Basque Enterprise Europe Network

Title

Partners for the testing of mobile robotic applications in industrial environments are sought

Reference

TRDE20200720001

Last update

Fri, Jul, 31, 2020

Deadline

Sat, Jul, 31, 2021

Abstract

A German SME which is specialised in the development of hard- and software components for mobile robotics applications is looking for industry partners that can provide testing facilities for mobile autonomous transportation robots. Technical cooperation agreements are sought.

Description

The German company's expertise comprises all necessary building blocks such as safety concept, power unit, localisation, navigation, and autonomy of mobile robotic applications. An in-house developed ad-hoc indoor localisation module enables repositioning of robots with an error of less than 1 millimetre which is to the company's knowledge unique in the market.

To remain competitive, companies from the automotive, the medical and the logistics sector must automate their production processes in an ever-evolving industrial world. The use of autonomous mobile robots for transportation of materials, goods, and tools is nowadays the most efficient approach to meet the requirements of modern industrial environments. In addition to appropriate safety and sensor concepts, there is also the need for a robust localisation technology to determine the robot's actual position, even in challenging and changing surroundings.

A prior defined use case in accordance with the partner shall be implemented in the partners infrastructure applying the company's in-house developed, patented transportation robots. Based on the obtained information potential application can be evaluated. The design of the transportation robot enables individual solutions concerning footprint, performance, and autonomous features. Tailor-made robots can be provided even in small quantities matching the partner's needs. The robots are scalable to any size starting from a dimension of 400 x 480 to 800 x 1.200 mm. The robots can transport a maximum weight of at least 120 kg.

In terms of connectivity, the company is counting on a preferably open interface, planning on implementing interface VDA (German Association of the Automotive Industry) 5050 based on MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) protocol which has the objective to provide a standardized interface for autonomous mobile robots. This enables the integration of various autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into a possibly already existing control station. As some use cases require even more ambitious dimensions, the company's special autonomous carrier enables the autonomous transport of KLT (small load carrier) containers (400 x 600 mm) on transport rollers within the entire value stream (logistics & production) with an unrivalled low height of below 100 mm. An integrated lifting unit ensures the automatic pick-up and drop off of the transport rollers while its high agility (transvers movement) and the positioning accuracy of less than 1 mm allow a drop off of the transport goods directly in process position.

The company's robotic platforms are highly adaptable to any use case so that no or only minimal additional costs are required for the integration into an existing production or logistics system. The effort of the partner to adapt their industrial environment e.g. size and weight of goods, infrastructure and are therefore minimized. This pays off as the total cost of ownership (TCO) is lower as the German company provides a modular system that can be adapted in geometry and functions to a wide range of customer needs, yet still consists of equal parts in hardware and software.

The company is looking for reliable partners for long-term cooperations in the form of technical cooperation agreements as outlined in the section type and role of partner sought.

Technology Keywords

Automation, Robotics Control Systems;Embedded Systems and Real Time Systems;Artificial Intelligence (AI);Data Processing / Data Interchange, Middleware;Imaging, Image Processing, Pattern Recognition

Keyword Codes:

01001001;01002004;01003003;01003008;01003012

Current Stage of Development

Intellectual Property Rights

Patents granted

IPR Comments:

Exploitation of RTD Results

Organisation/Company Type

Organisation/Company Size

Organisation Comments

The potential partner should be able to provide a use case plus test area inside an industrial environment, e.g. a transportation task which should be solved with autonomous transportation robots. Most benefit can be achieved with a holistic approach by covering a whole value stream (from inbound logistics to production and dispatch area). Special know-how in mobile robotics is not required.

Detailed Market Application Codes (VEIC)

MA Keyword

Industrial measurement and sensing equipment;Robotics;Machine vision software and systems

MA Keyword Codes:

08002002;08002004;08002005

Application Domain Description:

Collaboration Type

Comments:

The partner shall provide the industrial environment for the testing of the mobile autonomous robots. Concepts of use cases from the partner are very welcome but can also be jointly defined. The cooperation can range from testing scenarios to jointly developing prototypes for special use cases.

The partner benefits in various ways by receiving and/or co-creating an individually adapted product that requires no or only minimal additional costs for the integration into an existing production or logistics system. The German company will evaluate individual partner use cases and create cost-benefit assessments for e.g. personnel, inventory and production area based on obtained key figures. Furthermore, the partner gains knowledge in the use of autonomous mobile transportation robots within their production site.

If tests and prototypes are successful, the aim is to develop a long-term reliable partnership and cooperation to implement and roll out the application of the robotic platforms at the partners facilities.

As the robotic platform is highly adaptable, potential partners can range from small to large enterprises. Use cases in various industries are possible, ranging from production and logistics, automotive, storage, medical to applications at airports, fairs or events etc.

Possible application scenarios include material transport, fine-tuning machines, mobile workpiece carriers, cobot applications, competitive platforms (e.g. RoboCup@Work), training platform etc.

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