Makers of robotic truck-unloading solutions are refining their offerings now that the technology is being used in many warehouses—and that means solutions are getting “smarter” and more adept at handling challenges that arise in real time. Increased handling capabilities, better dexterity, and even more autonomy are at the heart of the updates.
“There are certain behaviors you don’t see in the lab but you do see in the real world,” explains Pete Blair, vice president of product and marketing for Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Pickle Robot, which completed its first commercial installation in the summer of 2023 and now has roughly 12 truck-unloading robots up and running around the country. “We’ve been improving the system over that time period. Right now, [we’re] moving forward with the next generation of the robot.”
As of this past fall, all customers had been upgraded to the new robot, which features better wheels on its custom-built base, a sturdier onboard conveyor, additional sensors, and an improved gripper, according to Blair. The updates are making the robot more efficient and are in line with enhancements other robotic developers are making as well—all in the name of automating one of the toughest jobs in the warehouse.
“This technology is something [warehouses have] wanted for so long,” Blair says, emphasizing the difficulty of manually unloading box after box from a trailer, often in extreme temperatures. “The value at the end of the day is just so big and easy to recognize. [Truck unloading] remains one of the worst jobs in the warehouse … these jobs are getting harder and harder to fill.”
SMOOTHING OUT THE PROCESS
Pickle’s truck-unloading robot consists of a robotic picking arm on a wheeled base, with sensors, cameras, and an advanced software system that enable it to move boxes of different shapes and sizes out of trailers and into the warehouse. The robot, whose gripper can handle cartons measuring up to 36 inches long, 24 inches high, and 24 inches wide, can retrieve boxes weighing up to 60 pounds from high up in the trailer and handle floor-loaded boxes of up to 100 pounds. The robot then places the items on a flexible conveyor that moves them into the warehouse for the next step in the receiving process.
Some of the next-generation updates are part of ongoing refinements to the system—such as the ability to move smaller items, perform multipick moves, and recover boxes that fall on the floor during unloading. Today, Pickle’s robot can grip items as small as six-inch cubes for multipick moves, for example. And it can autonomously respond to changing conditions in the trailer, just as a human would.
“If you pick something and something shifts and falls on the floor, the robot picks it up, just takes care of it,” Blair explains. “We had been field testing that function; now we can do it.
“We’re making the robot smarter, making it do things differently—with more sophisticated path-planning algorithms. Now it can make more sophisticated moves that are more efficient, faster—grabbing two things rather than one, for example.”
Other changes are a direct result of the robots actively working in the field. For example, the robot’s gripper is designed to break away if it’s under too much stress, but users found that the process of reattaching the gripper was difficult and time-consuming—and ultimately slowed the unloading process.
“This has been completely redesigned and is now a one-minute fix,” Blair says.
BUILDING A SYSTEM
Global robotics supplier Mujin is also continuing to refine its truck-unloading solution—TruckBot. Although the developer does not disclose the number of TruckBots in use around the world, company leaders say user feedback from pilot tests and recent rollouts is playing a large role in refining the system. Mujin is working to improve the robot’s capacity—so that it can handle an increasing array of sizes, shapes, and weights—and also ensure that the TruckBot, which is part of a larger effort to automate the entire inbound logistics workflow, can operate effectively alongside other types of warehouse robots, according to Josh Cloer, vice president of sales and marketing.
“Truck unloading is only part of the challenge; [you also have to consider] what happens next [in a warehouse’s inbound freight operation],” Cloer explains, pointing to downstream functions such as sorting the unloaded boxes and building pallets. “We focus on areas where we can solve all those problems.”
The company starts with its MujinController, a robotic platform that powers its products and allows them to work autonomously. TruckBot is different from other unloading solutions in that it doesn't use a robotic arm to grab and move boxes—instead, it uses advanced gripper technology attached to a standard telescoping conveyor. Powered by the controller, and using sensors and advanced software, TruckBot can reach as far as 52 feet into the truck trailer, grasping boxes weighing up to 50 pounds from the front and seamlessly transferring them to the conveyor, which transports the packages into the warehouse. Cloer says the design allows for faster unloading so that warehouses can turn those trailers around quickly: TruckBot can move up to 1,000 cases per hour.
Although customers can use TruckBot on its own, the robot is designed to work in concert with Mujin’s other robots—including its automated case-handling solution, called QuickBot, which can depalletize, palletize, and repalletize boxes in the warehouse. The combination allows for a smoother, more efficient inbound process.
“We provide the whole inbound automation solution,” Cloer explains. “We put these processes in parallel—unloading and palletizing really fast and sorting downstream.”
On the human side of the equation, labor can be reallocated from the loading dock to other parts of the warehouse. Cloer notes that many warehouses have multiple workers in a trailer performing the unloading tasks along with another set of workers handling the removal of boxes and building pallets. Automation solves that challenge.
“You can more greatly reduce the [number] of operators you need on the inbound side of the warehouse,” he says.
MAKING STRIDES
Vendors agree that interest in robotic truck unloading is growing as more systems are put in place. Quite simply, the ability to show systems in action, achieving real results, helps seal more deals, according to Blair.
“Being able to show other prospects … just [gives] the whole market confidence that this is ready for prime time,” he says, adding that Pickle just signed three more deals with customers this past summer. “Being able to automate this function—it remains a huge interest for a broad swath of customers.”
Gartner, Inc.