We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Honeywell opens "robotics innovation hub" in Pittsburgh
newsworthy

Honeywell opens "robotics innovation hub" in Pittsburgh

October 25, 2019
Ben Ames
No Comments

Industrial equipment and technology provider Honeywell International Inc. on Thursday unveiled a "robotics innovation hub" in Pittsburgh, saying the unit would develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, and advanced robotics for use across supply chains.

The move is Honeywell's latest move to expand its presence in providing supply chain automation products for e-commerce and home delivery since the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company paid $1.5 billion in 2016 to acquire the material handling automation provider Intelligrated Systems Inc. Honeywell also owns the mobile computing and auto-ID provider Intermec Inc. and the voice-directed picking system vendor Vocollect.

The new Honeywell Robotics division will be charged with helping to shape the warehouse and distribution center of the future, answering customers' demands for automated solutions, software, and robotics to deliver increased speed, accuracy, and throughput in complex material handling environments, the company said.

Honeywell has tapped industry veteran Joseph Lui to lead the unit, pointing to his experience working as director of Industrial IoT and Automation Technologies, Robotics, for Amazon.com Inc.

Lui will help to pull together a number of Honeywell's initiatives and investments in warehouse automation, including the company's Momentum warehouse execution system (WES) software platform and its partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) researchers at Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center. Honeywell has also used its Honeywell Ventures investment fund to back the warehouse robotics startups Soft Robotics and Attabotics.

Honeywell Robotics will act as a hub to pull together those various Honeywell assets around the world and create products and solutions to solve supply chain logistics problems, said Lui, who has the title of vice president and general manager of robotics, computer vision, and AI.

The unit plans to make an unspecified number of hires for engineering roles such as software engineers and robotics designers in the near future, Lui said in an email. That team "will grow our robotic solutions portfolio both organically and inorganically," continuing to develop the company's home-grown Honeywell Universal Robotic Control (HURC)-based robotic solutions as well as collaborating with startups and academics, he said.

More specifically, they will develop AI, machine learning, and computer vision technologies to automate specific supply chain process steps, such as unloading, receiving, decanting, stowing, picking, packing, sorting, shipping, moving, and loading, he said. Those systems are commonly used for tasks such as object detection, identification, and tracking, robotic motion planning, navigation, and mission planning, storage space allocation, and inventory buffering, he said. "We are building these core robotic capabilities to enable our robotic solutions to perform at their highest possible levels at all times and quickly adopt to their operating environments," Lui said in the email.

"As AI, machine learning and computer vision become commonplace, Honeywell Robotics will create innovative, breakthrough technologies to help customers alleviate skilled labor shortages, reduce safety risks and eliminate inefficient tasks," Lui said in a release. "The use of technology - including advanced warehouse execution systems, 3D storage and sortation solutions to improve capacity and efficiency, and autonomous mobile robots - is just the start of the digital transformation in warehouses."

Pittsburgh, are you ready for the next generation of warehouse #robotics? See more: https://t.co/fWfpO37wIM pic.twitter.com/Y562lfDu4J

— Honeywell (@honeywell) October 25, 2019
Material Handling Technology Robotics
KEYWORDS Honeywell International
  • Related Articles

    Honeywell Establishes Robotics Innovation Hub For Next Generation Distribution Centers

    Amazon to build robotics innovation hub in Massachusetts

    Softeon opens warehouse innovation lab in Virginia

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

Reimagining the TMS for the age of e-commerce

XPO says strong fourth quarter results show company has turned a corner from pandemic impacts

German trucking fleet Hegelmann launches U.S. division

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Walmart launches plan to build micro-DCs inside dozens of retail stores

  • Relaxed regulations for drone parcel delivery to take effect in March

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • Increasing Urgency for Vaccine Supplies Drives Launch of New Vaccine Manufacturing Resources on Thomasnet.com

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

7d82a38f f300 4f37 aac7 93ec8a60c08a

Heads Up: Your CEO Could be Calling!

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
The challenge on the table is how to make the best of a tumultuous transportation market. Watch this video to hear some tips to consider. Check out last week's 2MW: https://blog.tranzact.com/2-minute-warning/note-to-ceos-dont-blame-the-logistics-department OTR with Peter Tirschewell, from the Journal of Commerce...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

  • Shaping Up Last Mile Delivery to Surpass Customer Expectations

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing