It's no surprise, but the design of of mobile robots for warehouse applications is increasingly taking on a more humanoid look.
According to an article this week in the Wall Street Jounal, "Agility Robotics, Figure AI and Boston Dynamics are among companies designing robots more closely modeled on human beings for use in distribution centers"
It adds "The new machines are being engineered with the ability to walk around warehouses, reach items high on shelves, crouch to put things down and pick up and move boxes, defying some of the physical limits on automation in the industrial world."
An example is a robot model from Agility, seen below in a screen capture from a company product video:
The Journal adds that "Logistics operators have been adding automation to their warehouses for years to speed up the stacking and retrieving of goods and to take some of the most burdensome, repetitive tasks off workers. Many of the devices are designed to work in concert with employees by taking on tasks such as hauling heavy goods or bringing totes of items directly to workers."
The big change here: the automation is going a step further, seeking to directly replace a human worker.
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