ePicker, a material handling equipment provider, teamed with Anantak, a robotics company, to power warehouse vehicles such as pallet movers, tuggers, stackers, and forklifts. ePicker’s autonomous pallet mover, powered by Anantak, aims to make warehouse automation attainable and widely accessible. The first vehicle from the collaboration uses a combination of lasers, 3D cameras, vehicle telemetry, and a proprietary self-driving software package allowing the unit to complement existing workflows instead of replacing them.

The autonomous pallet mover delivers its value like most mobile robots by taking on the task of shuttling material long distances but sets itself apart with on-board intelligence and how little effort is needed to deploy, maintain, and scale for any operation. Units will be available for delivery in August 2022.

Traditionally, when mobile robotics are deployed, there are significant changes required to existing processes and infrastructure to make them run seamlessly. The autonomous pallet mover allows for rapid adoption by intentionally keeping a human in the loop at the front-end of the process, and then engaging onboard autonomy to allow for safe, reliable transport and drop off to destinations in a facility.

This strategy allows for straightforward implementation letting facility leaders quickly automate simple workflows. As workflows get more complex, or the number of robots increases, the fleet management capabilities expand, including a cloud-based platform allowing for remote support and over-the-air updates to keep operations running smoothly. ePicker’s autonomous pallet mover also supports customers by ensuring extended costs are limited by offering simple repair and service solutions that are easy to implement and cost effective.

“One of the biggest highlights of our technology is that it doesn’t need a lot of programming, it grows with you, becomes customized to your needs and learns as it operates,” said Manuj Naman, founder and CEO at Anantak. “Working with ePicker has been an incredible journey as their products complement to our technology perfectly. Its line of material handling equipment is meeting unique and valuable needs and our partnership is bringing solutions to the market that are unlike the other options available today.”

“ePicker has lithium and traditional powered vehicles that help fill a gap in the warehouse, and the addition of Anantak technology gives our customers another excellent option to meet the needs that require consistent and repetitive routes,” said Jason Bratton, President for ePicker. “At the end of the day, users don’t care how our solutions work, they just want them to work and alleviate a pain point. The ePicker autonomous pallet mover adheres to all industry safety standards and we are really excited to continue building this line of vehicles with Anantak.”

Features of the autonomous pallet mover include manual pick, autonomous drop off, in-line or in-grid mapping that can be done by the user and obstacle avoidance. The first autonomous pallet mover can automatically map any footprint changes and includes onboard diagnostics, showing users step-by-step how to solve serviceability issues on-screen. These components break the barrier between technology and accessibility, making it user-friendly for customers and giving them more autonomy.