Germany's Zalando pilots robots to pick shoe orders

05 Sep '19

1 min read

Pic: Zalando

Berlin-based e-commerce firm Zalando, along with robotics company Magazino, launched a test last October for using robots designed to relieve logistics employees of strenuous and un-ergonomic activities. After eight months of testing, the two robots will now travel to Lahr for a pilot. The ‘TORU’ robots can reach for and pick up individual shoe cartons.

This distinguishes them from the majority of other robotic systems, which can often move entire pallets or crates, but are unable to pick up individual products, according to a company release.

At the beginning, the robots would stand still for a longer period of time during operation due to detection errors or computing time. By reducing these pauses, the number of pickups per hour could be increased considerably, so that the service is really efficient, said Carl-Friedrich zu Knyphausen, head of logistics development at Zalando.

Carl-Friedrich said coordinating additional robots increases the complexity and therefore, Magazino applies algorithms and artificial intelligence to tackle that challenge.

Through the use of its cameras, TORU pays particular attention to ensuring that its path does not cross with that of its colleagues, and it always waits before going forward. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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