Grant: Idea to Innovation
University of Waterloo
$175,000.00
NSERC I2I phase IIB project: A new high-speed warehousing cable robot: prototyping, evaluation,*and commercialization
FY 2019-20
Summary
There is a large and growing demand for high throughput automated warehousing solutions. This growing demand is coming from online retail and the shift in consumer preferences from shopping at brick and mortar stores to on-line shopping. It is expected that global e-commerce sales will grow from $2.3 trillion in 2017 to $4.9 trillion by 2021, over 110% in 5 years. This explosion of online retail calls for new technologies to provide higher throughput automated warehousing systems to meet e-commerce demands. Our pioneering work in the past 15 years has resulted in a new technology that can significantly increase the speed of automated warehousing systems. In our work, heavy warehousing robots are replaced with cable driven robots where a platform is moved from one place to another to perform any material handlings. Based on positive outcomes achieved through our studies and experimental work, one of the global suppliers of advanced integrated supply chain automation technology has licenced our patents and committed to support the development of a full-scale warehousing cable robot (WCR) through this I2I Phase IIb project. In this project, we aim to design, fabricate, evaluate, and test a full-scale prototype of the WCR with a maximum workspace of 50m (L) × 12m (H) with a payload of 150 Kg. This full-scale prototype will be used to evaluate and optimize the performance of the new cable robot in real operations and ultimately bring the new warehousing robot to a pre-production stage. The successful launch of this new technology will create significant expansion and employment opportunities in Canada for mechanical and control engineers, software engineers, and service personnel. In addition, the engineers and students working on this project will gain experience in an emerging technology that is being specifically sought by the supporting company and many Canadian automation companies. The development of this project will add substantially to the knowledge base of the university, which will be transferred to students for many years to come.
Program
Idea to Innovation
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
523354-2018
Name nom
Khajepour, Amir
Department département
Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics
Organization id
33
Institution établissement
University of Waterloo
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2019
Competition year année de concours
2018
Award amount
175000
Program id
I2IPJ
Program name en
Idea to Innovation
Program name fr
De l'idée à l'innovation
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
520
Area of application group en
Manufacturing processes and products
Area of application group fr
Procédés et produits industriels
Area of application en
Production and operations management
Area of application fr
Production et gestion des opérations
Research subject code
2600
Research subject group en
Robotics
Research subject group fr
Robotique
Research subject en
Robotics
Research subject fr
Robotique
Installment
inst:2 - 2
Partie
2
Nb partie
2
Application title
NSERC I2I phase IIB project: A new high-speed warehousing cable robot: prototyping, evaluation,*and commercialization
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
There is a large and growing demand for high throughput automated warehousing solutions. This growing demand is coming from online retail and the shift in consumer preferences from shopping at brick and mortar stores to on-line shopping. It is expected that global e-commerce sales will grow from $2.3 trillion in 2017 to $4.9 trillion by 2021, over 110% in 5 years. This explosion of online retail calls for new technologies to provide higher throughput automated warehousing systems to meet e-commerce demands. Our pioneering work in the past 15 years has resulted in a new technology that can significantly increase the speed of automated warehousing systems. In our work, heavy warehousing robots are replaced with cable driven robots where a platform is moved from one place to another to perform any material handlings. Based on positive outcomes achieved through our studies and experimental work, one of the global suppliers of advanced integrated supply chain automation technology has licenced our patents and committed to support the development of a full-scale warehousing cable robot (WCR) through this I2I Phase IIb project. In this project, we aim to design, fabricate, evaluate, and test a full-scale prototype of the WCR with a maximum workspace of 50m (L) × 12m (H) with a payload of 150 Kg. This full-scale prototype will be used to evaluate and optimize the performance of the new cable robot in real operations and ultimately bring the new warehousing robot to a pre-production stage. The successful launch of this new technology will create significant expansion and employment opportunities in Canada for mechanical and control engineers, software engineers, and service personnel. In addition, the engineers and students working on this project will gain experience in an emerging technology that is being specifically sought by the supporting company and many Canadian automation companies. The development of this project will add substantially to the knowledge base of the university, which will be transferred to students for many years to come.
