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The cart that works inside the racking, not in the aisle

A shuttle robot solves a surface problem: because the cart travels inside the racking channel, a single access lane serves many positions in depth instead of one aisle for every two racking runs. STOKA designs, imports, installs, integrates and supports these systems, both the pallet version and the version for cases and plastic containers. There are variants for cold stores down to −25 °C and versions built for atmospheres where explosion is a risk. Process comes first; the shuttle only if volume per reference justifies it.

Tell us your problem

Why does your warehouse fill up with aisles instead of goods?

Because every conventional racking run needs an aisle to reach it, and the aisle stores nothing: it is simply the lane the forklift drives through. When the cart moves inside the channel instead, one access lane serves many positions in depth, and that circulation surface goes back to holding goods.

What a shuttle robot, also called a satellite cart, actually is

In plain terms: it is a motorised cart that travels inside the racking rather than along the aisle. The forklift, or whatever equipment feeds the system, leaves the load at the mouth of the channel; from there the cart carries it to the back and sets it down. To retrieve it, the cart does the same journey in reverse. Because the cart takes the place of the aisle, the racking can be built far deeper: one access lane serves every position in that channel. The trade jargon calls it a shuttle, and also a satellite cart. There are two scales: the pallet scale, for full load units, and the case scale, for cardboard boxes and plastic containers used in piece picking. Within the ranges STOKA works with, compacting can multiply density by three and free up to 66% of the floor area your goods occupy today.

Movement variants: what each cart can actually do

Not every cart does the same job, and the difference shows up in the layout. The simplest ones travel back and forth in a single direction: they enter the channel, drop off or collect the load and return to the mouth.

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Moving them to another channel takes an operator with a forklift, or a piece of equipment that repositions them. Four-way carts travel both along the channel and across it, so they change aisle under their own power and, with a lift, change level as well: the system stops being a set of separate channels and starts behaving like a grid. The third variant is the mother-and-child arrangement: a large cart, the mother, runs along a main lane and carries a smaller cart, the child, to the mouth of the channel, and the child is the one that goes in for the load. Which one suits you depends on how many channels you have to serve per hour and on how much transfer time is worth in your operation.

Cold: how far the shuttle goes, and where it stops

A shuttle robot works down to −25 °C, and that figure is a design limit rather than a preference. Below it, everything changes: the battery delivers less, lubricants thicken, the electronics turn sensitive, and the condensation of moving in and out of the chamber starts doing damage.

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If your cold store runs colder than −25 °C the shuttle is not the answer, and it is worth saying so before quoting: the pallet stacker crane, the machine that travels along the aisle and lifts the load to its position, goes down to −30 °C. That is why the figure to bring to the survey is not the nominal temperature of the chamber but the real working one, measured at the coldest point and at the worst moment of the cycle. It also matters whether the load crosses from cold to ambient zones, because that crossing determines protection, defrost cycles and maintenance frequency. Exact conditions for the chosen equipment are set out in the technical sheet of the diagnosis.

ATEX: warehouses where the air itself can catch fire

Some warehouses hold an atmosphere that can ignite. It happens where the air carries vapours from solvents, alcohols, paints or aerosols, or fine dust in suspension: flour, sugar, wood, aluminium.

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In those conditions a spark or a hot surface is enough to start an explosion, and ordinary electrical equipment cannot be inside. That is what ATEX versions are for, an abbreviation that refers to explosive atmospheres: carts with protected enclosures on motors and control panels, surface temperature control, materials that do not spark on friction, earthing and static control, and battery charging outside the classified zone. Classifying the zone, which area is at risk, with which substance and how often, is an input the client provides through their own risk assessment; we do not estimate it. Nor is the whole warehouse usually a classified zone, so protected equipment in the critical sector plus standard equipment everywhere else is often enough. Little material on this circulates in Spanish, so we analyse it during the survey with your safety officer and put it in writing in the diagnosis.

Beyond the mouth of the channel: how the system is integrated

The cart is half the system. The other half is what happens at the mouth of the channel and in the software.

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Something has to bring the load there: a forklift, a conveying line, or a stacker crane that also moves the cart between levels, and that choice changes overall performance as much as the cart itself does. On the digital side you need software that knows which position of which channel holds each pallet and in what order they should come out, integrated with your warehouse management system (WMS). On the building side come the floor, the electrical supply, the battery charging area and the protection of the structure. Automated storage systems work between 7 and 40 metres of height, and installation takes 3 to 4 months from the purchase order. We do not publish model-by-model tables: the full technical sheet is delivered with the diagnosis, already calculated for your own warehouse.

What decides whether a shuttle robot is the right answer?

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.

Volume per reference
A channel is filled with a single reference. If the volume of each one is not enough to fill a whole channel, the density you gain on paper is lost in half-empty channels that take up the whole space anyway.
Load unit: pallet or case
Moving full pallets is not the same as moving cases and plastic containers for piece picking. They are two different scales of system, each with its own structure, software and working rhythm, and it is worth settling before looking at any equipment.
Required despatch sequence
A channel with access from one side only gives back the last thing that went in. If you work with expiry dates or batches and need the oldest goods out first, plan for channels with access at both ends, or combine them with selective positions.
Working temperature and atmosphere
The shuttle goes down to −25 °C and the pallet stacker crane to −30 °C. If there are also vapours or flammable dust in the air, the conversation moves to versions for explosive atmospheres (ATEX) and to zone classification.
Real clear height and floor condition
Automated systems work between 7 and 40 metres. Height is measured to the lowest interfering point, not to the roof. Floor flatness and permissible load are verified on site, because they decide whether the cart runs evenly.

Engineering for your operation

When is a shuttle robot the wrong answer?

Our approach

When you hold many distinct references and need any of them immediately, the shuttle works against you. Density is paid for in accessibility: getting a pallet out of the back of a channel means respecting the order of that channel, and if your operation demands immediate access to everything, that order turns into waiting. It is also the wrong call when volume per reference is low, because a half-filled channel occupies the whole channel and the promised density never appears. If the chamber runs colder than −25 °C the equipment simply does not apply. And if the real problem is that you cannot find your goods, that stock counts do not match or that order picking walks too far, sort the process first: automating on top of disorder speeds the disorder up, it does not correct it. In many warehouses the right answer is properly sized racking, a change of layout, and only afterwards, if volume sustains it, a system with a cart.

Frequently asked questions

How does a shuttle robot differ from a stacker crane?

The stacker crane travels along the aisle and lifts the load to its position; the shuttle cart travels inside the channel, horizontally. One gives direct access to every position at height, the other gives density in depth. Cold changes too: the pallet stacker crane goes down to −30 °C and the shuttle to −25 °C.

Does it work in a frozen storage chamber?

It depends on the real working temperature. Down to −25 °C, yes. If the chamber runs colder than that, other equipment applies: the pallet stacker crane goes down to −30 °C. Measuring the coldest point, at the worst moment of the cycle, is part of the survey and settles the system before any other consideration.

Are there versions for warehouses with solvents or flammable dust?

Yes. There are carts built for explosive atmospheres (ATEX), with protection on motors and control panels, surface temperature control and battery charging outside the classified zone. Zone classification comes from your own risk assessment; we take it as an input and size the system on that basis.

How long does installation take, and what do I get before deciding?

Installation of automated systems takes 3 to 4 months from the purchase order. Before that you receive the survey, the layout and the technical sheet of the proposed system, calculated for your warehouse. We do not publish capacity or speed tables out of context, because they lead people to buy the wrong thing.

Other systems

Before quoting a shuttle, the channel has to be measured

The survey settles channel depth, load unit, real working temperature and floor condition. With that we deliver the layout, the technical sheet and the quotation. And if racking is enough for you, we say so.