Otto Motors launches self-driving forklift truck
Otto Motors, has launched the Otto Omega, which the company says is “the world’s first truly self-driving lift truck”. The Omega is “the easiest, safest and most reliable automated lift truck for busy factories and warehouses”. The company is targeting the vehicle at industrial engineers and operations professionals who need to reduce material handling costs, increase process throughput and improve plant safety.
Unlike traditional automated forklifts, Otto Omega is claimed to be “the only lift truck able to react to changes on the factory floor in real time and move around obstacles to ensure deliveries happen on time, every time”.
Matt Rendall, CEO and co-founder of Otto Motors, says: “Today’s plant managers have to keep busy factory floors operating quickly and efficiently without ever sacrificing worker safety. “A truly self-driving lift-truck is a game changer when it comes to process efficiency, handling costs and site safety.” Otto Omega can pick up and drop off skids fully autonomously, receive items to be put away, deliver parts to lineside, cross dock, transport dunnage and more, adds the company.
In the semi-autonomous mode, Otto Omega collaborates with workers who can seamlessly take over to manage loading and unloading pallet deliveries, including onto trailers and racks. With powerful AI at its core, Otto Omega learns new skills and how to do new jobs with every software update. The vehicle receives orders, reports on its status and notifies human operators of issues in real-time.
It is always collecting data from its surroundings and learning from human operators while communicating with a centralized control system. Otto Omega builds on Otto’s decade of self-driving technology investment that helped define the self-driving material handling industry. The Omega is the safest, most intelligent, and most productive self-driving forklift ever and with up-front costs or risks, it has the lowest cost per pallet in industry.
