Tomorrow’s Warehouses With Exoskeletons And Cobots

Warehouses face immense pressures keeping pace with swelling e-commerce volumes and customer expectations for rapid fulfilment. Warehouse inefficiencies directly impact order accuracy, delivery speeds and profits. Warehouses with exoskeletons and cobots (Artificial Intelligence – AI) will transform the future warehouse operations completely.

This article explains how next-generation warehouses integrate human augmentation along with collaborative robots and AI to boost productivity, accuracy, safety and working conditions. We showcase real-world implementations of exoskeletons and cobots in distribution centres today and explore what’s on the technology horizon. Let’s examine how pairing humans and smart automation establishes the high-performance warehouse template.

Exoskeletons: Enhancing The Human Worker  

Exoskeletons are essentially robotic suits worn by humans amplifying innate capabilities for extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. Futuristic full-body powered exoskeletons reminiscent of Iron Man may still be years away from warehouses but lower-body exoskeletons are already active. 

Leading examples today include German Bionic’s high-tech body suits using AI and motors that transfer weight loads from workers’ bodies to the floor. This removes strain from the lower back and legs while permitting lifting beyond natural capacities safely. Ekso Bionics and RB3D also manufacture intelligently designed exoskeletons that reduce injury risks from repetitive tasks or heavy loads.

There are big names in the freight industry that are deploying EksoVest exoskeletons that weigh just 16 pounds but can transfer load impacts from shoulders and back for smoother lifting and carrying. This lets workers safely manage 30 to 400-pound packages repeatedly without fatigue or injury.

Similarly, Lowe’s retail staff leverages lightweight EksoWorks vests that enable lifting heavy items like lumber or appliances with better body alignment reducing back, shoulder and leg strain. Exoskeletons even benefit customers at Lowe’s as staff fetch merchandise from higher shelves faster and safer.  

Future intelligent warehouses with exoskeletons and cobots will predict optimal motions for dynamic warehouse environments using sensors while sharing insights with workers digitally. Later generations will integrate automated assistance with vision recognition for identifying items and locations amid distracted environments. Lightweight folding exoskeletons will eventually serve occasional lifting needs beyond early stationary models.

AI-Powered Collaborative Robots (Cobots)

While warehouses with exoskeletons and cobots strengthen human staff, AI collaborative robots handle repetitive tasks like inventory moves, pallet builds, item picking, and packaging jobs alongside workers safely. Termed cobots, these flexible robots adapt to changing SKUs and workflows using advanced vision systems, machine learning, and reactive control.

Leading examples include RightHand Robotics’ piece-picking cobots guided by machine vision for reliable order fulfilment. Their robots identify and carefully grasp items indicated by connected warehouse systems for accurate fulfilment scaling e-commerce ops.  Likewise, robot maker Covariant offers adaptable pick-and-place cobots that learn optimal grasps for varying items through AI as they go.

Tally cobots from Simbe Robotics autonomously scan shelves using computer vision and RFID tracking for near real-time inventory visibility critical in chaotic DCs. Robots share perpetual inventory data with managers to address shortages rapidly. Paired AI replenishment algorithms then direct human or robot workers to fast-track order fulfilment.  

Looking ahead, agile mobile cobots will evolve for dynamic floor environments amid moving forklifts, carts and people. Future autonomous warehouse drones may eventually operate overhead. Injury-tracking exoskeletons could advise safer movements when cobots enter zones. Video analytics, beacons, predictive analytics and blockchain inventory enhance orchestration. AI and strategic task division between augmented workers and cobots define the intelligent warehouse.

The People-Robot Warehouse: Upsides For Logistics Players  

Warehouses with exoskeletons and cobots already report optimistic returns. Let us see how.

1. Cobots handle dull, repetitive tasks liberating humans for judgment and finesse roles. Both see expanded capabilities.

2. Fatigue and workplace injury risks drop for workers wearing strength-enhancing exoskeletons.

3. Warehouse throughput via faster processing, greater accuracy and 24/7 operation expands using augmented workers plus robot cohort teams. 

4. Top companies attract younger, progressive staff enthusiastic about wearing high-tech devices alongside friendly bots.

5. Insight-sharing culture blending humans and robots centring people feeds continuous innovation.

Investing now in barrier-free work that intuitively melds augmented workers and intelligent cobots sets firms up for people-first automation success. Blending assisted human strengths with tireless robot tasking for fluid collaboration represents the essence of future-forward supply chain operations. Treat this as an opportunity to uplift and empower staff while profiting from business. The financial and cultural upside makes the modern warehouse irresistible.

Warehouses With Exoskeletons And Cobots – The Conclusion

In summary, warehouses with exoskeletons and cobots technology pave the way for higher-functioning warehouses. This powerful blueprint proactively shapes positive working standards for generations ahead. Contact innovators like Ekso Bionics or RightHand Robotics to take your first steps toward long-term prosperity. The future beckons.