level intelligence. The goal is to
enhance productivity and minimize
downtime, it said.

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“The launch of WebLytics

is an important landmark for
OnRobot, our customers, and
our global integrator network,”
said Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO
of OnRobot. “WebLytics is the
first software solution to provide
real-time, application-focused
data for collaborative applications
across major robot brands.”
“As our first software product,
WebLytics marks the beginning
of OnRobot’s journey into robot
software and completes our
vision of providing a ‘one-stop
shop’ for collaborative applica- cell downtime, it said. initiated and the number of grip
tions on both the hardware and Integrating the globally cycles performed while an appli-
software side,” he said. recognized Overall Equipment cation is running.
OnRobot’s product line Effectiveness (OEE) industry When changes are made to a
includes all-electric vacuum standard, WebLytics identifies robot cell, such as adjusting the
and magnetic end effectors, trends in the robot cell, including speed of a robot or the settings
the bio-inspired Gecko grip- patterns, peaks, and disturbanc- on a gripper, WebLytics can also
ping technology, force/torque es in application productivity. automatically report on the ef-
sensors, “2.5D” vision, robotic OEE measures the percentage of fects of those changes on appli-
screwdrivers, sanding kits, and manufacturing time that is truly cation performance, according to
tool changers. The company said productive – a score of 100% OnRobot.
it serves applications such as indicates that the collaborative If anomalies occur in the
packaging, quality control, and application is producing only collaborative application after
materials handling, as well as good parts, as fast as possible, deployment, WebLytics enables
machine tending, assembly, and and with no downtime. users to analyze the data collect-
surface finishing. With these OEE measures, ed directly from the robots and
WebLytics can determine wheth- tools and report on its findings
WebLytics uses OEE standard er the manufacturing process using customizable dashboards.
Not only can WebLytics elimi- is running at optimal speed. It
nate manual data collection for can also monitor and analyze the OnRobot maintains product
cobot end users and integrators, quality of application cycles, pro- compatibility
but it can also provide actionable viding key insights for manufac- OnRobot said that WebLytics is
insights into how well a collabo- turers of all sizes, said OnRobot. compatible with all of its own
rative application is performing, WebLytics can report on the tools, as well as leading collabo-
claimed OnRobot. The software utilization of a robot arm and rative robot and lightweight in-
is also designed to offer live OnRobot tools such as grippers, dustrial robot arms. The software
device diagnostics, alerts, and vision cameras, and sensors. The is expandable, “futureproofing” it
preventive-maintenance mea- software can measure in real as new robots and tools become
sures to minimize costly robot time the number of safety stops available, said the company.

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COLLABORATION SOFTWARE

Access to WebLytics is avail-

able through a secure, intuitive
browser-based user interface
that displays OEE measures and
user-defined key performance
indicators (KPIs). Customiz-
able dashboards can provide an
immediate view into real-time
and historical application perfor-
mance, OnRobot said.
A shop floor can deploy the
WebLytics server can be deployed
on its local network or added to a
virtual network that connects to
the robot cell, the company said.
Collected data is stored locally on data-backed custom service WebLytics designed to ease
the WebLytics server. agreements and engineering optimization
In addition, WebLytics’ built- services for cell optimization. Laszlo Papp, product manager
in Web server is always accessi- “WebLytics is the perfect and sales engineer at Wamatec
ble from the shop-floor network addition to our existing product Hungary Kft., tested WebLytics
or from anywhere in the world lines and a natural progression of with machine tending, pick-and-
via secure HTTPS connection. the OnRobot tradition of making place, and palletizing applications.
WebLytics is not just a advanced tools and technologies “In this fast-paced world, time
powerful tool for end users, — in this case remote moni- is everything,” he said. “When
said OnRobot. It also creates toring, device diagnostics and cycle time is really important,
new revenue opportunities for data analytics — affordable and WebLytics helps you identify the
system integrators by providing accessible to companies of all small mistakes that cause time
the software required to offer sizes,” said Iversen. wastage. WebLytics can also save
a lot of time for yourself and
for your production line by
making it easy to schedule
all maintenance and prod-
uct changes.”
“My favorite function
was the dashboard,” added
Papp. “I really liked how
WebLytics allowed me to
monitor all my applications,
my cobots/robots, and my
end-of-arm-tools using
one platform that provides
real-time monitoring, data
collection, and line charting.
WebLytics makes optimizing
all applications much easier
than before.”
WebLytics is available
WebLytics overview. Source: OnRobot worldwide via subscription. n

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / FULFILLMENT

Nimble Robotics Says Its Picking Robots

Have Picked More Than 15M Objects

The startup says its AI-enabled robots have picked across

500,000 unique products from several well-known brands.
BY ROBOTICS 24/7 STAFF

Nimble Robotics Inc. recently est, most affordable, and most are creating historic labor short-
said that its robots have picked sustainable on-demand e-com- ages and a growing labor supply
and packed hundreds of thou- merce fulfillment.” void. Our robots are being used
sands of customer orders on a “E-commerce continues to to augment the human workforce
daily basis. The San Francis- grow rapidly, but the available to help fill that void.”
co-based startup claimed that its warehouse labor force is actually Over the past few years, said
robots use artificial intelligence declining,” said Simon Kalouche, Nimble, two challenges have
to “pick, pack, and fulfill on- founder and CEO of Nimble stifled the adoption of pick-and-
line orders to enable the fast- Robotics. “These opposing trends pack robots: reliability and tech-

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / FULFILLMENT

Nimble Robotics supports e-commerce order fulfillment. Source: Business Wire

nology integration challenges. Nimble touts flexibility, ease matically switches its gripper to
E-commerce fulfillment centers of integration properly pick, pack, and handle
hold millions of different prod- Nimble said it has deployed each object.”
ucts, said the company. Each fleets of robots within warehouse “Our technology has been
of those products are different environments across the U.S. proven to be reliable to 99.9%
sizes, shapes, weights, textures, this year. It added that it expects accuracy in production, but
stiffnesses, and fragility. Having existing and new contracts to what’s often the most impressive
robots that can reliably handle grow the fleet with over 200 and exciting product feature,
all of this variability has been more robots in 2022. in the eyes of our customers, is
considered by many to be impos- The company said its robots the way in which we seamlessly
sible, said Nimble. have picked more than 15 million integrate our robots,” he add-
In addition, integration of objects across 500,000 unique ed. “It’s very fast and easy. Our
technology into warehouse eco- products, ranging from cosmet- AI-based integration requires
systems is a notoriously painful ics and consumer electronics to no changes to the warehouse
process, Nimble said. Integration apparel, from daily essentials to software whatsoever. It also
efforts frequently take up to a holiday gift favorites. costs nothing to implement. The
year, cost hundreds of thousands “Our robots use a variety of AI interprets the already existing
of dollars, and require thou- different grippers and supervised human operator interfaces to de-
sands of software changes to the autonomy to reliably handle near- termine what items to pick and
warehouse management system ly any object or product that fits where to pack them.”
(WMS). Nimble said its offer- into a bin,” said Kalouche. “Our “A full production integration
ing uniquely solves these two AI learns what grippers work best can all be done in one day using
challenges. on different objects and auto- Nimble’s AI Integration tool,”

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / FULFILLMENT

“There are a dozen or so

robotics companies that claim
to have a robotic picking solu-
tion,” said Helmut Leibbrandt,
senior vice president, supply
chain management and logistics
– Americas, at Puma. “Nimble
is the only one I’ve seen that
has proven, scaled deployments
in real warehouses perform-
ing real production picking.
They developed a solution that
integrated seamlessly within
our existing physical and WMS/
WCS [warehouse control sys-
said Kalouche. “When I say, ‘One TGW, and Kuecker Pulse tem] structure.”
day, $0, zero code changes,’ it Integration (KPI). “Nimble partnered with us
sounds too good to be true, but “We haven’t done any mar- last year during the COVID
our customers will vouch for us. keting and surprisingly we don’t outbreak to help us safely ful-
This has been a significant com- have any dedicated sales reps, yet fill orders in our warehouse,”
petitive advantage allowing us to we’ve deployed a large number of said Gary Bravard, co-found-
quickly scale.” robots,” said Kalouche. “I think er and chief business officer
“To my knowledge, we’ve now this is a testament to the high of Adore Me. “Together, we
deployed the world’s largest fleet demand for what we’re building became the first e-commerce
of e-commerce ASRS [automat- and to our product and how well fulfillment center in the world
ed storage and retrieval system] it works. We let the robots speak with fully robotic picking.
picking robots,” he stated. “More for, and sell, themselves. To date, The robots now handle our
robots deployed means more we have 100% customer retention 25,000+ SKUs and can pick
proprietary data being collected. and 100% repeat customers.” over 30,000 units per day.”
Just like with self-driving cars, “With logistics and fulfillment
more data means higher capabil- experience at Amazon, iHerb Nimble invests in growth
ity and reliability which further and other retail companies, I’ve Nimble Robotics said its back-
drives customer retention and worked with a lot of technology ers include Accel, DNS Capital,
happiness.” teams, and the Nimble team GSR Ventures, and Reinvent
is the most impressive robotics Capital. It noted that its board
Big brands turn to picking robots team I’ve ever worked with,” members include AI experts and
Nimble said it is working with said Jonathan Styles, director of entrepreneurs Fei-Fei Li and
many of the world’s largest and continuous improvement-lean at Sebastian Thrun.
best-known brands including iHerb. “They are bringing to mar- Since raising a $50 million
Best Buy, Victoria’s Secret, ket bleeding-edge technology and investment last March, Nimble
Puma, NFI/CalCartage, and solving extremely hard problems has increased its team from 25
Weee! It added that its robots in a market that is struggling to to 75 employees and expanded
are picking in warehouse appli- find labor. We have over 20 Nim- its customer base. The company
cations developed by systems ble robots today and plan to add added that its robots helped to
integrators such as AutoStore, more as we grow our fulfillment fulfill millions of orders for the
OPEX, Bastian, Swisslog, capabilities.” 2021 holiday season. n

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