Industry 4.0 revolutionizes the sneaker market
The future has already begun with Industry 4.0. ITG recently launched a cutting-edge pilot project at its Schwaig site together with sports brand PUMA, start-up Magazino as a technology partner, and software manufacturer Gigaton to create "the world's first self-thinking and self-trading warehouse".
The term Industry 4.0 is not only used to describe the future, but new technologies are now finding their way into almost all areas of the value chain. This is also the case in logistics. In the logistics center that ITG operates for the PUMA Retail Stores, a picking robot has been in use since May 2017.
PUMA initiated the pilot project after coming across the robot's manufacturer, Munich-based start-up Magazino, during a visit to a trade fair. The start-up's vision is to create "the world's first self-thinking and self-trading warehouse". Until the lofty ambitions become reality, the devices must be tested in practical use in order to use the knowledge gained from this to advance the development.
Access guaranteed on a per-unit basis
ITG was open to the project from the very beginning. Since the end of July 2016, a joint project team of the companies involved has been taking care of the implementation.
TORU enables piece-precise access to the individual, single object and not only to standardized load carriers such as trays or boxes. The adaptive gripper can grasp various cuboid objects - from a small paperback book to a shoebox to a heavy encyclopedia. The robot can then temporarily store the gripped object on its shelf and take it directly to the shipping station.
TORU learns to pick
The hardware with conveyor technology relies on proven elements. What is new about this system is the software, which networks technology and sensor technology with each other. TORU is a perception-controlled robot - thanks to cameras, computer vision, numerous sensors and the use of artificial intelligence, the robot can perceive and interpret its environment and make decisions based on this.
This not only enables the permanent adaptation to the warehouse topology and the use of the robot in work areas together with humans, but also the independent learning ability of the system. The "new colleague" named TORU now supports the ITG employees. The cooperation between man and machine is ensured by numerous sensors on the robot.
These permanently detect the environment. As soon as someone gets too close to TORU, it reduces its speed and ultimately stops its movements. The system has been approved by the employers' liability insurance association and technical inspection bodies to ensure occupational safety.
Cooperation man - machine?
A major advantage is that the robot can be used independently of working time models, for example in a late or night shift. TORU even manages without hall lighting, because it illuminates its working environment itself with built-in spotlights. A particularly innovative feature and a real plus point of this concept is the agile design of the system: the robot can be moved to other areas without any additional effort and learns about them on its own. This flexibility delivers great added value, which convinced PUMA and ITG.
The goal of the Industrie 4.0 pilot project is to test the robot in a practical environment. Questions regarding the behavior in the work environment with humans, stability and consistency in daily use as well as the maturity of the technology under real conditions are to be answered. On the other hand, the partners involved want to understand how powerful robots can be. For this purpose, different scenarios will be presented in order to ultimately gain insights into what an ideal environment for the technology looks like.
After linking the robot technology with the external warehouse management system LogoS from Gigaton, initial positive tests and a training period, the live operation of the TORU is expected to start in September. By then, the colleagues will certainly have come up with their own name for their new colleague.
