Robotics Business Review

  • Home
  • Analysis / Opinion
    • RBR Analysis
    • RBR Opinion
    • RBR Interviews
  • Business
    • Management
    • Workforce
    • Start-Ups
      • RBR Start-Up Profiles
      • RBR Start-Up Insights
    • Social Good
    • Investment
    • Transaction Database
  • Markets / Industries
    • Agriculture
    • Construction / Demolition
    • Consumer
    • Defense / Security
    • Energy / Mining
    • Health / Medical
    • Logistics / Supply Chain
    • Manufacturing
    • Public Safety
    • Retail
    • Robotics Development
    • Utilities
  • Resources
    • Websites
      • The Robot Report
      • Mobile Robot Guide
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Case Studies
    • Company Directory
    • Podcasts
    • Research
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness Direct
    • Robotics Summit
    • RoboBusiness
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • R&D 100
  • RBR50
    • RBR50 2021 Nominations
    • RBR50 2020
      • RBR50 2020 Winners
      • RBR50 2020 Digital Edition
      • RBR50 2020 Company Listing

Seegrid Surpasses 2M Miles Driven Safely for its Autonomous Vehicles

Deployment growth and fleet expansion among reasons for latest milestone.

Seegrid vision vehicles

Image: Seegrid

By Keith Shaw | August 28, 2019

PITTSBURGH – Seegrid, which develops self-driving industrial vehicles for materials handling purposes, today announced that its vision-guided vehicles have reached 2 million production miles at customer sites without a single personnel safety incident. The company said it took about 16 months to reach the 2 million milestone from its 1 million miles achievement in April 2018.

“We are incredibly proud that our VGVs autonomously drove an additional one million miles in just 506 days,” said Jim Rock, CEO of Seegrid. “Our safety record speaks to our commitment to moving material as safely, effectively, and efficiently as possible with unmatched technology, expertise, and passion.”

Jim Rock Seegrid CEO

Jim Rock, Seegrid CEO

The company said safety was one of the highest priorities for companies in the materials handling space, especially when dealing with vehicles such as lift trucks, tuggers, and tow trucks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported almost 40,000 serious accidents, and one fatality per week related to manually driven forklifts in 2018.

“It’s a fair statement to say that most of our customers have safety as their number one item that they’re looking for,” said Jeff Christensen, vice president of products at Seegrid. “Safety is, no pun intended, a major drive towards customers moving towards this technology. Many customers start their journey towards automation based on safety initiatives.”

Seegrid, an RBR50 2019 honoree, said it achieves its safety through a combination of its Seegrid Vision – proprietary and unique navigation technology – with redundant safety systems to deliver “reliable and flexible material movement.” Through stereo cameras, sophisticated algorithms, and machine learning, “the patented technology enables VGVs to see and process more information about the environment than laser-based navigation systems,” Seegrid said. Customers of the company’s vehicles include Amazon, General Motors, Whirlpool, and Jaguar Land Rover, among other companies in the manufacturing, distribution, and e-commerce fulfillment space.

Christensen said the company first started collecting data on miles driven by its vehicles in 2013, and it took about five years to reach the 1 million milestone. “The big numbers [in terms of miles driven] come when companies move past the pilot programs, and we’re seeing more customers going from pilots up to fleets,” he added. At the moment, most of Seegrid’s customers are larger companies that have large facilities, operations and applications, but he said there’s also room for growth within those large companies.

The company plans to continue working on additional hardware updates and continue adding features to its fleet management software, as well as track the miles as they approach 3 million production miles. “I suspect it will certainly be faster than 500 days,” Christensen said. “I’d love to see it if it’s inside a year, but we’ll see how our fleet grows through the next quarter or two. But it would not surprise me if it comes in under a year.”

Related Articles Read More >

RBR Essentials 12-31-2020
Essential Robotics Announcements – December 25th – 31st, 2020
RBR Essentials 12-25-2020
Essential Robotics Announcements – December 18 – 24th, 2020
RoboBusiness Direct
ROS for Industrial Automation and 3D Vision for UV Disinfection Robots Explored at RoboBusiness Direct
October 2020 Robotics Transactions Dip, but Vehicles and Drones Still Get Funding
October 2020 Robotics Transactions Dip, but Vehicles and Drones Still Get Funding
The Robot Report Listing Database
Tweets by RoboticTips
Robotics Business Review
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Collaborative Robotics Trends
  • The Robot Report
  • Mobile Robot Guide
  • RoboBusiness Conference & Expo
  • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
  • Robotics Summit Conference & Expo

Copyright © 2021 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Robotics Business Review

  • Home
  • Analysis / Opinion
    • RBR Analysis
    • RBR Opinion
    • RBR Interviews
  • Business
    • Management
    • Workforce
    • Start-Ups
      • RBR Start-Up Profiles
      • RBR Start-Up Insights
    • Social Good
    • Investment
    • Transaction Database
  • Markets / Industries
    • Agriculture
    • Construction / Demolition
    • Consumer
    • Defense / Security
    • Energy / Mining
    • Health / Medical
    • Logistics / Supply Chain
    • Manufacturing
    • Public Safety
    • Retail
    • Robotics Development
    • Utilities
  • Resources
    • Websites
      • The Robot Report
      • Mobile Robot Guide
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Case Studies
    • Company Directory
    • Podcasts
    • Research
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness Direct
    • Robotics Summit
    • RoboBusiness
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • R&D 100
  • RBR50
    • RBR50 2021 Nominations
    • RBR50 2020
      • RBR50 2020 Winners
      • RBR50 2020 Digital Edition
      • RBR50 2020 Company Listing