CeMAT 2018

••• 7 ••• Innovationen Driverless transport systems: robot navigation via the cloud A four-person research team headed up by Kai Pfeiffer from the Robot and Assistive Systems De- partment at Fraunhofer IPA has developed a cloud- based navigation technology. It increases the reliabil- ity, flexibility and efficiency of driverless transport systems (DTS). At the same time, the new approach facilitates versatile production and provides produc- tion planners with valuable data on what are known as digital shadows. Fraunhofer’s software module “Cooperative Longterm-SLAM” (SLAM = Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) is an integral part of the cloud naviga- tion: All permanently installed laser scanners in the area and the sensors of each and every transport ve- hicle collate data on their environment and create a map that is continuously updated. “The cloud-based navigation server used this data to calculate the route maps for each individual vehicle,” Kai Pfeiffer explains. “Predictive Driver” (a further development on the software module “Elastic Band”) is, in contrast, re- sponsible for reactive path planning. It reacts to spontaneously occurring obstacles and calculates an alternative route. If the routes of two driverless transportation vehicles intersect, their movement planners coordinate via the cloud. This prevents con- gestion and even collisions. Transport robots with team spirit Karis Pro intralogistics system interacts as a modern football team – without a central control T oday’s football teams do not rely on individual artists and heroes, but on the performance of the team. Based on common rules of conduct, individual play- ers observe, communicate, and make decisions. This is exactly the way in which the Karis Pro intralogistics system works. It was developed by scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technol- ogy (KIT) and the University of Freiburg, in cooperation with ten industry partners. Similar to a top football team, the individual actors decide on the moves with which they will reach the best possible result. But here, no balls have to be kicked into goals. Instead, boxes, shelves, and pallets have to be moved by small transport robots. Every transport robot can load or unload material, plan paths, move along them, and avoid suddenly appearing obsta- cles. Every unit can carry up to 250 kg of load. Up to four units can combine and move a mass of one ton in weight together. In ad- dition, the robots are connected by radio and communicate about their own states or exchange in- formation on their routes and contracts. As in football, smooth and constant interaction is re- quired for the swarm intelligence to work. In a practical test, ten robots in the field interacted per- fectly. In simulations, researchers even operated several hundred units. “The logistics challenge is that systems constantly have to adapt to new tasks in chang- ing environments,” Kai Furmans, Head of the Institute for Materials Handling and Logistics (IFL), says. Karis Pro can be used in a trans- mission plant with heavy load car- riers as well as at mail-order com- panies. Even without an opposing team, the IFL staff had to solve a number of problems to train the team of robots in logistics tiki-ta- ka. To fulfill wishes of customers, up-to-date production facilities have to be changeable. An impor- tant criterion for success is flexi- bility. “Karis Pro can be taken into operation rapidly and easily with- out changing the local infrastruc- ture. It independently updates map data,” Project Head Andreas Trenkle, IFL, explains. The system is designed such that every robot can transport both boxes and shelves. Several units together can move even larger goods, such as pallets. If transport orders ar- rive, the robots decide which part of the team is suited best for the next order. When choosing the movement paths, the multi-robot navigation system does not only consider the position, but also the planned ac- tions of the other robots and pre- vents them from mutually deny- ing space. When transporting big and heavy loads, safety distances and driving speeds are adapted independently, such that human team members are not endan- gered. As the robots scan their environment with laser scanners, markers on objects or guiding lines on the floor are no longer needed. The Karis Pro intralogistics robot can transport surprisingly big loads. Photo: KIT, Audi Sport GmbH Bauen auch Sie auf Sicherheit in Produktion und Lager! TYRI VL4 Redline – die rote Warnzonenleuchte für Stapler, Kräne und Baumaschinen! Flacher Anbau. Weitere Produkte wie VL4-Bluepoint, ATEX LED Bluepoint und TYRI Wireless Power an unserem Stand. Halle 26 • Stand F17 TYRI Sweden AB Telefon: +46 771 150 100 info@tyri.se www.tyrilights.com