Big Joe Forklifts has added new autonomous mobile robot features to its Pallet Mover model, including dynamic mapping, map sharing and zone drop functionality.

The new features, developed in partnership with Thoro.ai, were unveiled at Automate 2023 in Detroit on 22 May.

Big Joe chief marketing officer Bill Pedriana says: “AMRs bring so many benefits to the modern warehouse, and The Pallet Mover from Big Joe offers functionality, dependability and a point of entry to automation that doesn’t require any enterprise-wide software or extensive training to get up and running.”

As well as enhanced mapping capabilities, the new zone drop feature allows the Pallet Mover to autonomously travel to a destination and deliver pallets to preset locations.  

The Pallet Mover has an intuitive tablet interface, LiDAR and a camera system to transport and drop pallets to locations autonomously once the operator selects a mission.

Big Joe Autonomous Division general manager Nick Malewicki says: “Given my experience vetting manufacturers that have begun adopting autonomous technology, I can tell you first-hand that the new features we are introducing will eliminate a lot of severe headaches and cost for our customers.”

Malewicki describes the new features as “a huge step change from where the industry has been stuck for years”.