Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) guidance To help AMRs navigate their environments, suppliers typically use magnetic tape, QR codes or laser scanners.
What’s new? ABB’s Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology, which combines artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D vision technologies. ABB is incorporating it into its AMR T702V in the third quarter and AMR P604V in the fourth quarter. It will roll out more AMRs incorporating Visual SLAM through 2025.
Benefits Safe operation in dynamic environments where people are working. Cameras mounted on the AMR let the Visual SLAM system create a real-time 3D map of the AMR’s surroundings that can differentiate between fixtures of the landscape — such as floors and ceilings – versus people or vehicles, which can move. By tracking its surroundings, the AMR can plot the safest and most efficient route, while dynamically adapting to changes as they occur. Visual SLAM can deliver position accuracy to within 3mm, without requiring reflectors or markers to be added to the workspace. Visual SLAM also makes it easier to add new AMRs to a fleet, reducing commissioning time by up to 20 percent compared to ABB’s previous navigation technology, 2D SLAM.
ABB Robotics, Auburn Hills, Mich., 248-391-9000, www.abb.com/robotics
