Seegrid, a developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for materials handling, and Applied Intuition, a simulation and software tools provider for autonomous vehicle development, have reached an agreement to collaborate on creating 3D virtual warehouses, factories, and distribution centres to accelerate advancements in autonomous technology for the materials handling industry.
The partnership involves a significant investment by Seegrid and will enable the company to quickly validate product innovations in more environments and use cases across the supply chain than feasible with manual testing.
Seegrid launched several new robot models in 2021 including the company’s newest AMR, Palion Lift, which the company claims is “the only autonomous lift truck in the market with industry-leading 3D perception”.
Applied Intuition, founded five years ago, recently raised US$175m in its Series D funding round, bringing the total amount raised so far to US$350m, and is valued at US$3.6bn.
Peter Ludwig, CTO and co-founder of Applied Intuition, said: “Applied Intuition’s platform simulates a wide range of environments, layering in different conditions to safely pressure test next generation ideas in autonomous vehicle technology.
“Manufacturing and distribution facilities are a complex, highly dynamic operational design domain – we’re thrilled to collaborate with Seegrid to help enable the rapid acceleration of the growing AMR market.”
Jim Rock, CEO of Seegrid, added: “Consumer demand and a shrinking labour force are putting pressure on nearly every industry, and in turn, putting pressure on AMRs to effectively and consistently interpret and respond to ever-changing situations.
“Our customers rely on Seegrid to deliver industry leading automation solutions that can safely ensure productivity – highly advanced simulation during ideation, test, and development speeds up our ability to deliver next generation AMRs best equipped to address the unpredictable events in facility workflows.”
The two companies will also co-develop advanced simulation features and environments to support use cases unique to supply chain mobile automation.
The collaboration is a development effort from Seegrid’s Blue Labs, the company’s research and development team dedicated to quickly identifying new automation technologies for its customers in logistics, e-commerce, and manufacturing.
