Don't Go All-In on Autonomous Forklifts; Start with One Pallet Move

Last week, my client's warehouse prepared to test the T20 palletized unmanned forklift. The person in charge's first sentence was, "The car can run, but people are afraid to leave." Standing at the aisle entrance watching for a while, I realized the pain point isn't in the specs, but in the delivery actions. The T20 is a small vehicle that automatically moves pallets from A to B, specifically designed for narrow aisles (very narrow passages between shelves). Its maximum load is 2000kg, meaning the pallet plus goods shouldn't exceed two tons; 2 hours of charging gives 8 hours of runtime—on paper, it's good. But as someone managing family office funds, I'm used to looking at the books first. From an asset allocation perspective, don't treat automation as an all-in bet. First, take one fixed route and get startup, mapping, dispatching, unloading, and reset working smoothly; only then can you clearly see the risk-reward ratio.

Running Through One Pallet Move

This route is worth trying. Suitable for repetitive moves from staging areas to production line entrances. Not suitable for letting it find its own path, claim orders, or judge cargo damage on day one. Novices easily misunderstand "unmanned" as pressing a button to replace warehouse staff. Machines just standardize actions; the standards themselves must be built by humans first.

Step 1: Startup. If the Emergency Stop button on the side of the vehicle is pressed, the vehicle is locked. Twist it clockwise to release, then press the power button. After the screen lights up, wait for self-check. You only consider it awake when the status changes from Connecting to Online or Idle. Pitfall: Emergency stop not released. Screen lighting up doesn't mean it can run; the scheduling system will keep showing Unavailable. In my tests, network status must also be normal, otherwise tasks won't be dispatched.

Step 2: Check the site. Pallets are wooden or plastic frames for supporting goods. The unmanned forklift inserts its two forks into the bottom of the pallet to lift the goods. This step is called Forking. You need to check if the pallet feet are deformed, if goods extend beyond the pallet edges, and if there are wires, water stains, or cardboard boxes in the aisle. The T20 has 360-degree safety protection, meaning it has perception around the vehicle body and will slow down or stop upon encountering obstacles. But perception isn't an omnipotent eye; ground reflections and low obstacles may cause misjudgments. On the first run, it's best to have someone follow; don't truly let go.

Step 3: Set points. Points are grid squares on the map where it's allowed to stop. Novices shouldn't map the entire warehouse; just set two points: A Staging Area and B Production Line Entrance. Open Point Management on the handheld terminal or backend, drive the vehicle to A, press Create Point at Current Location, and name it A Staging Area. Then drive to B and create a point similarly. Seeing two dots appear on the map and being able to select them in the task interface means success. This is also prone to failure: if points are skewed, the vehicle can't reach directly in front of the pallet. Better to run back and forth twice to adjust the point so the vehicle head faces the pallet directly.

Step 4: Dispatch task. Open Task Dispatch, select Pallet Transport, enter A Staging Area as start, B Production Line Entrance as end, input quantity 1, and select T20 as vehicle number. Click Submit. Expected status is Queued. The vehicle will walk to A on its own, align with the pallet, insert forks, lift, turn, go to B, unload, and return to the standby area. The standby area is where it parks and waits for work normally. Don't rush it on the first time; let it go slowly.

Step 5: Handle exceptions. If the vehicle stops halfway, first check if the screen shows Obstacle or Localization Lost. If someone is blocking the way, clear it and press Continue. If the emergency stop is accidentally touched, after releasing the emergency stop, you must click Reset in the interface, otherwise the task will be stuck in Paused. After unloading, if the pallet is empty, the task might show Completed, but the site hasn't restored the aisle yet; don't rush to start a second order. Also, don't force-dispatch tasks when battery is low; returning to charge is more stable than breaking down halfway.

After learning this, the next step is to try two routes and staggered charging. The real labor-saving part is turning routes, points, and exception actions into standard processes. This kind of automation is worth small warehouses experimenting with: get it running first, then scale up.