Evolving manufacturing process driving smarter bots

Bruno Adam, Omron’s mobile projects director Europe answers key questions on the evolution of mobile robots in the manufacturing setting.

What are important trends?

There is a definite trend towards increased automation, with a view to implementing an Industry 4.0 strategy. Most manufacturers wish to boost productivity through closer process and machine monitoring. The improvements that automation brings help manufacturers, who are under a lot of pressure, from customers and even some governments, to increase productivity.

Another interesting trend is the personalisation and customisation of products. Manufacturers have seen and learned from the success of Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” marketing campaign. The campaign allowed the customer to buy cans of the soft drink with their name on the outside. Manufacturers know that if they could offer the customer more choices, it would result in higher sales – to accomplish that, they need to rethink the way that they operate. Automation is key to enabling them to move closer to that goal. 

How does the new methodology differ?

The current manufacturing philosophy is based around a linear production line. This works well when you have demand for a high volume of identical goods. If you want to deliver the same volume of goods, but offer a wider variety of choices, the production line isn’t the most efficient way to accomplish that. Some forward looking manufacturers are moving to a cell based approach to increase variety in their offering, but that in itself brings challenges. Conveyors are ideal for a standard production line, but don’t work well in a non-linear environment. The only real alternative to conveyors for more complex production flows is manual handling. The cell-based approach has actually led an increase in people being employed to take part-finished goods between cells using hand carts, trolleys or fork lifts. Of course, this negates the efficiency and cost benefits from the initial automation rationale.   

How can this challenge be overcome?

To enable the cell based factory to work efficiently requires an intelligent mobile robot that knows the environment in which it operates, and can calculate the best route between a variety of points. Such a vehicle has been impossible until now for two reasons – there has not been the raw processing power available to process the complex AI algorithms required for autonomous operation, at least one that operates from a small enough battery for the robot’s desired form factor. Also, the technology behind the LIDAR sensors was not yet mature enough to allow the robot to navigate safely. With the technological advancement of the past few years, these barriers to progress have now been removed.

Omron has been working on autonomous mobile robots, and recently launched the Omron LD range of AIVs (Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles). 

What’s next?

There are still a few challenges left to solve for the next generation of AIVs. To operate in complex and narrow environments, AIVs have to be able to compute complex trajectories taking into consideration the total shape of the vehicle including its load. This enables it to avoid a blockage in narrow curve transitions, for example. Small advancements in the trajectory generator may result in significant throughput improvements because the entire fleet of vehicles is more agile.

Another area for improvement is the AIV’s weight capacity. Currently, the largest Omron LD AIV can carry 130kg, which is enough for most applications. However, some customers, such as those in the beverage or automotive markets, would need AIVs with larger payloads. Larger AIVs are subject to more regulation, and bigger robots have more hurdles to overcome in terms of safety. In time this will come. 

Future generations of fleet management software will also allow more complex production flows. Currently, the software is reactive to the status of the production line – the robot has to wait for a call from the scheduling software that there is a load to pick up. In the next generation of software, this process will be more intelligent. The scheduler software will calculate steps ahead for the AIV, or position them ready for a job to finish. This will provide an even larger boost to productivity, while prolonging the operating time of the AIV.

Additional features will also open up the AIVs up to different applications. For instance, RFID and barcode readers would add to the intelligence of the AIV and allow them to perform more tasks in warehouses.

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