Mobile Industrial Robots

Industry 4.0 on wheels

The advent of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is something that we are witnessing today. With the emergence of smarter and more efficient technologies every day, we are getting more connected and productive. With unprecedented advancements in fields of Autonomous Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet of Things, we are employing robots to do tasks which come under the 3 Ds- Dirty, Dull and Dangerous. This reduces human intervention in tasks which don’t genuinely require them to actively apply their intelligence to solve problems. Now, countless robotic industry players view Mobile Industrial Robots (MIR) as the next big movement in industry to address labour shortages, the growing demand for customized order fulfilment, and increasingly dynamic production environments that are pushing manufacturers to employ ever-leaner, more agile technologies.

TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED

The robot can be programmed with the path to be followed defined. The programming, usually, is simple and doesn’t require programming expertise. MIRs are seen as a good replacement for AGVs because they do not require permanent wire strips or magnetic tracks along the floor to guide their path. Instead, MIRs navigate using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology, and on-board intelligence and collision-detection safety systems that allow for the real-time selection of the most appropriate route to any given destination at a particular moment in time. Most robots can even be controlled through a smartphone. The time of operation can also be specified, and the robots will follow the designated paths to carry the required material. It automatically and intelligently docks into the charging station when not in operation to maintain maximum charge when starting a fresh task. The CAD files of the building can also be downloaded onto the robot directly and its use seldom requires us to make any changes to the existing facility. The robots are made so that they can carry heavy items (~100 kg). They also have built in sensors and cameras which are very sophisticated and help in safe and efficient manoeuvring in the factory.

In the industry today, success is dependent on efficiency. For simple tasks like moving semi-finished products etc., we shouldn’t employ humans as they are prone to error and cannot work for hours on end without reduction in efficiency. Rather, we should use Human Intelligence in more complex areas where it is essential. With Internet of Things, the robots can even communicate with each other for efficiently to get the job done. A fleet of robots can be programmed in such a way that at any given time, at least one robot is working which will ensure maximum workflow and increase efficiency. They usually replace conveyor belts and humans carting items from one end of the factory to the other.

Advantages

Everything that can be profitably automated is solved with robots and automation. This releases employees for other nonautomated tasks, including developing and producing new prototypes. In addition, automation contributes to a company’s ability to reduce costs for temporary staff and overtime. The many advantages are summed up below:

• Production can be increased manifold using mobile industrial robots.
• The manufacturer uses maximum production capacity and keeps its delivery expectation short. Hence, throughput is maximised.
• Users without prior programming skills also can set up the MIR robots and make them work.
• The mobile robots are collaborative and work safely side by side with its human colleagues.
• The robots charge up automatically in an intelligent manner without taking brakes and therefore not compromising on efficiency.
• The human resource is being utilised for sophisticated tasks by assigning paltry task of transportation to the robots.
• Cloud connectivity will help companies looking to get the most out of their AMRs due to the necessity of data collection, consolidation, and analysis to enable AMRs to navigate increasingly complex environments.
• Eliminates material flow bottlenecks to increase productivity
• Allows employees to focus on high-value activities, not deliveries
• Safely and efficiently manoeuvres around people and obstacles
• Requires no changes to existing facility
• Can be redeployed for different tasks with various top modules
• Transports payloads up to 100 kg (220 lbs)
• Supports the transport of loads up to 300 kg (661 lbs)
• Offers fast return on investment in as little as one year

Adoption of MIRs in Industries

While adopting modern technologies is required to maintain a competitive advantage, doing so too soon can lead to unexpected losses, this is a major reason the proliferation of MIRs has proceeded slowly to date. However, the market is finally beginning to shake-out its kinks, and a proverbial tipping point is just around the bend. In particular, the shift toward multi-modal functionality has strengthened the value proposition of MIRs. Take for example Staübli’s HelMo robot, which features a robotic arm mounted on top of an autonomous mobile cart. In the past, an autonomous mobile cart may have offered tremendous time savings just by moving materials throughout a plant. But the picking, loading, and unloading tasks still had to be conducted by humans. With the addition of a robotic arm, HelMo represents an autonomous mobile asset with multiple uses, and thus a stronger case for investment.

To surmount the robotics skills gap, several companies, such as Omron, have designed AMR software that can create an internal map of an environment by being driven around with a joystick, which is no more difficult than playing a video game. Once an initial tour of a plant floor is complete, Omron’s fleet management software can designate zones within the space where different rules are applied, such as speed limits, stopping at intersections, or only moving in one direction down certain corridors.

Applications of MIRs

Mobile robots are used to reach inaccessible regions consisting of nuclear energy plants. Mobile robotics are very beneficial in nuclear environments with excessive ranges of radiation, especially during a catastrophe.

Mobile robots can continuously roam autonomously, can collect many data points over time to cover an area that might be too large for wireless sensors. Additionally, it is possible to have real-time video in some applications where a remote pilot could take over the machine to inspect an area, inventory, or see what resources are on location without leaving the office.

The shelf units are often used to transport semi-finished or finished goods between productions, between production and warehouse and/or in warehouse logistics. Shelf modules are often used in semi-automated installations, where an employee summons the mobile robot via the robot’s interface, or an installed button, fills up the robot with the goods and send it on its way with just one click on a button.

Within logistics, a solution we often see mobile robots towing a pallet with a pallet fork. The mobile robot can locate the pallet fork and transport it to its destination autonomously. In this way the employees only have to load and unload the pallet from the pallet fork, and they save valuable time, because they do not need to do the transportation themselves.

Medical applications are always a growing field with huge untapped applications like drug delivery, or the development of mobile treatment systems for specialized equipment. They transport medicine that needs to be locked in, autonomously. Hospitals are usually large facilities and therefore, the mobile safety units save employees from walking long distances with the medicine. Being able to open communicate with doors and elevators the mobile robots can transport items over long distances with no need for human interference.

Industries where MIR has been implemented successfully

Zealand University Hospital in Denmark

This hospital now receives daily autonomous deliveries from the hospital’s sterilization centre. The implementation of a mobile robot from Mobile Industrial Robots (MIR) is helping realize the goal of flexible and automated logistics throughout the upcoming 190,000 square meter super hospital.

Optimus the MiR100 robot that has automated the internal transport of sterile disposable equipment in the hospital since June 2018. Optimus travels more than 10 kilometres per week, improving service, minimizing storage space, saving steps, and preventing shortages, which has made him quickly become popular at the hospital. Before Optimus arrived, service assistants were providing weekly deliveries of disposable equipment to hospital departments. The manual procedure involved heavy lifting and an uncomfortable twist in the body. Now the robot delivers equipment daily, making sure that the departments do not run out of goods.

This mobile robot has four parts:

• At the base is the MiR100robot, with a lift capacity of 100 kg.
• A top module by the accessory manufacturer ROEQ is installed on the robot’s load surface.
• A wheeled cart clicks onto the top module when the robot autonomously drives underneath the cart.
• A cabinet is mounted on top of the cart, which is sealed by the sterilization centre.

At the sterilization centre, the staff packs disposable equipment and sterile tools into the cart-top cabinets. The mobile robot then runs between the sterilization centre and ten different stops in the hospital. Service assistants in the different departments empty the carts.

The hospital staff has seen the possibilities of the mobile robot and has continuously provided useful inputs for a smooth and safe implementation. For example, Optimus has been programmed to politely warn patients and staff that it is getting closer before it silently drives through automatic doors or out of the elevator. Signs have also been mounted on its front, which indicate the robot’s current destinations to the people around it.

The experience with the first mobile robot from MIR has given the hospital more ideas for automation of other transport tasks in the facility. One of the scenarios envisioned by Zealand University Hospital is the transport of customized equipment packages for every planned operation. This will have tremendous impact once the number of operating rooms is quadrupled. The pilot project has shown that the hospital can program operation plans into the MIR robot’s daily program and ensure deliveries of the right equipment at the right time. The automated delivery of medicines from hospital pharmacies and laboratories is another obvious task for mobile robots in a super hospital.

ACCIONA

Spanish multinational ACCIONA and local distributor Robotplus leverage MIR mobile robots to create a safe and efficient bio-decontamination solution for hospitals and public spaces.

In March 2020, the entire world was in the initial phase of the first wave of Covid-19 and as in many other countries at the time, the situation in hospitals and with the emergency services was already becoming critical. With the governments about to order the confinement of the population, and daily reports on TV news about how the virus was spreading quickly in public areas such as waiting rooms and hospital wards, there was a clear and urgent need emerging for solutions to help reduce the risk of contagion. This led to the development of SafeRBOT by ACCIONA. SafeRBot, can achieve a complete disinfection of a 20–25m2 room in 15 minutes, a task which would otherwise take two workers at least a whole day using chemicals. The use of UV-C light has already proven to be the best valid alternative to the use of chemical disinfectants for the biodecontamination of public spaces in a much faster and more effective way. With the right intensity, the UV-C light breaks down the DNA and RNA structure of microbes including the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and is the perfect weapon to prevent and reduce the spread of infectious diseases, viruses, bacteria, and other types of harmful microorganisms in a wide range of public environments such as offices, factories, shops, schools, museums, and hospitality venues, among many others. This was a robotic solution capable of disinfecting 30 hospital rooms in an 8-hour shift without the need to recharge the battery, and which can chart its own path and avoid obstacles throughout the area to be disinfected using sophisticated sensors and safety features — the same features that make MiR robots ideal for automating internal transport processes in industrial environments. The SafeRbot also avoids polluting the environment using chemicals, helping ACCIONA to meet its commitment to minimise the environmental impact of its operations.

Conclusion

Mobile robot technology has potential to revolutionize many sectors of industry; however, it carries with it some disadvantages. The logistics of manufacturing will be streamlined by allowing robots to autonomously navigate to different areas for their work. The labour demands for employees will be lessened as robots will be able to collaborate with humans. Coordinating the movement of robots around facilities and calibrating their position at their destination is tedious and far from perfect. A robot malfunctioning in a manufacturing setting will hold up production — and this robot could malfunction anywhere in a facility.

Written by Ashwath Capur, Kevin Peter and Ryan Fernandez