Chinese materials handling equipment making giant Hangcha has announced what it describes as “a second venture” for the 70-year-old business, as it transforms “from forklift manufacturer to robotics company”.

Announced at its recently held AI Day, Hangcha unveiled LogiMind - an embodied AI foundation model purpose-built for industrial vehicles. 

LogiMind is complemented by a full line-up of autonomous forklifts, including counterbalance, reach, pallet and stacker models. 

All share a unified architecture powered by 3D LiDAR, multi-camera vision and a cloud-edge collaborative AI engine.

Hangcha states autonomous forklifts currently account for around 2% of forklifts used in the Chinese domestic market, “a figure that reflects a fundamental barrier to large-scale adoption”.

“Traditional AGVs (automated guided vehicle) rely on fixed routes and predefined instructions, forcing the site to adapt to the machine,” Hangcha states. “Their limited decision-making capabilities also make it difficult to handle unexpected situations.

“Hangcha is taking a different approach: the machine adapts to the site.”

Wenfei Wang, Hangcha's CTO and director at the Intelligent Logistics Research Institute, explains: “A traditional AGV follows the exact path you tell it to take. An autonomous forklift understands what you ask it to do and determines how to complete it on its own. It replaces not just the operator's hands, but the entire decision-making chain.”

At AI Day, Hangcha launched its new AI-driven strategy, which is set to become a key pillar for the business.

Limin Zhao, chairman of Hangcha Group says: “We have established three R&D platforms dedicated to embodied AI, intelligent logistics and robotics innovation. Our goal is clear: become a top-tier robotics company in China and a globally recognised leader in intelligent logistics.”