WHO
Founded by MIT alumni — AJ Meyer, Ariana Eisenstein, and Dan Paluska — the Pickle Robot Company has built machines that can autonomously load and unload trucks inside warehouses and logistic centers.
WHAT
Unloading trucks and shipping containers is a repetitive, grueling task — and a big reason warehouse injury rates are more than twice the national average. The Pickle Robot Company’s one-armed robots autonomously unload trailers, picking up boxes weighing up to 50 pounds and placing them onto onboard conveyor belts for warehouses of all types. These unloading robots combine generative AI and machine-learning algorithms with sensors, cameras, and machine-vision software to navigate new environments on day one and improve performance over time. The robots are mounted on a custom mobile base with an onboard computing system so they can navigate to docks and adjust their positions inside trailers autonomously while lifting. The end of each arm features a suction gripper that clings to packages and moves them to the onboard conveyor belt. These robots can pick up boxes ranging in size from 5-inch cubes to 24-by-30-inch boxes and can unload anywhere from 400 to 1,500 cases per hour depending on size and weight. The company is also developing a software platform it can integrate with third-party hardware, from humanoid robots to autonomous forklifts.
WHERE
Charlestown, MA
WHY
Warehouse turnover is one of the industry’s biggest problems, limiting productivity as managers constantly grapple with hiring, onboarding, and training.
WHEN
The company is already working with customers to take a load off warehouse workers. It will be ramping up production of a new version of its system, with further plans to begin designing a two-armed robot sometime after that.
For more information, contact Abby Abazorius at
