Seegrid Introduces GP8 Mobile Robot

April 1, 2008
CLEVELANDAt NA 2008, the material handling and logistics show presented by the Material Handling Industry of America in Cleveland, Seegrid Corp. introduced

CLEVELAND—At NA 2008, the material handling and logistics show presented by the Material Handling Industry of America in Cleveland, Seegrid Corp. introduced its GP8 industrial mobile robot for material handling applications.

The GP8 (General Purpose Motorized Pallet Jack, 8000 lb. capacity) transports pallets to an assigned location, automatically positions them and returns to the original starting point or another pre-assigned location, according to Seegrid.

The robot features the company’s Industrial Mobile Robotics (IMR) technology, which enables it to move through facilities using stereo cameras. The GP8 uses images from the cameras to create a 3D map of the environment and then uses the map, along with its reasoning ability, to navigate a predetermined path and complete an assigned task.

“The lift truck industry grew out of the need for warehouse workers to have durable equipment to do their work effectively,” said Scott Friedman, CEO of Seegrid, at a press conference held at NA 2008. “Industrial mobile robotics means that the same durable equipment now can do some of the work for the warehouse workers. It allows warehouse operators to maintain their hard-learned and hard-earned best practices, while giving them a new tool to address the challenges they face today: labor shortages, ergonomic and safety issues and cost reduction.”

The GP8 frees up skilled workers from non-value-added tasks and requires no facility modification, according to Seegrid.