Autonomous Solutions Inc has launched an unmanned yard truck solution. The system is basically an industrial robotic arm on the back of a driverless truck. (See video below.)
The technology combines the expertise of four companies:
- Autonomous Solutions Inc, which specialises in vehicle automation;
- Phantom Auto, a provider of remote communication software for unmanned vehicles;
- Fanuc America, a manufacturer of industrial robots, CNC systems, and factory automation products and services; and
- Terberg, a truck manufacturer.
ASI’s Mobis software gives operators real-time awareness and control of a fleet of unmanned trucks, each of which is driven by ASI’s proven autonomous vehicle technology.
Phantom Auto’s remote communication layer provides a reliable link between the Mobius software and the trucks over any network, enabling monitoring, tele-assistance, and tele-driving.
The Mobius application gets orders from an operator or management system, plans a path for a truck to pick up and drop off a trailer, and sends the plan to the truck.
The Terberg yard truck, with automation-ready drive-by-wire electronic controls, is driven by ASI software to the trailer or dock.
There, a Fanuc robotic arm uses proprietary technology to connect or disconnect the pneumatic brake line to the trailer, making this “a truly end-to-end solution”, according to the companies.
ASI says that, by making high-quality, real-time control possible across broad geographic coverage areas, the unmanned yard truck solution increases customers’ vehicle operational efficiency and operational design domains.
The features of the solution include:
- vehicle-agnostic, so customers can work with their existing fleet and preferred yard truck brand;
- hardware-agnostic and easy to integrate, so that customers can use the solution without overhauling their vehicle hardware architecture; and
- requires no modifications to trailers in order to obtain air line connections.
Mel Torrie, founder and CEO of ASI, says: “With both Phantom and ASI’s technology combined into one product, we believe we have the most scalable end-to-end solution in the market, enabling our yard truck customers to get out of a sandbox environment and into actual deployments.”
Shai Magzimof, founder and CEO of Phantom Auto, says: “Phantom is excited to partner with one of the top autonomy providers to continue deploying unmanned vehicles across the logistics market.”
Elliot Katz, co-founder of Phantom Auto, says: “With our yard truck solution, we are proving once again that autonomy combined with remote operation can get unmanned vehicles deployed today.”
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