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Automating where the air itself can catch fire

A warehouse with solvent vapour or flour dust in the air can be automated, but not with ordinary electrical equipment: there, a motor, a control panel or a spark from friction is an ignition source. That is what the explosive-atmosphere version of the shuttle robot exists for. STOKA designs, imports, installs, integrates and supports it, always starting from the zone classification signed off by your own health and safety specialist. Without that classification there is no project, and it is worth knowing before asking for a quotation.

Tell us your problem

Can a warehouse where the air itself can ignite be automated?

Yes, but not with standard equipment. In a warehouse holding flammable vapour or combustible dust in suspension, ordinary electrical gear is simply one more ignition source: motors, contacts, panels and hot surfaces. Automating there is not forbidden. What is forbidden is putting in a machine that was never built for that atmosphere.

What an ATEX shuttle robot is, and what the abbreviation means

ATEX is short for explosive atmospheres (ATEX), the category covering equipment built to work where the air itself can ignite. An ATEX shuttle robot is the same cart that enters the racking channel and brings the load back to the mouth, built so that it cannot start an explosion. That is not an accessory bolted on at the end: it is a different construction of the motor, of the enclosure around it, of the wiring, of the earthing and of the materials that rub against each other. The difference lies not in what the cart does but in what it is forbidden to produce: a spark, an electrical arc, a hot surface, a build-up of static electricity. In the storage of hazardous goods, that distinction separates a project you can put forward from one you cannot.

Where the risk appears: warehouses that are a classified zone without anyone saying so

The best known cases are liquids: warehouses holding solvents, paints, alcohols, aerosols and agrochemicals, where the vapour given off by the product mixes with the air and forms an atmosphere that can ignite. A badly closed container, a decanting operation or a spill is enough for the concentration to rise in one particular area.

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The second group takes people by surprise, because it has no smell: combustible dust. Flour, sugar, starch, milk powder, aluminium, wood, coal. Once that dust is suspended in sufficient concentration it behaves like a gaseous fuel, and a single spark is enough. Worse still, the dust settled on structures and light fittings is thrown up by a first small explosion and feeds a second, larger one. That is why in dry food or metal powder warehouses the question is not whether protected equipment is needed, but in which areas and how severely.

What changes inside the machine: a list of things that must not happen

It helps to read the ATEX version backwards: not as a list of special components, but as a list of things the cart is forbidden to produce. There must be no electrical spark, so motors and control panels are built differently and the wiring stops being ordinary wiring.

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There must be no hot surface, so the machine is designed to dissipate the heat it generates and the temperature any exposed part can reach is limited. There must be no mechanical spark, so materials and contact pairs are chosen that do not spark when they rub or knock together. There must be no build-up of static electricity, so wheels, guides and structure are earthed in a way nobody looks at on an ordinary shuttle. And battery charging, a particularly sensitive moment, is resolved outside the classified area. Exact conditions and certifications for the chosen equipment come with the diagnosis.

Without a zone classification there is no project

The drawing comes before the machine. The zone classification is the document stating which part of the warehouse may hold an explosive atmosphere, with which substance, how often and for how long.

Keep reading

It is signed by a health and safety specialist on the client side, someone who knows the products, the decanting operations, the ventilation and the history of the plant. STOKA starts from that document: we neither replace it nor estimate it. It is the only way for the equipment going into the warehouse to match the real risk rather than an assumption. If the classification has not been done yet, that is the first step of the project, and a step to be taken anyway, with automation or without it, because it also governs the electrical installation, the lighting and the floor equipment. With the zone drawing in hand, the survey becomes a technical conversation instead of a list of assumptions.

What does not change: the storage logic is the same

It is worth spelling out, because it raises doubts: the explosive-atmosphere version is not a different system. The storage logic is the same as the shuttle robot, the cart still enters the channel, the density gained is the same — within the ranges STOKA works with, up to three times the current one, with up to 66% of the floor freed up — and so is the software, with the same traceability and the same record of every movement.

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Automated systems still work between 7 and 40 metres of height and installation still takes 3 to 4 months from the purchase order. What changes is how the equipment is built and the engineering work done beforehand. With hazardous goods, traceability also carries a value of its own: knowing exactly what is held, how much and where is part of managing the risk, not only the stock.

What defines a shuttle project in an explosive atmosphere?

We do not publish model-by-model specification tables: the detailed sheet comes with the assessment, sized against your operation. These are the criteria the choice is made on.

The zone classification, first of all
It is the input the project starts from and your health and safety specialist provides it. It settles which areas need protected equipment and how severely. Without that document nothing is sized: it is estimated, which is exactly what must not happen.
Gas and vapour, or combustible dust
Not the same problem. Solvent vapour disperses and concentrates near its source; dust settles, is thrown up again and can feed a second explosion. Protecting the equipment is resolved differently in each case.
How much of the warehouse is really classified
It is rarely all of it. If the area at risk is a limited one, the sensible move is to automate the rest with standard equipment and treat that area separately. Over-equipping a whole warehouse raises the cost without adding safety.
Maintenance, spare parts and battery charging
Protected equipment is serviced differently: some tasks are not done inside the area and battery charging is resolved outside it. Look at this during layout, because it settles routes and service areas.
Volume per reference still rules
The atmosphere settles what the equipment has to be like, not whether it suits you. If volume per reference does not fill the channel, a shuttle is not justified, ATEX or otherwise. The underlying criterion does not change.

Engineering for your operation

When is an ATEX shuttle robot the wrong answer?

Our approach

When the risk can be removed instead of lived with. Improving ventilation in the area, changing the container, correcting the decanting point or moving the flammable product to a separate warehouse often costs a fraction of what certified equipment costs, and it reduces the risk rather than managing it. That analysis comes before any quotation. It is also the wrong call when the classified zone is a small part of the warehouse: there the reasonable move is usually to automate the rest with standard equipment and leave that area on manual operation with its own procedures. And it is wrong to start before the zone classification exists, because the whole project would rest on assumptions. Finally, every limit of the ordinary shuttle robot still applies: if you hold many references with little volume each, or need immediate access to any pallet, the ATEX version does not fix that.

Frequently asked questions

What does ATEX mean?

It is short for explosive atmospheres (ATEX). It covers equipment built to work where the air may hold gases, vapours or flammable dust in a concentration high enough to ignite. ATEX equipment is not reinforced equipment: it is equipment designed so that it cannot produce a spark, an electrical arc or a hot surface.

Does STOKA classify the zones of my warehouse?

No. The classification is signed by a health and safety specialist on your side, someone who knows the products, the decanting operations and the ventilation of the plant. We take it as an input and size the system on that basis. Without a classification there is no project, and that is not a formality.

Do I lose density or functions compared with an ordinary shuttle?

No. Storage logic, density and software are the same: up to three times the current density, up to 66% of the floor freed up and the same inventory record. What changes is how the equipment is built and the engineering needed beforehand to specify it properly.

What if only one area of my warehouse is a classified zone?

That is the most common case and usually good news. The rest is automated with standard equipment and that area is handled separately, either with protected equipment or on manual operation with its own procedures. The boundary between zones is settled in the layout, alongside the classification.

Further reading

Other systems

Bring the zone drawing and we will talk about equipment

The survey starts from your zone classification and settles which area needs protected equipment, which is automated with standard equipment and what is better left manual. With that we deliver layout, technical sheet and quotation.