AutoPallet Robotics, a Y Combinator 2024 startup, publicly demonstrated its novel palletizing and depalletizing system at Manifest 2026. The company’s approach replaces traditional floor-based robotic arms with small autonomous mobile robots that operate upside down, magnetically attached to a steel ceiling structure above the workspace. These robots use vacuum grippers to pick up boxes from pallets or conveyors, lift them overhead, and transport them to designated drop locations. Installed via a freestanding modular superstructure that bolts into existing warehouse floors, the system enables high-density sortation and palletizing without requiring major facility redesigns. By moving automation complexity to the ceiling, AutoPallet allows tightly packed pallets and conveyors below, achieving greater floorspace efficiency and flexibility than conventional loop sorters, tilt-tray systems, or arm-based cells.
AutoPallet Builds Self-Contained Robot Pods
AutoPallet’s system consists of fully self-contained, battery-powered robot pods, each with a mobile base and a separate gripper unit that communicate wirelessly. The base handles propulsion and primary computing, while the gripper—equipped with its own battery, vacuum pump, cameras, and sensors—manages box pickup and placement. Robots coordinate through a wireless mesh network to share tasks and avoid collisions, and they use swappable lithium iron phosphate batteries or autonomous charging to minimize downtime. The company is also developing its own simulation and orchestration software, combining AI techniques from both robotic arms and autonomous mobile robots by effectively using an AMR as a gantry-style robot.
A New Take On an Old Concept
AutoPallet says its system allows multiple ceiling-mounted robots to work in the same area at the same time, unlike traditional overhead gantries that typically use only one gripper per workspace. Similar overhead mobile gripper systems were tried in the 1980s and 1990s, including RobotWorld and others, but they struggled with complex path planning, tangled power and air cables, and lower throughput compared to robotic arms. AutoPallet avoids these issues by using onboard batteries and built-in vacuum systems, eliminating the need for external cables and air lines. The company is demonstrating its system at Booth 2371 at Manifest in Las Vegas.
Key Points On Why AutoPallet’s Approach is Advantageous
Multiple overhead robots allow for higher throughput, operating simultaneously in the same workspace and significantly increasing productivity compared to single-gantry systems. Mounting robots on the ceiling improves space utilization, freeing up valuable floor area and allowing pallets and conveyors to be packed more densely. The system offers scalability, as capacity can be expanded easily by adding more robots to the overhead network. Built-in batteries and vacuum systems reduce complexity, eliminating the need for external cables and air lines and minimizing maintenance challenges. Finally, the modular superstructure supports retrofit-friendly deployment, enabling installation in existing warehouses without major facility redesigns.
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