Remember those Hyundai parking robots?

German robotics company Filics had a similar thought—but one that could disrupt logistics, rather than parking. Their Filics Unit is a pair of low-slung 'bots that can lift Euro pallets and ferry them around.

While they can't take the place of forklifts, thanks to the second half of that word, they can replace pallet jacks and the person needed to work them. The units are omnidirectional, so no U-turns or 3-point-turns are needed, easing work in tight spaces.

The idea is that they'll allow (at least for now) human workers to do the sorting, while the 'bots do the moving.

The units are autonomous and charge themselves at dedicated docks. Their run time is roughly 6 hours. They can move at 1.2 m/s (about 3.9 ft/s) and lift 800 kg (1,760 lbs).

Note that these wouldn't work on American pallets, which have boards nailed across the stringers. Euro pallets don't, allowing the 'bots to get underneath them.

American Pallet

Euro Pallet

Image: Oliver Eltinger, CC BY-SA 4.0

If you're wondering why U.S. and Euro pallets are designed so differently: American pallets are built for fast construction and rough strength, and American warehouses have plenty of room for forklifts to move around in. Euro warehouses are tighter affairs, and the open-bottom skid-based design of a Euro pallet makes it easier to get a pallet jack under there.