The F4 – a new angle on automated forklifts
WHILE AUTOMATED forklifts have been around for many years, they have tended to be regular forklifts designs with automation technology built on.
The F4 supplied by OW Robotics, and built by Hikrobot, has been developed from a series of AMRs and has had forks added to it.
It has a customisable lift height of 1.8m and can run for eight hours before it automatically charges, meaning it can be effectively fulfilling movements around the clock to meet operational demand, says OW Robotics. The rated load for the F4 is 1,000kg, and it is designed to work in harmony with OW Robotics’ Q3 and Q7 robots as part of an integrated solution.
The F4 moves palletised stock in the warehouse and can work alongside warehouse operatives, existing materials handling equipment and pallet racking.
It aims to help boost order fulfillment, reduce forklift related accidents and running costs, and free-up investment in staff for value-added roles.
OW Robotics head of robotics Joe Daft, said: “Right now, businesses are faced with some really tough challenges to be able to meet and increase their order fulfillment. According to recent reports, the UK is facing its worst labour shortage since 1997, this includes warehouse staff. It’s at a time when customers expect quick, easy online ordering and demand fast delivery. Without a high level of automation, it’s a real challenge to meet these expectations.
“That’s why many businesses we are working with and having conversations with are automating key processes in the warehouse. The F4 automated forklift is naturally the next step to complement A-to-B warehouse robotics like our Q3 and Q7 models which are great at moving products around the warehouse.
“As it has been designed from the ground up to be automated, it uses the same technology as other robots. It has safety measures integrated to reduce forklift related incidents, including SLAM based navigation technology that can adapt to the changing environment and gives millimetre precision accuracy. It runs at 1.2m/s and the model can be easily integrated into an existing robotics solution if a business needs to add more robots to increase fulfillment.”
For more information, visit www.owrobotics.co.uk
