Investing in the Future
Funding for OTTO Motors
A handful of investors, including General Electric and Caterpillar, have provided $30 million to Clearpath Robotics, which will be used to expand their industrial division, OTTO motors. This division is in charge of developing automated, self-driving vehicles that will be used as material-handling equipment in factories and warehouses. The capital-led investment is targeted toward development of new, cutting-edge self-driving software for the vehicles.
Explosive Growth
Co-founder of Clearpath, Matt Rendall, declared that self-driving vehicles will see a market growth of $80 billion over the next two decades, while self-driving material-handling vehicles will also increase in demand. This funding gives Clearpath a solid start for development of the new technology, which will be used to make further strides towards safer and more efficient self-driving software.
The company expects that a predicted a labor shortage in the coming decade will greatly increase demand for their vehicles. OTTO Motors’ products are already used by top-tier companies in the field of manufacturing, which includes GE, John Deere, and several others.
Factories as Small Cities
Rendall further described the operation of factories in the future as on the scale of small indoor cities with all the accompanying infrastructure, including roads, intersections, and pedestrians. The factory setting has an advantage in terms of having a controlled layout that’s perfect for using self-driving vehicles.
Whether you’re making use of self-driving vehicles or thinking about improvements in operations, your factory can be made a lot safer by using the right material-handling equipment from DJ Products. Go to http://www.djproducts.com/industry/ and check out our full selection of warehouse equipment!