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Outrider has obtained more patents to automate movement of semi-trailers. Source: Outrider
Between the automated warehouse and self-driving long-haul vehicles, there is the opportunity to add robotics to yard management. Outrider Technologies Inc. today announced that it has received its latest patent, which covers the task of determining where a trailer is in respect to a self-driving tractor.
U.S. Patent No. 11,927,676, for the “Systems and Methods for Determining an Articulated Trailer Angle,” will facilitate safe and accurate autonomous trailer movement in all weather conditions, claimed the Brighton, Colo.-based company.
“Outrider’s patent portfolio covers the numerous inventions, innovations, and technologies our team developed to re-define the logistics yard,” stated Andrew Smith, founder and CEO of Outrider. “In 2017, we recognized that autonomously moving 50,000-lb. semi-trailers day and night in all weather conditions would require unique inventions to dramatically improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of the global supply chain.”
“One of the biggest pain points we learned about was losing trailers,” he told The Robot Report at Manifest. “Yard operations have been the same for decades, and there’s pent-up demand because of labor turnover, the need for safety, and hundreds of billions of dollars tied up in warehouses.”
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Outrider builds robotics portfolio
Once trucks get to the yard, hitching and unhitching trailers can be hazardous and repetitive, noted Outrider. The private company said its customers represent more than 20% of all yard trucks operating in North America.
In January, Outrider raised $73 million in Series C financing. It has employees in 10 countries developing and supporting its industrial-grade technology.
“Over-the-road trucks may wait up to four hours to get a trailer, during which drivers don’t get paid, and that’s dead time for just-in-time fulfillment,” Smith said. “We’ve been training deep learning models with data from hundreds of yards.”
The company’s electric systems could reduce idling of diesel-powered vehicles, which in North America alone could save 3.8 billion metric tons of carbon, he asserted.
The latest patent joins a portfolio covering “the core technologies required for automating yards,” said Outrider. It has one or more patents or patents pending covering the following:
Autonomous yard operations
Outrider said it invented an “end-to-end system for safely moving trailers autonomously.” This includes navigating obstacles in complex environments, hitching and unhitching from trailers using autonomous fifth wheel movement, and connecting and disconnecting brake lines.
The system also enables precise backing to warehouse dock doors and parking spots. In addition, it can track trailer inventory, monitor electric yard-truck charging, and manage autonomous operations.
Robotic connection of air brake and electrical lines
TrailerConnect is Outrider’s branded adapter-based and adapterless method for connecting and disconnecting air brake and electrical lines on autonomous yard trucks to modified or unmodified semi-trailers and chassis.
Using deep learning, the robotic arm can rapidly connect and disconnect to unmodified trailers in less than 30 seconds, said the company. Trailers outfitted with low-cost adapters can connect within seconds.
Loading dock operations
Outrider explained that its innovations focus on safe, autonomous operations at the loading dock – the connection point between the inside and outside of the facility. Autonomous yard trucks communicate with proprietary dock door safety systems to determine whether a dock is ready for loading or unloading.
The company’s dock door modifications allow swing doors on trailers and shipping containers on chassis to be opened and resealed inside the facility while the trailer remains at the loading dock. Outrider said this and subsequent patents will allow it to solve the challenge of opening and closing swing doors when operating automated yard trucks.
Outrider said its systems integrate with warehouse, yard, and transportation management systems.
TrailerConnect uses a robotic arm to connect air brake and electrical lines. Source: Outrider
Outrider patent efforts advance
Outrider now has 11 issued patents and over 50 pending patents in the U.S. and internationally. Shortly after its first patent was issued in August 2021, the company used its proprietary technology to perform fully autonomous trailer moves at Georgia-Pacific in November 2021.
Since then, Outrider said it has completed tens of thousands of autonomous trailer moves for customers in the package shipping, consumer packaged goods, automotive manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, and intermodal industries.
“This patent portfolio demonstrates the Outrider team’s continued commitment to automating the vast array of manual, repetitive tasks involved in inhospitable yard environments,” said Vittorio Ziparo, chief technology officer and executive vice president of engineering at Outrider. “These inventions, combined with relentless attention to the safety, reliability, and scalability of our technology, are changing the transportation and logistics of the global supply chain.”
Outrider said its patents for autonomous trailer movement complement its integration with warehouse, yard, and transportation management systems. In the second half of 2024, the company plans to begin shipping its commercial system to top Fortune 500 customers.