15 Navigation Technologies for AGVs/AMRs

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Matias do you know that there  is one navigation technology   which has not changed since the beginnings of agvs I don't know by heart I just know  it's super confusing and every time I   talk to potential mobile robot customers  they are all confused about those different   Technologies that's why we thought it  might be a good idea to have one episode   just dedicated to the navigation Technologies and  to hopefully create some more understanding in the community automation Awakenings your  weekly dose of best practices for Logistics automation welcome back to the next episode of  the automation Awakenings podcast we are happy to   have you on board with us and as we already said  the topic of navigation Technologies is a really   confusing one so let's try to shed some light into  this uh this topic and go through those different   Technologies maybe also discuss a little bit the  pros the cons and also the the advantages that   they have yes that sounds uh very interesting and  let's start with um the differentiation between   localization and navigation here we already dive  into a confusing topic and um suppliers tend to   mix up this two words so for sure an AG needs  both right yeah it has to navigate and it has   to locate itself within the environment yeah and I  think you can distinguish those two functions with   with very easy questions so localization answers  the question where am I as a mobile robot on the   other hand navigation would answer the question  how do I get to my target or my destination and   depending on which technology is answering  the question you could say it's navigating or   localization and in some cases to confuse you guys  even more this technology can do both but maybe   let's take it step by step and let's start with  those Technologies who are only there to do the   navigation yes I think these two questions uh will  help us in this episode a lot and let's start very   easy the Magnetic Tape yeah yeah it's there since  the 1950s and from technology point of view this   type of navigation technology has not changed yeah  so we are still using it in current AGS even yeah   they are following in a very simple way a magnetic  tape on the floor so it's basically glued to the   floor right Ollie yes it's either glued to the  floor or drilled into the floor oh my very old   type of applications okay yeah good um actually  I have a fun fact about the Magnetic Tape um so   when I prepared for this episode I found out that  the Magnetic Tape is still the most commonly used   navigation technology for mobile robots out there  so no way Matias no that's that seems to be the   case um so yes yeah it shows that it's still valid  it's doing the job and um it obviously has its   advantages which and that's the same for the other  let's say basic um navigation Technologies like   for example line guidance or induction uh tape or  induction uh cable that the accuracy is extremely   high yeah so I read that um the tolerance of  inaccuracy is around 2 mm yeah sure that's   awesome and it's not very costly of course we have  a initial effort um during the implementation but   then um it's reliable and you can use the the HV  with the magnetic tape for a very long time and I   know several applications um which last since yeah  many many years even 10 years or more and they   operate still in a in a very reliable way so they  are yeah good old dinosaurs um which yeah no they   don't have to be replaced if it's they're working  yeah and I would even say that there is one more   falling into this category and it's data metric  so QR codes glued to the floor right yeah I would   say this is um already The Next Step because  at least you don't have to glue a uh a tape   but every 1 to 1.5 M usually you have a unique QR  code and here is a big difference to the Magnetic   Tape because the Magnetic Tape is stupid right  but the QR code already is unique M so the robot   will know where it is so here we come again to  localization and navigation so after reading   the QR code on the floor you will know your  exact position on the map right so maybe let's   cluster these ones as non laser based navigation  Technologies right can we say that yeah absolutely   cool you don't need any laser for that you just  need to read um the barcode or you need to read   detect the Magnetic Tape yeah no laser required  so in which kind of mobile robots app applications   are these non- laser based Technologies used  yeah you can always use them um you can use   them everywhere uh that's the easy answer because  they uh are working with um many environments they   have no issues with um light yeah with sunlight  for example or even in dark environments uh they   will work humidity all of these yeah environmental  factors um they don't play a role for this kind of   Technology they are super reliable and stable  in all kind of environments cool perfect so   maybe let's you uh let's move into the the next  category uh which is the laser based navigation   Technologies and on my list as let's say the next  Evolution step I have the simple laser reflector   navigation technology so to say yes uh exactly  here we already go one step further we need to   add reflectors yeah um no QR codes on the floor  but reflectors on fixed positions which are then   also fixed on the map okay yeah that's important  so we have this one time effort and um you need   to teach um these reflectors very exact into this  map so the robot will rely on this fixed positions   and you must never ever change the position of  these reflectors so if you hit one of them uh with   a forklift or whatever um yeah you you need to  repair it um immediately okay it might even happen   that your whole mobile robots operation will  stop only because one reflector is not there any   more seriously yes because usually the robots need  three of these reflectors to know where they are   at the same time so the whole time they need to  be in touch with three different reflectors yeah   that's why it's also called triangular um location  localization and if one is missing it only sees   two positions and how can it know where it is with  only two lines you know if you imagine as a a line   being uh like yeah on the map yeah um you need  the third line to have your exact position okay   understood so that sounds a little bit more prone  to environmental effects than Magnetic Tape or um   say QR codes absolutely um you have to maintain  them you have to clean them yeah you need to have   a process of getting them um of having them in  a good um yeah clean way otherwise um you your   robot might fail might fail to read it okay yeah  good that's quite scary so maybe we have to move   on and look at some of the more advanced laser uh  navigation Technologies because this doesn't sound   too promising to be introduced in my location  yeah well you are right but think about rich   truck operations with heavy loads where you need  a reliable navigation and we will come to that   uh now if you're just um running around based on  Contour navigation or laser navigation you might   yeah face other troubles and you don't want that  reach truck with a uh 1.5 ton load uh puts the   pellet into a wrong position uh uh on 11 M height  yes okay I understand there are some reasons why   this type of navigation is still used but you're  absolutely right it's not state-ofthe-art okay   so Contour navigation you already mentioned it  which is also known as 2D slam right yes right   and this kind of nav ation technology promises  us that you don't need to change anything in   your infrastructure you just put the mobile robot  there and um it will detect based on your unique   Contours in your Warehouse shop Flor area where  it is MHM maybe let's uh just quickly also talk   a bit about this uh uh Hardware that is used mhm  so I understand that it's a lar laser basically   which looks a little bit like a funnel right if  you see it uh in some vehicle and this uh liar is   basically taken a slice of the environment uh  which is then called the Contour and is using   this one slice to navigate but also to locate  itself right yes so the ligher means um light   detection and ranging so you have these laser  beams um coming out of this uh funnel yeah yeah   and um you'll get the information back of um what  is the distance to okay your to yeah uh to your   environment whatever there might be yeah it's  like measuring the distance to a star using the   speed of light right because then it comes back  at some point in time and you can measure okay   absolutely okay understood so we have the  2D slam um which dates back to the 2000s   I found out right yes and you have this one also  probably at home in your um vacuum cleaner robot   oh okay yeah it's basically 2D slam what they are  using think interesting so already quite common   technology that is basically a commodity right  yes okay so this is 2D slam now let's move on   to the latest technologies that we have and my  next one would be fre D slam so what's changed   now yeah you I mean 2D slam as the word already  implies you will get you you will see your world   your environment on a 2d map like looking from  the bird's eye perspective yeah that's already   good but um imagine you have obstacles on not  on the same level where the TWD slam is located   usually they are 10 cm High 15 maybe but what if  a pet is um standing out yeah on 50 cm 1 M height   the device would crash would run into it yeah  yeah exactly so with the 3D slam you finally   get uh this point cloud of your whole environment  in a 3D picture right which is a great advantage   since you can navigate and locate yourself with  even better precision and safety I would say   yes and here um what is interesting and that's why  I said the 2D slam is only promising us that you   don't need to change your infrastructure because  think about um your shop floor on 10 cm height M   how does it look like yeah it's a strange position  to imagine but the issue is sometimes your shop   floor is not unique enough for the mobile robot  yeah to know where it is because it might be it   looks all the same and sometimes and usually  this happens during the implementation and not   in the Pres scoping unfortunately you figure  out that your shop floor is not has not this   uniqueness required and what happens then you  need to add unique points so reflector again   reflectors it's not a big deal yes reflector tape  will be enough um so that yeah the robot can find   your environment and understand your environment  yeah that's interesting so that means with uh 3D   slam um you don't have this problem anymore  because it's more the holistic 3D View and I   think they also tend to check fixed kind of like  um building parts to to be integrated into their   uh navigation localization so I don't know like  parts of the of walls and parts of I don't know   yeah sure you you will have much more information  this is part of the story the other one is um the   interplay with software so you doesn't matter  if it's 2D or 3D if you have a smart software um   it might make the difference in localization  and um mapping or navigating um because what   you will get from the 2D laser is always the  data is the same but the question is what do   you do with this data and you can use this in a  smart way or not so smart way means more or less   magnetic uh not sorry magnetic uh reflector tape  um um yeah more or less reflector tape at the end yeah good we have one more which is the  vlam no that's the newest one that's the   latest one uh stands for visual slam and is  basically a camera that is able to identify or   out information from the pictures that this camera  is taking during a drive or yeah during whatever   operation which of course now opens up the option  for totally new use cases that an mobile robot can   take over because it can now for example detect  that there is a pallet standing somewhere M that   he or she I don't know if it's a he or she but  which it could transport or should transport yes   this requires uh image processing capabilities  so you need a proper processor for that a proper   camera so this is also the most expensive solution  and you need to think about if you really need   it and you need what every camera needs and it's  light so in a dark Warehouse uh it will struggle   to find uh the p of course but yes this is the the  newest way of navigating and it offers additional   possibilities as you said because if I have a  picture you could think about detecting labels   barcodes text and also work with this information  yeah um so very interesting technology yeah but   maybe to also take again the look at all of these  Technologies um what we also see in the market is   that there is a lot of mixing of different  Technologies in one vehicle or in one mobile   robot because um they have different strands  right so for the slam navigation it's a must   if you want to have obstacle avoidance so if you  want to really operate an AMR you won't be able   to do it with Magnetic Tape but the drawback is  the mobile robot is or might do crazy things and   the Precision Precision is not as high so it's  roughly around 2 cm plus minus okay which is a   problem when you have a station a source and that  you need to service with the mobile robot this 2   cm plus minus which you have with slam is a big  problem right because he might not hit exactly   this source of destination yes especially if  it's a under rer for example which needs to   really go beneath something to to lift it um and  this is why we often see a combination of Slam   but then still some line guidance or Magnetic  Tape which is then actually used just in front   of the source or destination for the mobile robot  simply to en able a very accurate um dock in and   dock out process at this particular location yeah  because these are the typical situations of mobile   robots where they lose a lot of time if they are  struggling to find the exact position to pick up   a pallet and yeah you can avoid this by having at  the source and destination a magnetic tape or any   visual tape yeah yes at the end from my point  of view the most successful agv AMR vendors   will be the ones understanding best the interplay  between the data they are getting from the sensors   and the software they are implementing that's a  very interesting statement but I can totally go   with it um I think it's not going to be this one  particular navigation technology which will be a   one size fits all it's rather going to be a mix of  different um navigation Technologies localization   Technologies which need to be brought together  in a Smart Way um to get the best result and you   know get the job or the requirement fulfilled yes  and as always it depends on your use case do you   really need all of this Tech technology because  you have to pay for it every single sensor camera   which is attached to the device you have to  pay and it's quite expensive right when we look   towards the slam technology that's not peanuts  that's really proper money um they cost and if you   compare a line guided vehicle with a slam guided  vehicle and some providers do it even right yes   and there is a quite big difference actually yeah  the price could be even doubled yeah yeah so know   your use case know what you really need and um  don't over engineer it um just really go with   the navigation or localization technology which  will get your job done and um if you struggle to   find the right solution again we suggest to talk  to some experts some Consultants to really prevent   you from Buy stuff which is great but which is  not really a must for you and it's just costing   more money absolutely a great conclusion of  this episode Matias I feel like I'm the one   to do the conclusions the whole time no it's uh  uh it's basically it's basically it and um let's   shout it out and um make sure that uh all of you  guys are well informed so was a pleasure to have   you on this week's episode um hope you learned  something and got some new insights and uh we   of course hope that you're going to join us next  Monday again for another episode of the automation   Awakenings podcast um until then all the best take  care and hear you soon hear you bye-bye this was   another episode of the automation Awakenings  podcast visit us at automation.com [Music]

2024-05-05

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