Brightpick's New Warehouse Robot Reaches 20ft High

Brightpick Introduces the Giraffe AMR System

Brightpick, a company specializing in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), unveiled a significant addition to its product lineup on Tuesday. The new system, aptly named Giraffe, is distinguished by its expansive, retractable platform.

This platform is capable of reaching heights of up to 20 feet (6 meters) to retrieve items from elevated warehouse shelving. It represents an innovative approach for warehouses where ceilings are beyond the reach of conventional AMRs and human personnel.

How the Giraffe System Functions

The Giraffe achieves this extended reach through a telescoping arm comprised of three overlapping segments. When fully retracted, the arm measures 8.5 feet in length.

Instead of repeatedly extending and retracting the full 11.5 feet, the system is designed to operate in coordination with Brightpick’s existing Autopicker robot. This AMR, equipped with dual supply bins, meets the Giraffe halfway, extending its reach up to 11 feet.

Comparison to Existing Technologies

The Giraffe system shares similarities with the telescoping warehouse robots developed by Dexory, a London-based company.

However, Dexory’s “DexoryView” platform primarily focuses on shelf scanning using sensors, while the Giraffe is engineered for the more complex task of physically transferring items from the shelves.

Drone-based scanning startups, such as Gather AI, Verity, and Corvus, represent another form of competition for tall-shelf warehouse inventory.

However, the energy demands of lifting and moving substantial payloads make quadcopters impractical for this application, meaning they are unlikely to directly compete with the Giraffe system.

Advantages Over Traditional Systems

A more relevant comparison can be made to automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).

These systems, characterized by their tightly packed grid configurations, are often costly to install and maintain, and offer limited flexibility in handling varying inventory sizes.

Brightpick’s solution, conversely, utilizes AMRs navigating and retrieving inventory from standard warehouse shelving.

BionicHive’s Squid systems offer an alternative, employing shelf-mounted tracks for inventory retrieval. Amazon invested in this Israeli robotics startup in 2022 through its Industrial Innovation Fund.

The Future of Warehouse Automation

The warehouse and logistics sector is undergoing rapid automation, creating space for a diverse range of solutions and form factors.

Deployment and Performance

Brightpick plans to deploy the Giraffe system with two key customers in 2025.

The Feed, an e-commerce retailer, will integrate six Giraffes alongside 73 Autopickers at its Colorado facility.

McGuff Company, a medical supply firm, will implement a smaller deployment of four Giraffes and one dozen Autopickers at a California warehouse.

Brightpick asserts that the Giraffe/Autopicker combination enables a 3x increase in warehouse density compared to manual operations, and doubles the efficiency of its existing solutions.