Wiferion, an energy solution supplier powering mobile robots and autonomous industrial vehicles through wireless charging, introduced its new inductive etaLINK 1000 charging system to the US market, making its successful wireless charging technology available to smaller robots for the first time.
The new mobile charging unit integrated into the robot measures just 160 mm – making it 36 percent smaller than the etaLINK 3000, Wiferion’s standard charging system for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and autonomous guided vehicles (AGV).
etaLINK 1000 has all the advantages of the larger models, such as high positioning tolerance, maintenance-free operation, and fast start up of power transfer in around one second. Wiferion will debut the etaLINK 1000 at Automate, May 22-25, 2023, in Detroit.
Matthieu Ebert, VP of Wiferion North America, says: “In the last three years, we have sold more than 8,000 3 kW and 12 kW systems. Our customers have expressed demand for a smaller version of etaLINK to power smaller robots. The etaLINK 1000 is the answer to this challenge.”
This addition to the etaLINK autonomous power supply series delivers power for compact fulfillment bots and transfers energy without contact with a 1 kW capacity.
For sorter, shuttle, or commissioning applications, the demand for small goods-to-person robots is massive worldwide but the supply of power to AMRs and AGVs is not suitable for rapid expansion of fleets, and current energy solutions are complex, energy-inefficient or unreliable.
To eliminate unproductive charging times, downtimes and expensive maintenance work, wireless charging is positioned to be the new charging standard for mobile robots of all sizes.
