Columbia Machine recently partnered with OTTO Motors to incorporate the OTTO 1500 Self Driving Vehicle (SDV) into current and future applications.

The OTTO 1500 is a heavy duty self-driving vehicle that is designed to move pallet loads that weight up to 3,400 pounds through dynamic working environments.

The OTTO 1500 SDVs create free, open access to the discharge point, as well as to other equipment in the area, such as case erectors. Further, they navigate autonomously, independent of sensors embedded in the floor or laser reflectors on the walls. Instead, the vehicles use LIDAR and encoder wheels to determine their location based on a map is stored onboard the vehicle. OTTO M also provides real-time monitoring, remote back-ups and cloud access. Workers can interface with OTTO via an optional tablet interface, allowing requests to be sent to the SDV fleet. Each vehicle can operate 24/7 by using opportunity charging technology to autonomously visit its charger.

Columbia manufactures inline high-level, floor-level and robotic palletizers, load transfer stations and provides system integration. Columbia features upgradeable designs to speeds up to 200 cases per minute.