Ai-powered visual Autonomous mobile robotics portfolio completed.

Enables up to 20% faster commissioning while ensuring seamless interoperability and safe, reliable operation.

ABB Robotics' Autonomous Mobile Robotics (AMR) portfolio has been expanded with the launch of the Flexley® Stack F712, creating a complete interoperable ecosystem across all major Visual SLAM AMR types. Combining autonomous forklifts, tugs and movers on one platform, ABB Robotics enables customers to automate a broader range of material-handling and intralogistics processes. Offering market-leading accuracy, the F712 is designed for demanding material handling, end-of-line storage and warehouse operations across industries including automotive manufacturing, helping increase efficiency, flexibility and scalability.

“Across intralogistics operations, businesses are being asked to process greater volumes in less time, while working with increasingly limited resources,” said Marc Segura, President, ABB Robotics. “They are under pressure to move goods faster and with greater flexibility, while labour availability is becoming a critical con-straint. As part of our journey to more autonomous and versatile robotics (AVRTM), we have combined ad-vanced vision, mobility and intelligence in the Flexley® Stack F712 forklift AMR, completing our scalable, Ai-powered AMR portfolio.”

F712 is versatile, capable of handling multiple load types and sizes - including open and closed pallets, con-tainers or racks- up to 2,000 kg and reaching heights of 8.5 meters.

The Flexley Stack AMR F712 joins the Flexley® Tug and Flexley® Mover in ABB Robotics’ growing Visual SLAM AMR portfolio. Applications include intralogistics tasks such as warehouse storage and retrieval, as well as line supply, end-of-line handling, body- and press-shop and drive-in and light buffer in the automo-tive and industries sector.

Unlike conventional AMR forklifts on the market, F712 uses Visual SLAM to map and navigate its environment, eliminating the need for pre-installed infrastructure like markers or reflectors. The Ai-enabled Visual SLAM supports the autonomous decisions required to operate in complex, dynamic warehouse operations with a market-leading positional accuracy of ±10 mm. Together with AMR Studio®, this shortens commissioning times by up to 20 percent and creates a versatile and reliable system that can adapt instantly when a warehouse or production floor layout changes. Certified to the latest ISO and ANSI safety standards, Flexley® Stack F712 can safely operate at class-leading speeds of up to 1.7 m/s while loaded.

F712 is fully integrated with AMR Studio® and is VDA5050 compatible, enabling seamless integration with ABB Robotics’ Visual SLAM AMRs and existing systems within a unified project. This makes it easy to manage complex projects and integrate different types of mobile robots. The no-code, drag-and-drop software suite supports rapid setup, fleet coordination, traffic management and real-time visualisation, allowing ABB Robotics’ tugs, movers and forklifts to operate together in the same layout for scalable turnkey automation projects.

---

@ABBRobotics @ABBgroupnews @abb_automation  @NapierPR #PAuto #Robotics

Intelligent navigation for robots.

ABB Robotics has transformed its Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) with the addition of Visual Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology, enabling its AMRs to make intelligent navigation decisions based on their surroundings. Using AI-enabled 3D vision to perform location and mapping functions, ABB’s Visual SLAM AMRs make production faster, more flexible, efficient and resilient while taking on dull, dirty and dangerous tasks so people can focus on more rewarding work.

Visual SLAM combines AI and 3D vision technologies to guarantee a superior performance in comparison to other guidance techniques for AMRs. Offering significant advantages over other forms of navigation such as magnetic tape, QR codes, and traditional 2D SLAM that require additional infrastructure to function, Visual SLAM AMRs are being embraced by companies to handle an expanding range of production and distribution tasks.

“Our introduction of Visual SLAM AMRs radically enhances companies’ operations, making them faster, more efficient and more flexible, while freeing up employees to take on more rewarding work,” said Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics Division. “Offering more autonomy and intelligence, our new AMRs operate safely in dynamic, human-populated environments. Visual SLAM technology provides a new level of intelligence for AMRs that transforms robotic applications, from production and distribution through to healthcare.”

Visual SLAM uses cameras mounted on the AMR to create a real time 3D map of all objects in the surrounding area. The system can differentiate between fixed navigation references such as floors, ceilings and walls that need to be added to the map, and objects such as people or vehicles that move or change position. The cameras detect and track natural features in the environment enabling the AMR to dynamically adapt to its surroundings and determine the safest and most efficient route to its destination. Unlike 2D SLAM, Visual SLAM requires no additional references such as reflectors or markers, saving cost and space and offers accurate positioning to within three millimeters.

By eliminating the need to change the environment, stop production, or add infrastructure, Visual SLAM technology helps to reduce commissioning time by up to 20 percent compared to 2D SLAM, significantly reducing the time needed to introduce a new AMR into the existing fleet. The technology can be used at scale with fleets updated remotely. The technology is also secure, as it analyzes raw data only, with no visual images saved on either the AMR or on a server.

ABB developed Visual SLAM AMRs in collaboration with partner Sevensense Robotics, a leading provider of AI and 3D visual technology. The technology is being incorporated in ABB’s latest generation AMRs, the AMR T702V, from Q3 2023, and the AMR P604V, from Q4 2023. These will be followed by other AMR products incorporating Visual SLAM which will be rolled out up to 2025. The Visual SLAM technology is already deployed in industrial projects for customers in automotive and retail, with the potential to replace conventional production lines with intelligent, modular production cells served by AMRs.

@ABBRobotics @ABBgroupnews @ABBMeasurement @abb_automation @NapierPR @7Srobotics #PAuto #Robotics

Automomous mobile robots.

Baumüller has announced a cooperation with SESTO Robotics in Singapore. It is strengthening its system and solution business with autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for the agile production of the future. 

The AMR systems are flexible transportation solutions for all kinds of different application areas, such as intralogistics, machine tending, test and diagnostics technology as well as the pharmaceutical and health care sector. They can be equipped with different payloads up to 300 kg and increase productivity in production and logistics through shortened walkways, faster transportation times and flexibility in the use of materials and tools. As an experienced systems supplier, Baumüller contributes its know-how for successful and smooth integration into the existing environment and the available automation concept and implements the top set-ups.

The AMRs are available with collaborative robots (HRC) of various manufacturers, UV and ozone disinfection equipment, scissor lift tables, intelligent racking systems and other individually implementable payloads. The AMRs are also suitable for use in clean rooms to Class 100 and offer a rechargeable battery with a life of 10 hours. If the battery charge level falls below a configurable level, the AMR automatically drives to the charging station and requires a maximum of 3 hours for a full charge.

Baumüller sells the self-propelled, autonomously navigating vehicles all around Europe. In future the AMRs will take on a large share of in-house tasks and are an important part of networked, automated and intelligent industry. AMRs with mobile superstructures enable flexibility and agility in the design of work processes that were previously unavailable in the automation market. In the future, the AMRs will take over a large part of internal tasks and represent a new dimension in the field of Industry 4.0. Baumüller is thus expanding its range of products for digitized and networked production of the future.

@be_in_motion #SESTORobotics #Robotics #Pauto #Manufacturing #AMR

Current sensors based on AMR Technology.

Aceinna has announced its new MCx1101 family of ±5A, ±20A, and ±50A Current Sensors for industrial and power supply applications. The first high accuracy wide bandwidth AMR-based current sensors on the market, units and evaluation boards are available now for sampling and volume shipments.

“Our new integrated, AMR based Current Sensor family provides the best performance for the price in the industry,” says Khagendra Thapa, VP Current Sensor Product for ACEINNA. “There are other AMR based current sensing solutions on the market, but they require a great deal of integration to make them work. Ours are plug and play.”

The MCx1101 are fully integrated, bi-directional current sensors that offer much higher DC accuracy and dynamic range compared with alternative solutions. For example, the ±20A version has a typical accuracy of ±0.6% and are guaranteed to achieve an accuracy of ±2.0% (max) at 85°C.

These new current sensors also guarantee an offset of ±60mA, or ±0.3% of FSR (max) over temperature, which means that high accuracy can be achieved over a roughly 10:1 range of currents. This is a roughly 10x improvement in dynamic range vs. leading Hall-sensor-based devices.

These devices deliver a unique combination of high accuracy, 1.5MHz signal bandwidth with industry benchmark phase shift vs. frequency and 4.8kV isolation making them ideal for high- and low-side sensing in fast current control loops for high performance power supplies, inverters and motor control applications.

The fast response and high bandwidth of the MCx1101 is also ideal for fast switching SiC and GaN based power stages enabling power system designers to make use of the higher speeds and smaller components enabled by wide band-gap switches. Output step response time is 0.3us. The MCx1101 also provides an integrated over current detection flag to help implement OCP (Over Current Protection) required in modern power systems. Over current detection response time is fast 0.2us.

The family includes ±50, ±20, and ±5A ranges, and is offered in both fixed gain (MCA1101) and ratiometric gain (MCR1101) versions. It is packaged in an industry standard SOIC-16 package with a low impedance (0.9 milli-ohm) current path and is certified by UL/IEC/EN for isolated applications.

@MEMSsensortech #Power