Although from the current situation, robots have not yet taken a dominant position in the retail and logistics markets, relevant corporate giants still choose to bet on this technology with huge market prospects to streamline their supply chains and Enhance its delivery capabilities. In this regard, what best reflects the efforts of the giants is their patent applications in this field.
This article will provide a detailed explanation of the patents applied by different companies, and further explore the impact of the adoption of these technologies on application scenarios.
Walmart: Focusing on autonomous delivery infrastructure and distribution center automation
According to data from CB Insights, the U.S. e-commerce market alone is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2027 , currently valued at $661 billion. Targeting this market, Walmart is accelerating its delivery and process automation.
It is reported that since 2016, Walmart has applied for more than 65 patents related to drones and ground robots, 53 of which involve drone systems, aiming to improve the reliability of drones. and ensure its safety.
Autonomous “delivery chain”
For example, in December 2018, Walmart applied for a patent to develop a drone “delivery chain.” In a delivery chain, each drone can communicate with a centralized node to receive delivery information and identify which drone the item should be delivered to.
Air-land transmission system
Also in 2018, the company applied for a patent for a handover system between drones and ground automated guided vehicles (AGVs). The patent could transfer goods transported by drones to automated guided vehicles to increase package delivery options.
Emergency landing system
The biggest challenge faced by UAV systems during use is safety. In response, in January 2019, Walmart applied for a patent for an emergency landing system in which drones would be equipped with sensors to determine potential emergency landing locations during flight. More importantly, during an emergency landing, the system can also send an alert signal and its location.
Autonomous robotic systems to replenish inventory in a timely manner
In addition to focusing on the last mile delivery issue, using robotic technology to automate distribution centers is also a major goal of Walmart. In September 2018, the company was awarded a patent for an autonomous robotic system that can inspect small quantities of a specific product at one facility and, if there is a shortage, obtain the product from another facility to replenish inventory.
Amazon: Robots focusing on moving items and multiple drone-related patents
As a strong competitor of Walmart in the e-commerce field, Amazon acquired the robot start-up in 2012 The company, Kiva Systems, has since taken steps to automate its supply chain by deploying robotics technologies such as computer vision, depth sensing, object recognition, and other AI software.
According to data from CB Insights, Amazon has applied for more than 180 patents related to robots and drones since 2014, mainly focusing on autonomous mobile robots and drones.
Object operations that can be achieved by robots
This patent provides a technology that can be used to enable robots to operate items. Object recognition is accomplished by analyzing one or more items using the rules of machine vision. In addition, if it is determined that the robot cannot complete the current operation, it can send a signal to request human assistance.
Mobile Robot Group for Moving Items
Another patent filed by Amazon for robots is a mobile robot group, which can improve the efficiency and flexibility of warehouse systems. technology, specifically designed to move "oversized, overweight or uniquely shaped items." Specifically, multiple robots work together to complete a job. For example, the instructions for the first task can be sent to the first robot, and then based on the robot's work progress and its dependence on the first task, the instructions for the second task can be sent to the second robot. The first and second tasks may result in incremental movements of items by the group of mobile robots as the corresponding robots perform the tasks.
Drone delivery system patent
In May 2019, Amazon obtained a patent for a drone delivery system that can help deliver items ordered by customers to designated destinations , in other words, can be used to solve the last mile delivery problem. It should be noted that the drone does not return to the item handling location under its own power. Its itinerary is set to be a one-way route. After completing the delivery, it will stay at the destination and be subsequently picked up by a retrieval unit (such as a truck). Complete search.
In addition to the above-mentioned patents, Amazon has also applied for many other drone-related patents, including drone location filters, on-board drone charging, delivery drone descent, and on-demand designation. Delivery locations, positioning aircraft sensors, automatic loading systems and more. Overall, Amazon's huge investments in its supply chain could pose a competitive threat to other players in the e-commerce market.
JD.com: The number of patents is small, all related to robots
Compared with Walmart and Amazon, China’s e-commerce market leader JD.com is far behind them in terms of number of patents . From 2014 to 2019, the number of patents in drones and robots was 4, two of which we will detail below.
Classification robot
The first is the classification robot, which was submitted by JD.com in March 2018 and approved in December 2019. Classification robots, as the name suggests, are a type of robotic technology used for classifying items, mainly involving applications in logistics, especially in the field of warehousing. For this robot, it has at least one layer of pallets and a shaft located at the axial center of the pallet; at the same time, the pallet is provided with a first slot and an openable first door; one end of the pallet extends upward to form a pallet wall; along the A space separator is provided from the pallet axis to the pallet wall to separate the storage bin; the space separator is rotatably connected to the axis of the pallet and can rotate around the axis of the pallet. It is worth mentioning that the size of the storage box and the number of items placed in the storage box are adjustable, and items are output through the openable first door, which can improve the output efficiency of items in the storage box.
Method and device for controlling mobile robots
This is a technology mainly aimed at mobile robots. It can generate evaluation information about pedestrians, such as nearby pedestrians, through the sensory information of mobile robots. Intention information and types of pedestrian events, etc., and then pedestrian behavior information can be generated based on the perception information and evaluation information. The pedestrian behavior information includes the predicted position information sequence and the predicted behavior type sequence of nearby pedestrians in a preset future time period. ; Then generate control information based on the perceived information to control the mobile robot. This patent may improve the social acceptance of mobile robots to a certain extent.
As we mentioned above, the various patented technologies of Walmart, Amazon and JD.com are not only used to solve the last-mile distribution problem, but some patents, especially robot-related technologies, are available to a certain extent. To improve efficiency, efficiency has always been one of the driving forces for retailers eager to automate their warehouses. Therefore, from JD.com to Walmart to Amazon, many retailers have turned their attention to warehouse automation (Warehouese Automation).
Walmart launches Alphabot system, picking more than 800 items per hour
In January 2020, Walmart launched a robot system called Alphabot to improve distribution efficiency and solve its online problems One of the biggest problems facing business. The system was developed by Walmart in partnership with Massachusetts-based startup Alert Innovation.
The Alphabot robot system is currently operating in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse. It uses automatic mobile carts to retrieve and collect refrigerated, frozen and other goods from high-density cargo storage systems, and then Deliver goods to workstations within the store where they are inspected by staff before being packed and shipped.
It is reported that through the cooperation of humans and the system, more than 800 items of goods can be selected per hour. In contrast, Alert Innovation data shows that humans can select from store shelves per hour. The number of product categories is 80, which means that the machine’s picking efficiency is 10 times that of manual work.
Although Alphabot is a hybrid system to a certain extent, that is, a system that requires humans and machines to complete the work at the same time, it ultimately takes the operation to be completely completed by machines as its future development direction. In this regard, Brian Rother, senior manager of automation and digital operations at Walmart, said, "This will have a transformative impact on Walmart's supply chain. Alphabot simplifies the order process and enables faster and more efficient order picking."
Amazon uses robots to pack orders, and each robot may eliminate 24 employees
In May 2019, media reported that Amazon was studying using robots to scan goods on conveyor belts and then put them on the into a custom box. In fact, Amazon has been trying to apply more new technologies to freight warehouses, but the difference between these two new robot technologies used to replace humans is that each machine can eliminate at least 24 employees, on average , Amazon's 55 logistics centers may reduce more than 1,300 jobs.
Previously, tasks including scanning, sorting and boxing have been unable to be automated. This is the first exposure of Amazon’s plan. It’s worth noting that these plans have not yet been put into action, as ongoing validation is required before large-scale deployment.
It is understood that the new machine comes from the Italian company CMC Srl and is called CartonWrap. Sources said that the robot can pack much faster than humans and can complete 600-700 boxes of orders per hour, which is 4-5 times more efficient than manual labor.
However, like Walmart's robots, these robots also require human help, such as checking orders, storing cardboard and glue, and repairing possible paper jams.
In addition, Amazon also announced the use of another robot, SmartPac, to deliver items. With the robot, Amazon will be able to automate much of its manual packaging.
Although it has taken a step toward automation in order boxing, Amazon still believes that the technology is not ready yet because humans still need to put goods on conveyor belts. In addition, technicians need to be present when the robot is working so that faults can be dealt with in a timely manner. These are all issues that need to be resolved urgently.
JD.com has launched the world’s first unmanned warehouse, which may become a model for the future
Compared to the time when Amazon was exposed to using robots to pick goods, JD.com came earlier and even automated it The process is also more comprehensive. In October 2017, all Chinese e-commerce companies were preparing for the largest shopping festival of the year - the "Double 11" shopping festival. At this time, JD.com showed people its secret weapon in advance: located in Jiading District, Shanghai. The world's first full-process unmanned warehouse can realize full automation from warehousing, storage, packaging and sorting.
The unmanned warehouse unveiled this time is the third phase of the overall planning of Jingdong Asia One, with a construction area of ??40,000 square meters. The main body of the logistics center consists of four parts: receipt, storage, order picking, and packaging. It consists of an operating system and a storage system consisting of 8 sets of shuttle car warehouse systems, which can store 60,000 boxes of goods at the same time. More importantly, in the future, after JD.com’s unmanned warehouse is officially operational, its daily order processing capacity will exceed 200,000 orders.
In this regard, JD.com said that the unmanned warehouse is a bold innovation of JD.com in intelligent warehousing. Its automation and intelligent equipment coverage reaches 100%, which can cope with the flexible and changeable orders of e-commerce. Business form. This is an efficient and orderly complement to the original Asia No. 1 style of being able to digest huge amounts of orders over a long period of time.
In 2019, in preparation for the 618 Mid-year Shopping Festival, JD.com put into operation 23 of its Asia No. 1 smart logistics parks across China. In the next five years, JD Logistics will successively build Asia One in more than 30 other core cities in China to achieve full coverage of major provinces, cities, districts and counties.
Based on the patents filed by the three giants, we can see that they are betting more on drone delivery and distribution center automation. And they do this for two reasons: On the one hand, robotics allows customers to enjoy better prices, and on the other hand, distribution center automation can help companies reduce long-term costs in their supply chains. Therefore, for large retailers, embracing automation will be an inevitable choice to keep up with the market that has changed due to technology. However, in the process of pursuing automation, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome, such as upfront costs and employees. ownership arrangements, etc.