Warehouse Autonomy Meets Operational Reality
Welcome to this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast. Michael Lawrence, Director of Sales and Business Development from Anantak, shares a different approach to warehouse autonomy. Anantak has a deep focus on brownfield-friendly deployments, vehicle-to-vehicle interaction, and customer-driven engineering.
The episode also highlights how Anantak’s technology navigates facilities without requiring major infrastructure changes inside warehouse operations.
Why Warehouse Operations Fit Autonomy
Anantak’s approach to automation intentionally focused on structured material-handling workflows rather than trying to force autonomy into unpredictable settings. “The material handling space is a really good one. It’s a well-defined environment with operational rules and expectations, which is a good fit for autonomy. It thrives with that kind of structure.”
Regarding warehouse autonomy, companies can get caught up in flashy demos and big promises. Lawrence explained that Anantak took a more practical path from the beginning. “We didn’t want to just think that we could build the perfect widget and then we’d sell a million of them tomorrow.” As he put it, “It’s not just attaching a bunch of sensors and computers to existing industrial vehicles.” The goal is to make autonomy fit naturally into the customer’s operation.
Autonomous Vehicles Built for Brownfield Facilities
One of the biggest differentiators in Anantak’s approach is its ability to deploy inside existing facilities without requiring major operational changes. That stood out throughout the MODEX demonstration.
Lawrence emphasized this directly when discussing customer concerns around deployment complexity. “A guiding philosophy for us is that we don’t impose ourselves on the customer environment.” He continued, “We don’t require any sort of infrastructure adjustment.”
Instead, the system uses multiple LiDAR sensors, depth cameras, and internally generated “breadcrumbs” to navigate warehouse routes in real time. According to Lawrence, the platform processes data from five LiDARs, two safety LiDARs, and multiple cameras simultaneously. He explained, “We fuse all that in real time to navigate the vehicles in their environment.”
The system also adapts dynamically to changing operational conditions. Lawrence described how the tugger behaves similarly to a roadway vehicle. “It follows its own lane. It thinks in terms of these, like, lanes on a road.” That flexibility allows the vehicles to function in brownfield warehouse environments while using the same routes operators already travel today.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Interaction Takes Center Stage
MODEX was full of impressive demonstrations, but one rarely seen, if ever, was Anantak’s autonomous forklift and autonomous tugger, both actively interacting in real time. Lawrence explained the significance of the demonstration, saying, “We believe we are showing the first ever exhibit where two autonomous vehicles are actually interacting with each other.”
Lawrence explained the broader impact on warehousing, “We can get the forklifts lifting and the tuggers tugging.” The roadmap already includes advanced stacking capabilities, additional customer-specific workflows, and collaboration. “One of our principles is engineering by experience.” He added, “We want the customer to tell us what is useful for them, and then we will build to that specification on our dime.”
Key Takeaways on Warehouse Autonomy
- Anantak has been developing warehouse autonomy solutions for approximately 11 years.
- The company focuses heavily on brownfield warehouse environments without requiring infrastructure changes.
- The autonomous system does not rely on magnetic tape, QR codes, or wall markers for navigation.
- The platform processes data from five LiDARs, two safety LiDARs, and multiple depth cameras simultaneously.
- Anantak demonstrated coordinated interaction between an autonomous forklift and an autonomous tugger live at MODEX 2026.
- The tugger system navigates using internally generated “breadcrumbs” and lane-based movement logic.
- The company’s roadmap includes advanced stacking and additional autonomous forklift workflows.
Listen to the episode below and leave your thoughts in the comments.
Guest Information
For more information on Anantak, click here.
To connect with Michael Lawrence on LinkedIn, click here.
For more information about warehouse autonomy, check out the podcasts below.
Picking with Carter: The Autonomous Cart Built for Warehouses
Locus Array: The Next Leap in Warehouse Fulfillment Automation
