ST Engineering's STROBO

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has developed a driverless forklift with military contractor Singapore Technologies Engineering, aiming to tap into global demand for the labour-saving equipment.

The AGVs, developed under a partnership BYD signed with ST Engineering, will be marketed in China, South East Asia and elsewhere starting in November.

The forklift has improved features such as target guidance, route selection and obstacle avoidance. In addition to defence equipment, ST Engineering, a unit of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, is active in the robotics sector.

ST Engineering recently showed its STROBO robots at the Industrial Transformation Asia Pacific trade fair at Singapore Expo.

The range consists of pallet trucks and stackers, tow tractors, forklifts and trucks that can operate in very narrow aisles.

BYD launched its driverless forklift business in 2009, delivering to customers in over 100 Chinese cities. Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com is buying a few thousand BYD forklifts this year to improve efficiency at warehouses.

The Chinese company is one of the largest manufacturers of battery electric forklifts, with models of up to 5 T.