Parcel delivery company GLS Netherlands takes up a Robotic Singulator. It involves ROSI, supplied and installed by AWL. The robotic solution takes parcel processing efficiency at GLS to the next level.
ROSI has been implemented at GLS' sorting centre in Utrecht. The robot helps with item picking, sorting, singulation, small parcel handling and other tasks. In doing so, ROSI adapts itself to dynamic industrial environments and unpredictable situations. Among other things, it deploys deep-learning vision technology for this purpose.
Accuracy of 99.9%
The Robotic Singulator operates with a singulation accuracy of up to 99.9%. The robot focuses on robotic sorter induction, robotic item & piece-picking and can be used for depalletising in combination with a tipper.
The robot is specifically designed for use in areas with limited free floor space. The footprint of the robot is 1825x1180mm. A more compact version of the robot is also available, the ROSI Compact with a footprint of 745x 530mm. "The Utrecht sorting centre is relatively small in terms of surface area and was therefore chosen to be the first to use the Robotic Singulator," explains Tom Hartmans, ROSI's project manager at GLS.
Around 1,600 parcels per hour
"ROSI is a smart robotic solution and picks small parcels from a stack which it then places on the conveyor belt of the minisorter. Based on vision technology and AI, it determines what a single parcel is among a bulk of parcels. It then chooses the best strategy to pick up the parcel with the right speed and precision. ROSI detects and picks up parcels up to about 5 kilograms and processes almost as many as her human colleagues - about 1,600 per hour. She helps our warehouse staff by taking over repetitive work, allowing our employees to focus on other tasks," Hartmans said. "This makes their work more versatile and increases the overall efficiency of our processes."
The implementation is a pilot, carried out in collaboration with Hardenwijk-based AWL. In the process, AWL is also testing other innovations, including a new high-tech gripper to pack parcels more effectively.
"It's great to be able to work with GLS towards one goal: improving the working conditions of the employee. This allows us not only to make strides in innovation and robotisation, but also to bring current technology to actual real-life cases," says Jeffrey Vroemen, Product Manager at AWL.
Part of wider project
The implementation is part of a wider project, which aims to increase the efficiency of parcel processing. It is the first installation of ROSI within GLS group and one of the first implementations of the robot worldwide.
Depending on the outcome of the pilot project with ROSI, GLS is considering deploying more robots in its international distribution network. The aim is to optimise logistics processes and improve services.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Image: GLS Netherlands
