The most popular unmanned distribution robot trans

It is not enough to rely on drones for unmanned distribution! Will "robot transport network" be the ultimate version of unmanned distribution

in order to achieve the ideal unmanned distribution scheme, in addition to upgrading the existing hardware, it is also necessary to build a set of safe operation network to fully meet the future human demand for robot transport capacity

in the unmanned warehouse, after the robot fills a waiting drone with goods, the drone automatically takes off and delivers the products to consumers according to the designated route. These "black technologies" that once appeared in the film are coming into our life

however, at present, the UAV enterprises in the urban transportation scene in the market are only in the testing stage, and there is still a long way to go before they are truly commercialized. Zhang Lei, CEO of Xunyi, said in an interview that at present, the domestic logistics UAV is still in the early stage of development. In the coming years, when the UAV application cost and human cost reach the balance point, it will be the time for large-scale commercial application of UAV. He predicted that in the future, more than 70% of terminal distribution will be completed by autonomous intelligent vehicles instead of manpower

as an innovative company rooted in the logistics field, Xunyi, which has just completed a+ round of 30million yuan financing, recently released the latest generation of "robot transport network" ADNET, which will provide consumers with the whole process of unmanned terminal distribution services in the future. In fact, as early as two years ago, Xunyi won market share by relying on its technical resources and customer advantages. China Post opened the first UAV postal route and realized the first commercial operation of logistics UAVs in remote areas. At the beginning of this year, Xunyi entered the city from the countryside. Facing the high-frequency application scenarios of urban C-end consumers, Xunyi began to explore with UAV delivery as the starting point, especially for coffee, fresh food and other products that have the ultimate pursuit of delivery timeliness and product safety, and conducted high-density and large-scale operation tests

according to the test results, Zhang Lei judged that in order to achieve the ideal unmanned distribution scheme, in addition to the upgrade of existing hardware, it is also necessary to build a set of safe operation network to fully meet the future human demand for robot transport capacity. This is also the original intention of Xunyi to launch the robot transport network. In terms of hardware, the "robot transport network" is mainly composed of a new generation of UAV RA3, an unmanned hub station Rh1 that connects the robots at both ends of the open space with the shutdown and renovation of the paper mill during the Spring Festival, an unmanned vehicle Rg1 that completes the delivery of "the last 100 meters" of goods, and a complete set of algorithms to realize multi-agent cooperation

robot capacity network

the new UAV model, RA3, is a UAV specially designed for logistics. Cargo handling is the core function of the logistics UAV. The fuselage design of RA3 is more integrated, and the full-size open design makes cargo handling more convenient and flexible. Zhang Lei said that the full-automatic loading and unloading design of RA3 can realize seamless connection between UAV and unmanned station Rh1. As the transfer equipment connecting the two ends of the open space, Rh1 provides 6 temporary storage spaces for containers and basic charging functions. As an "airport", Rh1 has the highest takeoff and landing frequency of 30 sorties/hour

UAV RA3, unmanned hub station Rh1 and cargo delivery unmanned vehicle Rg1

according to Zhang Lei, in the fourth quarter of this year, the unmanned distribution system integrating air and ground can be completed. The second generation of unmanned vehicle developed by Zhang Lei is currently in the road test stage, which is also an important part of the robot transport capacity network. In the future, the unmanned vehicle Rg1 will replace the delivery personnel to complete the manual distribution of businesses - unmanned stations, unmanned stations - consumers

to put it simply, the unmanned distribution method of ADNET is as follows:

-- the merchant puts the goods/takeout into the unmanned vehicle, and the unmanned vehicle goes to the unmanned station

-- the unmanned station takes out the takeout/goods from the unmanned vehicle, automatically sorts them and loads them into the UAV

-- the UAV takes off and sends it to the next unmanned station, automatically unloads and stores it in the unmanned station for a short time

-- unmanned vehicles take out takeout/goods from the station and deliver them to consumers

from the perspective of this process, it means that ADNET fully realizes the full link unmanned distribution of goods. The three intelligent robots learn from each other and make full use of the advantages of three-dimensional space to solve the distribution problem. This has also brought new challenges. In the past, Xunyi used to be called an innovative company that applies UAVs in the logistics field, but now it is more understood as a technology company that provides complete robot transport capacity solutions, involving a wider range of hardware fields and facing more challenges

secondly, there are more types of intelligent hardware. According to the estimation of Xunyi, the distribution volume of 5000 orders can be completed in one day in a transportation network. About 120 UAVs, 50 unmanned stations and 60 unmanned vehicles need to be invested. The number of network nodes will reach nearly 300, and the number of take-off and landing in a single day exceeds that of the capital airport

according to relevant logistics experts, in addition to realizing the self driving technology of UAVs, unmanned vehicles and other delivery vehicles, the "robot transportation network" also needs to solve the "mass" large-scale autonomous operation of the same type of robots, as well as the "network" multi machine cooperation among the three types of agents. It is reported that Xunyi's ADNET has realized the ability of multi-agent automatic planning and scheduling. ADNET plans to deliver more than 10000 orders per day in the second quarter of 2019. At that time, can robot distribution really enter the daily life of consumers? We will see

column editor in chief: Liu Kun text: Liu Kun caption source: visual China picture: Zhu Zhen