E-commerce growth, chronic labor shortages, and the push for 24/7 fulfillment have turned warehouse automation into one of the fastest-moving segments of industrial robotics. Among the technologies reshaping how goods are stored and retrieved, 3D cube storage robots — compact machines that roam a warehouse floor and climb rack structures to reach goods stored at height — are gaining particular traction, packing greater storage density into existing buildings without the cost or delay of new construction.
Behind one such robotic platform is a leading intralogistics automation provider in Europe, whose 3D storage robots run on a compute platform engineered for the demands of mobile, battery-powered robotics: the DFI RPP173 Mini-ITX motherboard. And in a signal of where the platform is headed next, the OEM has already begun evaluating DFI's upcoming Intel® Core™ Ultra-based ARH171/173 for its next-stage evolution. It's a partnership that reflects how DFI's embedded platforms power intelligent machines well beyond the warehouse — across the wider world of robotics and industrial automation.
Industry: Logistics Automation / Robotics
Country: Europe
Application: 3D cube storage robot
Solution: DFI RPP173 Mini-ITX embedded motherboard — with an upgrade path to the Intel® Core™ Ultra-based ARH171/173
The Dual-Mode Challenge: Compute for a Robot That Both Rolls and Climbs
The global autonomous mobile robot (AMR) market is projected to grow at roughly 15% CAGR through the early 2030s, with warehousing and logistics remaining its single largest end-use segment (Mordor Intelligence). Within that market, 3D cube storage robots represent one of the more demanding engineering challenges: a single machine must navigate flat warehouse floors and climb vertical rack structures, all while carrying its own compute, sensing, and motion-control hardware onboard.
For the provider, the requirements were clear. The onboard compute platform needed to address:
• Confined onboard space: a chassis built to climb as well as roll leaves little room for a control cabinet — every cubic centimeter of compute footprint matters.
• Battery-powered operation: voltage sag and spikes from the onboard battery pack demand wide-range DC input tolerance, without bolting on an external DC-DC conversion stage.
• Direct motor and sensor interfacing: the platform must talk directly to drive motors, encoders, and safety I/O — adding a separate controller board simply is not an option in a space- and weight-constrained chassis.
• Multi-year program lifecycles: robotics platforms stay in production for years; unplanned component changes can trigger costly re-validation across an OEM's certified design.
• Seamless fleet integration: the robot must plug cleanly into warehouse-wide fleet management and control software.
DFI RPP173: A Compute Core Purpose-Built for Mobile Robotics
Serving as the robot's central onboard computer, the RPP173 consolidating navigation compute, motor/sensor I/O, and fleet networking onto a single board — no add-on cards or external I/O modules required.
Real-Time Performance for Structured Navigation
Built on 13th Gen Intel® Core™ processors (Raptor Lake), the RPP173 delivers the real-time headroom needed for indoor, structured-environment navigation, obstacle avoidance, and path planning — the workload profile of warehouse-floor and rack-based operation.
Eliminating Redundant Hardware: Native Wide-Voltage for Battery Operation
Accepting 9~36V wide-range DC input directly, the RPP173 absorbs the voltage swings inherent to battery-pack operation without a separate DC-DC conversion board. Removing that stage saves both internal volume and bill-of-materials cost — a tangible win in a chassis where every cubic centimeter counts.
Rich I/O for Motion Control and Fleet Connectivity
A dense I/O set lets the robot talk to its motors, sensors, and the wider fleet from one board:
• Dual RS-232/422/485 ports plus 8-bit DIO for direct motor and sensor interfacing
• Up to three 2.5GbE ports for fleet-network connectivity, with bandwidth headroom for future camera or LiDAR data
• Multiple M.2 slots (M/B/E/A key) and a PCIe Gen4 x4 slot for storage, wireless connectivity, and display expansion
Built for Demanding Industrial Environments
Rated for up to a -20°C to 70°C operating range in its wide-temperature configuration, the RPP173 keeps running reliably in the unconditioned spaces where mobile robots actually work — not just warehouses, but the broader mix of industrial environments robots are being deployed into.
Long Lifecycle, Lower Redesign Risk
As a Mini-ITX platform built for industrial deployment, the RPP173 is engineered with long-term product longevity and disciplined revision control in mind — helping OEMs avoid the disruption and cost of frequent hardware requalification across a multi-year robotics program. Aligned with the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), DFI safeguards products from the foundational layer — through development practices aligned with IEC 62443-4-1 and onboard TPM — helping OEMs deploy with confidence in the European market.
A Flexible, Open-Standard Foundation
Beyond raw specs, the RPP173's standard Mini-ITX form factor gives OEMs room to design on their own terms. As a mature, open industry standard — with a standard PCIe slot, predictable I/O placement, and broad component compatibility — it lets teams add GPUs or expansion cards, source parts from a wide ecosystem, and avoid being locked into a single vendor's proprietary module roadmap. For a multi-year robotics program that may need to scale or adapt, that design freedom is a strategic advantage.
From Floor to Rack: A System Built to Scale
Inside the robot, the RPP173 sits at the center of the system — connecting the pieces that let it sense, move, and coordinate:
• Navigation sensors (camera / LiDAR) over GbE or USB
• Drive and lift motor controllers over RS-485 / DIO
• The warehouse fleet-management system over a 2.5GbE uplink
That same scale-ready thinking extends across DFI's robotics platform. The table below sets the current RPP171/173 alongside the next-generation ARH171/173, so OEMs can see the upgrade path on a shared Mini-ITX foundation.
| |
RPP171/173
|
ARH171/173
|
|
Product
|
|
|
|
Specifications
|
|
|
|
Processor
|
13th Gen Intel® Core™ (Raptor Lake), 15~28W
|
Intel® Core™ Ultra (Arrow Lake / Meteor Lake H/U), 15~28W
|
|
AI Capability
|
CPU + integrated graphics
|
Built-in NPU + Intel® Arc™ GPU — for local AI inference and more complex, precise perception (OpenVINO / ONNX RT / DirectML)
|
|
Memory
|
DDR5(dual channel), up to 64GB
|
DDR5(dual channel), up to 96GB (MTL) / 128GB (ARL)
|
|
Power Input
|
9~36V wide-range DC
|
12~28V wide-range DC
|
|
Form Factor
|
Mini-ITX
|
Mini-ITX
|
|
Long-term industrial product longevity
|
DFI's Mini-ITX robotics platform is designed to evolve alongside future Intel processor generations, giving OEMs a consistent design foundation to build on as their AI and compute requirements grow.
Proven in the Field, Ready for What's Next
The provider's 3D storage robot runs in live warehouse operation on the RPP173, handling the everyday navigation and control workload of a machine that has to perform shift after shift.
As edge AI perception needs grow — more cameras, richer object recognition, more sophisticated decision-making — the OEM is working with DFI to evaluate the Intel® Core™ Ultra-based ARH171/173, featuring built-in NPU and Intel® Arc™ GPU acceleration for more capable on-device AI processing without relying on cloud computing.
• Seamless Platform Evolution: Both RPP173 and the upcoming ARH171/173 maintain the Mini-ITX form factor, comparable I/O architecture, and wide-range DC input designed for battery-powered systems. This platform continuity enables OEMs to scale computing performance without redesigning their mechanical structure or control architecture — transforming next-generation upgrades from a complete redesign into a seamless evolution.
• Field-proven credibility: robotic 3D storage systems of this class are already operating at major manufacturing and distribution sites, sustaining several hundred storage-and-retrieval movements per hour — evidence that the underlying compute has to be dependable, day in and day out.
Beyond the Warehouse: A Foundation for Physical AI
The principles behind this platform reach well past warehouse robotics. Across DFI's embedded computing portfolio, OEMs gain a consistent foundation for a wide spectrum of physical AI and robotics applications — spanning mobile robots, industrial automation, inspection systems, and emerging intelligent machines. Whatever an OEM builds next, the goal remains the same: a compute platform chosen for today's robot that also becomes the foundation for the next one — without starting the design over.
This is where DFI's dual strength matters: a broad portfolio of ready-to-deploy COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) motherboards and systems for rapid deployment, backed by decades of Design & Manufacturing Services (DMS) expertise for application-specific customization. Whether OEMs choose the RPP171/173 available today, transition to the upcoming Intel® Core™ Ultra-based ARH171/173 platform, or develop a tailored DMS solution around their unique requirements, they can build on a common architecture that preserves design continuity while accelerating the next generation of intelligent robotics and physical AI systems.
Download Success Story
