Review: VisionNav Robotics Showing Its Forklift AGV in WRC 2019

Review: VisionNav Robotics Showing Its Forklift AGV in WRC 2019

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We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.

 — Vernor Vinge

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"Intelligent Ecosystem for a New Open Era", at the previous World Robot Conference 2019, VisionNav Robotics makes its first public appearance of the unmanned material handling solution based on vision navigation. It also became a highlight in smart logistics area.

Figure: 2019 World Robot Conference

Dazzling Technologies and Innovations Make the Future Within Reach

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WRC 2019 is composed three events: the World Forum on Robot, the World Robot Exhibition and World Robot Contest. The event brought together more than 300 experts and specialist in robotics from domestic and foreign countries, over 1000 participating teams, at least 180 well-known enterprises and institutions, as well as no less than 700 robots. It is one of the largest-scale, highest-level and most-internationalized robotics conference in Chinese robotics history.

Here you can see robots doing brain surgery, robot bands playing music passionately, dog-like robots ringing the bell to deliver a package, service robots giving Wink to the audience madly… They are the special receptionists, musicians, calligraphists, coffee makers, food delivery staff, firemen, photographers, doctors, and teachers in the exhibition. Perhaps audience who were amazed by the robot's performance yesterday will be the witnesses of the start of future world in 10 years.

 [Figure: Surgery Robot]

 [Figure: Delivery Robot]

 [Figure: Fireman Robot]

 [Figure: Robot Band]

Integration of Human Robot Collaboration: Intelligent Warehouse Logistics

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"The era we are in is a time when human robot collaboration is undergoing a major transformation, which offers us great opportunities and challenges." said by Oussama Khatib, the President of the International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR)

From “utilize and being utilized” to “harmonious co-existence”, via human robot collaboration, a robot revolution initiated by intelligent warehouse logistics is coming.

Although robots are rapidly expanding from traditional application such as material handling and assembly, to more intelligent fields for instance manufacturing, medical health, and life services in recent years, from the current development trends, only industrial robots, especially warehouse logistics robots, can truly establish their base in rigid demand and the supply chain to achieve mass and large-scale production.

[Figure: Booth of JD.com Smart Logistics]

[Figure: Booth of Meituan Food Unmanned Delivery]

[Figure: Booth of Food Serving Robots]

Material Handling Solution Based on Sustainable Development from VisionNav Robotics Attracts Great Attention

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At the just-concluded WRC 2019, VisionNav Robotics use real robot to perform real material handling, which attracted great interest to audience and media. Their unmanned material handling solutions caused heated discussions.

The counterbalanced unmanned forklift presented by VisionNav Robotics this time uses advanced technology in the industry including vision navigation, spatial perception, advanced algorithm, cloud computing and storage technology. With navigation accuracy of ±10cm and stopping accuracy of ±5cm., it can realize unmanned operation such as goods horizontal transportation, stacking and placing the shelves. Currently such unmanned forklift have been widely applied in manufacturing logistics and warehousing logistics.

[Figure: Media Have Reported the Rising Discussion of Unmanned transportation]

During an online interview at WRC live media room on August 22, Dr. Li Luyang, co-founder and CEO of VisionNav Robotics, introduced the core technologies, implementation methods and application scenarios of unmanned forklift. He said his team is working hard to build a modular driverless platform, hoping to achieve a breakthrough in "easy to use" by lowering the technical threshold, so that partners and users can maintenance robots more easily.

[Figure: Li Luyang at WRC live media room]

On August 23, Dr. Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human spaceflight engineering project, visited the booth of VisionNav Robotics. He asked about implementation application scenarios and market prospects of vision navigation technology, and highly praised old forklift unmanned transformation solution. He said such solution can truly help enterprise for sustainable development.

[Figure: Dr. Zhou Jianping visited the booth of VisionNav Robotics]

VisionNav Robotics was founded in 2016 by an EngD team from the University of Tokyo and the Chinese university of Hong Kong, headquartered in Shenzhen with branches in Hongkong and Foshan. VisionNav Robotics is dedicated to build a driverless universal technical platform to deliberate global industrial vehicles. At present, the unmanned transformation upgrades have been done to forklifts, tractors, port cranes, and the projects have been landed.

VisionNav Robotics