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Otto Motors’ heavy-class warehouse robots exceed 1 million production hours

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Otto Motors, a leading provider of autonomous mobile robots for material handling, has launched the next generation of its market-leading heavy-class AMR.

The new AMR – Otto 1500 – is designed to autonomously move pallet-scale loads up to 1900 kg (4,189 lbs) through busy factories and warehouses.

With a top speed of two meters per second, Otto 1500 swiftly and safely delivers more payload than any other AMR in its class; making it the most productive AMR on the market. [Read more…] about Otto Motors’ heavy-class warehouse robots exceed 1 million production hours

Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog

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Otto Motors, a maker of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and part of Clearpath Robotics, has integrated its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot, as part of a demonstration. (See video below.)

The company says it combined its separate areas of expertise – from Clearpath and Otto – into “a dynamic real-world application using Boston Dynamics’ Spot”.

At the end of last year, Clearpath released a ROS software package for Spot which allows researchers to take full advantage of ROS capabilities out-of-the-box and leverage widely available open-source libraries and tools with Spot. [Read more…] about Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog

The business case for autonomous mobile robots in manufacturing

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  • First deployment of OTTO AMRs at scale at an F500 company demonstrates clear benefits in productivity, cost savings, and robustness.
  • Analysis reveals that a single AMR unit represents just 10% of the equivalent human labor cost, 20% of forklift operating costs, 50% of conveyor costs and 66% of AGV costs.

For a number of years now, Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) have been considered a promising technology for improving the resilience of manufacturing operations. [Read more…] about The business case for autonomous mobile robots in manufacturing

Otto Motors raises $29 million in new funding for its autonomous mobile robots business

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Otto Motors, a division of Clearpath Robotics, has raised $29 million in Series C funding. The company says the new funds will be used for the continued expansion of its autonomous mobile robot platform.

The investment, which follows years of rapid growth, was led by Kensington Private Equity Fund with participation from BMO Capital Partners, Export Development Canada, and previous investors iNovia Capital and RRE Ventures.

Including this Series C round, Otto Motors has now raised a total of $83 million in funding. [Read more…] about Otto Motors raises $29 million in new funding for its autonomous mobile robots business

Boston Dynamics partners with Otto Motors to co-ordinate mobile robots in the warehouse

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Boston Dynamics, a developer of mobile manipulation robots, and OTTO Motors, a maker of industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), have unveiled what they describe as “a demo of the future of warehouse automation”.

In a video (see below), Boston Dynamics’s logistics robot, Handle, can be seen picking boxes and building pallets on top of OTTO AMRs in a distribution center testbed.

Last year, Boston Dynamics announced its efforts to add flexible, highly mobile automation technology to the warehouse with its Handle robot and Pick computer vision system. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics partners with Otto Motors to co-ordinate mobile robots in the warehouse

Otto Motors expands its autonomous mobile robots business to Japan

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Otto Motors, the industrial division of Clearpath Robotics, is expanding into the Japanese market.

The move marks Ontario-based Otto’s first expansion outside North America.

Otto Motors produces self-driving vehicles – also referred to as “autonomous mobile robots” or warehouse robots – that move materials within manufacturing and warehousing facilities. [Read more…] about Otto Motors expands its autonomous mobile robots business to Japan

Hirotec on long journey towards lights-out manufacturing with robots from Otto and Yaskawa

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“Lights-out manufacturing” is a term to mean the method of making things in a way that’s entirely automated and does not need humans to be involved in the process. 

Of course, humans initially set up the process, build the factory and so on, but the factory which outputs the final product only requires robotics and automation technology.

It’s an idea that has probably been explored in science fiction many times, but in reality, a fully automated factory that needs no human intervention at all is still a distant dream.  [Read more…] about Hirotec on long journey towards lights-out manufacturing with robots from Otto and Yaskawa

Uber’s autonomous truck journey off to a bumpy start

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By Heather Somerville and Julia Love, Reuters

Uber Technologies’ drive to become a major player in the trucking business is off to a bumpy start, with analysts and industry executives questioning what exactly the company can bring to the sprawling $700-billion industry.

The San Francisco ride-services giant had planned to disrupt freight hauling by offering a complete package of trucking technology including self-driving trucks and smartphone-based logistics services.

But what has emerged so far, industry watchers say, is a modest effort to build a brokerage service connecting truckers looking for loads to shippers with cargo to haul.  [Read more…] about Uber’s autonomous truck journey off to a bumpy start

Clearpath Robotics raises $30 million to expand Otto self-driving logistics vehicle technology

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Funding from iNovia Capital, Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures and previous investors will expand new Otto Motors division

Clearpath Robotics, a leading provider of self-driving vehicle solutions, announced today the completion of a $30 million investment led by iNovia Capital with participation from Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, RRE Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Clearpath will use the funding to grow the company’s industrial division, Otto Motors. Clearpath launched Otto Motors in 2015 to focus on self-driving vehicles for material transport inside manufacturing and warehouse operations.

Matt Rendall, CEO and co-founder of Clearpath, says: “Factories operate like small indoor cities, complete with roads, traffic, intersections and pedestrians.

“Unlike city streets, a factory floor is a controlled environment, which makes it an ideal place to introduce self-driving vehicles at scale. Companies like Google, Tesla and Uber are still testing, whereas our self-driving vehicles are commercially available today.”  [Read more…] about Clearpath Robotics raises $30 million to expand Otto self-driving logistics vehicle technology

Clearpath to provide GE Healthcare repair center with self-driving vehicles

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The Clearpath Otto logistics robot
The Clearpath Otto logistics robot

A fleet of Otto self-driving vehicles will automate just-in-time parts delivery within Milwaukee facility 

Clearpath, the developer of Otto – a self-driving vehicle designed for material transport, has been selected to automate just-in-time parts delivery in a GE Healthcare repair facility being expanded near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“The Otto fleet will optimize GE Healthcare’s just-in-time manufacturing process to help enable repair cells to operate at full capacity,” said Matt Rendall, chief executive officer at Clearpath Robotics.  [Read more…] about Clearpath to provide GE Healthcare repair center with self-driving vehicles

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