Hyster joins Association for Advancing Automation

Hyster Company has joined the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Formerly the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), A3 is the leading global automation trade association for robotics, machine vision, motion control and industrial AI.

“Industries like auto manufacturing, packaging and more are grappling with persistent labour challenges, increasing costs and efficiency shortfalls,” says Steven LaFevers, vice president of emerging technology, Hyster Company. “With robotic lift trucks capable of automating a broad array of applications and delivering speedy ROI, we’re equipping businesses to overcome challenges they may not have thought possible to solve.”

As a member of A3, Hyster will continue to innovate on top of its current comprehensive line-up of robotic lift trucks, which includes a robotic tow tractor, end rider, counterbalanced stacker and reach truck.

Hyster will also exhibit and present an educational session at the Autonomous Mobile Robots & Logistics Conference hosted by A3 in Memphis, Tennessee on 13 October. The educational session, ‘AMRs with Forks,’ will be held from 3:15 to 3:45 CDT and will explore the evolution of mobile robots and the capability of robotic lift trucks to not only provide horizontal transport but lift product up off the ground and even reach into higher-level storage locations.

Hyster robotic lift trucks automate a range of horizontal transportation and vertical storage tasks, such as milk runs, transportation of pallet loads to staging areas, stacking and unstacking loads, sequencing components to assembly lines and depositing and retrieving loads from as high as 30ft.

The trucks provide operations flexibility of dual operating modes, meaning that an operator can switch the truck from automated to manual mode with the touch of a button.

Infrastructure-free navigation, using LiDAR simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) technology, allows the trucks to integrate into existing operations by mapping structural features, without laser reflectors, guide wires or magnets. The ability to deploy a single unit before expanding also helps provide a lower cost of entry and greater scalability for customers.

Because the trucks are standard Hyster lift trucks with robotic technology installed, customers can count on the same local dealer personnel that provide service for their other equipment, without the downtime and expense associated with calling in specialised technical resources.