Autonomous Warehouse Vehicles

SSI Schäfer relies on modular expansion of automated warehouse processes for its "Rackbot" systems. According to the intralogistics provider, the solutions can be gradually supplemented with additional storage aisles, mobile robots, and workstations. This is intended to allow companies to adjust their storage capacity and throughput to increasing order volumes without having to completely replace the existing facility.

The global sales of mobile robots for intralogistics applications increased by 19 percent to approximately 103,700 units in 2025. This is according to the annual report "World Robotics 2026 – Service Robots" by the International Federation of Robotics. A total of around 117,500 service robots for transport and logistics applications were sold worldwide last year. As a result, 47 percent of the total 250,000 recorded service robots were attributed to this application segment. The figures were published by the VDMA Association for Materials Handling and Intralogistics on October 27, 2026.

(ots) At the NVIDIA GTC Berlin 2026, TÜV SÜD and Accenture presented a joint concept for a "Physical AI Safety Suite" designed to help companies deploy physical AI equipment such as Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) more quickly and safely alongside human employees. With the help of digital twins, AI agents, and simulations, the "Physical AI Safety Suite" aims to accelerate the automation of factories and warehouses and increase productivity in manufacturing.

Schmalz has introduced the "GSP" intelligent vacuum pump, a fully electric vacuum generator designed for mobile robotics applications and intralogistics handling processes. The ready-to-connect pump operates with a supply voltage of 24 volts and achieves a suction capacity of 50 to 150 liters per minute. Thanks to demand-oriented power regulation and automatic leakage detection, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 90 percent compared to conventional electric vacuum generators. Since the pump operates without a compressed air supply, it is particularly suitable for decentralized automation solutions and retrofitting existing systems, according to the manufacturer.

Three autonomous cleaning and sweeping suction robots take over schedulable cleaning tasks on industrial and logistics areas. Sensors, navigation, and automated documentation allow use even in areas with pedestrian traffic.

The INC Innovation Center plans to open the "Future Robotics Exploration Hub" in Stuttgart in January 2027, in collaboration with industrial companies. The proposed facility is intended to enable manufacturing companies to test, compare, and validate mobile and humanoid robotic systems as well as physical artificial intelligence (Physical AI) technologies using real industrial tasks. The project was presented on October 6, 2026, at the Future Robotics Summit in Stuttgart.

His diploma thesis already dealt with driverless transport systems. In the meantime, Günther Ullrich looks back on decades of activity in committees, standardization, and professional networking.

The Irish materials handling equipment manufacturer Combilift has launched a new program to promote young technical talent. With the "Future Engineers Award," the company aims to recognize students in County Monaghan who achieve the highest grade H1 in engineering or technology in the Leaving Certificate in 2027. According to the manufacturer, successful participants will each receive 500 euros and a recognition trophy.

With the end of the EK Robotics brand, the provider is consolidating its international activities under one name. At the same time, the product portfolio is shifting towards standardized solutions.

With the mobile robot presented at Logimat 2026, the manufacturer addresses automation projects step by step. Existing infrastructure should be largely reusable.

As of October 1, 2026, RHB-Robotics commenced as an independent business unit of RHB-Industries GmbH. The unit in Rheinböllen develops, manufactures, sells, and supports Autonomous Mobile Robots for in-house material transport. According to the company, the new designation does not change the responsible team, technology, or production.

Neura Robotics is entering the clinical market with its own business unit for healthcare technology. As the company announced, Neura HealthTech is set to develop applications based on robotics, sensor technology, and artificial intelligence. The first application is planned to be an autonomous mobile platform for the internal transport of empty hospital beds and sterile goods.

At the SLK Clinic Heilbronn, the Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) "GESSbot" by W. Gessmann GmbH takes over recurring medication transports between the central pharmacy and oncology. According to the manufacturer, the vehicle moves through publicly accessible clinic areas, uses regular passenger elevators, and navigates between patients, visitors, and staff. Sealed-off driving areas or an infrastructure specially set up for the robot are not required for this.

On September 23, 2026, the "User Forum on Mobile Robotics - AGV Symposium" took place at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund. Under the motto "AGV deployment is worthwhile: High throughput through optimized transport processes," over 140 participants from science and practice gained insights into current developments in the field of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and mobile robotics.

With a vehicle, Elster is testing automated in-house transport for the first time. According to the provider, the solution requires no structural modifications and can be supplemented with additional vehicles.

Mediapoint & Exhibitions has announced the launch of the AGV Expo in Italy for October 2026. The event focuses on Automated Guided Vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, and other technologies for automated logistics. The trade fair will take place from October 22 to 24, 2026, at the Piacenza Expo grounds and is aimed, among others, at vehicle manufacturers, technology providers, software developers, system integrators, and users.

Knapp automates pallet handling at the Cummins production site in Lindesberg, Sweden. 15 autonomous mobile robots of the type "Open Shuttle Fork" handle up to 2,000 transport orders daily. The system also includes a pallet high-bay warehouse, an automated small parts warehouse, and software for warehouse management, material flow, and fleet control.

An exclusive interview with Constantin Enke from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) about standardized interfaces and when and for whom the use of VDA 5050 is worthwhile.

A study by the Technical University of Dortmund shows which characteristics professionals attribute to the various mobile robots and where the boundaries remain blurred.

More than eight billion order-picking operations form a data basis for the further development of the systems, according to the company. The provider aims to extend automation beyond individual robots.

With up to triple-deep storage and modularly expandable robotics, SSI Schäfer aims for high utilization of existing storage spaces. According to the provider, in specific applications, up to 43 containers per square meter are possible.

Hundreds of installed systems and proprietary navigation software: With Adlatus, Neura secures an existing platform for the expansion of its business with Physical AI.