Autonomous logistics robots allow Portugal Postal Services to sort 10,000 parcels per hour

New system works using robots from RoboSavvy and operating system installed by MOV.AI

MOV.AI has announced that it has installed its operating system in industrial logistics robots at the parcel sorting handling centre of CTT, the Portugal Postal Services. This enables CTT to process over 10,000 parcels per hour around the clock.

Prior to installation, the parcels arrive at the sorting machine stacked in 8 boxes of up to 20 kg each per wheeled pallet. A worker was tasked with feeding those boxes manually into the conveyor sorting machine. The process involves pushing/pulling the heavy loaded pallets and lifting the heavy boxes. Due the physical strain, workers have to be replaced every couple of hours.

This meant CTT issued a tender for the automatic feeding of the boxes using AGVs (Autonomous Logistics Vehicles). CTT opted for RoboSavvy's TugBot robots powered by MOV.AI's operating system.

By deploying initially two TugBots and a Kuka industrial robotic arm, the human process of bringing pallets loaded with parcel boxes, to the parcel sorting machine and unloading them, became completely automated. MOV.AI also controlled the actions of a Kuka industrial robot arm and the safety Programmable Logic Control (PLC) in charge of the robotic arm's surrounding gate. This allowed entrance and exit of the TugBots in a safety zone. A third TugBot was added to increase throughput.

Limor Schweitzer, Founder & CEO of MOV.AI stated: "MOV.AI's software orchestrated the automated operation of several robots that collaborate with humans. We enabled intelligent automation of parcel logistics by having robots perform physical tasks that could otherwise pose risks to the safety and health of human workers. The parcel sorting process also became more efficient, reliable, and able to handle more parcels per hour as well as to scale with the needs of CTT."

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