Conveyor Technology Robot Piggybacks 600-Kilogram Shelves

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SCALLOG SAS

igus GmbH

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Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

The French company Scallog has developed an autonomous robot named Boby, which can transport shelves weighing up to 600 kilograms in logistics warehouses. To maximize the robot's range and minimize maintenance efforts, the engineers rely on lubrication-free Iglidur plain bearings from the plastic specialist Igus, which are wear-resistant and significantly lighter than comparable metal solutions.

The work of pickers in e-commerce warehouses is physically demanding. They cover up to 15 kilometers (approx. 9 miles) daily to retrieve the necessary products for orders from the shelves. To ease the burden on employees and enhance their performance, the French company Scallog developed Boby. The autonomous logistics robot can independently transport shelves to the picking station, achieving up to 600 picks per hour. Multiple robots can also work in a swarm, allowing the automation capacity to scale flexibly. According to Scallog, this leads to a 40 percent increase in productivity. The solution is now used not only in e-commerce but also in industry, for example, at Decathlon, Farmy, Bricolux, and the Blondel Group.

Polymer Plain Bearings Withstand High Loads

In developing Boby, the engineers faced a particular challenge. They needed to find plain bearings for the scissor joints of the integrated lift table that were robust enough to support the weight of shelves up to 600 kilograms. At the same time, the bearings needed to be low-maintenance, cost-effective, and compact enough for the robot's limited installation space. For this reason, the engineers chose Iglidur-G plain bushings from Igus. By using tribologically optimized high-performance polymers, which are optimized for friction and wear, they are particularly resistant and durable even under high edge loads and impacts. Thus, they can reliably function even with a load capacity of 600 kilograms. To ensure this, the plain bearings are thoroughly tested in the Igus test laboratory. The results of the wear tests are documented and incorporated into an online tool that allows users to easily calculate the lifetime of their product.

The Self-Lubricating Effect Reduces Operating Costs and Improves the Ecological Balance

Another advantage is that the polymer bearings do not require additional lubricants. The material incorporates solid lubricants, ensuring low-friction dry running. This makes the bearings maintenance-free and provides a cost-effective alternative to metal plain bearings. Especially with large robot swarms, users save on maintenance, personnel, and lubricant costs by using them. At the same time, the polymer plain bearings have also been shown to have positive environmental impacts, as demonstrated by an independent study from RWTH Aachen. The absence of lubricants reduces the environmental impact and energy consumption during manufacturing, use, and disposal at the end of their lifespan. Lubrication-free plastic plain bearings thus have a lower CO₂ footprint and also contribute to more sustainable production.

Picking Like at a Drive-In Counter

As they neither need lubrication nor maintenance, the Iglidur plain bearings reliably perform their task in Scallog's logistics robot. Here's how Boby works: Once the picker starts an order on the computer, the one-meter-long autonomous robots, which visually resemble lawnmower robots, drive to the corresponding storage locations. With a height of only 450 millimeters (approx. 17.7 inches) and a width of 650 millimeters (approx. 25.6 inches), the autonomous vehicles are compact enough to drive under the shelves. Once there, they lift them using an integrated scissor system and then move at a speed of up to 1.5 kilometers per hour (approx. 0,9 mph) to the picking station. Equipped with an optical sensor, the robots navigate along a guideline glued to the floor. Arriving at the picking station, they drive by the employee one after the other, like in a drive-in, so that the products can be conveniently taken from the shelf compartments. The robots can operate autonomously for up to 14 hours continuously on a single battery charge.

(* Oliver Cyrus is Head of Public Relations & Advertising at Igus GmbH in 51147 Cologne, Tel. +49 2203 9649459, ocyrus@igus.net)

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