As our DriveMod vehicles are approaching an intersection, they send a request to the Cyngn Traffic Broker, a feature of Cyngn Insight that manages traffic coordination through an API.
Fully Autonomous Vehicles for Repetitive Hauling in Manufacturing
Q&A with Lior Tal, Chief Executive Officer and Director | Cyngn
Tell us about yourself and your role with Cyngn.
I’ve been serving as the CEO of Cyngn since October 2016. My primary focus is leading the company’s strategy, overseeing product development, and driving growth as we continue to expand our autonomous vehicle solutions into new markets and industries.
Before joining Cyngn, I worked at Facebook (now Meta) as the director of international growth and partnerships from April 2011 to June 2016. I also co-founded Snaptu in 2007, which was acquired by Facebook, where I served as vice president of business development and helped grow the user base from launch to tens of millions.
During my time with Cyngn, I’ve witnessed the growth and evolution of the industry in incredible ways, and it is exciting to be at the forefront of a technology that’s redefining how work gets done.
Please provide an overview of your company and explain what sets you apart in the robotics and automation industry.
Cyngn develops and deploys autonomous vehicle technology for industrial organizations like manufacturers and logistics companies. We address significant challenges facing industrial organizations today, such as labor shortages and costly safety incidents.
Our DriveMod technology empowers customers to seamlessly bring self-driving technology to their operations without high upfront costs or infrastructure installations. DriveMod is currently available on Motrec MT-160 Tuggers and BYD Forklifts.
The DriveMod Tugger hauls up to 12,000 lbs, travels inside and out, and targets a typical payback period of less than 2 years. The DriveMod Forklift lifts heavy loads that use non-standard pallets and is currently available to select customers.
There are several key factors that set us apart from the robotic and automation industries:
- Cyngn’s AMRs are equipped with decision-making engines that are integrated directly into its vehicles. This makes deploying and adjusting routes more affordable and efficient, since changes can be made on the dashboard. In contrast, traditional AGVs that depend on magnetic tape are often costly and time-consuming to reprogram or modify. There is also a benefit to safety. Cyngn’s Decision Engine is three times faster than a human driver, and our 3D Lidars give the vehicle full 360° vision.
- Our DriveMod Tugger is built for heavy-duty applications, with a towing capacity of up to 12,000 pounds. It’s designed to perform reliably in challenging settings, providing a durable and consistent solution for chaotic manufacturing environments.
- Cyngn has partnered with some of the biggest OEMs in the business to transform time-tested material movers, such as the BYD Forklift and the Motrec Tugger, into vehicles that drive themselves. These vehicles are built by companies with a strong reputation for manufacturing high-quality machinery, ensuring reliability and longevity. Additionally, these companies have well-established maintenance networks so it’s easy to get them repaired and keep them maintained.
- Our vehicles can operate without Wi-Fi, enabling seamless operation even in environments with limited or unreliable network access.
What’s driving manufacturers to adopt autonomy?
We’re seeing the greatest need for our products in several key areas within manufacturing:
- Labor shortages have become increasingly apparent since the pandemic. Many organizations are struggling right now to hire and retain enough skilled workers, which, in turn, drives the need for autonomous solutions. Additionally, these labor challenges can lead to higher labor costs and decreased flexibility.
- Safety is a top priority. Companies want to create safer working environments to reduce accidents and injuries on the factory floor. Improving safety not only protects workers but also helps companies comply with regulations and avoid potential penalties.
- Damaged goods are costly issues for manufacturers. Our AMRs help address this problem by ensuring more consistent handling and transportation of materials.
As fleets grow and routes overlap, how do your vehicles coordinate to prevent congestion or deadlocks at intersections?
Intersection management is a key component of Cyngn’s comprehensive traffic control and monitoring solution. It ensures our autonomous vehicles work together seamlessly, intelligently, and without the need for human intervention.
When deploying our vehicles to a site, we collaborate with our customers to configure and tailor how vehicles move through high traffic areas based on their rules of the road. Intersections are designated as “gated” spaces, allowing only one vehicle at a time to pass through.
As our DriveMod vehicles are approaching an intersection, they send a request to the Cyngn Traffic Broker, a feature of Cyngn Insight that manages traffic coordination through an API. If there is a manual disruption at the intersection or a communication issue between vehicles, fleet managers can use Cyngn Insight to diagnose the situation, monitor vehicle locations, and assess intersection status, ensuring a swift return to normal operations.
What testing and validation processes do you use to ensure your robots consistently move confidently?
Our process is extensive to ensure our vehicles operate confidently and reliably on our customers' sites.
Our patented 3D localization technology gives our vehicles detailed data and understanding of their environment, allowing them to accurately determine their position and navigate confidently. Unlike competitors who mainly use 2D mapping, our 3D approach provides greater accuracy and reliability.
Additionally, we closely collaborate with each customer to understand the specific paths and station locations where the vehicle will operate. This partnership allows us to fully validate that the vehicle performs well in its actual environment.
Can you share a customer success story that highlights improvements in workflow or productivity achieved with DriveMod vehicles?
We recently announced our collaboration with G&J Pepsi, the largest Pepsi bottler in the U.S. We're excited to support G&J Pepsi’s vision for streamlined, technology-driven operations that will enable them to continue delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service. We look forward to seeing how their operational tasks evolve and improve with the integration of this technology in the future.
We partnered with U.S. Continental and integrated our DriveMod Tugger into their 100,000-square-foot facility. When U.S. Continental adopted our technology, it significantly boosted efficiency by automating supply runs between two buildings. Previously, they required about 200 manual trips per week for pallet deliveries, but with the tugger, they now transport four pallets in a single trip, far surpassing what their forklifts could achieve.
We also have a partnership with the Coats Company. Since deploying the DriveMod Tugger to their facility in Tennessee, they have shared that it's been a big game-changer in their operations. The vehicle has been handling the transport of their wheel service components across production lines, which used to be a manual task. Since the deployment, they’ve already saved over 500 hours of labor.
As your deployments expand, how are customer priorities evolving regarding the balance between automation and human roles within their facilities?
A common misconception in our industry is that we are trying to replace human drivers with our vehicles. That's simply not the case, nor is it our goal.
Instead, as the industry evolves, we’re seeing more of a focus on wanting to optimize the balance between automation and human roles. With ongoing labor shortages, especially since the pandemic, the need for effective collaboration in our customer’s operations is more of a priority than ever.
What we help our customers address is how to maximize productivity without entirely replacing their existing workforce. They want to leverage automation to handle repetitive, high-volume tasks, freeing up their workers to focus on higher-value or more complex activities. For example, many customers are interested in integrating our DriveMod Tugger in scenarios where they can work alongside manual forklift drivers, creating a more collaborative environment.
Ultimately, it's about building a more efficient operations, while also prioritizing and empowering employees.
Lior Tal has served as Cyngn’s Chief Executive Officer and Director since October 2016. From June 2016 to October 2016, Lior served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Cyngn, he was director of international growth and partnerships at Facebook (now Meta Platforms, Inc.) where he worked from April 2011 to June 2016. Lior co-founded Snaptu (acquired by Facebook) in September 2007 and was vice president of business development until May 2011. During his time at Snaptu, Lior helped grow the user base from launch to tens of millions of users. Prior to co-founding Snaptu, he was a partner at Barzam, Tal, Lerer Attorneys at Law & Patent Attorneys from March 2004 to August 2007. Lior has also held leadership roles at Actimize (acquired by NICE), DiskSites (acquired by EMC) and Odigo (acquired by Comverse). Lior holds an LLM in law from Tel Aviv University, and, an LLB in law and a BA in business management from Reichman University.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of RoboticsTomorrow
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