California-based forklift automation start-up Cavalla has announced it is making its own automated forklifts, shifting its current business model away from retrofitting existing models.

The first generation Cavalier autonomous robot has a load capacity of 1.5T, features a compact turning radius and has an eight-hour battery life.

It also features floor-level LiDAR, 360-degree awareness, predictive path planning and dynamic obstacle avoidance.

Cavalla founder Victor Boyd says when he first entered the sector, he planned to revolutionise it using a model of retrofitting automation capabilities to existing forklifts. But he soon found this faced three “hard limits”.

“First, every forklift model is meaningfully different from the next, which makes a single, ultra-reliable, low-cost kit harder to build than custom hardware,” Boyd explains. 

“Second, integrating with a customer's existing forklifts takes a long time, and long integrations are more expensive. 

“Third, many customers rent their forklifts, and rental companies resist modifications, while owners worry about voiding warranties.

“These constraints pushed Cavalla to build its own forklift from the ground up. That decision defined the next phase of the company.”

Cavalla’s head of engineering, Aayush Agrawal, adds: “Retrofitting showed us exactly where the limits were, and custom hardware let us design the controls and the vehicle as one system”.

“Going full stack is what makes the Cavalier reliable and running every single day,” Agrawal continues.

The second generation Cavalier is already under development.