ResinDek^® Flooring for Ground-Floor Robotic Applications

As traditional warehouse space becomes increasingly scarce, companies are adapting diverse facilities for distribution and fulfillment. These locations, originally designed for other purposes, often present flooring challenges for automated systems. Simultaneously, the growing need to overcome workforce limitations is driving the adoption of warehouse robots like AGVs and AMRs for material handling. However, deploying these advanced vehicles on inadequate floor surfaces can severely impact their performance.

Common ground floor issues that hinder robotic operation include:

• Coefficient of Friction: An improper coefficient of friction, or surface roughness, prevents the vehicle’s wheels from gaining adequate traction to accelerate, stop, and change directions.
• Unlevel Surfaces: Variations in floor level can force robots to reduce speed and navigate inefficiently.
• Sensor Interference: Reflectivity that falls outside the optimal range can disrupt the navigational sensors crucial for autonomous robot operation.
• Physical Obstructions: Cracks or spalling in the floor create physical barriers that robots cannot safely or effectively traverse.
• Insufficient Durability: Repeated robotic traffic patterns can quickly degrade the floor surface, leading to operational disruptions and maintenance needs.

Concrete is a common existing floor material, but adapting it for robotic applications can be problematic. While options like grinding uneven areas, patching cracks, adding a new concrete layer, or applying an epoxy coating exist, they come with substantial drawbacks:

• Time and Labor Intensive: Grinding concrete is a lengthy process requiring significant manual effort and generating substantial dust, disrupting operations.
• Inconsistent Results: Patched areas often don’t match the original concrete’s properties, creating inconsistencies that can negatively affect robot navigation and performance.
• Extended Downtime: Pouring new concrete or applying epoxy coatings requires significant drying and curing time, leading to prolonged operational downtime. Furthermore, these solutions still lack the long-term wear resistance demanded by continuous robotic use.
• Hidden Hazards and Costs: Existing facilities might have underlying floor coverings like asbestos-containing tiles. Safe removal is costly and hazardous, and the exposed concrete beneath is likely to require further, costly remediation due to adhesive residue and damage.