Are flying robots the perfect co-workers?
Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The South African start-up Drone Scan are working on a device which they believe will revolutionize the lives of warehouse workers worldwide.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
Drone Scan is a device attached to a drone and used to scan barcodes. The drones can fly up and down the isles and do the inventory which is traditionally done by men using ladders, forklifts and handheld scanners. Co-founder Jasper Pons says he thinks warehouse workers will love their new assistants. "They are going to say: 'give us the drones and give us back our weekends'."
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
It has a patented indoor navigation system which tracks where it is in the warehouse by measuring its distance from the ground and walls, so when it scans a barcode it can automatically update the records with the exact location of that product.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The founders have big plans for the device. "Eventually you will have the drones working away in the warehouses at night when everybody is asleep, as a real drone, as the name suggest," says Craig Leppan, co-founder of Drone Scan, pictured.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The technology has potential to improve efficiency for large delivery giants such as Amazon. The forklift pictured at this Amazon warehouse in France, for example, could become a thing of the past.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The idea came when using a homemade drone to map fishing grounds. Since setting up the company in 2013, the founders have gone from using a smaller drone, pictured, to a larger and more advanced model.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The drone they use today is called DJI Matrice and is designed for commercial purposes, and allows for users to attach other devices to the drone and link it up to a central system, hence its industrial look in comparison to consumer drones, such as the one on this picture.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
For the time being, the drones require a person controlling them with a joystick-like device. The plan, however, is for autonomous drones to take over the inventory in as little time as one year.
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Photos: The robots that could give you back your weekend
The drones could change how warehouses are built. "We've heard from people who are thinking about designing new warehouses which are drone friendly," Leppan says.
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