Geekplus Technology Co. today announced its C200M autonomous mobile robot, which it claimed is “the world’s first extended-depth, bin-to-person robot” with the “strongest single-layer storage capacity to date.” The robot is designed to operate in narrow aisles, reach new heights, and increase warehouse storage capacity, said the Beijing-based company.

Warehouse rental costs are on the rise and represent more than 40% of overall operating costs, said Geek+. The autonomous mobile robot (AMR) can add efficiency to existing facilities and increase the storage capacity of a manual warehouse by 2.5 times, it said.

“Our R&D team is constantly pushing boundaries to develop the most advanced AMRs on the market, bringing our customers significant added value and transforming logistics operations,” stated Yong Zheng, founder and CEO of Geek+. “Since its launch in 2015, the Geek+ picking system has led the industry with real and visible business returns for our customers.”

“The new C200M picking robot will bring customers even more value by reducing warehouse rental costs and improving storage capacity to propel long-term development of enterprises and realize flexible, smart upgrades,” he said.

C200M specifications

Geek+ said its new AMR can operate in aisles that are 1 m (3 ft.) wide, less than half the typical space. The C200M can use a 1.4-m (3.2 ft.) telescopic fork to reach two rows of containers from one side of a shelf. Geek+ said these storage features can maximize returns on investment (ROI) for storage rentals.

The robot can also store cargo in a range from 0.215 m (8.4 in.) up to 5 m (16.4 ft.). Its door frame is modular and can be customized according to customer needs. In addition, the modular design allows for on-site assembly, making transportation and loading easier, said Geek+.

The C200M can be connected to other automation equipment such as conveyor lines or other robots. The robot also uses Geek+’s intelligent system for order analysis and robot scheduling.

“Based on Geek+ patented algorithms, C200M leads the industry in various areas like thermal analysis, route planning, and hit rate,” said the company.

C200M part of RoboShuttle family

The C200M is part of Geek+’s RoboShuttle family of scalable, high-density warehouse storage systems. They are intended to be easy to deploy at a lower cost than fixed automation.

RoboShuttle adds flexibility to warehouses by enabling robots to be added at any time to respond to business fluctuations, according to the company. If one robot malfunctions, it would not interrupt overall supply chain operations because the system overall has a high fault-tolerance rate, Geek+ said.

Geek+ aims for global AMR leadership

As supply chains contend with rising labor costs and escalating labor shortages, “goods-to-person picking has overthrown the traditional person-to-goods model,” said Geek+. Robots can safely increase picking efficiency threefold and deliver ROI in one to three years, it said.

Geek+ said it has deployed more than 10,000 robots in 20 countries and serves well-known global brands including Nike, Walmart, and Toyota. The company raised $150 million last year, and it opened a U.S. office in San Diego in February. In March, Geek+ partnered with Bosch Rexroth to develop AMRs.