Automation and robotics in logistics: why use robots?

Talk about automated warehouse means to talk about robots for logistics. In this area, both the industrial robots that the so-called “co-bot”, or collaborative robots. Because of their ability to interact with human operators and adapt to different work contexts, cobots are becoming more and more prevalent in the automated warehouses. Industrial robots, on the other hand, are often used in repetitive and standardized tasks, such as transportation or heavy load handling. In both cases, the goal is to increase the efficiency of logistics operations and minimize human error.

The industrial robots, therefore, are generally used to perform repetitive tasks in order to Replace the manual labor of the operator, through the collection of data information in real time, while the co-bot, on the other hand, have the characteristic of support the work of operators and have the characteristic of versatility and autonomous operation.

To date the logistics 4.0 applied to the field of logistics and supply chain leads to the spread of new technologies. Depending on the purpose of automation and the set business goals, one can opt for different types of robotic solutions in the automatic warehouses:

• Robots for goods picking and storage as transelevators which allow vertical and horizontal movement along precise tracks placed between aisles of shelving units or the pallet shuttle For the handling of goods;
• Goods handling robots including self-driving trolleys AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) AMR (Autonomous mobile robots) and LGV (Laser Guided Vehicle). AGVs are capable of moving along a path laid out by fixed installations. An AGV has minimal on-board intelligence, therefore, an AGV can detect obstacles in its path, but it cannot go around them, so it simply stops until the obstacle is removed. AMRs are more advanced solutions because they take advantage of laser scanners and 3-D cameras that allow them to receive information about their surroundings, recognize obstacles, and dynamically modify their path. Finally, LGVs (Laser Guided Vehicles) are a subfamily of AGVs. In fact, their movement depends on laser scanners that allow complete mapping of the work area, without the need for indicators to make their own route.
• Anthropomorphic robots who are able to replicate the movement of the operator, especially used for particularly repetitive and alienating operations, aumentando l’efficienza della catena logistica. Anthropomorphic robots consist of mechanical arms that can be customized for both picking tasks and palletizing or depalletizing operations.