Podcast | Your Yard Robots Are ‘Imperfect’? That’s Good Enough

Robots are proving to be a boon to autonomous operations in the distribution yard — but the quest for the “perfect” robot is a futile one.

Developers of robots for automating the distribution yard have made leaps and bounds in the state of the yard in recent years. Today, robots are playing an increasingly vital role in just about every task in that space. Forget about designing a “perfect” robot, though — one that totally replaces human beings. The real goal should be fashioning systems in which humans and robots collaborate, each contributing their respective strengths. That’s the contention of Andrew Smith, founder and chief executive officer of Outrider, a specialist in autonomous distribution yard operations. On this episode, he describes the latest innovations in yard robots, and the efforts of developers to strive for the ideal balance between humans and machines. “Perfection” in robotics, he says, is “a fundamental inhibitor to moving forward with great progress.” Hosted by Bob Bowman, E…