Inventory management is a tedious task, and as someone who has experienced it firsthand during my time in retail, I can attest to its dull nature. Automation seems like the logical solution, considering robots excel at repetitive tasks like counting.
At Modex this week, various solutions for inventory management are on display. Warehouses face unique challenges due to the vast quantities of items needing cataloging and the heights at which they are stored. We’ve seen drone solutions and Dexory’s impressive AMR (autonomous mobile robot) with its telescoping scaffolding structure in recent years.
Cypher Robotics introduced a novel system at Modex that strikes a balance between these approaches. Their solution features a tall AMR (though not as tall as Dexory) that serves as a launchpad for a drone. The concept is straightforward: the mobile platform moves across the warehouse floor, while the drone takes off, providing significant vertical reach.
I encountered this setup at GreyOrange’s booth, an Indian robotics firm that has been integrating third-party robotics into its warehouse automation offerings. The Captis robot was added to their lineup to fulfill a customer’s need for cycle counting, which involves reconciling inventory records with actual shelf stock.
Although not visible in the image, the drone is tethered to the inside of the AMR platform. This tethering allows for extended battery life compared to untethered systems. According to Cypher Robotics, the drone can operate for up to five hours before returning to the base for a recharge.
