Overview
AMR to transport missing products to the production line
Due to the complex manufacturing system of this logistical use case, and because of just-in-time manufacturing methodologies, operators often run out of required components. Then the material must be brought from the warehouse, which wastes considerable time and energy. The time spent on this is unproductive and tedious for employees.
The distance from the warehouse to the production entrance is approximately 200 metres. Each time an operator goes to pick up shortages, it takes about 7 minutes, which adds up to many hours lost per year.
To solve this problem and avoid downtime, one solution is to use a robot to go to the warehouse and distribute these shortages at different points in the supply chain. The proposed robot is a RB-VOGUI, with a load capacity of up to 150 kg and omnidirectional movement that allows it to operate in small spaces.
Robotnik’s robotics solution
RB-VOGUI is a general-purpose mobile platform designed primarily for logistics tasks.
The robot is highly mobile and therefore able to follow an operator and navigate autonomously in both indoor and outdoor environments. In this regard, the RB-VOGUI mobile robot is suitable for logistics tasks in warehouses or Pick & Transport & Place applications. The robot drive uses steerable drive wheels, thus allowing different kinematic configurations: single/double Ackermann or omnidrive drive. It is equipped with a 3D LIDAR, stereographic camera, RGBD camera for 3D environment scanning and a high precision RTK-GPS system.
RB-VOGUI performs autonomous navigation tasks to transport parts and materials from the warehouse to the production line. If, during the course of the mission, the robot encounters an unexpected obstacle or an operator, it stops automatically and recalculates the optimal route to the destination point.
Challenges
One of the problems faced is the low reliability of WiFi networks and the limitations of current 4G telecommunications. For autonomous mobile robotics applications, large amounts of information are transmitted to control centres and decreasing latencies are required.
The use of 5G connections represents a breaking point, considerably improving the stability of connections, the autonomy of the robot and the agility in the execution of missions. For example, fleet management software allows robots to translate operator commands into missions that they carry out in indoor industrial environments. In this use case, the software works over a 5G network to manage these missions and plan optimal routes.
Another challenge was the complex navigation system. In an environment such as this industrial plant, it is common for the robot to encounter unforeseen and changing obstacles on its route (boxes or pallets, for example). The RB-VOGUI in this case uses a learning system as a local planner that allows it to complete missions, even with spontaneous obstacles on the route.