FedEx is scaling up its test of an AI powered robotic trailer loading system at its package hub in Hagerstown, Maryland, after several years of evaluating the technology from robotics startup Dexterity. The expanded deployment lets the shipping company assess the system at a larger operational scale inside a high volume logistics facility, building on earlier pilot testing.
The Dexterity system runs on a model called Foresight that combines vision, depth sensing, and touch to make real time decisions about how to load boxes of varying sizes and weights into a trailer for stability, space, and speed. The technology powers a dual armed robot called Mech, built for heavy industrial work while remaining compact enough to operate inside a trailer. FedEx said the expanded Hagerstown use case will help it evaluate destination planning, trailer assignment, maintenance needs, and workforce processes at a larger scale before deciding on wider deployment.
Loading and unloading trailers ranks among the most physically demanding jobs in FedEx's package network, and the company has pursued automation for years to reduce injury risk and improve efficiency. FedEx separately piloted the Scoop autonomous unloader from Berkshire Grey earlier this year at another facility.
The same week, robotics companies Pickle Robot and Ambi Robotics announced they had linked their trailer unloading and pallet stacking systems into a single automated process, citing demand from large retail and logistics companies looking to automate dock door operations without redesigning existing warehouse facilities.
Source: FreightWaves -- https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fedex-moves-closer-to-deploying-robots-that-can-load-trailers