BlueBotics: Bringing Interoperability to AGVs and AMRs Today

Bailey Ludlam | 23 August 2022

Easier than ever to integrate into operations, AGVs (automated guided vehicles) and AMRs (autonomous mobile robots) are transforming the way manufacturing and distribution centers operate.

This cost-effective solution increases efficiency, improves working conditions and easily scales to match business growth. Technologies like BlueBotics ANT opens possibilities through their advanced fleet management capabilities and interoperability. This means customers can carefully build-out the vehicle tech stack they need for their business. BlueBotics ANT is part of the Bastian Solutions growing portfolio of automation capabilities.

We talked to Dr. Nicola Tomatis, BlueBotics CEO, for a deeper insight on the technology and future of DC automation development.

“We can fully expect the growth in automated vehicle adoption to continue strongly for many years. There are several factors driving this: one is the challenge of hiring and retaining material handling workers, which is not going away – there just aren’t enough forklift drivers to go around! The other is the need for greater business resilience... Automation is a key tool for ensuring that,” says Dr. Nicola Tomatis.

                                             

Q: The ability to scale operations is a big focus right now with continued global supply chain challenges – investment capital, workforce changes and future planning. What kind of flexibility does BlueBotics’ vehicle navigation technology bring?

What we are experiencing at present, in terms of the drive to automation, is a perfect storm: challenges hiring and retaining logistics staff, an increased awareness of the need for business resilience, obviously emphasized by our COVID-19 experience, plus a push to in-shoring manufacturing from overseas.

There are several ways in which our ANT technology is helping facilitate this adoption. On one hand, since ANT makes automated vehicles quick and easy to install – with minimal infrastructure changes needed on-site – this enables organizations to get their automation programs up and running relatively quickly. Since fleet manager that runs these vehicles, called ANT server, interfaces seamlessly with both equipment on-site and a business’ existing business software (WMS, ERP etc.), this again eases an organization’s transition to automation. And for businesses building out full fleets of vehicles, what is great about the ecosystem of ANT driven vehicles is that a great many of these are interoperable. This means that a business, rather than relying on one AGV supplier with a portfolio of maybe two or three vehicle options, can instead base its fleet on ANT and run different types and even brands of ANT driven vehicle in the same fleet. The customer can specify exactly the vehicles they need, and enjoy the benefit of these running on the same fleet manager, using the same virtual routes throughout the site, without all the hassle of several vehicle management systems. That is a real benefit today and quite unique in the industry.

Q: What benefits and automations does BlueBotics technology bring to an operation?

ANT navigation technology is an accurate, robust and flexible technology platform that meets the evolving needs of vehicle producers and end users alike.

ANT technology is accurate, robust and scalable. It makes ANT driven vehicles - such as the Toyota Center-Controlled Rider and Core Tow Tractor automated forklifts - quick and easy to install, with minimal infrastructure changes required (at most adding the occasional reflective sticker). What’s more, ANT allows the creation of automated fleets of vehicles, including multi-brand fleets thanks to the interoperable nature of many ANT driven systems.

ANT technology drives over 90 different models of AGV, AMR and automated forklift today – ranging from small mobile robots that move payloads of under 100 kg right up to large outdoor transport shuttles capable of carrying 100 tons and above. These systems are used typically in material handling applications such the intralogistics and manufacturing.

Q: Autonomous vehicles and vehicle navigation has come a long way. What is in the future for these automated solutions?

A key driver of the future growth of systems like AGVs and AMRs will be, as mentioned, interoperability. This ability to run a custom fleet of different fleets will really enable a customer to, carefully and methodically, build out exactly the vehicle tech stack their business requires. That’s why you have increasing interest in developing interoperability standards like the MassRobotics AMR Interoperability Standard in the U.S., VDA 5050 in Germany, and another competing Chinese initiative that started being discussed earlier this year. The difference with BlueBotics is that with ANT, we can offer users that capability today.

Automated vehicle technology can benefit virtually every industry. Typically, today, the key applications driving the industry’s growth are warehousing or intralogistics, and manufacturing; usually moving parts or goods from A to B. But with developments such as robotic arms on mobile robots, and indoor or outdoor operation slowly becoming more of a reality, the possibilities are virtually endless.

Q: When it comes to automated navigation, what are some key details to be aware of?

In addition to the advanced fleet management capabilities and interoperability we already discussed, our ANT navigation solutions are compatible with a wide range of vehicles and drive types, including for example vehicles that can move in any direction, so-called ‘omnidirectional’ systems. These types of vehicles are great for tight environments, since they can physically interface with equipment, such as conveyors, laterally – instead of needing lots of space to get up close.

Our ANT server fleet manager’s API, meanwhile, allows vehicles in an ANT driven fleet to interface seamlessly with other crucial on-site assets such as business software (WMS, MES, ERP, etc.) and with equipment, such as elevators, automatic doors, palletizers and so on. This means that ANT driven vehicles can be fully integrated into the larger on-site operation for smoother, more efficient operation.

Q: What is in the future for warehouse automation and BlueBotics technology? What should we be keeping our eye on?

At a macro level, we can fully expect the growth in automated vehicle adoption to continue strongly for many years. There are several factors driving this: one is the challenge of hiring and retaining material handling workers, which is not going away – there just aren’t enough forklift drivers to go around! The other is the need for greater business resilience, which was really highlighted with COVID-19. And equally, since COVID clearly exposed – and continues to expose – the challenges of outsourcing the majority of any country’s manufacturing, we are seeing ‘in-shoring’ becoming more of a macro trend. But when manufacturing comes back onshore, for those local companies to thrive, they still need to remain competitive globally. Automation is a key tool for ensuring that.

At a more micro level, with regards our vehicle maker partners and their requirements, we can see clearly that more of a hybrid type of automated vehicle solution will be needed in future, which is capable not only of traditional indoor AGV/AMR operations but also able to navigate autonomously across a wider site outdoors like moving heavy materials such as steel coils between different buildings of a large production site, for example, or moving tires from production to a separate nearby warehouse. This is a technology area we have been working on strongly and we will have some impressive innovations to reveal on that front soon.

Author: Bailey Ludlam