Mobile robots. Credit: Licensed from AdobeStock

A new standard released by the ASTM defines the types of objects that might be encountered during the operation of an Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) or Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV).

The new standard documents a list of common terms that describe these objects, and provides a common language for the use of both operators and manufacturers of this equipment. The standard was developed by ASTM’s committee on robotics, automation, and autonomous systems (F45).

This standard (F3588) provides specifications for a set of reference objects to act as obstacles or infrastructure for testing the capabilities of A-UGVs. The objects represent those common in many manufacturing environments. According to ASTM International F45 committee chair Adam Norton, this helps both developers of A-UGVs and those looking to use them with evaluating their systems.

The committee surveyed both end users and manufacturers to assemble the list of items that might be encountered by an autonomous, unmanned robot.

The survey results are listed here and are considered example objects found in warehousing/manufacturing, healthcare, domestic, and retail environments:

“For example, one object is a pallet that an A-UGV may need to avoid while navigating through a facility; another object is a rack that an A-UGV may need to position itself in front of in order to dock with it,” says Norton.

The standard, designated ASTM F3588-22, was released on November 9, 2022, and you can purchase a copy here.

The group is next going to develop standards concerned with dynamic obstacles, including those that move and change position.

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MOV.AI, which offers a robotics platform to develop autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), brought in $8.2 million in funding.

BOWE Group led the round, which also included participation from MOV.AI’s existing investors State of Mind Ventures, NFX and Viola Ventures. BOWE Group is a supplier of smart automation and IoT software solutions. The Augsburg, Germany-based company is a subsidiary of Possehl Group. 

“We are extremely bullish on MOV.AI’s ability to modernize the robotics market, a market that is a key pillar in modern industrial automation and is poised for hypergrowth,” Joachim Koschier, BOWE GROUP Managing Director, said. “The MOV.AI Robotics Engine Platform enables smooth human-robot collaboration in automation projects – something that BOWE group experienced firsthand as a customer. The digital transformation occurring in the intralogistics space requires flexibility, operational agility, and maintainability. MOV.AI provides the complete infrastructure and tools required to create and operate fleets of any AMR.”

MOV.AI’s Robotics Engine Platform changes how AMRs are built by separating the software from the hardware. AMR development, and deployment, can be expensive and time-consuming, in part due to inflexible robot software that is tightly linked with the robot’s hardware. 

The Robotics Engine Platform can speed development and deployment by offering enterprise-grade tools necessary for advanced automation to both AMR manufacturers and automation integrators. With the platform, manufacturers can more quickly differentiate their robots, and automation integrators can deploy in just days instead of months. 

“We are excited to have such an innovative leader as BOWE GROUP join our strong group of investors and lead this round,” MOV.AI CEO Motti Kushnir said. “The pressure on supply chains creates an opportunity for AMR manufacturers and automation integrators, who need to develop and deploy robots that meet customer needs quickly. BOWE GROUP is a leader in the world of intralogistics and automation. Their knowledge and expertise will drive forward MOV.AI’s ability to meet customer needs and extend our market reach.

We are thankful to our investors – State of Mind Ventures, NFX, Viola Ventures, and now BOWE GROUP – for their ongoing belief in our vision and in our ability to execute it. Their confidence as evidenced in this round is helping us drive change in the market and provide our customers with a much-needed solution.”

MOV.AI announced a partnership with Ouster, a digital LiDAR sensor manufacturer, in May 2022. The partnership integrates the two companies’ solutions for industrial equipment manufacturers that are interested in automating.  

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Civ Robotics’ CivDot is an autonomous UGV for civil engineering and infrastructure projects. | Source: Civ Robotics

Civ Robotics announced that it closed a $5 million seed round for its autonomous surveying solution CivDot. The company plans to use the funding for sales and marketing and technology development. It also plans to grow its team in the U.S. and Tel Aviv, Isreal, where its R&D operations are based. 

ff Venture Capital, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm with a strong focus on robotics, among other things, and Alley Robotics Ventures, an early-stage capital venture firm that invests in robotics and automation, led the round, which also included participation from Trimble Ventures. 

Civ Robotics’ CivDot is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) designed for civil engineering and infrastructure projects like solar farms, roadways, data centers and power plants. Users can upload their blueprint in standard CSV or DXF format to CivPlan, and CivDot will be ready to work. 

The robot sprays paint coordinates with dots or dashed lines. If needed, users can follow behind CivDot with flags or nails with whiskers and CivPlan will tell them which color marker to install at each point. When CivDot is done with its mission, it sends a detailed report with the marked coordinates and ground elevation measurements. 

“The construction industry faces worker shortage challenges, and CivDot is empowering efficiency and safety on the job, while driving projects forward from the start,” Tom Yeshurun, co-founder and CEO of Civ Robotics, said. “Already, Bechtel, a leader in the EPC industry, among a variety of others, has adopted CivDots for surveying. Today’s funding demonstrates the opportunity in front of us as a company to construct the world around us.”

CivDot comes with two sets of batteries that each have a five-hour battery life, and can connect to any base station and NTRIP network. It uses spray cans that you can find at any local hardware store, and can handle any terrain or slope with its 6-8″ ground clearance and tire options for mud and sand. 

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According to Ghost Robotics, adding NAUT makes Vision 60 the first fully amphibious quadruped. While others have been made waterproof so they can walk through shallow water, Vision 60 is the first to actually “swim” in water.

Onyx’s NAUT jet propulsion unit can propel a robot at up to 3 knots for around 25 minutes on a single charge, according to reporting from The Drive. The unit operates with Onyx’s proprietary autonomous propulsion method and is plug-and-play for integration into existing networks.

NAUT includes a semi-autonomous control system that allows an operator to control the robot remotely or have it execute pre-programed missions autonomously. According to Onyx, NAUT can be added to any IP67 or above rated platform.

Vision 60 is a mid-sized, high-endurance quadruped intended for use in defense, homeland and enterprise applications. The robot is agile and durable enough to survive all-weather conditions in a wide range of environments. The quadruped can walk at up to 3 m/s and run for three hours or travel 10 km on a single charge.

Ghost Robotics has shipped over 200 Vision 60 robots or over 25 national security customers, among others. The company was founded in 2015 by Avik De, Gavin Kenneally and Jiren Parikh. 

Onyx and Ghost Robotics unveiled the collaboration at the 2022 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference. 

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Localization technology is one of the key factors in achieving the type of networked production needed for digital transformation. | Credit: SICK Sensors

Digital Twins for Safe Machinery

This year at Automate, SICK is excited to showcase how you can keep things safe in your facility using their virtual reality safety services demonstration. Safety solution designs and turnkey installations on manufacturing equipment can often be complex difficult to engineer or install.

At the SICK booth, you’ll see a 3D safety concept in action, and how it can easily be tailored to your needs. A project like this allows for a preview of your safeguarding measures, efficient project communication with the SICK team, and fast implementation.

Using laser scanner technology with a 1cm accuracy, real-time point cloud data can be used to design your technical protective measures, such as light curtains, laser scanners, muting sensors, and hard guarding. 3D safety concepts can be more precise by defining critical mounting distance and guarding measurements in relationship to the relevant standards.

SICK calls this safe productivity.

Part Localization for Bin Picking

SICK will be displaying its high precision robot guidance system for localizing items to be picked. A high-resolution, high-speed camera detects a wide range of objects of different shapes and colors. The robot has automatic detection of all kinds of objects and colors, even in challenging applications with reflective and shiny objects. It can localize items in multiple bins and has a highly accurate picking rate due to a high-precision 3D point cloud.

In addition, the robot provides machine learning and AI solutions that allows for it to be trained for new scenarios using dStudio from SICK and the classification of a wide range of objects.

Localization of Autonomous Mobile Robots

At Automate, SICK will be displaying solutions for autonomous vehicles and mobile robots, including their latest LiDAR Localization technology. Assets in a factory can be tracked continuously using localization solutions and their space-time coordinates can be continuously recorded and stored.

Having this data means complete transparency about all the important movements on the warehouse floor. Today’s analytics tools can already use this data to make connections between different events, presenting an unfiltered look into actual production processes.

All the established technologies—ultra wide-band tags, LiDAR Contour Mapping, line guidance sensors, infrastructure sensors—record either their own position or the position of the desired objects. Depending on the application as well as the positioning accuracy and update rate required, the right technology is selected, or various technologies are combined with each other.

Localization technology is one of the key factors in achieving the type of networked production needed for digital transformation. It can be used to boost optimization potential in several areas by allowing for agile planning of production processes. Localization data gives companies a high level of transparency and understanding of all production-related assets, load carriers, and loading equipment.

Travel paths can be optimized and adapted dynamically, and setup times can be prepared or scheduled flexibly. The material flow can be planned and controlled based on consumption, boosting delivery quality and on-time delivery.

At Automate 2022, SICK is providing an in-depth look at their approach to robotics, digital transformation, and safety in Booth #4107.

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Welcome to Episode 75  of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

Cruise robotaxi gets confused by traffic cop

In this week’s episode, Steve and Mike discuss the recent story about a Cruise robotaxi getting pulled over by a San Francisco traffic cop. Here’s the video that sparked the conversation:

Interview with Blue River Technology / John Deere Tractors

This week, Mike sat down with Willy Pell, VP of autonomy at Blue River Technology. Blue River Technology was acquired by John Deere in 2017 for $305M, a large sum of money for a young startup. However, as you’ll learn in the interview, the acquisition was pivotal for John Deere’s roadmap towards the development of a fully autonomous tractor, resulting the launch of the John Deere 8R Autonomous Tractor in January 2021.

If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.

For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.

We want your feedback:

Tell us what you think are the most interesting robotics trends that will impact us in 2022? Leave us a voicemail.

The post Willy Pell from Blue River Technology brings AI to the farm appeared first on The Robot Report.

Welcome to Episode 74  of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

MODEX Recap

In this week’s episode, Steve and Mike discuss some of the most significant robot product demos and announcements at the recent 2022 MODEX show in Atlanta GA. It was a record attendance year at MODEX for both attendees and robotics vendors.

Products discussed in this episode include:

• New Stretch trailer unloading AMR from Boston Dynamics
• New “Co-bot” autonomous pallet jack from a partnership between Big Joe and Vecna Robotics
• ROEQ launches 3 new payload doubling cart devices for MiR AMRs and announces intentions to start building AMR toppers for other AMR brands in the coming year
• FlexQube demonstrated the new eQart Navigator for the first time in public
• Phanton Auto demonstrated their tele-operated fork truck solution that allows remote drivers to safely operate equipment in the warehouse

Interview with DCL Logistics

This week, Steve and Mike sit down with Brian Tu, chief revenue officer of DCL Logistics. DCL is a Universal Robots customer that deployed a number of UR cobots to help improve the efficiency of the logistics operations in their distribution center. The company has experienced a short ROI for this project and improved accuracy of order fulfillment.

DCL Logistics is a family-run business, and Brian is the second generation to take the 40-year-old company forward. The company is based in the Silicon Valley region and has a number of high-profile, high-tech brands in its warehouses.

Here are a couple of videos highlighting the UR robots deployed at DCL Logistics:

If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.

For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.

We want your feedback:

Tell us what you think are the most interesting robotics trends that will impact us in 2022? Leave us a voicemail.

The post MODEX Recap; family-owned business turns to cobots for help appeared first on The Robot Report.

Welcome to Episode 73  of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

Mike talks to Black-i Robotics founder and CEO Brian Hart, to discuss the introduction of the new Black-i Fullscope Mobile Heavy Lift Arm. This new robotics solution is designed to be mounted on top of an AMR/AGV and deployed in a warehouse to autonomously pick up/drop off heavy items. The robotic arm is being shown publicly for the first time at MODEX in Atlanta next week.

Steve and Mike also discuss the latest news stories from the last week.

Here’s is a video of the new product:

Links from the show this week:

• • MODEX 2022 Show Guide
  • Black-i Robotics
  • The march of the penguins has a new star: an autonomous robot
  • Denmark robotics industry grew 12% in 2021
  • 100,000+ mobile robots shipped in 2021
  • Skyline Robotics cleans up $6.5M in pre-Series A funding
  • ROBOTICS SUMMIT, May 10-11, 2022

Nvidia Keynote:

Teaching a robot to peel a banana:

If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.

For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.

We want your feedback:

Tell us what you think are the most interesting robotics trends that will impact us in 2022? Leave us a voicemail.

The post Black-i Robotics launches mobile heavy lift robot arm appeared first on The Robot Report.

Autonomous mobile robots from Locus Robotics. | Credit: Locus Robotics

More than 100,000 mobile robots, including automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), shipped globally in 2021, according to a recent report from Interact Analysis. Overall, the number of robots shipped in 2021 rose 70% from the year before, which resulted in a 36% increase in revenue. 

Revenue for mobile robots hit almost $3 billion in 2021. For the first time in the over 40 years AGVs have been on the marketplace, AMRs surpassed them in revenue last year. AMRs brought in $1.6 billion annually, while AGVs finished almost $300 million behind AMRs.

AGVs also trailed AMRs in the number of units shipped. In 2021, there were 82,000 AMRs shipped, compared to 18,000 AGVs. Interact Analysis expects both markets to continue to grow. By 2025, it estimates AMR shipments will reach 640,000, while AGV shipments will reach just 43,000. 

The biggest market for mobile robots is China, which made up 40% of worldwide shipments in 2021. Following China is the United States, which made up over 25% of shipments. 

Interact Analysis predicts that by 2025, close to two million robots will be installed globally. China and the U.S. are expected to both play a large role in the market, but other countries that face high labor cost, low unemployment and high e-commerce penetration will also see growth. 

One such country is the UK, which says 2,300 units shipped in 2021. By 2025, Interact Analysis expects that number to rise by 700% by 2025, hitting over 18,500 units shipped. Countries that have lower labor costs, like India, are expected to see slower growth. In 2021, India had 566 mobile robots shipped, and that number is only expected to climb to 2,700 by 2025. 

Mobile robots see growth in different markets 

Mobile robot shipments in 2021. | Source: Interact Analysis

Mobile robots are flexible, cost effective and scalable, making them easy to implement in a variety of industries. Mobile robot sales are typically driven by demand from logistics, especially e-commerce. It’s no surprise, then, that mobile robots saw a lot of growth in merchandise, including retailers outside of the apparel and grocery sectors. 

22,000 units were shipped to general merchandise retailers in 2021. Following general merchandise retailers is automotive manufacturing, which shipped 15,000 units. Interact Analysis expects the general merchandise sector to grow 600% by 2025, reaching over 154,000 shipments. 

Mobile robots have also seen growth with third-party logistics (3PL) firms. 3PL firms are typically hesitant to automate, as large-scale integration automation solutions can be expensive and timely to implement. Mobile robots eliminate those issues, and are able to keep up with a booming 3PL industry. 

Overall growth in the mobile robot industry culminated in the first AMR company achieving ‘unicorn’ status. Last year, Locus Robotics reached a billion dollar valuation. 

AMRs weren’t the only type of robot to see growth in 2021. Last year set a new record for number of industrial robots sold in North America, with 39,708 units shipped, according to the Association for Advancing Automation. 

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SEER’s AMR and AGV line of produces. | Source: SEER

Seer Intelligent Technology Corporation (SEER) raised more than $15 million in Series B financing. SEER develops autonomous mobile robot (AMRs) controllers, AMRs and automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

The company’s SRC Series Core Controllers are universal AMR controllers that provide AMRs with core functions, like mapping, positioning and navigation. It also allows for model-editing for mobile robots.

“When users use our controllers to manufacture robots, they can match accessories according to their own needs,” Zhao Yue, SEER CEO, said.

SEER’s controllers are compatible with a majority of LiDARs, servo drives, sensor and other AMR accessories on the market, according to the company. It works with a variety of AMR models, like double steering wheel, forklift, omnidirectional wheel and crawler.

SAIF Investment Fund, IDG Capital and Haolan Capital lead the investment.

“With the urgent need for domestic manufacturing upgrades, industrial robots have ushered in greater growth opportunities. Among mobile robots, industrial application scenarios are broad and technologically advanced. The threshold is high,” Li Jia, partner of SAIF Investment Fund said. “In industrial scenarios, factors such as non-standardized product lines, diverse tasks, and diverse plant environments have led to higher thresholds for mobile robots and more non-standard capabilities.”

According to Jia, SEER stood out to the investment fund because of its standardized products that allow for a variety of applications.

SEER offers an extensive AMR line, which include its Auto Mobile Base (AMB) series, jacking robots and packing robots. The AMB series is made up of standard AMR and AGV chassis with a variety of payload capacities.

In addition to its AMRs, SEER offers a line of automatic forklifts. Its seven different forklifts differ in their capabilities, payload capacities and degree of automation.

The post SEER announces Series B financing to scale AMRs appeared first on The Robot Report.

BlueBotics’ ANT SLAM navigation technology uses a vehicle’s existing laser safety scanners to first identify and then match permanent features in the environment, such as walls, pillars and machines. BlueBotics claims ANT is accurate to ±1 cm / ±1° and that it requires minimal changes to infrastructure.

“The acquisition of BlueBotics is a key strategic move for Zapi Group as it further strengthens our position in the fast-growing automated vehicle sector,” said Giannino Zanichelli, president of Zapi Group. “As a supplier of components for automated guided vehicles, it allows us to move up the value chain into vehicle navigation and fleet management while expanding the range of solutions we can offer our combined customer base.”

BlueBotics claims its ANT navigation technology is used by more than 3,000 vehicles around the world.

“This acquisition is exciting news for BlueBotics. Being part of the ZAPI GROUP, with its global footprint and market reach, will help us expand more strongly around the globe, allow us to engage with more new potential partners, and provide better support to our existing customers,” said Nicola Tomatis, CEO, BlueBotics. “Our team’s knowledge, values, and customer-centric focus are fully aligned with those of ZAPI GROUP. And from a product standpoint, our technologies are a perfect fit.”

In October 2021, BlueBotics signed a distribution agreement with Thai factory automation specialist Planet T & S. The deal is designed to expand its Asian footprint. This was the fourth such Asian agreement BlueBotics has signed in the past three years. It previously signed distribution deals with MacPion in Korea, Altech in Japan, and Shanghai TONGPU Electronics in China.

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Eckhart, a Wisconsin-based robotic systems integrator, has been acquired by private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners. LFM Capital sold Eckhart to Arsenal Capital for an undisclosed amount.

Eckhart offers engineering, design, simulation and integration services, as well as proprietary tooling and other automation and robotics systems such as autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and collaborative robots. Eckhart’s solutions target e-commerce, engineered products, electric vehicles, transportation, and consumer product application.

In 2021, Eckhart was one of the first four integrators selected by Universal Robots to deploy its ActiNav next-generation machine loading solution. ActiNav combines real-time autonomous motion control, UR cobots, vision and sensor systems to automate bin picking tasks or machine tending applications.

“We are excited to announce this strategic growth investment from Arsenal, which will enable us to take our business to new heights, scale our team, and better serve our customers,” said Eckhart CEO Andy Storm. “Arsenal’s extensive knowledge of the sector and track record of building high-growth, innovation-rich industrial technology businesses gave us confidence that they are the right partner.”

“Eckhart’s solutions are critical to driving higher productivity, efficiency and precision, which is increasingly more valuable as customers compete on a global scale,” said Aaron Wolfe, an investment partner at Arsenal. “Arsenal plans to invest a significant amount of incremental capital to accelerate growth, augment the solution set, and further penetrate attractive end markets.”

“The partnership with Arsenal comes at an opportune time as our customers invest at a record rate in automation for their operations,” Daniel Burseth, VP of Eckhart. “With Arsenal’s industrial track record and continued investment in expanding capabilities, Eckhart will become an even more important partner to a global customer base.”

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By Pradeep Deshmane (principal engineer) and Manoj Pujari (lead engineer) at Portescap

Whether moving or positioning objects, accessing dangerous environments, handling hazardous materials like medical waste or simply helping out around the house, there is a tremendous demand for autonomous mobile robots. Not only do they perform tasks that are difficult, repetitive or inconvenient for human labor, they carry them out correctly and are especially effective where precision is required. This article provides an overview of autonomous mobile robots, describing their operation, market need and demand, application requirements, selection criteria, design optimization and future advancements.

Autonomous Mobile Robot Operation and Popular Applications

Autonomous mobile robots navigate on the ground using motorized wheels to propel themselves. Unlike robots that use treads or legs, autonomous mobile robots are easier to design, build and program for movement in flat, not-so-rugged terrain. They are particularly popular in the consumer market because their differential steering is inexpensive and simple to implement. Robots can have any number of wheels, but three wheels are sufficient for static and dynamic balance. Additional wheels can add balance; however, more mechanisms will be required to keep all the wheels on the ground — especially when the terrain is not flat. The motion system consists of motors coupled with gearboxes driving the wheels, which increases the torque capacity for better drivability.

In addition to their widespread use in the consumer market, autonomous mobile robots can be found in hospitals performing infection control, medical services, medical waste delivery, biochemical specimen delivery and general medical tasks. They’re also being deployed in the worldwide fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Another growing market is in the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry where robots play a crucial role in surveillance and military operations. In the oil and gas (O&G) industry, they are expected to be invaluable tools in pipeline inspections thanks to their ability to photograph the interior of the structures to help identify cracks or faults.

Application Requirements

In most applications, the motion systems typically must satisfy the following requirements:

• Compact size and lightweight
• High torque
• Durability and long life
• Low noise, especially when used in medical and A&D equipment
• High efficiency and low current.

Motion systems in autonomous mobile robots usually consist of brushed or brushless DC motors coupled with compact planetary gearboxes. This requirement may differ slightly from application to application, but the motion systems typically have the following specifications:

• Motor: coreless brushed DC or brushless DC motor
• Gearbox configuration: planetary; ⅔ stage, 30:1 to 120:1 ratio
• Packaging size: <40 mm2
• Gearbox output torque: 4 to 8 Nm
• Gearbox output speed: 50 to 150 rpm

Figure 1. Two common axis configurations for autonomous mobile robots.

Selection Criteria

The first step in selecting a motor and gearbox is to determine both the product’s operating and maximum conditions. Therefore, you will need to confirm the required speed and torque experienced at the wheel output.

Figure 2. Important aspects to consider when selecting a motor and gearbox for an autonomous mobile robot design.

Torque. First, determine the output torque required and then work backwards to find your motor and gearing. The torque on the wheel should be based on robot acceleration, wheel diameter and carrying capacity. Be sure the carrying capacity accounts for pulling the entire robot in case some actuators fail or wheels slip, as well as the minimum slope and potential obstacles to overcome. Friction and efficiency also should factor into the final torque calculation.

Speed. In order to calculate the speed at which the wheel needs to rotate, you must define your desired speed — or final output — for the wheel. Based on that information, you can choose the motors and gearing. The robot manufacturer generally finalizes the robot’s drive speed, and the wheel diameter determines the required speed at the wheel output.

Packaging space. Make sure the motor stack, which consists of the encoder, brake, motor and gearing, fits into the robot and can be packaged cleanly. The encoder allows you to measure how much the motor shaft turns, and the brake system helps to hold the torque and provide dynamic stopping in case of an emergency.

Voltage. The operating voltage is used to power the motor. Typically, the higher the voltage, the higher the speed capability of the motor. The motor’s datasheet will provide the voltage constant — also known as back EMF constant — so you can calculate how fast the motor will rotate per volt.

Operating temperature. Although temperature often is not an issue, it is still important to make sure your motor stack does not overheat — particularly if it is enclosed. The gearbox is another area of concern since temperature can affect its lubrication life and performance over time.

Weight. The mass of the load also determines the torque for motor selection. Therefore, you will need to estimate the mass, or know the actual mass, to choose a motor. If you base your design on a mass estimate, we recommend applying a 25 percent safety margin. Refer to the torque constant provided on the motor datasheet to calculate how much torque output you will achieve per amp.

Cost. While building a gearbox from scratch may be less expensive, the time and effort required to design, assemble and test the new gear can make a standard gearbox the more economical option.
Precision, accuracy and efficiency. How much lag can you afford in your gearing? Often, wheel motor robot applications can allow a little less precision and accuracy depending on the terrains and torque profiles involved. And, since not all applications demand high performance characteristics like low noise or vibration, lower precision can be tolerated. However, robotic arms or instruments often need low backlash systems that are more precise and accurate.

Reliability and noise. Most applications require higher reliability, so the motor stack must survive the required working points. Some critical applications like surveillance robots demand both low noise and higher reliability, and the motor and gearbox have to satisfy both criteria.

Choose an Optimal Design

Here’s an example of an autonomous mobile robot application using a motion system designed by Portescap:

• Motor: brushed DC 35 GLT
• Main gearbox: planetary gearbox, 3 stage, spur, 99.8 total gearbox ratio

Many autonomous mobile robots employ differential steering, which relies on separately driven wheels for movement. Another design, a four-wheel drive robot with two pairs of powered wheels, offers more balance since each pair can turn in the same direction. However, if the pairs do not run at the same speed, the robot will move slowly and cannot drive in a straight line. An optimum design has a differential steering mechanism similar to those used in a car, which allows the robot to turn left or right, requiring only one motor. Another common configuration of robots uses motors that drive wheels independently instead of differential steering. In this case, separate motors are required to drive each wheel. The overall system specifications are:

• Packaging: 32 -mm2 x 115 mm length
• Gearbox output torque capacity: 8 Nm
• Gearbox output speed: 80 rpm
• Life expectancy: 1,000 hours
• Maximum temperature: 125°C

The Portescap product, shown in Figure 3, offers a smaller package, higher torque carrying capacity and higher durability, making them well-suited for a wide range of autonomous robot applications.

Figure 3. Portescap brushed DC 35 GLT motor with gearbox.

Future Advancements in Autonomous Mobile Robots

Autonomous mobile robots are not without drawbacks. For example, they do not navigate well over rocky terrain, sharp declines or areas with low friction. In order for robots to overcome these limitations, driving architectures must be modified to include mechanisms like a differential drive system with tracks, a skid steer four-wheel drive system or two wheels plus passive casters differential drive system. However, these architectures add more complexity and require detailed studies about their cost impacts.

Without a major change in the overall architecture, robot designers must focus their efforts on optimizing the motion system. The following advancements can help improve autonomous mobile robot performance with respect to durability, efficiency and noise reduction:

Figure 4. Needle roller bearing.

Figure 5. Transition error analysis for low-noise gearbox.

Advanced components. Needle roller bearings, such as the bearing shown in Figure 4, avoid scuffing failures and ensure smooth rotation of planet gears on planet pins. In addition, certain gearboxes feature gear teeth arranged to lower torsional forces for reduced noise.

Advanced FEA-based analyses. A structural analysis helps to identify potential failures and eliminate them early in the design process. An example is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Advanced FEA analysis.

Advanced acoustic simulation. Using software to predict noise, such as the simulation in Figure 7, helps optimize the design for critical applications requiring low noise.

Figure 7. Advanced acoustic simulation.

Get Rolling With the Right Motor Supplier

As robots become an integral part of our lives in both industry and in our homes, autonomous mobile robots will be at the forefront of the progression. In order to achieve precision and optimal performance for your autonomous mobile robot application, you’ll need the right motion components. Portescap offers a broad range of standard and custom miniature motors with high torque density, reliability and efficiency along with engineering support to ensure your autonomous mobile robotic systems can go where they’re needed and get the job done.

For more information, visit our website.

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AWS IoT RoboRunner aims to ease the robotics industry’s interoperability problem. | Credit: AWS

Interoperability has and will continue to be an issue for robotics adoption. Products from smaller companies, including Freedom Robotics, Open Robotics and Rocos, have come to market to help robots from different vendors communicate and work together. And we recently witnessed the first public demo of MassRobotics’ interoperability standard.

But now a tech giant is throwing its hat into the interoperability ring, too. Amazon Web Services (AWS) today released a preview of its robotic fleet management system AWS IoT RoboRunner. The goal is to make it easier for companies to deploy robots, no matter the vendor, and make them work together.

AWS said AWS IoT RoboRunner builds on the same technology used in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Whether working with automated guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or robotic arms, AWS IoT RoboRunner lets companies see and control their robots and work management systems from a single platform.

AWS IoT RoboRunner provides a central data repository for facility, location, and task data. AWS said this makes it possible for developers to build interoperable management applications. AWS IoT RoboRunner also claims to eliminate the need for numerous integrations among different robot control systems and warehouse management systems. AWS said all systems integrate with AWS IoT RoboRunner, which then connects all integrated systems automatically.

AWS IoT RoboRunner will integrate with other AWS services such as SageMaker, Greengrass and SiteWise. This, AWS said, gives its fleet management system an advantage over other available options.

And when it comes to mobile robots, AWS IoT RoboRunner provides reference integrations for mobile robots from select robot vendors. The Robot Report reached out to AWS about what companies it has reference integrations for. We’ll update this story if we learn more.

The AWS IoT RoboRunner service is now available in AWS regions US East and Europe.

Of course, this is not Amazon’s first foray into robotics development products. It introduced in 2018 its AWS RoboMaker simulation service. And earlier in 2021 it introduced SageMaker Reinforcement Learning Kubeflow Components, an open-source toolkit designed to make it faster to develop machine learning capabilities for everything from perception to controls and optimization.

Earlier today, AWS partnered with MassRobotics on a robotics startup accelerator. The four-week program will drive a select cohort of robotics startups through an intensive, advanced curriculum specially designed to accelerate their growth.

As for MassRobotics’ Interoperability Standard, you can watch the first public demo of the system below and read a breakdown of the demo from sister publication Mobile Robot Guide. The demo took place at the FedEx DART Lab in Memphis, which is where FedEx tests all new logistics automation solutions. The companies involved in the demonstration included Vecna Robotics, Waypoint Robotics and WiBotic Autonomous Charging.

Open Robotics, the organization behind the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS) won an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award in 2021 for its Robotic Middleware for Healthcare (RoMi-H) system. Built on ROS 2, RoMi-H enables interoperability between robotics vendors by creating uniform communication and monitoring across heterogeneous fleets of robots, sensors and enterprise information systems.

Open Robotics recently deployed RoMi-H at Changi General Hospital in Singapore, in partnership with Singapore’s Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), IHiS, Hope Technik, GovTech and more.

RoMi-H uses standardized communication protocols for infrastructure, environments and automation where robots are deployed to optimize the use of critical resources (i.e. robots, lifts, doors, passageways, etc). It adds intelligence to the system through resource allocation and by preventing conflicts over shared resources.

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the arculus product portfolio include three different AMR platforms. | Image credit: arculus

Hamburg, Germany-based Jungheinrich AG acquired Munich-based autonomous mobile robot (AMR) developer arculus GmbH for an undisclosed amount. arculus manufactures AMRs, modular production platforms and software solutions for mobile automation. The company has a number of well-known automotive manufacturers and industrial clients from various sectors.

“At arculus, we are excited about the synergies that we and Jungheinrich will be able to offer our customers in the future. Our companies also share common goals and values, like the commitment to making it easier for our customers to meet their automation needs quickly and efficiently,” said Dr. Fabian Rusitschka, CEO of arculus.

arculus was founded in 2016, and claims its systems have completed more than 1.5 million picks and driven more than 500,000 km in production. Jungheinrich employs 18,000 people worldwide and generated revenue of $4.3 billion (€3.81 billion) in 2020.

In addition to manufacturing AMRs, arculus also is a software developer of AMR management software. The company’s portfolio includes warehouse management software and a fleet management solution for AMRs.

In acquiring arculus, Jungheinrich added hardware and software solutions in the rapidly-growing AMR sector to its portfolio of automation systems.

Jungheinrich’s product portfolio includes a variety of intralogistics vehicles and AGVs. | Credit: Jungheinrich

“With the acquisition of arculus, we have been able to comprehensively expand Jungheinrich’s expertise in the automation field of action,” said Dr. Lars Brzoska, chairman of the board of management of Jungheinrich AG. “Important areas of application – like good-to-person order picking – will see continued strong growth, not least because of the ever-increasing amount of e-commerce. With the team from arculus, we can achieve strong growth synergy and unlock important future fields of action in automated warehouse logistics. Together we are opening a new chapter in the history of the warehouse of the future.”

arculus became at least the fifth AMR company to be acquired in just the last six months. In September 2021, Locus Robotics acquired Waypoint Robotics to add heavy-duty AMRs to its portfolio. ABB paid $190 million to acquire ASTI Mobile Robotics in July 2021, and Zebra Technologies paid $290 million for Fetch Robotics. Here is a look at some of the more notable AMR acquisitions over the years.

12 notable warehouse-focused AMR acquisitions

arculus is a member of the VDA and VDMA expert committee for standardizing the AGV interface and has helped shape its development. The insights they gained while working with their customer went directly into the VDA 5050 standardization process. The standard allows for the quick and efficient integration of automated guided vehicles from different manufacturers into a single control system – to optimise logistics process and thus increase the degree of automation, which Jungheinrich will also benefit from in the future.

The arculus product line includes three different sized AMRs:

• arculee XS is a 505 x 540 x 400 mm (19.9” x 21.3” x 15.7”) platform AMR with a 250 kg (670 lb) payload capacity.
• arculee S is a 800 x 750 x 290 mm (31.5” x 29.5” x 11.4”) platform/lift AMR with a 1,000 kg (2,679 lb) payload capacity
• arculee M is a 1200 x 750 x 290 mm (47.2” x 29.5” x 11.4”) platform/lift AMR with a capacity of 1,200 kg (3,215 lb).

Takeaways

Jungheinrich AG is a major automation and intralogistics provider in Germany. The company has been around since 1953, and has provided manually driven fork trucks and tuggers for decades. The company also developed a product line of AGVs.

The addition of arculus brings Jungheinrich AG a competitive portfolio of AMRs and expands the Jungheinrich portfolio with the latest autonomous technology. The mechanical and software development teams at arculus also enable the combined company to continue to innovate and extend the capabilities of the combined product lines.

Jungheinrich has a mature and well established sales channel, which will immediately help to expand the sales of the arculus AMR product line, and enable Jungheinrich to remain competitive in the intralogistics marketplace.

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