MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
The Freespace Robotics system, as seen from above, seamlessly handles packages of various sizes.
AUTOMATION IS POWERFUL in theory, but when a material handler confronts irregular shapes or sizes, that theory can become difficult to execute. MHI member Freespace Robotics—winner of the ProMat 2025 StartUp Pitch Competition—aims to solve that problem with an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) designed to handle an unusually wide range of product dimensions.
The ProMat win brought a surge of interest and validation, said Karl Sanchack, chief operating officer. “As a startup there’s a certain amount of validation that comes from having outside authorities in the material handling space looking at our solution and identifying why it stands out in the industry.”
Although the system has not yet been deployed in a live facility, the visibility from the competition has generated “inbound interest from a number of large entities from ecommerce all the way out through automotive manufacturing and assembly,” Sanchack said. These conversations, he notes, “could help with our internal opportunities and challenges,” and the exposure was “quite a bit to us as an entity, more than we could have expressed on our own.”
A CUBE TO HANDLE EVERYTHING
Freespace’s pitch centers on a simple but ambitious idea: a single automated cube capable of storing and retrieving nearly any item a warehouse might encounter. The system is intentionally designed to accommodate a “tiny lightweight parcel all the way through a bag of golf clubs or automotive exhaust,” eliminating the need for exception handling or specialized zones.
The cube consolidates sortation, sequencing, buffering, picking and storage into a modular structure that fits both new and existing facilities. Carrier robots can reach storage lanes in under 40 seconds for putaway or retrieval. Freespace was developed at Carnegie Foundry, an AI and autonomous robotics venture studio with deep ties to Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center.
Freespace Robotics, winner of ProMat 2025 StartUp Pitch Competition, aims to automate storage and retrievals without running into the issues of odd‑sized packages.
DESIGNED FOR THE REAL WORLD
A major differentiator, Sanchack said, is the system’s focus on real‑world deployment conditions. Automation is a major capital expense, and a system must be simple to maintain and adjust. The Pittsburgh demo facility illustrates the point: “There was nothing done to prep this facility to make it ready for an automation system. Our floor is 1.5 inches uneven from one side to another. It’s not level at all.”
Instead of requiring pristine conditions, the system adapts. “We shimmed these racks. No secret sauce,” he said. The design meets seismic requirements and embraces modularity: “You can treat them like LEGOs and keep adding. Start with what you need and as your needs grow, we can grow with you.” That modularity also reduces risk.
SPEED, SEQUENCING AND MAINTAINABILITY
Freespace’s goods‑movement method uses “a series of trays connected like a train,” allowing entire lanes to move at once. “It is not a single‑pick operation,” Sanchack said. “You can move an entire lane out of the structure at tremendous speeds, limited by your conveyance.”