Linde Material Handling has launched two new models from its innovative Linde-MATIC robotic truck series.
The Linde T-MATIC pallet truck and the Linde L-MATIC AC counterbalance pallet stacker will complement the existing range which was showcased at the recent LogiMAT trade fair.
Last year Linde launched its first warehouse trucks which were able to navigate autonomously without additional infrastructure. Linde now plan to offer one robotic version for each of its major product series, in cooperation with French robotic specialist, Balyo.
Gary Bartram, automation sales manager at Linde said: “The trucks can react to obstacles in real time; they’re flexible, scalable and easily adaptable to new warehouse layouts. Transport routes in the mapped area can be learnt quickly and are easily modified to suit new tasks. The trucks can operate autonomously and provide maximum safety for pedestrian and MHE Traffic.”
In combination with wireless LAN modules (so-called COMBOXes), the vehicles’ supervision software ensures the connection with roller shutters, belt conveyors and pallet stretch wrapping machines. The software also receives orders from corporate ERP or Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and translates them into transport orders.
These orders can be triggered directly via the truck’s touch screen, or programmed in the truck’s computer. The robotic vehicles communicate with individual machines via the Supervisor software, for example a bar code scanner or a presence sensor at the end of a roller conveyor.
The robotic pallet stacker will then pick up the pallet and transport it to the requested destination. The computing unit manages incoming orders, assigns route-optimised transport jobs, receives feedback from the trucks and manages the traffic.
The robotic truck has a lifting capacity of three tonnes, compared to the L-Matic counterbalance truck which lifts 1.2 tonnes. To date, the robotic trucks are mainly used in the transport of pallets and trailers, covering distances of up to several hundred meters.
The vehicles are also used to bring goods to an intermediate or bulk storage section after unloading from the lorry, or to consolidate different products prior to loading the lorry.
Comments are closed.