Expanding Accuracy, Speed, and Efficiency for Hydrogen Robotics

Small-scale industrial robotics is a burgeoning market in logistics, e-commerce, and warehousing, enabling businesses to operate with increased accuracy, speed, and efficiency. It’s also a space that demands high asset-utilization from its equipment. Clean hydrogen fuel cells are able to further increase the productivity of fuel cell robots due to constant power and fast-fueling attributes. Fuel cells are already being used to power industrial robotics, and this capability will only grow.

AGVs

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are the industrial equivalent of driverless electric vehicles, and are being powered by fuel cells for our material handling customers today. AGV mobile robots travel around a facility delivering parts or products, increasing plant efficiency, and enabling the humans on staff to do higher-level tasks.

The Role of Fuel Cells in AGVs

We have been powering AGVs since 2011, and about 15% of our deployed fuel cell products are used in AGVs by customers like Bridgestone, BMW, and Mercedes. Fuel cell-powered AGVs increase customer efficiency by enabling advanced manufacturing operations like lights-out manufacturing.

Robotic Refueling

We’re innovating in the space of hydrogen robotics and automation, specifically with a first-of-its-kind robotic hydrogen fueling technology for motive power applications. The immediate goal of the robotic fueling station is to increase the ease and efficiency of fueling hydrogen-powered vehicles in warehouse settings, where every second amounts to more than $1,000 in annual cost impact for medium-to-large sites.