Linde Material Handling has signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with robotics specialist Balyo to jointly develop robotic solutions in the field of robotic industrial trucks, including forklifts.
The two companies plan on collaborating in the development, manufacture and sales under the umbrella of “Linde robotics”, which is expected to extend Linde MH’s solution expertise in this field.
According to Christophe Lautray, chief sales officer at Linde MH, the demand for automated industrial trucks is growing steadily. Operators of warehouse trucks want to standardise their in-house material flow by deploying semi or fully automatic solutions, which will enable them to use their equipment flexibly regardless of work-time specifications, as well as to prevent incorrect operation and accident risks, and reduce personnel costs too, said Lautray.
“Our aim is to extend our range of automation solutions to offer our customers solutions having different levels of complexity. With Balyo we were able to persuade the technology leader in robotics for materials handling equipment to cooperate exclusively with us so that we can now combine the best of both worlds,” said Lautray.
“Our plan is to integrate Balyo’s innovative technology into most of our products step by step, whilst utilising synergies in production and sales at the same time.”
Based on standard Linde trucks, robots driven by Balyo technology do not require any navigation infrastructure such as laser reflectors, tracks or magnets. Rather, they use an embedded autonomous laser-assisted technology, which relies on structural features such as walls, racks or columns.
The technology allows a fast and easy installation process. First, the warehouse is charted and the data is converted into a two-dimensional map. Next the order of the routes through the warehouse and the missions assigned to the robots are defined. Equipped with laser, processor unit and digitised map, the vehicle locates itself in real time. Changes in the warehouse, missions or routes can be implemented.
Fabien Bardinet, CEO of Balyo, said that Linde MH is an ideal partner, as the European market leader in industrial trucks. “At Balyo, we produce a unique driving system for materials handling, together with Linde MH we will offer disruptive solutions to help our customers to optimise their in-house material flows and achieve major cost savings.”
