Wise introduces fully autonomous warehouse cart

3/6/2020

Written by

Melonee Wise
Melonee Wise
For more than a century, factories and warehouses have depended on forklifts to move heavy objects from one place to another. Roboticist Melonee Wise, founder and chief executive of Fetch Robotics, thinks fully autonomous robots could do a better job. In a conversation with Forbes, she shared a sneak peek of a new version of her giant Freight bots that has the ability to pick up items from one place and drop them off at another with no humans involved.

Fetch intends to debut the new Freight 500, called CartConnect500, which can lug up to 500 kilograms (or 1,100 pounds) at the Modex 2020 trade show in Atlanta on March 9. A fully autonomous version of the Freight 1,500, which can haul up to 1,500 kilograms (or 3,300 pounds), is in development and likely will launch later this year. The robots have attachable, industrial-grade carts that can carry bins and totes for efficiency and organization.

Read the rest of the story at Forbes >>

In 2019, Fetch Robotics raised $46 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to $94 million.

Wise received the MechSE Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.


Share this story

This story was published March 6, 2020.