Demystifying Robots Interoperability
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For decades, robots have been deployed in the manufacturing sector to automate processes. Machine tending, inspection, pick, and place are among the most common applications where robots have been utilized. Despite the high utilization of robotic applications in the manufacturing environment, these applications were predominantly made in a fixed industrial setting. However, the recent advancement in mobility has resulted in mobile robots' rise. In 2021, IFR reported an estimated growth in service robots of 12% worldwide, with sales of personal robots rising by 41%. Asia, in particular, experienced substantial growth in the area.
Among the many applications where mobile robots are being used, Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), delivery, cleaning, and social robots, have been identified as the most common applications.
The proliferation of these new types of robots would unleash new possibilities to automate tasks where robots were not traditionally seen as capable. The trends towards such utilization have been seen especially in production and warehouses and in transportation and outdoor facility. These trends are primarily motivated by improved production flexibility, task optimization, reduced reliance on a limited skilled workforce, and the ability to respond more effectively to dynamic supply and demand fluctuations. For example, deployment of robots for flexible manufacturing where robots can be used to modularly navigate and conduct part of the processes that once were static operations requiring heavy CAPEX investment for fixed equipment construction.
With strong growth in the number of robots and their applications, there will be challenges, especially in interoperability, between different robots and other systems in the facility. If operators and business owners were to use many robots, two significant technical challenges would need to be addressed. Firstly, during the design phase and later, during the operation and deployment stage.
Fleet Management and Workers in a Warehouse Facility, The Robot Report (2019)
Responding to the interoperability challenges above, the team at ROS-Industrial Asia Pacific is developing technologies to support owners/operators, system integrators, and robot manufacturers through several development activities utilising Robotics Middleware Framework (RMF):
- Development of high fidelity simulation includes scenarios involving environmental factors (such as heavy rain) and network interruption. The development will support a better sense of realism in existing situations. This development will enable operators to optimize production for better planning and scheduling
- Development of Next-Generation Robot Middleware Framework that will help robots interact with each other and to other systems, such as ERP, MES, or the workcell and facilities management, such as door and lift. The development will enable traffic deconfliction and task prioritization toward autonomous operations.
At ROS-Industrial, our goal is to develop applications that can help the proliferation of robotics for Industrial use. We constantly seek market inputs to ensure that our developments are highly aligned with the industrial needs. If you have used robots or plan to deploy robots in your facility and would like to help in influencing the development of robotics utilization in your industry, we would like to invite you for a short 10-mins survey to understand your challenges and requirements through the link below.
*Reference:
Heer, C., 2022. World Robotics 2021 – Service Robots report released. [online] IFR International Federation of Robotics. Available at: <https: data-preserve-html-node="true"//ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/service-robots-hit-double-digit-growth-worldwide> [Accessed 7 April 2022].*