Lei Feng network: According to author Evan Ackerman, source spectrum, compiled by Lei Feng network (search "Lei Feng network" public number) exclusive compilation, refused to reprint without permission! Many companies, including Adept, Fetch, ClearPath, IAM Robotics, and Magazino, have realized the tremendous value and sudden emptiness of Kiva robots, and they have begun to target mechanized warehouse space. Quiet Logistics decided not to rely on new platforms developed by other companies and began developing its own robots. In 2014, Quiet Logistics' internal robotics project collaborated with Locus's robotics project. In May of that year, they took in $8 million in financing in Round A. Bruce Welty is chairman of Quiet Logistics and co-founder of Locus Robotics. I once asked him about Kiva's robots, how to develop robots from scratch, and the reason why warehouse robotics is dominated by software problems. Workers often patrol the warehouse. When they see the robot waiting, they can find the item on the screen and remove it. Then, the robot will move to the next object storage point, or move to the loading and unloading site. This is a very efficient system because people don't have to carry anything, and they don't have to jump in and out of the entire warehouse. Instead, what they have to do is identify the items and take them off the shelf.  Next, the author visited Bruce Welty, chairman of Locus Robotics.  IEEE Spectrum: Can you give us a brief account of Locus's family history? Bruce Welty: Locus was hatched from Quiet Logistics. They were actually the same company from the beginning. We established Locus because Quiet is a user of Kiva Robot. After Amazon acquired Kiva, we decided that we needed to have our own technology. In 2010, when we began to become familiar with Kiva, we considered designing a unique robot. We like many aspects of Kiva, but also have many dissatisfaction with it. So, we always want to make the next generation of robots. IEEE Spectrum: What aspects of Kiva do you dislike? How do these aspects prompt you and Locus to create a robot you want? Bruce Welty: Some of the things we don't like about Kiva include ease of use, price, and security. As you can imagine, operability must be the first element of our research and development. Therefore, Kiva's R & D team did not consider too much about price-related things and how to perform the task. They have not considered the different effects that its weight and safety may bring—because the area where robots are active is often without humans. Gradually, many things started to make us crazy. First of all, protection is very expensive. As robots walk in open air, dust can easily fall into their interior, causing 90% of maintenance accidents. We also don't like Kiva staying still in the corner. We realize the importance of keeping control of this robot. We do not want to create robots that do not require protection. Similarly, we also need something that can operate in existing facilities. Kiva's technology was invented in 2002 and 2003. The aurora radar and camera we use today are not quite the same as the technology of the day. We have more advanced navigation technology that can handle multi-robot navigation. Kiva really can't do this. They have their own path of action. When they need to walk along this path, no one can cross this path. Our robots can avoid each other, cross each other's established routes, and respond to the environment in real time. IEEE Spectrum: How did you start designing this new robot? Bruce Welty: In the beginning, we had our own catalog of preferred products. Then we built an Arduino-based robot. We quickly realized that this was not a hardware issue but a software issue, which made us ecstatic because we were not good at solving software problems. We don't need to do everything ourselves. We only need to start with some simple functions and continue to optimize it. We have gone through two versions of optimization and finally let our robot navigate. The first seven robots have more basic functions and navigation capabilities. For the eighth, ninth, and tenth robots, we set up a stand at the top, which meets ergonomics and complex management and enables interaction with people. IEEE Spectrum: What did you learn from the first prototype? Bruce Welty: First, we know that this is a software issue. As time progresses, future robots will become very small. Second, we realize that robots will become more and more intelligent. From the point of view of Moore's Law, the capabilities of robots will increase by leaps and bounds. So we need to have the courage to create everything on the robot. Third, robots create a lot of data, so we have to figure out what data we have recorded, where that data is stored, and how we should bypass data and reduce network load. At present, sensors are getting cheaper, so we have given robots more and more sensing capabilities. We hope this trend will continue in the future. IEEE Spectrum: What's the difference between your product and the warehouse robots of other companies? Bruce Welty: In my mind, other companies have smart robotics experts, but they know nothing about the market. They really do not understand business, they rely on those who can help them solve the problem. And we have gone very far on the road to commercialization because we know how warehouses work and we already know what kind of torture and challenges we will face in the future. Our robot is designed to solve special problems. This is a big difference, because we want to deliver to the customer the entire complete system, not just a robot. I think that robots only constitute 20% of this problem, and our competitors are using R&D robots to solve the 20% problem. They use a little hardware development to more or less want to seize the opportunity. Just like someone wants to buy a table, you sell them a gimmick. IEEE Spectrum: If the robot is only 20% of the problem, Locus is an expert in this field. Why did you go against the original intention of the company when it started building robots? Bruce Welty: There are two reasons for this. First, we believe that these two elements are closely integrated. We do not want a robot that exceeds our needs or a robot that cannot meet our needs. The second reason is that when Amazon acquired Kiva, we were in this position, so we can no longer bear such risks. When you consider 80% of the solution, this is about knowledge and software problems that go beyond the robot itself. Losing this 80%, the robot becomes worthless. Therefore, we believe that if we fight together, we can create tremendous business opportunities and open up markets. We believe that there are billions or even billions of dollars in this market. You think about why, when we do the remaining 20%, do you really want to let others have a certain degree of business sense and market acumen? IEEE Spectrum: What do you think of the development prospects of warehouse robots? Do you think robots will evolve slowly and eventually replace humans to achieve automatic acquisition? Or do you think that in the middle of development, human work is still more efficient and time-saving? Bruce Welty: I think this is a gradual process. It is still a long time before humans completely exit. At present, some companies have already invented robot technology that can use suction or forceps to pick things (such as boxes, bottles). However, the challenge for robots is to remove objects with different shapes, sizes, weights, and densities. For robots that can take things, we need to ensure that we have the following four characteristics: physical strength, reliability, quick action, and low price. It now does not have any of these four characteristics. Even if it can complete its tasks perfectly and quickly, manual labor is still cheaper. Many people think that this problem can be solved within three to five years. I personally think that this problem must be resolved within five to seven years or even longer. During my career, I stayed in a warehouse where there were really many tasks that were difficult to accomplish. So I think their predictions are inaccurate and robots are really not good at doing this. Via spectrum Lithium Ion Battery,5G Integrated Battery,Custom Ups Lithium Ion Battery,Communication Ladder Backup Battery Wolong Electric Group Zhejiang Dengta Power Source Co.,Ltd , https://www.wldtbattery.com
In 2010, Amazon purchased the Kiva system for 750 million dollars and wanted to use it to defend its position in the huge robot algorithm market. This is true for many Kiva consumers, including of course Quiet Logistics. All along, they are using Kiva's robots to support many customers' central warehouse operations. Once Quite Logistics and Kiva's contract expires, they need to find new robots. 
The Locus robot was originally designed to work with humans to accomplish tasks such as filling an order in a warehouse. In an area where maps are drawn in advance, it uses laser radar to achieve self-localization, and then uses cameras and bar codes to confirm positioning. The robot knows the position of each item in the warehouse. When this item appears in the order, the robot will automatically navigate and wait for workers to pick things up next to it.