My Robot Workmates and I

【Copyright statement: The “Focus”column of the TMTpost endeavors to accurately record individuals of the Internet era. All rights reserved.】

4'05” video clip: How AGV robots work in an e-commerce warehouse

The e-commerce logistics and warehouse revolution, the beginning of which was marked by the acquisition of KIVA by Amazon, has already landed in China's e-commerce warehouses. AGV warehouse robots are the best bargaining chips of this logistics revolution, completely replacing the traditional “person-to-goods” systems of warehouse picking with the “goods-to-person” systems.

A labor-saving robot which improves picking efficiency is deployed in the warehouse. And it changes the ways humans work.

At the logistics center of Suning in Fengxian District, Shanghai, warehouse operator Hu Hongyang at 3C warehouse has experienced this transition. Before, he spent 70% of his time on picking (daily step count reaching 30,000 steps according to the WeChat fitness tracking app. Try it yourself.); This has completely changed. At the beginning of 2017, Suning started deploying AVG logistics robots in the 3C warehouse and has achieved using logistics robots for all picking of 3C products. Now daily WeChat step count of Hu Hongyang has decreased to “below 5,000.”

Hu Hongyang calls the robots working alongside him his “colleagues.” He really trusts these colleagues and believes that these robot colleagues may “replace him” one day so his hands can be freed.

In the 71st episode of TMTpost Focus column, TMTpost reporter visited the warehouse and recorded the story of an e-commerce warehouse operator and his robot colleagues.

May 11, 2018, Shanghai, Number two picking station, 3C warehouse of Suning Fengxian logistics center. Operator Hu Hongyang is waiting for the AGV logistics robots which are queuing to transfer products to the picking area. In this warehouse, there are seven picking stations especially designed for logistics robots and the picking area of each station can accommodate ten robots queuing simultaneously. After a robot completes a picking operation, it returns the pallet to the storage area. In the storage area, there are 1058 racks (including pallet and grid racks.) The lines and circles on the ground are the trails left by the moving robots. Inside these circles, QR codes are installed as the navigational tools for robots.

① ↑May 11, 2018, Shanghai, Number two picking station, 3C warehouse of Suning Fengxian logistics center. Operator Hu Hongyang is waiting for the AGV logistics robots who are queuing to transfer products to the picking area. In this warehouse, there are seven picking stations especially designed for logistics robots and the picking area of each station can accommodate ten robots queuing simultaneously.

② ↑After a robot completes a picking operation, it returns the pallet to the storage area. In the storage area, there are 1058 racks (including pallet and grid racks.) The lines and circles on the floor are the trails left by robots in operation. Inside these circles, QR codes are installed as the navigational tools for robots.

③ ↑ Operator Hu Hongyang comes from Anhui province and is 24 years old. This is his first job. Since his graduation, he has worked in this warehouse for more than a year. Hu is responsible for picking, counting and shelving, which all require close cooperation with the robots. He treats these robots as his colleagues.

④ ↑ The robot colleague comes from Beijing and was “born” in September 2017. It measures 1.04mX0.82mX0.28m and weights 180Kg, with a maximum load of 800 kg and maximum load measures of 1.2mX1.2mX2.4m. It’s speed without load is 1.6m/s and 1.3m/s when loaded. It depends on laser, radar and infrared for obstacle avoidance. In the picture, the obstacle avoidance component is at the center of the black panel. On an ordinary day, there are 50 AGV robots and on really busy days, the warehouse can request more robots if needed.

⑤ ↑“Before the implement of robots, I would be running around racks and perform picking with a RF scanner. Now I just wait for the robots to bring the racks to me at the work station.” The Suning order system interfaces with the warehouse robotic system. Hu Hongyang gets orders from the system and the robots transfer the racks stocked with the corresponding goods under instruction to the workstations. Then Hu picks the products from the racks according to the prompts on screen and throws them into the blue bins. Afterwards, the robots return the racks back to the storage area. The WeChat step count shows that before the implement of robots, for picking, Hu walked 30,000 steps daily. Now he only needs to walk 4,000 steps while the number of products picked has quintupled.