FEBRUARY 23, 2017 by Australian Exhibitions & Conferences

Automated Vehicles at Trade Show Materials Handling: A Step Away
from Robotic Forklifts

The Queensland Materials Handling trade show organised by Australian Exhibitions
& Conferences will be showcasing automated vehicles by Freelance Robotics.

SELF DRIVE

Robotic forklifts are inevitable in Australian warehouses, according to an artificial intelligence expert ahead of the trade show.

William Pagnon of Freelance Robotics explains that central computers will coordinate fleets of forklifts in warehouses, ensuring their positions and avoiding collisions or congestion.

Mr Pagnon explains that decision algorithms can make traffic fully automatic but should be able to be over-ridden by personnel. While GPS technology will guide forklifts outdoors, wireless networks would manage their paths indoors.

Mr. Pagnon highlights that achieving awareness and safety in automated vehicles involves significant complexity due to the integration of object recognition, GPS, AI algorithms, and communication systems, which require substantial resources. This is one of the main barriers to adoption of fully automated fleets of vehicles.

However, Australian companies are embracing trials of automated vehicles at a faster rate than their European counterparts. Automated vehicles by Freelance Robotics will therefore be on show at Queensland Materials Handling.

Mr Pagnon says many companies are already beginning to build automation into otherwise manual tasks to achieve specific objectives including decreasing damage to goods and improving safety.

Partial automation of forklift use will soon be commonplace in Australian warehouses, where drivers are directed to the correct bay, there are no-go zones and artificial intelligence is used for improved WHS.

Mr Pagnon’s Freelance Robotics consultancy offers everything from the development of algorithms right through to working prototypes of specialised robots and automated vehicles.

Freelance Robotics will showcase automated vehicles and specialized robotics at the Queensland Materials Handling Show, held from June 21 to 23, 2011, at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.