Autonomous Forklift Fleet Scheduling
A single autonomous forklift replaces a driver. A fleet management system replaces your entire dispatch operation. BrightEye coordinates every robot in your facility — assigning tasks, managing traffic, scheduling charges, and optimising throughput — all without human supervisors making allocation decisions.
How Fleet Scheduling Works
Traditional warehouse dispatch relies on supervisors verbally assigning tasks, radio communication, and operators choosing their own routes. This creates inefficiency: robots idle while others are overloaded, traffic jams form at intersections, and charge levels aren't managed proactively. Intelligent fleet scheduling eliminates every one of these problems.
Core Scheduling Capabilities
Intelligent Task Allocation
When a task is created — either from the WMS, a manual request, or a triggered workflow — BrightEye evaluates every available robot: current location, battery level, current task progress, and vehicle type suitability. The optimal robot is assigned instantly. No idle time, no double-handling, no missed tasks.
Traffic Management
With multiple robots operating simultaneously, intersection management is critical. BrightEye maintains a real-time traffic map, assigning right-of-way at intersections, creating one-way corridors in narrow aisles, and rerouting robots around congestion. No collisions, no traffic jams, no bottlenecks.
Charge Scheduling
Robots autonomously dock at charging stations during low-demand periods. BrightEye staggers charging across the fleet so capacity is never depleted — there's always enough charged robots to handle incoming tasks. Opportunity charging between tasks extends operating hours without dedicated charging shifts.
WMS Integration
Standard APIs connect BrightEye to your Warehouse Management System, ERP, and MES platforms. When the WMS generates a putaway, replenishment, or dispatch task, BrightEye translates it into robot instructions automatically. No manual task entry, no paper pick lists, no radio dispatching.
Scheduling in Action: A Typical Day
| Time | Operation | Fleet Scheduling Action |
|---|---|---|
| 06:00 | Inbound containers arrive at dock | Counterbalance trucks assigned to dock doors based on proximity and battery level |
| 06:30 | Putaway begins | Reach trucks assigned to high-bay locations; pallet movers feed staging zone |
| 08:00 | Peak picking period | All available robots shift to replenishment tasks; charging deferred until 10:00 |
| 10:00 | Mid-morning lull | 30% of fleet rotates to charging; remaining handle steady-state tasks |
| 12:00 | Outbound dispatch wave | Tractors assigned to yard trailer spotting; counterbalance trucks load trailers at dock |
| 14:00 | Second inbound window | Fleet rebalanced from dispatch to receiving; charging prioritised for night shift robots |
| 18:00 | Ghost shift begins | Reduced fleet handles overnight replenishment; autonomous charging management active |
Mixed Fleet Coordination
Most facilities need different vehicle types for different tasks. BrightEye coordinates mixed fleets seamlessly:
- Task-to-vehicle matching — heavy pallets automatically assigned to counterbalance trucks, high-bay tasks to reach trucks, ground transport to pallet movers
- Handoff coordination — a pallet mover brings pallets from the dock to a staging zone, then a reach truck picks them up for putaway. BrightEye coordinates the handoff timing so neither robot waits.
- Zone-based assignment — robots are assigned to zones to minimise travel distance. A reach truck working high-bay zone A won't be sent to zone C when a closer unit is available.
- Priority queuing — urgent tasks (truck waiting at dock, production line starving) jump the queue and override standard scheduling rules
Real-Time Dashboard
BrightEye provides warehouse managers with complete fleet visibility through a web-based dashboard accessible from any device:
Fleet Map
Real-time position of every robot on your facility floorplan. Colour-coded by status: active (green), charging (blue), idle (grey), error (red). Click any robot to see its current task, battery level, and route.
Task Queue
All pending, active, and completed tasks with timestamps. Filter by type (putaway, replenishment, dispatch), priority, zone, or vehicle. Drag-and-drop task priority reordering for manual overrides when needed.
Utilisation Analytics
Per-robot and fleet-wide utilisation rates, idle time, tasks per hour, and distance travelled. Identify bottleneck zones, underutilised robots, and opportunities to optimise fleet size.
Performance Reports
Daily, weekly, and monthly reports on throughput, uptime, charge cycles, and task completion rates. Export to CSV for integration with your operational reporting tools.
Recommended Fleet Configurations
| Facility Size | Fleet Composition | Typical Throughput |
|---|---|---|
| Small (2,000-5,000 sqm) | 2x Pallet Mover + 1x Reach Truck | 80-120 pallets/shift |
| Medium (5,000-15,000 sqm) | 3x Counterbalance + 2x Reach Truck + 2x Pallet Mover | 250-400 pallets/shift |
| Large (15,000-50,000 sqm) | 5x Counterbalance + 4x Reach Truck + 3x Pallet Mover + 2x Tractor | 500-1,000 pallets/shift |
| Multi-site | Per-site fleets with centralised BrightEye dashboard | Cross-site visibility and reporting |