BlueBotics’ ANT® Navigation Drives Autonomous Vehicles Over 10 Million Kilometers

St-Sulpice, Switzerland, February18, 2021 – BlueBotics, the global leader in natural feature navigation, has announced its Autonomous Navigation Technology (ANT®) is now estimated to have driven automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) over 10 million kilometers, in applications ranging from warehousing and manufacturing to commercial cleaning services, UVC disinfection and more.

Dr. Nicola Tomatis, CEO of BlueBotics, said, “The timing of this milestone is perfect as it comes the same month that we celebrate the company’s 20-year anniversary. It is amazing to think that our customers’ ANT® driven vehicles have driven over 10 million kilometers, almost 250 times the circumference of the globe. This achievement really speaks to the robustness of our industry-proven ANT® technology.”



ANT® navigation is popular with manufacturers and end users of AGVs, automated forklifts and AMRs, since it simplifies and shortens vehicle installation times as well as providing flexible, accurate and user-friendly operation. The technology suits a myriad of vehicle types and kinematics, from small 100 kg AMRs to 30-ton heavy load transporter AGVs. In addition, with BlueBotics’ accompanying ANT® server software, users whose vehicles are driven by BlueBotics’ ANT® lite+ product can create and operate a synchronized fleet of ANT® driven vehicles, no matter what the type or even brand. All of these vehicles are able to interact seamlessly with on-site equipment and machinery, including an organization’s existing WMS/MES/ERP software, using ANT® server’s simple API.

Dr. Tomatis continued, “In arriving at our 10-million-kilometer milestone, we conservatively estimate that AGVs driven by ANT® technology have worked more than one million days – over 2,500 years – of commercial operation.”

“It is exciting to see the impact ANT® technology is having, both on the AGV market and – most importantly – on the efficiency of those companies that operate ANT® driven vehicles. With our continuing strong growth, it shouldn’t be long before ANT® driven products will have circumnavigated the globe 500 times!”

About BlueBotics

BlueBotics is the reference in natural feature navigation and has the mission to help companies meet the challenge of vehicle automation. With its 20 years of industry experience, the company provides the autonomous navigation technology (ANT®) and expert support customers need to bring their AGV, automated forklift or mobile robot successfully to market. Today, there are more than 2,000 ANT® driven vehicles in operation worldwide. https://www.BlueBotics.com

Mobile shelf system for AMRs

TruShelf is a mobile shelf system for common AMRs that enables the autonomous transport of small load carriers in the intra logistic sector. It expands an AMR‘s degree of utilization by bundling various transports in one route. The lifting unit enables variable loading and unloading heights. The modular shelves in the depot unit can be adjusted to the desired box height. Combined with the fleet management system TruFleet for intelligent navigation, TruShelf is the ideal solution for efficient transport of small load carriers and for automated material supply to assembly stations or machines in intralogistics.

TruShelf is available in two variants: as a complete solution including MiR200 or as a partial solution without AMR. The great advantage of this is that the shelving system can be easily integrated into existing AMRs from common manufacturers. This ensures the optimal use of existing resources and thus saves avoidable costs.

Dimensions of a shelf module: 300 x 400 mm (on request 400 x 600 mm)

Highlights

Functions

  • Bundled transport of up to 5 small load carriers of different sizes and weights at the same time (sizes: from 75x105x160 mm to 400x600x300 mm according to requirement)
  • Autonomous loading and unloading of storage and conveyor systems in different positions and heights (loading height: 550 mm-1.400 mm depending on box size and application field)
  • Just-in-time transport and flexible response on changing demands
  • Ergonomic and safe collaboration between man and machine for manual loading and unloading
  • Intelligent route finding and fleet intelligence through TruFleet (fleet management system) and TruOS (operating system)
  • Flexible integration into existing logistics systems

Benefits

Economic and Ecologic

  • Increase of efficiency up to 400% through transport optimization and intelligent route finding
  • Savings in storage costs due to just-in-time transport
  • Less AMRs and lower traffic density on the shop floor
  • Expected ROI after 12-18 months

Industry 4.0 optimized

  • Autonomous and collaborative support for employees in intralogistics
  • Process optimization through intelligent navigation and swarm intelligence
  • Flexible integration into existing systems and M2M communication

Areas of Application

  • Delivery to assembly stations
  • Supply of machines (e.g. injection molding machines) with empty containers as well as removal of manufactured products
  • Transportation of goods in warehouses
  • Complementary flexibility to existing conveyor and racking systems

Transfer Systems as Material Interface

  • Flow rack
  • Conveyor belt
  • Tugger train

Software

TruOS – Robot Operating System

  • Plug & Play: Switch on, map, recognize stations and get started
  • Access to a wide range of AI services and computing resources
  • Fast and latency-free control of robotic systems
  • AIO intel i7 with 15.6 inch touch display, 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM

TruFleet – Fleet Management System

  • Autonomous navigation
  • Determination of the optimal route from millions of transport variants
  • Up to 10 transport orders within one route
  • Fleet intelligence for the coordination of mobile robots
  • Savings of up to 40% of the original robot travel time and energy costs

https://rbtx.com/en/solutions/other/mobile-shelf-system-amr-autonomous-mobile-robot-transportof-load-carriers-intra-logistic

Mobiles Regalsystem für AMRs

TruShelf ist ein mobiles Regalsystem für gängige AMRs und ermöglicht den automatisierten Transport von Kleinladungsträgern im intralogistischen Warenverkehr. Es erweitert den Nutzungsgrad eines AMR durch die Bündelung der Transporte. Die Hubeinheit ermöglicht eine variable Be- und Entladehöhe. Die modularen Regalplätze in der Magazineinheit sind auf die gewünschte Kistenhöhe einstellbar. Kombiniert mit dem Flottenmanagementsystem TruFleet zur intelligenten Routenfindung ist das TruShelf die ideale Lösung für den effizienten Transport von Kleinladungsträgern sowie für die automatisierte Materialversorgung von Montagestationen oder Maschinen in der Intralogistik.

TruShelf ist in zwei Varianten erhältlich: Als Komplettlösung inklusive MiR200 oder als Teillösung ohne AMR. Der große Vorteil daran ist, dass das Regalsystem unkompliziert auf bereits vorhandene AMRs gängiger Hersteller integriert werden kann. Dies gewährleistet die optimale Nutzung bestehender Ressourcen und sorgt damit einhergehend für die Einsparung vermeidbarer Kosten.

Maße eines Regalmoduls: 300 x 400 mm (auf Anfrage 400 x 600 mm)

https://rbtx.com/de/solutions/other/mobile-shelf-system-amr-autonomous-mobile-robot-transportof-load-carriers-intra-logistic