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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday April 11 2018, @10:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the judgement-day-is-coming dept.

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

A new device allows robots used in warehouses and third-party logistics (3PL) facilities to draw power or recharge batteries wirelessly while in operation.

The technology could have a big impact on the capabilities of mobile industrial robots, potentially freeing them from limitations imposed by modern batteries.

Waypoint Robotics, which makes custom mobile robots for the supply chain industry, unveiled its EnZone Wireless Charging Dock at this year's MODEX, the largest supply chain expo in North & South America and the hottest ticket in town this week for the mobile robotics industry.

The underlying technology for the wireless charging system comes from partner WiBotic, which makes plug-and-play devices for the wireless transmission of power to robotic platforms.

Last year, WiBotic made a splash with a wireless charging pad it claims can keep drones in the air indefinitely. That capability could prove indispensable if drone delivery takes off the way many analysts believe it will.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/untethered-wireless-power-transmission-will-make-robots-hard-to-stop/


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 11 2018, @01:38PM (3 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday April 11 2018, @01:38PM (#665355)

    As I said: the decapitation device from hell.

    That's a pretty big hexacopter, and a pretty small pizza in the box. For a normal 12" (30cm) pizza with extra cheese, you're looking at an even bigger 'copter with even shorter battery life. You can put shrouds on the propellers to reduce the risk of injury, but that further increases weight, decreases battery life, and may necessitate even larger prop blades.

    There are some interesting use cases where it makes sense, but unless the delivery is in "one hop" range of the pizza oven, it's all rather silly: driving a big truck to carry a drone so a single 12" pizza can make the last mile hop by drone.

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  • (Score: 1) by webnut77 on Wednesday April 11 2018, @07:59PM (2 children)

    by webnut77 (5994) on Wednesday April 11 2018, @07:59PM (#665509)

    To add to your observation, the downdraft from the propeller blades will quickly cool the pizza.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11 2018, @09:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11 2018, @09:09PM (#665551)

      So what we need are mobile pizza-prep delivery-drone carrying trucks that circle town dispatching drones when they're within one-hop of te destination address.

      And to avoid cooling the pizza, use mini-harrier-jets instead of hex-copters and cook the pie en route!

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 11 2018, @09:21PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday April 11 2018, @09:21PM (#665557)

      The Kiwi demo (video linked above) addresses this by protecting the pizzabox from downdraft, but they're also using a pretty hefty hexacopter to lift the assembly.

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