Drones, Applied AI and the Future of Logistics
Sean Mitchell - Vice President of Customer Success at Gather AI
From the designers of the world's first full-sized autonomous helicopter, Gather AI is totally disrupting inventory management.
Gather AI has fully autonomous drones flying around warehouses, using smart sensors & camera systems to gather data on racks and pallets of inventory, communicating that data in real-time with the warehouse management system and keeping a live, accurate log of the entire warehouse's inventory.
No longer do companies need the laborious task of manually driving forklifts to pull inventory, log it in spreadsheets and slowly disperse the data to those who need it. Instead, this system of hardware + software + data is massively speeding up that process and freeing up humans to do more interesting work.
We sat down with the company's Vice President of Customer Success Sean Mitchell to dig into the technology, the role of data and how it's revolutionizing logistics in manufacturing and distribution today.
3 Big Takeaways from this episode:
- A truly disruptive solution like Gather AI's requires the integration of hardware, software and data: It all begins with fully-autonomous drones which are capable of path planning and flying themselves around a facility to perform inventory management. The AI-driven software enables the drones to take data from their sensors and train the model to understand barcodes, LPNs, full pallets vs empty pallets, etc. and keep an accurate image-based database of inventory in real-time. Most importantly, the data can be integrated with warehouse management software and other management systems to make sure every department has the data they need when they need it, and maximize results.
- Inventory automation enables warehouse operators to do more value-added work: Instead of deploying a team to monotonously drive forklifts around a facility to manually track inventory, companies can now train those individuals to operate autonomous drones, analyze the data, find mistakes and fix them. These operators get to be "detectives" solving inventory questions, getting product where it needs to be, and maximizing throughput for the organization.
- How can schools replicate a system like this in the classroom? Teach the integration of these 3 key components: Drones are a great tool to teach skills (hard & soft) that are being used in the workforce today. Considering the three main components outlined in Takeaway #1, instructors can teach the following outcomes: Hardware - build, 3D print, design, improve, troubleshoot, optimize drone technology. Software - program controllers, do the encoding, wire electrical systems. Data - capture data and leverage AI tools to drive optimal performance in a process.
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