Increased throughput for e-commerce and warehouse logistics

Yaskawa, in cooperation with Realtime Robotics, is adding more versatility in material handling and fulfilment automation solutions. The combination of the high performance Motoman robots with Realtime Robotics’ core motion planning technology delivers improved precision and cycle times to a variety of high value logistics applications, including piece picking and mixed case palletizing.

The well-known challenge for warehouse automation solution providers is to increase productivity, while reducing the cost and time to deploy. With the core technology of Realtime Robotics software and perception capabilities, high performance Motoman robots can be placed closer to each other to increase and optimize task efficiency. Furthermore, the joint multi-robot architecture empowers a streamlined, simpler process of deploying robotic solutions that eliminates the need for programming interference zones. The result is robotic work cells with a smaller footprint and higher output.

Realtime is excited to collaborate and develop joint solutions with Yaskawa to address the needs and demands of the ever-growing logistics and e-commerce market, said Peter Howard, CEO of Realtime Robotics. Together our technology will drive significant operational efficiencies, improve accuracy, and increase throughput in a broad range of material handling applications.

Workplace advantages

Because manually picking, placing and palletizing various objects for long hours in a facility is hard work and potentially dangerous, it is also increasingly challenging to consistently staff these jobs. Improving the working conditions, as well as the career opportunities for employees, are important for material handling and logistic providers. Automation has long been desired, but programming robots to recognize and adapt to on-the-fly changes has been too difficult and time-consuming.  Now, the unique combination of Yaskawa’s powerful, high-performance robots with Realtime’s automated robot programming and advanced sensing enables customers to quickly deploy robotic solutions for material handling and fulfilment.  This automation allows employees to focus on activities that are safer and to which they can add greater value.

We are pleased to be further intensifying and expanding our industrial control technology, said Lee Moulder, Sales and Application Director at Yaskawa Nordic. The partnership with Realtime combines control for logic, motion and robotics with solutions for Industry 4.0 applications as well as enhances Yaskawa’s product offerings and solutions for our customers.

In addition, this technology partnership offers quick fault recognition for highly variable automation environments. Applying this monitoring technology to palletizing aids in building dense, stable, and accurate mixed case pallets, while automatically alerting maintenance if errors occur.
 

Installation at customer sites

The first of these mixed pallet robot cells from Yaskawa will be installed at customer sites in the beginning of 2021. Each cell consists of Realtime’s motion planning solution with two MOTOMAN-GP180 robots with YRC1000 control system, servo grippers, roller conveyors, and safety fencing.

About Yaskawa Nordic

Yaskawa's business in Sweden, which started in the 1970s, is a part of the Yaskawa Electric Corporation, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Yaskawa is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots, motors and motion control. There are close to half a million MOTOMAN robots installed worldwide. With access to world leading automation technology, Yaskawa Nordic will create growth and competitiveness for customers in Sweden and abroad.

About Realtime Robotics

Realtime Robotics has developed a proprietary suite of products to generate safe motion plans in milliseconds for industrial robots and autonomous vehicles. Its solution enables robots to function together in unstructured and collaborative workspaces, as well as react to dynamic obstructions the instant changes are perceived. Its solutions expand the potential of automation. Learn more about Realtime Robotics here and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.