Keeping roll cages on the move with iCart
ICART now offers an efficient and reliable solution for automated handling and buffering of roll cages .
Roll cages are a key link in the transfer of product from the production process to the supermarket shelf , no more so than in the Food and Drink sector . Typically , these are products with a large physical volume and vast production quantities that combine to form a massive internal logistics headache normally solved in the most inefficient manner , by using manual labour .
At the heart of the problem ? The roll cage itself . It was never designed to be handled automatically . Until now solutions to this problem have often been unwieldy , unreliable , and largely unaffordable . ICART tackles the problem in a revolutionary way . There are no
32 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk conveyors or complex mechanisms spread around the production area . Instead , iCart Trucks move roll cages between processes and iCart shuttles transfer , buffer and queue roll cages without human involvement .
Automated guided vehicles have been around for many years and like more conventional robots are very rarely a solution in themselves . That ’ s where iCart is different . It ’ s a total solution . Most applications are handled by seamlessly integrating two different types of iCart , the truck and the shuttle . They can be configured to operate in swarms , operating in an autonomous manner and requiring a minimum of supervisory control . They can bring about massive efficiencies and savings in a wide range of in-house logistics applications .
A lot of the success of iCart has been in its ability to handle short term storage and buffering as well as moving items from point to point . Most alternative storage systems are designed to hold items for days or weeks . With iCart the storage timescales are measured in minutes or hours .
The original iCart , developed 12 years ago , had many novel features including the ability to negotiate complex routes without user programming . Systems with a 1km route and 20 stop positions or stations were typically installed within a day . It has been successfully used around the world including the Giga-factory in the Nevada Desert . The second generation iCart , launched this year , has double the performance capability in terms of load , speed and manoeuvrability .