Premiere: the AGV Mesh-Up@automatica
Mobile robots are not just revolutionizing logistics applications, but production as well. Because they enable a new level of flexibility at high productivity. No wonder the segment is booming: According to the International Federation of Robotics, the number of deployed mobile robots has increased by 47 percent between 2021 and 2022. However, all deployments face the same challenge: The robots don’t speak the same language, which can cause disruptions in information flow and communication between robots of different manufacturers. The adaptation and integration of multiple brands in a specific application is usually inflexible and associated with great efforts. So what to do? A viable solution for the future is called VDA 5050 – an open communications interface developed by VDA and VDMA. How it works? Our new showcase featuring AGV Mesh-Up provides insights –in a battery production logistics application context for the first time.
Ready to test a mixed fleet of AGVs? With its live test event on an obstacle course of about 850 m2, this large automatica special show demonstrates how to operate driverless transport vehicles and mobile robots from different manufacturers flexibly and efficiently – using a control system and shared travel paths. The open VDA 5050 communications interface is the very heart of this task, which used to be a great challenge until very recently. It allows mobile robots of different brands to be orchestrated by a centralized control station so that all vehicles of a heterogeneous fleet can share the same travel paths.
How workable is VDA 5050? How do vehicles and their control station behave in real-life conditions? The AGV Mesh-Up@automatica offers its audience a unique opportunity to experience the interface live in action. And it creates perfect framework conditions for manufacturers looking to test the suitability of their vehicle and software portfolios for such fleets. Naturally, the developers and product managers involved will be on site and available for personal exchange. Use this globally unique event to your own and your business’s advantage – and learn how individual robots can form a homogeneous fleet.
The coordination of automated guided vehicles (ATV) in production and warehousing facilities is becoming increasingly important. This is due to the increase in transported material without expansion of the transport areas available. The number of manufacturers and systems is also increasing, which represents an additional obstacle for the operation of fleets as a unit. This scenario led to a very special cooperation in 2017. Ever since, a project team of AGV users, control system providers, and AGV manufacturers, coordinated by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics, has been working to develop the VDA 5050 communications interface. Objective and result: manufacturer-independent communication between vehicles and their control station. The current version 2.0.0 is continuously developed further via a public GitHub repository.
The Production Logistics special show offers real-world application examples as it focuses on the interaction of logistics and production, supply and transfer of materials, and interlinking plants and workspaces. In this context, Hahn Automation will present two battery production scenarios, and SYNAOS will provide the Intralogistics Management Platform as a centralized control station, which is a cloud-based software-as-a-service. Joining in: many renowned and innovative mobile robot manufacturers presenting their vehicles as members of the heterogenous fleet.
Date | on all trade fair days from June 27 to 30, 2023 |
Location | Hall B4, Stand 338 |
For more information on the participants, please visit our subject area.
