AMRs: the safe choice for the warehouse

THE GOOD news is that the UK is one of the safest countries in Europe in which to work, with consistently one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries across all industries compared to other large European economies. It's a similar story for work related injuries and health problems. 

Even better news would be to continue minimising the accidents that still do occur in the warehouse. According to HSE’s 'Transportation and Storage Statistics in Great Britain', slips, trips or falls on the same level (45%) were the most common of the main kinds of accidents in transportation and storage for the latest three years (2018/19-2020/21), and 6% were from being struck by a moving vehicle.

Modernising warehouse operations

The pressure to fulfil orders with shorter lead times is increasing, upping the activity within warehouses and distribution centres. A distribution centre typically operates with a mixed fleet of counterbalance, narrow aisle and order picking trucks rushing around it.

Racking aisles are one area where these vehicles might encounter pedestrian pickers. However the busiest accident risk zones are the areas where staff manually carry or push a cart or pedestrian truck between Goods In, pick zones, packaging desks and marshalling areas. Even with careful planning of pedestrian routes, close proximity between these large machines and people – and therefore risk of accidents – is hard to avoid. 

Using Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) to automate the transportation of goods, roll cages, pallets and other storage units between these areas in a warehouse is a highly effective method for separating people from vehicle traffic to avoid the risk of collisions. 

Real-time obstacle detection​

Where cohabitation of mobile robots and humans does occur, such as to support order picking in an aisle, an AMR equipped with autonomous navigation will provide far superior levels of safety.

Equipped with security cameras and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) units, AMRs can travel on complex routes that are much narrower than alternatives such as AGVs can travel within, and they have a perfect perception of the environment around them.

An iFollow robot, for example, analyses its situation in real time to avoid obstacles or even overtake slower vehicles. Two 3D cameras (front and back) give a three-dimensional perception with a wide viewing angle and volumetric detection of objects even at long distances. Taking in the environment around them, the safety LIDARs complement each other perfectly and play an essential role in the 360° object detection of the vehicle. When the robot works in cooperation with humans, navigation modes can take into account the proximity of the user, for example during order preparation.

Automated technology keeps robots under control so they do not become the cause of any collisions or stop where they are not supposed to thus causing a hazard. AMRs will follow instructions from a Warehouse Management System (WMS) via robot fleet management software, which should be capable of being implemented on any type of computer. 

This is the kind of technology iFollow builds into its range of AMRs which are geared to improve productivity in grocery, industrial, pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, logistics and mass distribution sectors, which all operate busy, fast moving warehouses. The company made the strategic choice to design and manufacture its own autonomous mobile robots – which are all guaranteed – and fully develops its own navigation and fleet management algorithms. Being designed for intense and repeated use over time, iFollow’s AMRs not only deliver great value and productivity, they also ensure safe operation

Frazer Watson is UK-Ireland country manager at iFollow

For more information: 

www.ifollow.fr

Tel: +33157217152