Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a number of benefits to the logistics industry, from greater automation to more accurate delivery predictions. As AI becomes more advanced, it will likely dramatically change the logistics industry.
Already, AI and robotics are increasing the capacity of warehouses with the automation of moving, lifting, and sorting sales items. The benefit of AI goes beyond streamlining these processes. The implementation of robots increases space efficiency since these machines are capable of stacking more boxes than humans. Algorithms can be employed to make sure common items are at the top of these stacks for easy access.
Experts have already predicted that several logistics and warehousing operations will be fully automated by the year 2030. This automation will involve not just physical aspects of logistics, but also the collection and processing of data. Ultimately, AI should be able to learn and evolve as operations change to maintain peak efficiency.
AI will also likely be able to administer quality control without the need for human oversight through machine learning. In addition, AI will be able to communicate across different warehouses to determine the best logistical solutions for a request. Several companies are making significant headway in the application of AI to logistics. One that has earned a lot of recent attention is Gideon Brothers.
Using AI and Robotics to Automate Logistics Reliably
Founded in 2017, Gideon Brothers is a Croatian startup that unveiled an autonomous logistics robot in 2018 capable of moving safely around people, equipment, and other machines. This robot was capable of moving payloads up to 800 kilograms and utilized a next-generation vision solution that combines stereoscopic cameras with deep learning to provide data-rich output.
Last year, logistics giant DB Schenker adopted the Gideon Brother autonomous logistics robots at its Leipzig facility. DB Schenker works across air, land, sea, and contract freight with an annual revenue of more than 17 billion Euros.
In the initial pilot, the robots successfully automated regular order fulfillment and even sped up processes while allowing human employees to focus on more complex tasks. After only a few weeks, DB Schenker expanded the pilot with many new pick-up and drop-off points.
Notably, the expansion and ongoing fine-tuning of the AI is undertaken by DB Schenker staff, not engineers from Gideon Brothers. Within a month, the average DB Schenker robot covered more than 26 kilometers in a given week.
Creating a New Generation of Autonomous Robots
The Gideon Brothers robots likely represent the future of logistics as AI gets more sophisticated. These robots already have semantic segmentation, which means they actually see an object and identify it. This creates incredible flexibility, not to mention safer mobility.
The robots’ AI scans floor space prior to moving to ensure it is safe to traverse. Furthermore, the system is able to layer old images over new ones to perceive changes in an environment.
Each robot is made socially aware through three-dimensional processing, whereas former iterations of autonomous robots in the sector moved through a two-dimensional plane. All of these features mean the machines navigate freely and safely in an unstructured and even constantly changing space.
Much of the value of the Gideon Brothers robots derives from the company’s unique approach to vision. The former industry standard was LiDAR, which is more expensive than the technology created by Gideon Brothers. Moreover, LiDAR is a two-dimensional technology, which limits the degree of autonomy robots with this sort of vision can have.
The Gideon Brothers robot has stereo cameras for three-dimensional vision that can index landmarks in the environment to facilitate movement. This unique vision system also enables 360-degree visibility through three-dimensional voxel grids and dense scene reconstruction. The level of automation achieved by the company allows for easy integration of the robots into any facility without the need to make structural or operational changes.
Applying New Technologies to Existing Workflows
While the Gideon Brothers robot is highly technical in its construction, individuals can easily control it through a web-based app that allows for the creation and management of missions. Users can track actions in real time and get a live map of where each member of the fleet is in the current facility. The app makes it possible to monitor hardware safety and status to address any issues quickly and efficiently.
Also, the robots have a hot-swappable battery system, which means there is very little downtime for recharging. Through the app, users can setup and edit maps on the go to adjust the workflow as needed without halting operations. Furthermore, it is possible to create movement rules and institute no-go zones for the robots.
